“Yes, it does.”
“Who is she, Annie?”
“Bridget McGregor was an intensely private matter to your uncle. I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you.”
“All you can tell me or all you want to tell me? It’s important, Annie. It has something to do with the trust.”
“I’m sorry, Liam. I must respect your uncle’s wishes.”
“Is that another one of your vows, Annie?”
“Please don’t.”
I was sorry I’d said that, it just slipped out. I guess I wasn’t as over my resentment as I thought. It was time to bring the conversation to a close. “Annie, if you think of anything else, you have my number. Please call me.”
She started to get up but then reached over and gripped my arm. There were tears in her eyes and I could see tension in her face. “Liam, you have no idea how hard it was for me to come over here today. It took everything I had. For sixteen years I’ve thought about what I would say to you if we ever met again. And now all I can say is I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the hurt. I’m sorry for what I did to you. I’m sorry for what I did to us. There isn’t a day that’s gone by for the last sixteen years that I haven’t been sorry. It was the sorriest thing I ever did in my life, and as bad as I felt over losing you, I felt twice as bad knowing I had hurt you and that I made you hate me.” She buried her face in her hands. “I loved you so much and I made you hate me.”
I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to open that door. That door was locked. “I don’t hate you, Annie.”
“I should have been stronger. I should have stood up to him. I’m so sorry, Liam.”
“Listen to me, Annie. I forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago.”
Her tears were flowing. “Thanks for that, but I know you hated me for what I did; anyone would have.”
“It was hard for a while, I won’t lie. But I got over it and I moved on and I don’t think of you in a bad way.”
“That’s sweet. I wish I thought it was true.”
“It’s true, Annie.”
Now both of us were choked up. She brushed away her tears and said, “Right up to the last minute I thought I would be able to gather up the courage, change my mind and run to the airport to join you.”
I smiled. “I was standing there. I was waiting at the gate.”
“I knew you would be.”
“It was another life, Annie. It was a long, long time ago.”
“It was. But that wonderful year, it was a magical year. Please tell me that I’m not the only one who remembers those days.”
I nodded. “I remember them too, Annie. The same as you.”
She sniffed. “I better go. It’s been good seeing you, Liam, and I’m so happy for your successes. Really, I am. Can I say good-bye to your wife?”
We returned to the kitchen where Annie said good-bye to Catherine and Deirdre and left. I watched her walk away.
“She’s crying,” Deirdre said. “I knew this session would be difficult for her. She’s carried that guilt for many years.”
“I forgave her, Aunt Deirdre. Really, I forgave her a long time ago. I told her I don’t hold any hard feelings.”
“It’s not your clemency she lacks. She seeks forgiveness from the one person who won’t give it to her. Herself.”
* * *
IT WAS LATE AFTERNOON and I was bouncing Ben on my knee when my cell phone rang. The caller ID read “Unknown.”
The voice was harsh and trembling. “Liam, it’s Riley. I need to see you. Immediately.”
I signaled to Catherine and mouthed Riley.
“Okay. Where are you?” I said.
“My life’s on the line. They’re trying to kill me. I had to leave my house and my family.”
“Okay, let me bring you in. Inspector McLaughlin will give you protection.”
“Oh no. Not a chance. I’m not going to give myself up. But I need to talk to you in private. Just you and me, Liam.”
“Where are you, Riley?”
“Will you be coming, yes or no?”
“Yes, I’ll come. Where?”
“Alone, Liam. I can’t trust anyone. You have to come alone.”
“Okay, I agree. Where?”
“I don’t want to say over the phone. People could be listening. You remember where we had lunch? The restaurant? Just get in your car and start driving in that direction and I’ll text you. No funny stuff, Liam, I’ll be watching.” The phone went silent.
“You’re not going, are you?” Catherine said. “That’s crazy. Riley’s our prime suspect. It’s an obvious trap.”
“I’m going.”
“Why?”
“Because I have to find out who is responsible for all this. I have to put an end to it. If it’s Riley, I’m going to bring him in.”
“It could be someone else, someone with a gun to Riley’s head.”
“Yes it could, but this is a break in the case. Cat, we agreed I would come back here to stop the murders, to flush out the killer and protect the family. Yourself included. That’s why we came. Well, this is a chance. If nothing else, I’m sure I’ll learn something.”
Catherine was angry. She had her hands on her hips. “Yeah, you’ll learn something but you won’t live to tell anyone. He’s the number one suspect, the one responsible for the fire.”
“I know that, sweetheart. I’ll be careful.”
“You’re not going. And if you do, you’re taking McLaughlin with you.”
“I can’t. Riley said to come alone.”
“So, why does he get to call the shots? Maybe he just wants to get you out of the house. Did you think of that? Maybe he plans on coming over here when you’re gone and you won’t be here to protect us.”
She had a point. There was a PSNI officer on the front porch, but he was solo and he was becoming complacent. Maybe we needed to beef up security.
I called McLaughlin, filled him in on the phone call. “He wants to meet with me alone, right now. His voice was tense and he spoke in short bursts. He sounded out of control. I’m going to go.”
“His voice was tense?”
“Frantic. He definitely did not sound like someone who was coldly planning serial murders. I got the feeling that someone else is involved.”
“He could be out there. I’ll go with you.”
“No. He insisted I come alone. He wouldn’t even give me the address. He’s going to text it to me when I’m on the way.”
“Are you sure you want to do this? Your wife is right; it smells like a trap. When you get the address, text it to me and we’ll catch up to you.”
“I don’t think he’s the killer, but I think he has information and I’m the best one to get it. You have to give me a little time alone with him. Riley and I were as close as brothers when we were young. I can’t believe he would try to harm me. If I’m wrong, I’ll have my gun and I can take care of myself. But just in case this is a ploy to get me away from the house, I need you to increase security here. With Robert living here now, it’s a bigger target than ever. I think we should post a second patrolman. Maybe the peaceful rural setting is lulling your patrolman into a sense of complacency. I’ve noticed that he’s not even wearing his body armor. Remember, there is a sniper out there somewhere.”
“I’ll send an extra man and make sure they know to wear their armor. Be careful with Riley; he could be our man. Let me know where the meet is when you get the text. I’ll see you later.”
* * *
HARBOR HOUSE WAS THE restaurant Riley was referring to, and it was on the western shores of Lough Neagh, twenty miles away, just south of the town of Ballyronan. As I drove around the north end of the lake, I tried to get my mind around the possibility that Riley was the killer. Could the Riley I know be the one who killed his father, killed his uncle, tried to kill my wife and child, firebombed my house and hired a sniper to take out Uncle Robert? Try as I might, that just didn’t fit into my brain. I couldn’t accept the proposition that quiet, gentle Riley w
as the mastermind of all this viciousness.
I had almost reached the restaurant when his text came in. “Shore Rd. 6 Km past Ballyronan. Take dirt road left toward the water. Wooden boathouse at end of road. Alone. I’m watching.”
A broken rail fence lay on the side of the entrance to the dirt road. Lumps of clay and stones. My Audi wasn’t going to like it. The road wound through thick woods toward Lough Neagh, past an abandoned shack and ended at the water’s edge. “Boathouse” was a generous description of the broken-down hut, which appeared to be in a terminal stage of neglect. Several of the gray siding boards had rotted away. Windows were fogged or broken. Spiders had spun their webs all over the structure. Frogs were croaking in the marsh. It was creepy.
When I parked the car and looked around, it didn’t seem like anyone was there. Riley’s car wasn’t in the drive. I didn’t see any footprints or tire tracks. I called out, “Riley,” but there was no answer. I decided to enter the darkened, wooden hut. Boathouse, indeed. It was ten by twenty, maybe enough room for a small rowboat. I didn’t see Riley. I took a seat on a stool and checked my phone to see if there were any further texts. There weren’t.
As the seconds ticked, a variety of scenarios played out in my mind. Maybe Catherine was right, maybe this was a ploy to get me out of the house. Maybe something had happened to Riley. Or maybe Riley was the bait and someone else was coming. If so, who was pulling his strings? In any event, I wasn’t going to stay any longer. I started to leave when I heard Riley say, “Sit down, Liam.”
I turned around and there he was, standing in the darkened corner with a double-barreled shotgun pointed at my head. Shame on me for not seeing him.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Liam, but I had to make sure you were alone and you weren’t followed.”
“Okay, I wasn’t followed. Now put down the rifle.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why did you bring a shotgun to this meeting, Riley?”
“Because civil conversation doesn’t work with you. And I don’t want to die. Take your gun out and put it on the floor.”
That was a foolish request by a man with no combat or law enforcement experience. He was letting me put my hands on my gun. I could have easily shot him, but I didn’t want to kill him or hurt him, I just wanted to get to the bottom of the murders. I did what he asked and he kicked the gun to the side.
“Now put your cell phone on the floor.”
I laid my phone at his feet, hoping he would turn the wrong way or bend down and give me an opening to swat his rifle. “All right, I’m here. What’s this all about?”
He stomped his heel on phone, cracking it open. “Someone’s after me and it’s a damn good guess that it’s my boss, Ross Penters. He’s in a rage, out of control, and you know why, don’t you? It’s because I haven’t been able to get ownership of my stock certificate. Can you blame him? He needs the stock to save his ass and I can’t give it to him. First my father blocks me, and now it’s you. Why the hell did you come back for my father’s funeral? Why couldn’t you have just sent a damn condolence card, Liam? We hadn’t heard from you in sixteen years. Why now? Why couldn’t you have stayed in America where you belong? Why did you have to stick your meddling ass in the middle of things? Why?”
Riley was raising his voice, he was twitching and getting more frenetic by the minute. His speech was racing. The veins in his neck were bulging. He was sweating profusely. I was pretty sure he was speeding.
“After you learned that my father appointed you as trustee,” he said, “why didn’t you just turn it down? You could have said, ‘I live in America, I can’t do this,’ and no one would have blamed you. Why the fuck didn’t you just go home? Goodness knows, I tried to get you to go home. Why couldn’t you take a hint?”
“It was you?”
“Yeah, Liam, it was me. Surprise, surprise. I needed you to get the hell out of Antrim. But no, you stayed, screwed things up and now my boss is all over me.”
“Your boss is after you?”
He laughed loudly. “After me? Oh yeah, and he’s no lightweight. He’s powerful enough to cut down anyone in his way. He’s got the money to hire people to get things done, like the sniper who shot my uncle, like the guy who plowed into Uncle Eamon.”
“He did that?”
“Of course he did.”
“Who shot your father?”
“Shut up, Liam. This is my show. I’ll tell you what I want you to know and when I want you to talk.” He stepped forward into the light, a little closer now, and I could see he was a wreck. He had a four-day stubble and he clearly hadn’t bathed. What was once a well-tailored gray wool suit and white shirt was now torn and filthy.
“Riley, have you been taking anything? Any pills?”
“Shut up, I said! None of your business. Because of you, Penters is my problem, not a few Adderalls. I need them to stay sharp, I have to keep my edge. Penters is after me now. Me, the good soldier, who always did what he was told. I was sure there was a tail on me when I left the office four days ago. I got into my car and there they were, right behind me. I’d turn left, they’d turn left. I’d speed up, they’d speed up. I couldn’t drive home and put my family in the crosshairs, so I gave ’em the slip. I’m pretty crafty. A damn lot craftier than you think I am, Conor.”
“I’m Liam.”
“I know who you are,” he screamed. “Shut up! I managed to lose them near Castle Court and I made my way out here. No one will find me out here.” He waved his arm around. “My father’s fishing hole was right off this shore. Remember? Don’t you recognize this place?”
I shook my head. “So you shook the tail and ended up out here?”
“Right. I’ve been sleeping on the goddam floor, Liam. The floor! I went into Ballyronan for supplies, but I can’t go back. Not looking like this.”
“You want me to get you supplies?”
“No, Liam, you’re here for a reason.”
“Why would your boss want to kill you?”
“The goddam stock, Liam. Aren’t you listening? Without the stock, we’re all going to jail. Why do you think everyone’s getting killed? It’s for the stock. Why couldn’t you have just handed over the stock to me at lunch, or gone home and let someone else be trustee? Conor would have given me the stock. Why did you have to stay? Didn’t I make it plain enough that you weren’t wanted here?”
“Did you hire the guy to firebomb my house, Riley?”
“What?”
“Did you hire the guy to set the fire to my house and kill my family?”
“Jesus, Liam. I wouldn’t do that. How can you think that was me?”
“You said it was you.”
“No, I said I tried to get you to leave Antrim. I slashed your tires, I wrote a note and I rifled your hotel room. I made a few phone calls to your wife. Jesus Christ, anybody else would have taken the hint and gone home. They’d have been scared for their wife. But not Liam. No, not Liam. Why the hell didn’t you go home?” he screamed and kicked at the dirt floor. He was unhinged. “I wouldn’t have stayed. Not when someone started phoning my wife. But I didn’t kill anybody or set any fires. That was all Penters. Don’t you see? He’d do anything. He’ll stop at nothing to get that stock. And now he’s after me!”
“What about the pictures? Walker’s house and his wake? Were you the one who delivered all those calling cards?”
“No, Liam, how would I get those? It was Penters. Had to be. He even put one in my mailbox to scare the shit out of me.”
His nerves were firing out of control and while I didn’t think he would shoot me, he was manic enough to tense up and squeeze the trigger. If he made the slightest move with that rifle, I’d have to lunge at him. I hoped he wasn’t a good shot. He didn’t look comfortable with a rifle. I made the distance to be about eight feet.
“Riley, why would Penters want to kill you? Think about it. With you dead, he’d never get the stock. It would go to the remaining beneficiaries.”
“Revenge, Liam. He’s a vicious man. He blames me for screwing up the whole company. He blames me for making bad investments, which was never my fault. How was I supposed to know what the short-term market would do? Am I a fucking prophet? I’m a long-term investor.” Sweat was pouring off his forehead. He was speeding, he was out of his element and I was waiting for my chance. However, even with all this going on, I felt bad for the guy. This was Riley, my cousin, my childhood playmate. There had to be some way I could talk him down.
“Riley, let me help you. Let me take you in to Inspector McLaughlin. We’ll get your family protected and then we’ll go after Penters. You haven’t really done anything wrong. McLaughlin will help you. We’ll all help you. What do you say? We’ll do it together.”
“It’s too late for that. Penters is a madman. The only way out is to give him the stock. Penters is ruthless. You can’t imagine what pressure I’ve been living under.”
I looked at the barrel. Close, but not yet. “Getting the stock won’t prevent the government from prosecuting the case. The stock means nothing. You need help and we can do this together. Hand in hand, Riley, just like the old days.”
Riley was screaming so much he was getting hoarse. “You think you’re so smart? You know nothing! If Penters gets the stock, he’ll refinance the company. It’ll buy us some time. That’s all we need. Just some time. Ross thinks we can use the stock to nail enough financing to get us all out of Northern Ireland. My family and I will be safe, resettled somewhere far away. But you’re stopping us from doing that, aren’t you?”
“You’re wrong, Riley. It won’t work. No bank is going to loan money to a company that’s running from the regulators.”
“You don’t know anything!” he screamed. “Global’s got hard assets. Hard assets, you know: realty, inventory, equipment. You can borrow against hard assets, and after we get the money, who cares? The bank forecloses and gets the assets, we have the money and we’re out of here. Works out for everyone. Everyone’s happy. But only if you give me the stock.”
Then he got quiet. “Help me out here, Liam, and everyone will be okay. I’ll reach Ross and tell him I’ve got the stock and all the killings will stop. Everything will be fine. Your family will be safe. You’ll never hear from me again. Go back home and enjoy your life.”
The Trust Page 30
