Page 5 of Coal
My door opens. Turning away from the stove, I take the boiling kettle off the hob and pour the water into the waiting teapot on the table.
“Sit,” I order my siblings, taking the rich fruit cake I’d made earlier from the cake tin and slicing into it before handing it out while Kara pours the tea.
“Is it clear in here?” Aiden asks.
“Aye,” I nod. “I checked again before you all came over.”
It was like I gave them permission to relax because straight away Maeve starts telling us about something that had happened at school that had us laughing.
Kara was more serious, but she was smiling, too. We take our time; only once we finished our tea did we turn serious again.
“What do you want to do?” I look over at Aiden.
“Well, we know that there is no way I’m allowing any of my sisters to be sold off. My lads are ready; I just have to give them the word and they’ll take over Alfred’s men. They’ve got lazy, and my lads have lost too many family members to Alfred’s greed.
“I don’t know this new motorcycle club, and I can’t find if they are allies with anyone because I don’t want to tip Alfred off about checking up on them. I think we go with the plan to make Kara appear younger than she is. I want to know if they go for children because I’m not doing business with them going forward if they do. I’ll take them out if I have to.”
“What happens if they take her by force?” I want to know all the ins and outs because we need to look at the plan from all angles.
“Kara will be armed with hidden knives, and she can get out of most restraints. My lads will follow, but she can take out as many as she can before they reach the end of the road.”
I look at Kara to see how she feels about the plan, but she seems calm.
“I’ll be fine, Thea. Stop worrying. I can do this. We’ll keep Maeve away from everything.”
Maeve glares at Kara with a stubborn look. “I can help.”
Kara smiles, cupping our sister’s cheek, “I know you can,deirfiúr bheag,but you shouldn’t have to. If you don’t want to stay in your room, you can stay here with Shea.”
“That’s probably a better plan,” I agree. “Alfredwants me to do a demonstration. I was going to have to bring Shea with me, but if you stay with her, then I won’t worry as much.”
“Okay,” Maeve agrees, “I’ll come here. But none of you better get hurt.”
“We can’t promise that,” Aiden says, “but we will be careful.”
We’re quiet for a bit, scarcely daring to believe what we’re planning. Aiden eventually continues, “If it all goes well according to plan, I’ve split the men in two. Half will follow Kara if she gets taken, and the rest will be with me. With his men split up like they will be because I’ve made sure that most are down at the docks waiting for a shipment, my men and I’ll take Alfred down after the meet with the bikers. Feck, I hope this works, or we’ll all be swinging come the evening.”
“It will work,” I say, patting his hand. “We can’t keep living like this, and there’s no way I’m standing for the girls or Shea to be sold. I’ll blow us all to kingdom come first before I allow that to happen. Now you lot better head off before someone realises you’re missing.”
I put my hand in the middle of the table and wait until they’ve added theirs to the pile.
“For our family,” I whisper.
“For our family,” they each respond. My hand tightens on theirs; I look into each of their eyes, wanting to memorise this moment in time. “I love you all. Be safe,” I tell them again.
Kara and Maeve’s lips tremble and Aiden clears his throat, “Love you, Thea.”
Standing, I go to the door and open it, hugging each of my siblings as they leave and disappear silently into the night.
Cleaning up the kitchen, I pull out the order book to see what the new clients are after. I’d make their order and pray that they weren’t bad people and that everything would be okay.
CHAPTER 3
COAL
The total disbelief on my face matches the expression on every single one of my brothers’ faces. I stare at the phone as if somehow waiting for the idiot on the other end to tell me he’s joking. I’d called Church and filled everyone in on what Cahir had said. They’d all been on board about the paintball opportunity, as I’d known they would be, and like Nickel had pointed out, most of what he’d told us we’d expected. But what I hadn’t expected was the demands from the guy we were supposed to be buying guns from.
“What the fuck? Are you high?” I growl.
