Deadly Shamrocks: An Irish Tale of Love, Murder and Revenge by J. B. Reed Read Free Book Online Page A

kitchen table and started unpacking the contents. As she opened the Moo Goo Gai Pan, a wave of nausea hit Vivie. She covered her mouth and ran to the bathroom. Michael followed her.
    “Darlin, are you alright? What’s wrong?”
    “I’m okay, I’ll be right out.”
    “What happened, Vivie, are you okay?”
    “I’m sure I’m fine, Michael. I probably had a little too much wine this evening.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “I don’t think I’m up for dinner Michael; I’m sorry. I think I will go ahead and go to bed, if you do not mind. It is probably the wine, but I could be coming down with something. Better to go to bed for the night, I think.”
    “Very well, darlin. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    Michael kissed Vivie’s cheek and walked back into the kitchen. As she lay across the bed, a horrible thought came into her mind. She had not had her period this month. This really was not unusual. She had been late before. "Dear God in heaven, please let that be all it is. Blessed Mary, Mother of God, please don’t let it be anything else."
    "Hail Mary Full of Grace, the Lord Is With Thee……"

4.
    THE PAPA PLAN
    Molly O’Hanlon’s bar was like many other bars in Hell’s Kitchen, it was a dive, a hole in the wall, a place where the unsavory would come in for a shot of whisky, a pint of ale, or to find their friendly neighborhood drug connection. Whores worked out of Molly O’Hanlon’s. Molly O’Hanlon’s was also Tommy Flannery’s home away from home, as well as his business office.  If Tommy was not out on the streets, making sure his crew was taking care of business or his whores were out selling their asses off, literally, he could be found at the corner table in the back room of Molly’s.
    Tonight, Tommy and Ryan were together, going over the day’s receipts and discussing a job that Tommy wanted Ryan to handle personally.
    “Tommy, you know Shane’s supposed to be coming out of the hospital tomorrow, right?”
    “Yeah, I know. So?”
    “So, what are we gonna do about what was done to him? You heard what Shane said, that guy, Michael, he said he was coming after you, Tommy.  Hell, he’s coming after both of us. Are we gonna sit here, on our asses and let him do the same to us as he did to poor Shane?”
    “What’s wrong, Ryan, are you scared? You little pussy.”
    “Fuck no, I’m not scared, but I think we need to decide how we’re gonna take care of this fucker.”
    Tommy kept counting out money, never looking up at Ryan.
    “You saw what he did to Shane. That, my friend, was not the work of a jealous boyfriend. That, was the work of a professional, someone who knew what the hell he was doing. The question is; who is this guy? All we know about him is he calls himself Michael, but we don’t know if that’s his real name. And, we don’t know who he’s working for. We do know he’s not part of the Westies. If he was, I would know it. No, I would say he’s part of a bigger family.”
    “You think he’s working for the wops? He’s Irish, why would the wops want him?”
    “Who can tell what those Italian bastards will do?” Tommy, put a roll of bills down and crushed out his cigarette.
    “I need for you to ask around, see what you can find out about this guy. See if any of our people have ever heard of a cleaner by the name of Michael or Mickey or Mick. Describe the guy; see what you can find out. I’ll check with the boss and see what I can find out, see if any of them have ever heard of him. I can promise you one thing. You find this guy, you find Vivian.”
    “You think he’s got her, Tommy?”
    “Fuck, yeah. He’s her Prince Charming, remember? Why would he be coming after us if he hadn’t rescued her sweet little ass that night? Yeah, he’s got her, I can guarantee it. You know, that may be an idea. We may be able to flush him out by flushing her out.”
    “How we gonna do that, Tommy?”
    “From what I’ve heard around the Kitchen,