Gemini Rain (22 page)

They all sat down, Lauren in an armchair and each man on either
side of her on small two seat
settees, a small coffee table was in the centre and Lauren noticed an overstuffed but closed folder on it.

‘
Christ Peter, what mess have you left for me to clean up now?
’
Lauren felt she was about to scream. 

Paul read her perfectly and suggested ordering some water or tea he looked at O’Reilly nodding towards the telephone. O’Reilly got up again and Paul commenced.

‘Did you know there was a
small
cabinet reshuffle
a few
months ago, Lauren?’  Lauren nodded no; she didn’t take her eyes off the folder, ‘I got a promotion…’

‘Congratulations,’ she didn’t look at him.

‘Lauren,’ he took her hands, he could feel they were moist with nervous sweat, ‘Look at me, you’re not in trouble. Please relax.’

She sarcastically laughed and turned to him,
‘
So what are you now, An Taoiseach!’

‘No, the Minister for Justice.’

‘Oh, Christ,’ she closed her eyes wanting this to end. He was perfect for the job and she knew it, what with his law degree and
experience
before he left his father’s firm
to take up politics full time. Opening her eyes, she felt lost, out of control, ‘Am I really not in trouble?’

‘No
you’re not
but
unfortunately some of
your family are.
’

‘
Did you know your house, your parent’s h
ouse and the business was under surveillance
for the six months prior to your husband’s death?’ O’Reilly now rejoined them and asked her the question.

‘I’ll handle this, Detective if you don’t mind,’ Paul was stern with him and showed his annoyance at the interruption. He turned his attention again to Lauren and spoke softly to her, explaining how the drugs were still being smuggled into Ireland through her parent’s shipping business. Whoever, he said, is organising the ring were covering their tracks better than ever because of Lauren’s discovery and her confrontation with Peter and her mother. It was currently one of the biggest drug operations in Ireland. Knowing Lauren was innocent because of the arguments she had with Peter, he reassured her again she wasn’t in trouble, but they needed her help, did she have any documentation or evidence to show who else was involved. Paul was becoming insistent which made her uneasy again.

‘Peter told me he was working alone, Mother knew but just turned a blind eye, we destroyed all the evidence,’ she lied.

Paul looked at O’Reilly it was now his time to join in.

‘Do you think your husband committed suicide, Mrs. Connolly?’

‘What are you suggesting,’ her voice was low but vehement as she glared at him.

‘We have reason to believe he was murdered,’ he was point blank, unemotional, ‘did you not have those suspicions yourself when I first interviewed you.’ 

‘You know full well I did, but you never acted on those suspicions, did you?’ she accused him, ‘I thought it was paramilitaries and when Peter stopped their supply, they decided to get revenge but you didn’t get the hint, did you?’

‘
I knew exactly what you were indicating but t
he time wasn’t right to open that part of the investigation,’ O’Reilly responded.

Paul took her hand again but there was a knock on the door and tea
and coffee
was served. Once the waiter left, they started their questioning again, but Lauren had enough she got up to leave when Paul decided it was time to drop the bombshell, by informing her
that they believed
it was her mother behind the whole organisation and not paramilitaries.

Lauren sat down again, ‘And my Dad?’ her head was spinning as she attempted to take some water but her hands were shaking too much.

Paul took the glass pouring some water into it and gave it to her, ‘no your father as far as we can see was
and is
not involved but there was definitely someone else and after nearly a year of investigation, the police were still uncertain who.’

‘I’m sorry I don’t know what other information I can give you, I’ve told you all I know and you seem to know a hell of a lot more than I do,’ she pointed to the folder on the coffee ta
ble. ‘What do you want me to do? O
bviously you want something more from me than I can give. I mean it’s not just pure chance that you are both here to tell me this, is it?’

‘No Lauren,’ Paul looked at her sympathetically, ‘we want you to be a State Witness if the need arises.’

Lauren’s mouth dropped with the glass of water, ‘
y
ou’re joking Paul!’ but she knew by the look on his face he was deadly serious, ‘you want me to be a witness against my mother! Christ, I know my family isn’t close but do you want me to lose them all together? I can’t believe you’re asking me to do this.’

Paul grimaced and looked away.

O’Reilly decided he should take control of the situation by trying his own form of persuasion. ‘Mrs. Connolly, your mother hasn’t shown any compassion towards you or your children
especially
if she was the one who ordered your husband’s death.’

‘You don’t know that!’ Lauren shouted, ‘and from what I heard so far you have no case that would stand up in a court of law.’ It was the first time since coming to France she had lost her temper, she felt dizzy and faint.

‘Take it easy, Lauren remember your blood pressure,’ Paul was getting concerned.

‘How the hell do you know about that?’ then she
remembered her home was bugged.
‘Did you listen to all the tapes Paul?’ she was close to tears, she looked away closing her eyes, ‘I can’t help you, I’m sorry.’

Paul looked at O’Reilly asking him firmly to leave. After the detective left, he held her in his arms and they both cried, but for Lauren it was tears of anger and betrayal. ‘You’ve got to believe me Paul I can’t do what you want, it would kill Dad. If what you say is true, murde
r or suicide, I’ve already got one
loved one’s death on my hands, I couldn’t handle another.’

Paul was
despondent;
he never dreamt this could happen in his line of work. 

Chapter 21

As Lauren drove home she was silent and the children although delighted with their presents from Paul, knew something was wrong.
Emma
asked was there bad news from
Ireland, did they have to go back
. Lauren didn’t respond, she was trying to stop herself from crying again and concentrating on the traffic.
Emma
asked again, this time shouting out, ‘Mammy!’

‘What? Sorry love I can’t hear you with the radio and traffic,’ Lauren’s voice was shaky, ‘what did you say?’

Emma
repeated her question sounding impatient this time,
‘
she never calls me love,
’
Emma
thought.

‘No, I got a bit of bad news about a friend but we don’t have to return,’ Lauren tried to make herself sound calm, nervously laughing, ‘I often wonder what goes on in that little head of yours, do you know that? Don’t mind me, I know it’s hard to understand me sometimes but I’m just thinking about old times, play with your presents there’s a good boy and girl.’

Emma
and Keith gave each other a knowing glance deciding it was best not to ask anymore questions.

Lauren felt as if she was learning how to drive all over again, she crunched the gears a dozen times, the Landcruiser cut out twice and on the last
engine cut
she didn’t think it was going to st
art again. Her mind was racing
–
‘
asking me to give evidence against my own mother, offering new identity for me and the kids, who the hell do they think I am? Patricia might do something like that to save her own neck, but what would my brothers’ think and then Daddy! Oh, Christ, poor Daddy. If this all comes out it’ll kill him; he’ll drink himself to death if he doesn’t have a heart attack first.
’
Lauren’s thoughts turned to her brothers, was this why they kept away from the business?
‘
Did they know? No they couldn’t, how could they?
’
Declan, the eldest was a rally driver and charity worker, although only slightly successful with the rallying he was forever fundraising, working voluntarily for charities and community schemes where he liv
ed in Dublin. Never marrying Lauren
often wondered where he got his income; he couldn’t survive solely on the sponsorship deals
he got for car rallying
. Then she caught Daddy writing several cheques for him, boy was that one hell of an argument.
From that day on they
rarely kept in touch, meeting only for Christmas, birthdays, etc. always being carefully polite to each other in front of family and friends. He didn’t even stay long in her house after
Peter’s funeral,
‘
brotherly love
,’
she sarcastically thought. Although he did try once to get involved in the business he soon lost his patience with his parent’s line of thinking and quit.  Then she and Peter soon stepped into the fold. Lauren often wondered was he jealous of the fact that they were more successful in turning the business around.

Then there was
Carl
. Dear soft
-
hearted
Carl
, she must call him but it was so hard to keep in touch regularly with he
and his family living in the US
. With the run
of twins on her mother’s side of the family he was one but unfortunately the other twin died at birth. How he cried down the ‘phone line when she told him of Peter’s death, he wanted to get a flight back to Ireland
immediately
but Lauren wouldn’t hear of it, he had enough troubles of his own both with his marriage and finances. His garage business was in trouble
with the economic downturn hitting America hard
and both Lauren and her father wanted to
bail him out with financial help
but he wouldn’t hear of it,
he showed a family trait within Lauren’s family - too proud for that sort of help
. Secretly after the sale of the business back to her parents Lauren sent him over a cheque for the amount he needed, she knew it was cashed
, she hoped
it was
Carl’s wife made him see sense about that
. The last time she spoke to him
on Skype
, although no mention of the cheque arose, she knew he appreciated the gesture and sounded happier and more secure than in previous conversations.

‘No, that’s definite,’ Lauren
felt assured
, ‘Declan and
Carl
could
n’t know
anything about the drug dealings
.’

At last the three arrived home, the children couldn’t wait to get to some food and Lauren dazedly picked up the trail of jackets and shoes as she followed them. She needed some water and a ci
garette, trying to cut down on smoking
at the moment
but unfortunately
the cancer sticks were winning. 
‘
My doctor in Ireland won’t be too pleased with me when I visit him,
’
she thought as she inhaled deeply. ‘Ireland,’ closing her eyes as she said the name of her homeland, going back in July was going to be torturous but she knew she had to. How else could
Emma
and Keith return from their visit to
Debbie
and Pat and of course she had appointments with
her doctor and solicitor.
‘
No,
’
admitting she
couldn
’t avoid that brief week.

Before today’s event she was looking forward to the holiday, what with
Debbie
and her family
coming over here for two weeks, then
Emma
and Keith re
turning to Ireland with them then
Lauren
was
joining them the following week. It was going to be a wonderfully hectic four weeks of summer but now she dreaded it. How could she face
Debbie
and Pat? If they knew the truth about Peter and her mother they would
be devastated and probably cut off all connections with Lauren
and the children. 

Then there was her appointment with her solicitor, mainly it was to sign her Will and finish off a few other legal matters
regarding some investments
but she knew he would bring up the subject of that sealed file she left with him just before Peter’s death.
‘
Should I now take it back or leave it with him. Thank God I had the common sense to pretend to Peter it was destroyed,
’
now it could be her protection if something threatening to her and the children did arise. Of course it doesn’t mention anybody other than Peter being involved, she only found out about her mother’s participation when Lauren overheard them arguing.