Page 91 of Dirty Padraig: Dirty Dusters

I look at Molly’s phone once more. It hasn’t got much power, but it’s enough for me to access what I need and to download the entire content to my laptop.

There are a few missed calls. Numbers I’ll ask either Jessie or Dylan to analyze. I move straight to the messages.

As Jessie suspected, they’re all still there and filed neatly in name order. Molly was clearly a better administrator than she ever was a mobster or a lawyer.

My finger hovers over Eoin’s name, but I don’t look. It would be an invasion of privacy. They were together for over a year. They were planning on getting married. If they had intimate conversations or sent photos back and forth over that time, they’re for their eyes only.

I scroll down until I see Sophia’s name.

Does she realize I have the phone? She must know Molly is no longer with us, given the time that’s lapsed, surely? Will she suspect I had any involvement in her demise? I don’t bother scrolling back any further than necessary.

For now, I just need an answer to the question that’s been bugging me for weeks. Does Sophia know about Fin, and if so, did Molly tell her?

Molly:The boy is Padraig’s. Eoin’s just told me so. He says he married the biker to protect Finian, but it’s all a lie. He’s in love with her. It’s just as Roisin predicted.

Sophia:It’s as I feared, then. What happens now?

Molly:I don’t know. I’ve just been dumped, so I’m about to leave the building.

Sophia:Your father will be furious.

Molly:If he reacts badly, then the O’Connells have brought that on themselves. Eoin disrespected me, and Roisin betrayed me, and as for that biker...

Sophia:She’ll be executed mobster-style?

Molly:You read my mind.

There’s then a time gap. The last message was received only two days ago.

Sophia:I’ve had a message from an unknown number. They say they’ve left a gift for you at St. Peters. It’s in the safe room under the first sectional. I’m not sure how they got in there. Maybe one of the high-rankers let them in? Or maybe it’s just a hoax? Either way, I thought I should pass on the message.

Hoax or not, that’s where I’m now headed.

What’s the worst that can happen inside a church? I message Duke to let him know I need to go out, then shoving Molly’s phone in my pocket, I place my dead one on charge.

I’m sure I won’t need it. It won’t take me long to get there and back.

St. Peter’s Church, Upper East Side, New York

I park up my hog on the same grass verge I did last time I was here. I’d just married Eoin. I’d just kissed Eoin. And the guilt I felt for betraying Ace by doing both caused me to throw up.

It was over a year ago now.

The waves of grief don’t get any smaller. They just get farther apart, so you can at least breathe in between each one. I feel guilty that I don’t think about him every minute of every day like I used to. That I don’t make time to talk to him each morning like I did.

It’s not that I don’t still love him or miss him. It’s because I’ve had no choice but to move on with a life without him in it.

I wipe the tears from my cheeks. I know they’re falling. They always do when I think of Jason Steele. I swallow the lump of words unspoken as I stare up at St. Peter’s.

Unlike the rest of the family, I don’t frequent this establishment, although the children do from time to time. Well, they did when it was safe for them to do so. I figured The Almighty wouldn’t want me stopping by pretending to beg for his forgiveness for the number of souls I’ve personally collected over the years.

Let’s face it, he doesn’t have time to waste, and neither do I.

It’s dusk, and the sky’s laced with varying shades of blue and pink. Even though darkness hasn’t fully descended, the bats are already out, and I can’t help but smile as they flit playfully around my head.

I stare at Irish’s church—a place he holds closer to his heart than any other.

I told him I loved him, and then he was gone. He clearly doesn’t want my love in any shape or form.

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