All they had on Pops was the fact that he turned a blind eye to the money flowing in and out of MCorp that wasn’t all completely legit. But if the feds went after every CEO who did that, they’d have to arrest the entire top one hundred list of great CEOs from Forbes Magazine.
None of it made sense. The only the way this worked was if it was a personal vendetta. But who could be that high in the organization and have that sort of vendetta against Pops?
I needed to know what they had.
I pulled my cell phone out and gave my friend another call. This time she answered on the second ring.
“Sean Callahan,” she said with something of a sigh. “Imagine you calling me.”
“Hello, Sara,” I said, slipping out of the room. “Thank you for finally answering your phone.”
“I was at the movies with a friend. It is Sunday afternoon, after all.”
“I’m aware.”
“So, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
I was quiet for a minute. I wasn’t quite sure how to go about this. Sara was…we were in law school together. We were in the same study group, and when things got too much to handle, we sometimes worked off the stress in bed together. There was nothing really romantic between us—at least, not for me—but we did enjoy each other quiet often those last few months of school.
Would she think I thought it was romantic if I asked for a favor? I wasn’t sure Delaney would like that. And I definitely wouldn’t.
“You want a favor?” she prodded.
“What makes you think that?”
“Because you’re the third member of our study group to call me since I got this job. And I happened to see a warrant go through our office that had the name Callahan on it. A relative?”
“There’s got to be a thousand Callahans in Massachusetts.”
“I’m sure there is. But only one Sean Callahan calling me on a Sunday afternoon.”
I laughed softly under my breath. “I suppose so.”
“Tell me what you need, Sean.”
I explained it to her in a quick, severely condensed version of the story. She listened without interrupting, then she sighed.
“You realize this is a federal case, so there’s not a lot I can do.”
“I do.”
“But I’ll look into it for you. Just because you were a lot of fun at a time when I really needed that.”
I leaned back against the wall, a lie on my lips. But I caught myself before I let it fall.
“I appreciate it, Sara.”
“How much?”
There was a tease in her tone. It was a familiar sound, one she often used when she was trying to get me into the bedroom during a particularly intense study session.
“More than you’ll ever know. But…” I hesitated, afraid she wouldn’t get me what I needed. But I couldn’t do this to Delaney. “I have a girlfriend.”
“You mean someone finally managed to pin you down?” There was surprise and some disappointment in her voice. “That’s amazing. I didn’t think it was possible.”
“I’m sorry, Sara.”
“Don’t be. I hope you’re happy, Sean. Really.”
“Thanks. I hope you are, too.”
She laughed. “Yeah, well, not in that arena, obviously. But my career makes me happy.”
“I’m glad. And I hope you find someone who’s good to you.”
“Me, too.” She sighed hard enough that I could hear it clearly over the phone. “I better go. Someone needs a favor, so I guess I have to spend the rest of the day in the office.”
“Well, whoever that is, he should appreciate you more than he already does.”
Another giggle. “I knew there was something about you I really liked. Goodbye, Sean.”
I disconnected the call and pulled up a picture of Delaney I’d taken last week. She was sitting on the couch, a book in her hands, but she was sound asleep. She’d looked so peaceful that I couldn’t help but snap the pic. And now…I wanted to be with her right now. I wanted her here by my side. I knew if she was here, this whole thing wouldn’t seem so insurmountable. But I didn’t want to ask that of her. This was my problem. I had to deal with it.
I shoved the phone back in my pocket and went into the research room. Brianna looked up as I walked back to the chair where I’d been sitting and fell into it.
“She’s going to send me as much as she can. But she warned me that it’s a federal case, so they don’t have a whole lot in their offices.”
“Even a little would be helpful.”
I agreed. I rolled my chair closer to the table and looked over the notes I’d taken earlier.
“Maybe if we—?”
“Food!”
I turned and—as if she’d just walked out of my thoughts—Delaney came into the room.
“What are you doing here?”
I jumped to my feet and slipped the heavy bags out of her hands and set them on the table before pulling her into my arms, giving her a big kiss as her lips parted to answer my question.
“She called. Did I forget to mention it?” Brianna asked, a spark of mischief in her eyes.
“You did.” I brushed a piece of hair out of Delaney’s face. “You didn’t have to come down here.”
“I know. I wanted to.”
I kissed her again because that was exactly what I’d wanted to hear.
The three of us sat around one of the tables a bit later, food spread out between us. Delaney fed me a chip with some salsa on it, as Brianna explained what we’d been doing all day.
“We simply want to be over-prepared when we go to the arraignment tomorrow. If he isn’t released—”
“It’ll be bad,” I said, the heavy Mexican food suddenly becoming a lump in my stomach.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Delaney said, rubbing her thumb over my bottom lip, wiping away a bit of the salsa. “The judge has to set some sort of bail, right?”
“No, not really,” Brianna said. “He can, but if the prosecutor asks him to deny bail or set it really high, the judge can.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because they know that Pops is the best they have against Jack.” I watched Delaney’s face as the words came out of my mouth. “We think the real target here is Jack and that they arrested Pops because they have some evidence against him, but not enough to go to trial. I think they’re hoping that arresting him will put the right amount of pressure on him to make him turn on Jack. But they can’t possibly appreciate the relationship Pops and Jack have.”
“I saw Jack this morning. He was worried…really worried. But when I told him what you said, about the bruises on your dad, he seemed to relax.”
“Jack knows Pops won’t turn on him.”
Brianna was following this conversation, her eyebrows knitted together.
“Do you think we could use Jack somehow?”
Delaney shook her head. “Jack is worried about Brian, but I don’t think he’d put himself at risk to help him. He’s pretty selfish that way.”
“It’s not selfishness,” I said. “It’s self-preservation.”
Delaney shrugged—as if the difference was so minimal that it was inconsequential. “It’s stupid. Brian is the closest thing he’s ever had to having a best friend. A brother, even. Yet, he’d let him rot in jail if it meant staying out of jail himself? How does a man like that inspire such loyalty?”
“He takes good care of his people.”
“You mean money?”
“I mean everything they could need. You don’t understand what it’s like to be a part of this kind of organization. It’s a family.”
“Jack wouldn’t know the first thing about family. Or loyalty.”
Brianna cleared her throat and stood. “I think I’ll go get some of those other books we needed.”
We didn’t need any more books. We didn’t even need the books we already had. I winked at her, thanking her for her kindness. The moment she closed the door, I turned in my chair an
d lifted Delaney out of hers, pulling her onto my lap.
“What’s going on?”
She shrugged, but there were tears in her eyes. I moved her hair away from her neck and kissed her there, nuzzling against her until she giggled a little, turning into me, her hand sliding around the back of my head.
“I love you,” she whispered softly.
“I love you, too. That’s why I want you to tell me what’s bothering you.”
She was quiet for a long minute. Then she said, “He wasn’t even a part of my life until I was fifteen. And then he comes around maybe twice a year, for birthdays and the odd holiday. Then a year or two ago, he’s suddenly here all the time, wanting to have lunch, wanting to give me advice, wanting to be a dad. When I asked, he said it was because his other kids were grown and gone and they didn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore.”
I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed gently. “I’m sorry.”
“And now he’s telling me the man I love is broken and trying to get himself killed.”
I stiffened, a denial jumping to my lips. But I couldn’t deny it because it was true. It was all true. I just hadn’t realized that Jack was insightful enough to realize that.
“He said you’ve been doing work for the mob for three years and that you didn’t even tell your own father about it.”
“It’s true.”
“Why?”
I pressed my face to her shoulder, breathing a little harder than the situation warranted. I didn’t know how to put it into words. I didn’t know how to tell her about my darkest secret, the one that was slowly killing my soul until the moment I met her.
But she knew. She touched my face and drew it up, forcing me to look at her.
“I know you’re haunted by your mother’s death. I know you were there with her when she died.”
Oh, fuck!
I turned my face away. I couldn’t look her in the eye when she was looking at me with such compassion.
“I know that haunts you. I know that you work for my father to take that pain away.”
I shook my head. “Delaney…”
“Tell me about it. Maybe if you talk about it, it’ll help.”
“It’s not as simple as all that.”
“I know it feels complicated. But really, if you just talk about it…”
I bit my lip hard enough to taste a little blood. And then I mumbled the truth against her shoulder, saying the words for the first time into her sweater.
“What?” she asked.
I wanted to laugh. It was too hard to say it the first time and she wanted me to say it again? Ridiculous.
“I killed her,” I said, pulling back just a little, my eyes still focused on her shoulder. “I killed my mother.”
There. It was out. Now was the moment of truth.
I needed to hold her; I needed her to tell me it was okay. Instead, she jumped off my lap and moved several feet away before turning to confront me.
“You did what?”
It was the beginning of the end.
Chapter 17
Delaney
His words kept reverberating through my head.
I killed my mother.
What the hell did that mean?
“You did what? I mean…tell me what happened.”
He shook his head, his eyes stuck on the floor. His arms dangled sort of uselessly between his legs, his shoulders slumped like he’d simply given up and allowed his burden to break his back.
“It’s complicated.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t see it that way. When you say you killed her, does that mean you actually took a gun and shot her…that sort of killed?”
“I didn’t shoot her.”
“Then what did you do?”
He shook his head, his shoulders sinking even more, as if that was possible.
I didn’t understand. My head was spinning.
“She had cancer.”
“She was dying. But she might have lived another month or two.”
“Then why? Why would you kill her?”
“She asked me to.”
“She asked you to?”
“She was in pain, and Pops…”
Chapter 18
Sean
Six years ago…
“Hi, darling,” Mom said, as I walked into the room, her hand held out to me. I didn’t recognize her. She was so thin! And frail. My mom had never been frail. She was a strong woman who saved children, a woman who stood up to a strong man like my Pops almost as if he was a child himself. And he always melted when she turned that biting tongue on him. He loved her so much that he didn’t care what came out of her mouth, as long as she still whispered words of endearment into his ear at the end of the day.
I took her hand and leaned close to kiss her cheek.
“You look beautiful, Momma. What the hell are you doing in here? You should be at home cooking me a healthy supper.”
“I should,” she agreed, even as Pops shot me a dark look. “And I will, as soon as your father and the doctors decide I’ve gained back enough weight.” She glanced down at herself. “Imagine, struggling with my weight all my life. Never could find a diet that worked. And now that I’m finally skinny, I don’t have the energy to go out and buy a sexy outfit.”
“T.M.I., Momma.”
She laughed, but the laughter turned into a cough as the tube running through her nose and down her throat tickled the back of her throat the wrong way.
“Give us a minute, okay, darlin’?” Pops said, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. Then he gestured for me to join him out in the hallway.
“It’s bad,” I muttered, glancing back over my shoulder as the door closed.
“Not so bad. They’ve started her on a little medication that should buy her some time.”
“Chemo? I thought she chose not to do that.”
“What she doesn’t know…”
“Pops!”
“She’s dying, Sean. Don’t you want as much time with her as possible? I know I do.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, holding my own shoulders so tight that I could feel the bruises forming. I glanced back over my shoulder, catching just the slightest view of her through the long, narrow window in the door. She was on her side, every delicate bone in her spine poking out between the edges of her hospital gown.
My mom had always been a healthy woman, a chubby woman. I couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t round, complaining about the way her jeans fit. And now she was a waif, a wisp of a woman with white hair—Momma’s hair had always been jet black—and bones that poked out in places that weren’t natural.
Tears built in my throat making it so raw that I almost couldn’t swallow.
“The doctor’s going to discharge her in a few days, but he’s going to send us home with some medication that should help slow the growth of the cancer.”
“And how much time will that buy her?”
“Don’t know. At least a month or two more. When you’re counting your days in weeks, that’s pretty impressive.”
I nodded. “What if she finds out?”
“Then she can yell at me. But I’m not ready to let her go.”
I nodded again, not sure what else to do.
“Killian, Ian, Kevin, and Kyle have all had some time alone with her. Stacy came up, but she was crying so hard I had to make her step out. I’ll bring her back tomorrow.”
“Does she know how bad it is?”
“Of course. We saw three doctors, and each one said the same thing. We even went to some holistic quack, and he told her the same thing.”
“There’s nothing that can be done?”
“No.” Pops looked away, but not before I saw the tears in his eyes. “She just wants to be kept comfortable. She says there’s no point in fighting the inevitable. But you kids…you need more time with her.”
We stood there for a moment, an uncomfortable silence falling between us. Then Pops rubbed his fac
e with both hands, wiping away the grief and replacing it with simple exhaustion.
“I’m gonna go say goodnight. I’ll be back first thing in the morning. If you need anything…”
“I know.”
I followed him back into the room, but I stayed back as he leaned down and whispered to her before kissing her gently. Momma said something as he turned to leave, grasping his hand and whispering intently to him. He nodded several times, kissing her harder before he turned away again. There were tears on his cheeks, and his chin was trembling. I’d never seen my dad cry before. It was traumatizing.
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying myself.
I sat in a chair beside the bed, half turned so that I didn’t have to stare at her back. The sight of it was just too much.
“None of you should have to go through this.”
Her voice should have been weak, but it wasn’t. There was strength there that was so much like the voice I’d grown up with, the voice that told me to clean my room and whispered words of affection all on the same day, sometimes at the same time.
“It’s not your fault, Momma.”
“I know. But I hate seeing the grief in your eyes.”
I knew I shouldn’t look at her, but I couldn’t help myself. She had turned back toward me, her hand outstretched once again. And there were tears in her eyes.
“I love you, Momma.”
“I know.”
I took her hand, shocked by how cold it was. I held it between both of mine, rubbing it a little the way she used to do when we’d come in from playing in the snow and our hands would be beet red from the cold.
“I’ve talked with each of your brothers and your sister. I’ve said my goodbyes.”
I shook my head. “Don’t talk like that.”
“You’ve always been the strongest. Killian thinks he is because he’s the oldest, but he’s really just a big teddy bear. And Ian…he saw too much when he was a child. He shouldn’t have to be strong now. Kyle is such a child still—even though he likes to think he’s a man. And Kevin…poor Kevin.”
SEAN: A Mafia Romance (The Callahans Book 3) Page 12
