Page 105 of The Mafia Assassin's Redemption
“Declan?” I call out.
It takes a few minutes but Dec, Seamus, and the pets tumble into my office. With a sigh, Callahan flicks open his Zippo and lights the cigarette.
“Where are your guns from, Dec?”
Dec hits me with a pained gaze, then slouches against the wall as Seamus ruffles Arnold’s fur.
“Bought ’em from some Irish guys,” Dec says with a defensive air. “Paid in cash.”
Seamus rolls his eyes. “They were Russian, bro.”
“I know.” Dec tears his eyes away from us and kicks the floor with a deep sigh. “I had a phone number, was supposed to call to get more. I didn’t. I just thought it’d be good to see whatwas out there…”
Declan says this last bit to try to appease Cal who just takes a drag of his cigarette, a deep frown on his face. “We’re paying twice for them. They’re bratva-linked weapons. We don’t have issues with this family. You know thisshite, Dec. Don’t stir the fucking pot when it doesn’t need it.”
“I didn’t,” Declan says. “I just… I did say I’d be interested in more, but that was just to see if I could get a better deal.”
Goddammit. He knows we protected him the most growing up, and now he wants to be us, to earn his way and our respect. I just wish he wasn’t in such a big rush to be as brutal as us. Because that type of brutal could kill him.
My mind replays the conversation. “Wait, what do you mean, more?”
“The morning you asked me to make it seem scarier for Harry? I’d just gotten the guns the night before. It’s why I used the rifle. Thought it was the best bet to try it out.”
“See?” Seamus says, pulling out a laser to make Clawzilla race around like a mad thing. “There is half a brain in his head. He didn’t wait until we had a job.”
“Shut it, Seamus,” Callahan says mildly. Then he nods at Declan. “Go on.”
“I was supposed to go to East Harlem, to some store.” He digs in his pocket and pulls out a card. “Eion. That was his name. He said to ping the number the day before I was gonna go.”
Seamus takes the card and reads the number and the jotted-down address. “Shite.Tor?”
I take it.
“Let me fucking guess, it’s the same address where you two found the dead Russian and the drugs?” Callahan asks.
I nod. “Nothing would have stopped those pieces of shit we beat down in the bar from calling the number and saying we were on the way that day.”
Which would mean the cops were called and the body… well… it hadn’t been there too long, but that icing with the amount of drugs in there? We’d have been caught with those…
Fuuuuck.
We all exchange looks.
“Question is,” I say, “is this a Murphy family setup we’re looking at or one hell of a coincidence?”
And how the hell do all the other puzzle pieces fit together?
Because some way, somehow, Harry’s a part of it. From way before the blood wedding.
What the actual fuck is going on?
Callahan pulls out his phone. “Mikey says Lucie and Harry are now at the church. The guard’s inside, Mikey’s outside. So everyone is good.” He stubs out his cigarette, then stands up. “Dec and Tor, go to the bar where Declan made the gun deals. Seamus, we’ll go give the uncle a shakedown and see what falls out.”
We all head off in different directions. I drive down to the Lower East Side.
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Declan says in a sheepish voice.
I look at my brother. “I know. Look?—”
