Quinn's Deirdre (18 page)

Deirdre cringed.
 
She hated the crowds and the craziness, but
she wanted to build a good relationship with the woman about to become her
sister-in-law.
 
But between sighting the
hit man and Quinn’s dark premonition, her instinct warned she should stick
close at home. “I don’t know, Eileen,” she said, groping to find the words to refuse
with grace.

“Bloody
feckin
’
hell!” Quinn shouted and threw his mug across the room.
 
It shattered against the freezers and the
shards littered the floor. “Ye can’t take the bloody stuff back to Ireland with
ye so why in hell’s name would ye want to go shopping? And I suppose ye want to
go to the mall at that!”

Unfazed by his outburst, Eileen stood,
arms folded against her chest. “I can tuck a few odd bits into my bag,” she
said. “Ye must be ill, indeed. Ye’re
crabbit
as a cat
this morning.”

Des intervened. “He’s reason enough,
Eileen, so let it lie.
 
Do ye want
rashers of bacon this morning?”

While the old man prepared bacon and
eggs, Deirdre and Quinn vanished into the rear dining room and settled in a
booth. Deirdre thought some distance from his volatile sister might help defuse
the situation.
 
“Do you want more tea?”

Quinn shook his head. “Thanks but no.”

“Would you like a scone or a few rashes
of bacon with an egg?”

He made no answer, sighed, and buried
his head between his hands.
 
Deirdre
twisted her lips together in frustration. “I take it you don’t.”

“No.”

Deirdre pondered his curt answer for
about thirty seconds,
then
made a swift decision. When
she slid out of the booth and stood up
,
 
Quinn
lifted his face. “Where are ye
goin’?”

“I’m going to sweep up the mess you made
and get some more tea. Maybe you’ll chill out if I give you a few minutes
alone.”

“Ye’re angry with me.”

“Frustrated is more like it, Quinn.” He
started to protest and she held up one hand to stop him. “I know you have a
heavy premonition.
 
I understand you’re
worried and a little scared.
 
I’m very
scared.
 
But it’s not going to help to
fight with your sister or throw mugs or refuse to eat.
 
It’s not.”

“Deirdre, love…”

He wasn’t the only one tired and anxious
with emotions
laid
raw. Right now, she needed
something to do and some space. “It just makes things worse, Quinn, and harder
for everyone.
 
I’ll be back in a few
minutes.”

In the kitchen, any conversation died
when she entered.
 
Deirdre fetched the
broom, cleared up the mess Quinn had made, and poured a fresh mug of tea from
the pot.
 
Des glanced up from the paper
and nodded. “He ran ye off, did he?”

She shrugged. “I came to get tea, that’s
all.”

“I won’t make excuses for him, but he’s
worried, dear, for yer sake and all.” Desmond turned to the funny pages after
his statement.

“I know.”

Eileen, chalk pale
except for two crimson patches on her cheeks, put down her cup.
“There’s
something none of ye are telling and I’d like to know what it is.
 
Is the trouble that made ye run away and let
Quinn think ye dead come back to haunt ye?”

Quinn had said not to tell and Desmond
waved one hand in warning but Deirdre, weary of all the bickering, nodded. “It
might be.
 
I don’t know for sure.
 
I haven’t exactly advertised the fact I’m
back and I wouldn’t have gone in the first place if I hadn’t been in
danger.
 
I was, though, and so was Quinn.
The people who were after me threatened him too.
 
It’s the main reason why I left and went into
the witness protection program.”

“Jaysus, Mary, and
Joseph!”
Eileen’s eyes widened.
“Like in the gangster
movies and all?”

“Sort of,” Deirdre said. “I left WITSEC
on my own accord to come back to Quinn.
 
There’s no going back to it, no matter what happens.
 
Another television reporter was here, asking
about me, though, and when we picked you up at the airport, I saw the man who
threatened me after the trial.”

“Holy Mary!
 
Did he threaten
ye
at
all?”

“He winked at me, but it frightened
me.
 
If the organized crime people hold a
grudge, they know I’m alive.”

“Why didn’t ye tell me?” Eileen asked,
glancing around the room. “Uncle Des, ye knew?”

“Aye, of course I did.
 
But I know when to keep me lips together.”

Eileen shook her head.
 
“No wonder Quinn’s acting the way he is,
then.
 
He’s worried for
ye
.”

“For me and for all of us,” Deirdre
replied. “Shopping’s a sore spot because when I left three years ago, the lie I
told him was that I was going shopping. Then my car was found at the mall.”

Neal glanced from one woman to the
other. “I can’t believe I’ve fallen into the middle of a bloody mess such as
this.
 
I’ll be glad when we leave for
home tomorrow.
 
Jaysus knows I wouldn’t
have brought my family here if I’d known any of this.
 
If we can get a flight today, we’ll go and
gladly.”

Red suffused Eileen’s face. “Like hell
we will,” she cried. “I’m not going home today
nor
tomorrow now.
 
I can’t leave Quinn in the
lurch in his hour of need.
 
We’ll stay
and see this through.”

“Woman, we can’t!” Neal raised his
voice. “I’m due back at work come Monday and so are you.”

“Feck the jobs,” Eileen shouted. “Family
comes first.
 
Besides, I’ll call the
arsewipes
and tell them we’ve got a family crisis. They’ll
not mind so much.”

“I wouldn’t be too bloody sure of that!”

“Well, I am.
 
And I still think I’d like to see one of
these Black Friday sales.
 
There can’t be
any harm in going to the mall among all the crowds.”

Neal exploded. “Ye’re being a selfish
bitch, Eileen. Ye’re not thinking.
 
I
know how ye care for yer brother but ye’ve three wee ones here who need to be
at home across the ocean, safe.
 
I’m
calling another taxi and going back to the hotel for the moment, the wanes with
me.
 
If ye want to risk yer arse, go
ahead but ye won’t put them in harm’s way.
 
Desmond, where’s the phone?”

“I’ll take
ye
if ye want to go,” the old man said. “Ye might want to book another night or
two, though.
 
I’ll pay the cost if ye
want.
 
I’ve money saved and little enough
to spend it on.”

“Let’s go, then,” Neal said.
 
He buttoned the two older children’s coats
and crammed knitted hats onto their heads.
 
Then he wrapped a blanket tight around
Nuala’s
shoulders. “Eileen, we’ll sort it all out later.”

“
Aye, that
we
will.” The way Eileen spit out the words, Deirdre thought it sound more like
challenge than acceptance.

“Ye should go with them.” Quinn spoke
from the doorway, his voice quiet and too even.
 
It reminded Deirdre of the eerie calm before a storm unleashed nature’s
fury. “And Neal’s right, ye all should go home.
 
I don’t want any of ye hurt.”

“I can’t leave ye like this!” Eileen cried.

“Ye can and should, sister.
 
Put yer family first, not
me.”

“Quinn, god knows I don’t want to fight
with
ye
…”

“Then don’t,” Desmond said. “Neal, let’s
go. Eileen, lass, won’t ye come with yer man for now and figure the rest out
later?”

Stubborn, Eileen shook her head. “No, go
on then.
 
I’ll decide later what I want
to do.”

She flew across the room, kissed her
children and after a moment’s pause, she kissed her husband too.
 
Neal put his arms around her in a brief
embrace. “I hope ye know what ye’re doing,” he muttered.
 
Eileen nodded but made no other answer.
 

Within minutes, the kitchen cleared and
loomed empty, so quiet Deirdre heard Des start the van’s engine outside.
 
She turned to Quinn.
 
His woebegone expression erased her irritations
and she crossed the few feet to him with speed.
 
He opened his arms and she walked into them.
 

“I’m sorry for how I’ve acted,” he said
as he cradled her close. “I’m too worried to see straight and I couldn’t bear
for anything to happen to
ye
.
 
Can ye forgive me for being such an
arsehole
?”

“I will if you promise not to be one
again,” Deirdre said.
 
Beneath his shirt,
his heart hammered a rapid rhythm. “I know you’re concerned, sweetheart, but
you can’t take it out on everyone around you.”

“I know,” Quinn replied. “Eileen, I’m
sorry for being so mad and harsh with
ye
.”

“And I apologize, too.
 
Ye know what a quick tongue and temper I
have,” his sister said.

“Aye, I do.
 
Neal’s right, though, ye should go home and
soon.” Eileen opened her mouth to protest, but Quinn shook his head. “Ye don’t
have to decide this very minute but think about it, would
ye
?”

“Oh, all right, I’ll think it over,” she
said.
 
Deirdre doubted she would, though.
“I’m takin’ my tea to the bar and sit for a quiet minute or two, then.
 
Ye two look like ye need time alone.”

Quinn tightened his arms around Deirdre.
“I’m sorry, love.”

“It’s all right.
 
I understand,” she said. “I know you expect
the worst but here we
are,
all of us at each other’s
throats over something that hasn’t happened yet.
 
We don’t even know what will.”

“Aye, I don’t.
 
But I have no doubt it will be bad,
mo chroide.”

“Maybe not.”
She could
hope his fey insight might be way off target but though she tried hard, Deirdre
couldn’t quite convince herself it was.

“I should pack the lot of ye up and head
for someplace safe,” Quinn muttered. “If I knew of a bunker somewhere, I
would.
 
Maybe I should take
ye
back to Arkansas.”

She hoped he joked about that. “I don’t
think so,” Deirdre said. “If trouble’s coming, it will find me no matter what.
 
I doubt staying here makes any of us safer,
does it? After all, they know I’m connected to you and this is your pub.”

Quinn’s body stiffened against her, taut
with tension. “Ye have a point,” he said, in a croaked, cracked voice. “I never
thought of it so.”

“So maybe we should take Eileen
shopping.”

“Do ye want to?” He sounded incredulous.

Deirdre laughed. “I don’t, not really,
but it would keep our minds from worry for a little while.
 
She’d like it and you were awfully hard on
her this morning.
 
She has a point, about
the crowds.
 
As long as we’re surrounded
by a lot of people, I doubt the organized crime people will try anything.
 
You can drive us if it’ll make you feel any better.”

“Ah, feck it.”
He
sounded resigned. “All right but I need to shower and shave first.
 
Go tell Eileen and I’ll clean up.
 
But it’ll be one mall and one mall only so
make yer choice.”

After a quick conference with Eileen,
who was delighted to experience the mega shopping event firsthand, the two
women poured over a few ads from the newspaper.
 
By the time Quinn returned, shaven and clean, they were ready to hit the
sales.
 
His mood remained more than a
little dark and his resignation radiated from him in waves.
 
Because neither of them thought anyone would
know her car, they retrieved it from the multi-level garage but Quinn insisted
on driving.

They spent more than
a
hour at Bannister Mall and decided it was enough.
 
Eileen carried a few small bags as they
worked their way through the throngs to the parking area.
 
“I had no idea it would be this crazy,” she
said as she climbed into the back seat. “But I’m glad I got to see it for
meself.”