Shamrocks and Secrets (29 page)

My finger was steady on the trigger as I watched Porchelli
’
s eyes grow bigger. By the look on his face, he knew I was deadly serious.

“
If you kill me, Malloy, you
’
ll never know
…”

I cut him off. I was sick of his games, sick of him taking up air that good people like my Christi needed to breathe.
“
I already know all I need to know; I know that you won
’
t be able to hurt her anymore.
”

I didn
’
t give him a chance to respond as I unloaded my magazine into his chest, my last bullet hitting him squarely between the eyes. I watched as his hand came up to his heart as he gasped for his last breath, the force of the bullets propelling him into the wall. With a hard thud, he lay dead in a pool of quickly flowing blood. His eyes still open, a trail of dark blood descending down his face.

I couldn
’
t remove my eyes from his body. I had killed my fair share of men in my days, but this one was personal. He had dared to touch the one thing that was forbidden, breaking the unwritten rule that wives were off limits. Velenci would be powerless to enforce anything and as far as Sophia was concerned, she would just be a causality of the drug war.

“
You killed my daughter,
”
Matthew
’
s voice invaded the quiet that was present after the gunshots stopped.

I looked to see Jimmy, who could only smile as I began to reload my gun.
“
Here, Matthew, use mine,
”
I told him as I tried to hand him my gun. Matthew looked at me, and then at the gun that was offered.
“
It
’
s a clean gun and we
’
ll dispose of it when we
’
re finished here.
”

He looked from my gun to my face, and then turned back to Jimmy.
“
A bullet is too quick for this son of a bitch. He needs to suffer.
”
The smug smile on Jimmy
’
s face disappeared, replaced with pure terror as he looked into Matthew O'Rourke
’
s eyes boring into him with the anguish and rage of a grieving father.
“
You took my daughter from me. You left her to die, naked and alone in a seedy motel room.
”

Matthew began to walk closer to Jimmy, never taking his eyes off him.
“
She wanted to be a teacher, did you know that?
”
It wasn
’
t really a question, more of a thought he had that passed his lips.
“
She wanted to teach kindergarten, she had her whole life ahead of her. But you changed all that. You stole her bright future, traded it for drugs, and death.
”

Matthew was getting closure. He needed to share his memories with the man who had taken away his daughter.

“
You took my beautiful daughter and made her into a broken, hateful person who would stay gone for weeks. She no longer cared about her sisters or her father. She only wanted her next fix.
”

Matthew stayed quiet for several minutes and surprisingly, so did Jimmy. Finally, Matthew raised his head and turned to Jimmy once again.
“
Did you know that in the time of King Henry, VIII, when someone offended the crown, they were given the most severe punishment?
”

Again, this wasn
’
t a question.

“
When my girls were little, they loved to play princess, especially Colleen. She looked just like a little fairytale princess with those red flowing curls and her porcelain skin. They would dress up so cute and want me to play the role of the King.
”
His eyes showed me he was seeing his little girls dancing around him, free and innocent.

The warmth from his memories faded from his eyes as he looked back at James.
“
You took away my princess.
”
The look that followed that statement was one I hoped never to receive from Matthew O'Rourke. He was no longer in control of his actions and Jimmy would be paying the price.

“
Patrick, can you instruct your men to assist me, please?
”

I didn
’
t have to say a word, Shamus and Angus stepped forward to flank Matthew.

“
Gentlemen, strip him of his clothes and hold him to the wall.
”
Jimmy was clearly too terrified to say a word. My men wasted little time as the sounds of clothes ripping filled the room, the strips landing in a pile at my feet. On a chain hanging around Jimmy
’
s neck was the engagement ring I had given my Christi. Matthew was looking at it as well, but would leave it there for now as a reminder of what he had done to his other daughter as well. This wasn
’
t just for Colleen anymore.

“
In that time, the King would order the offending person to be drawn and quartered. Since we have to adjust due to the circumstances, we
’
ll just be drawing.
”

Jimmy didn
’
t know what had hit him as Matthew pulled a razor-sharp switchblade seemingly from nowhere and made a large deep slash across Jimmy
’
s lower body. He screamed out in pain as blood began to pour from the wound. However, Matthew wasn
’
t finished as he drew the blade through the cut again, and this time the gash opened and what looked like James
’
s intestines fell out, splattering onto the floor as he watched.

“
See, in the days of the King, your intestines would been pulled out and burned at this point, but I don
’
t want to end your suffering quite that quickly.
”

This time the blade coming down sliced off Jimmy's manhood and I would admit that even I cringed.

The pool of blood at Jimmy
’
s feet was growing at an alarming rate, enough that I had to take a step back to avoid getting it on my shoes.

Matthew crossed the room and took a seat on the floor as he continued to watch Jimmy die a slow and excruciating death.

I watched as Shamus and Angus held tightly to Jimmy
’
s naked body, pinning it to the cold stone wall. Moments later, a bubbling sound was heard from Jimmy's and then the contents of his bladder and bowels, fell to the floor, followed by Jimmy
’
s head dropping forward, a sure sign of his death.

Matthew stood and walked over, unclasping the gold chain from around Jimmy
’
s neck holding my Christi
’
s ring.
“
Let him fall, Gentlemen,
”
Matthew
’
s voice said softly as he sighed deeply and backed away.
“
Rest in peace now, princess,
”
he sobbed, his voice full of emotion and it was all I could do to not join him.

Matthew inhaled deeply and then turned to me, taking my hand and placing the ring in my palm,
“
It
’
s over, Son. Let
’
s go tell our Christi the good news.
”

T
he waiting room at the hospital was full of family when I arrived. My ma rushed over and threw her arms around me.
“
Dr. Bradshaw is in there now, please tell me you
…”

I leaned in close so that no one else could hear.
“
Yes, she has nothing to fear.
”

“
Patrick.
”
I looked up to see Amex making a quick b-line for me. She and Caleb had returned from their honeymoon two weeks ago.
“
They won
’
t let us back there,
”
she whimpered, her arms going tightly around my neck. Amex released me and immediately pushed me away,
“
Oh, crap, Patrick what is that horrible odor?
”
she groaned as I noticed my father entering the room with a man in a white lab coat following close behind.

“
Christi
’
s prison,
”
I told her as I removed her arms from around my neck and made my way over to my father. The man in the white coast
’
s pocket read Dr. Kenneth Bradshaw, MD, Emergency Medicine.

“
Da?
”
I called out.

Thomas
’
s head snapped in my direction,
“
Patrick, you
’
re here.
”
I continued to make my way closer, as the room grew very quiet.
“
Son, this is my good friend, Dr. Bradshaw. He
’
s been attending to our Christi.
”

I held out my hand to him, grasping his firmly and making direct eye contact.
“
Sir, I
’
m Patrick Malloy, Christi
’
s fiancé.
”

Dr. Bradshaw was an older man, with round glasses and silvering hair. If my dad trusted him, then so did I.

“
Yes, well, I have to tell you, we were very lucky you got to her when you did. I
’
ve run several lab tests and the good news is it doesn
’
t appear that she
’
s suffered any permanent damage. Her liver enzymes are in an acceptable range. My only concern is that when we started a catheter on her, nothing came out. We
’
ve put her on a rapid infuser to get as much hydration into her as quickly as possible, but I
’
ll feel a lot better when her kidneys start showing some output.
”

I had a question that was burning a hole in my gut. I had to know, not that the answer would change anything between Christi and I.

“
Dr. Bradshaw, was there any evidence of
…
sexual assault?
”

Dr. Bradshaw placed his hand on my shoulder as he responded,
“
No, Patrick, there were no obvious physical signs of a sexual trauma. However
,
we
’
ll have to ask her when we wake her up to be certain.
”

I looked at him perplexed,
“
Wake her up?
”

“
Yes, we
’
ve given her medicine to make her sleep. It
’
s better for her body to heal if she doesn
’
t have any outside stimulation right now.
”

I nodded my head as I silently thanked God.

“
When can I see her?
”

Dr. Bradshaw only smiled as he responded,
“
The nurses are cleaning her up, give us an hour and I
’
ll have one of them come and get you.
”

I shook his hand and thanked him for everything he had done for Christi.

My da came over and gave me a tight hug,
“
Is it finished?
”

I nodded my head as we separated.

I noticed Matthew had joined us and had heard everything Dr. Bradshaw had told us. For a second, I felt guilty for not making certain he was there, he was her father after all.

I turned and headed to where my ma and Amex were sitting. I hadn
’
t noticed that Sherman Montgomery was in the room. Sherman and Eileen had stayed in Chicago after Caleb and Amex went on their honeymoon so Sherman could make certain Caleb
’
s business interests here were taken care of.

I needed a distraction. Christi was the one person who could calm me down, no matter what the issue was. I needed her, but she needed me more right now.

Ma handed me a cup of coffee as Sherman began talking to me.
“
Patrick, my God, when Caleb called me, I couldn
’
t believe it and rushed right over. Christi is a dear thing and I
’
ve been praying for her every day. Is there anything you need, Son?
”

I knew I was going to get asked that question a lot today.

“
Thank you for coming, Sherman. I
’
ll let you know if I need anything.
”

He patted me on my back as Caleb made his way over to us.
“
Eileen will be happy to hear that Christi has been found.
”
He noticed me looking around for Eileen, but she wasn
’
t in the room.
“
She
’
s due back next week from her vacation with Mia,
”
he sighed.

I looked to Caleb confused; I would never go on a vacation without my wife. Caleb only shook his head, silently asking me not to question it. Apparently, this was a sore subject.

I noticed Matthew standing beside Sherman.
“
Matthew, this is Sherman Montgomery, Caleb
’
s father.
”
I then gestured to Matthew,
“
Sherman, this is Matthew O'Rourke, Christi
’
s father.
”

“
Matthew, I just can
’
t imagine what you
’
re going through as her father. I can
’
t imagine what I
’
d do if that happened to my Mia.
”

“
You have a daughter?
”
Matthew questioned.

Sherman retrieved his phone and began to scroll through his pictures, finding one of Mia and showing it proudly to Matthew.

“
She is a beautiful girl, Sherman.
”

Sherman continued to look at the screen.
“
She takes after her mother in the looks department.
”

Matthew chuckled as he responded,
“
I think every father gives the credit for the beauty to the mothers, but I
’
ll say I
’
m an exception to that rule.
”

Sherman looked to Matthew, but didn
’
t question.

“
Patrick, you remember my Mia?
”

I smiled as I took his phone from his hand and politely glanced at the picture quickly before handing the phone back to Sherman. Mia seemed to be a very beautiful girl with her long dark hair and model-perfect face.
“
She
’
s beautiful, Sherman.
”

The conversation quickly ended as a feminine voice called out,
“
Patrick Malloy?
”

I turned my attention in the direction of the voice to find an older woman in white scrubs, standing with a clipboard. Her glasses perched lower on her nose.
“
Yes, I
’
m Patrick Malloy.
”

She smiled as she motioned with her free hand for me to follow her.
“
Come with me, dear, she
’
s ready for you to see her.
I
’
m
Nurse Casey and I
’
ve been assigned to Christi today.
”

I followed her through a set of doors, passed the nurses
’
station, and then down to the end of a long hallway.
“
Mr. Malloy was very specific about Ms. O'Rourke
’
s accommodations,
”
she said as she stood outside a set of double doors.

Books was standing outside the room.
“
I guess I
’
m not needed anymore if you
’
re here?
”
Books asked as I grabbed him in a hug.

“
No, the situation has been handled. Go home to your wife and daughter.
”

Books nodded his head in understanding,
“
Call me if you need me, I
’
ll bring Smiles up later.
”
I smiled at him and nodded before I followed the nurse into the room.

The room looked more like a suite at the Ritz than a hospital room. I knew I had my parents to thank for that. Only the best would ever do for their kids, and that definitely included my Christi.

She was nestled in what appeared to be a queen-sized bed. Her dark hair had been pulled to one side, as if it had just been combed. Her face now looked peaceful, despite the circumstances she had been found in only a few hours ago. Above her head was a machine that held what looked like a flat screen, where I could see numbers and lines, her name was written across the top. Upon closer look, a white heart was flashing in the corner above the number seventy-two.

“
Her vitals all look really good,
”
the nurse spoke softly.
“
Feel free to hold her hand or face, you won
’
t hurt her.
”

I made my way around her bed, taking in the paleness of her skin and the still-sunken-in appearance of her eyes.

An overstuffed chair sat beside her bed and I took a seat, taking her hand in mine. Her fingernails still had bits of dirt under them and were chipped and tattered. Christi rarely wore nail polish, but her nails were always neat.

Lifting her hand to my lips, I kissed each knuckle and fingertip. I could still smell the horrid odor that had been present in that cavern. Now it was mixed with that telltale smell of hospital disinfectant.

“
Sponge baths only get them so clean, Mr. Malloy.
”

I continued to look at her, so pale and so fragile.
“
She won
’
t like this. She
’
s always been so particular about being clean.
”

I felt the nurse
’
s warm hand on my shoulder,
“
You can bring her things up and we can have them ready when she wakes.
”
I nodded in understanding.
“
Her IV is nearly ready to be changed
. I
’
ll be just down the hall if you need me.
”

I could just make out the sounds of the nurse
’
s shoes on the tile floor as she turned, the soft thud of the closing door telling me she had left.

I got up from my chair and leaned over Christi
’
s still body. I began to place soft kisses over her face, including her eyes and lastly her chapped lips. I pulled back to look at her; I could see remnants of tiny stones in her hair as well as scaling skin and clumps of dirt. I retrieved my cell from my pocket and sent my ma a text.

Send someone to get her things, she isn
’
t clean enough.

Pocketing my phone, I nestled back into the empty side of her bed.
“
You scared me,
”
I whispered into her ear.
“
I swear I won
’
t ever fail you again, just please come back to me.
”

Running my hand along her cheekbone and down her chin, it didn
’
t take a genius to see that she had lost a sizable amount of weight. I had no doubts ma would reverse that in a minute once I got my Christi home.

“
Our wedding is in a few weeks, so you need to rest and get better so you can walk down that aisle to me.
”