Page 14 of Duncan (Irish Mob of Boston #1)

Duncan

“We know you’ve been talking to Tyran,” Callum said as Aran, one of his guys, hit Garritt in the kidney. His pained cry kept him from answering right away, causing Aran to lash out again.

I stood against the wall, arms crossed over my chest and observed how Callum worked to get the information we needed. Like me, Callum kept his hands clean. Preferring to have the boys under him doing the heavy work.

There was a time we all had to do it. It was how you proved yourself.

“He called me, I swear. I didn’t tell him nothing,” Garritt cried.

Garritt Mahoney was a pussy. He had gotten where he was off his father’s and grandfather’s coattails.

Nolan Kelley rose men to power he could control. And Garritt was someone he could control. Now with Callum in control of New York, things would be different. Callum was someone we could work with.

Sal had offered New York to me. That was before we knew Tyran had betrayed him. It didn’t matter, though. I had turned it down flat. Boston was my home, and it always would be.

That had my thoughts wandering to Freyja. Mo bandia. She’d said she was open to wherever the universe took her. A smile cracked over my face as I thought about the way she’d worded it.

The universe!

As if that had anything the fuck to do with it. Her gypsy style of clothing and the way she talked led me to believe she was one of those women who believed the stars had to align before they could make a fucking decision.

I knew I was asking for trouble getting involved with her, but I didn’t care. She was fucking gorgeous, and she made my dick hard. At fifty-two years old, that was all that really mattered.

Besides, she said she only had six weeks. I’d have gotten my fill of her by then, anyway.

“Boss.”

I looked up at Mac. “The kid ain’t gonna last much longer.”

I looked over at Garritt. He bowed his head and his feet dragged on the ground.

“He give up anything?” I asked, watching as he didn’t respond when Aran hit him again.

“No. He’s stronger than we expected.”

I nodded and stood from the wall. “Hold up!”

Walking over, I stood before Garritt. I grabbed his hair and lifted his head. His eyes were glazed over and he smiled.

“He’s fuckin’ high.” Letting him go, I turned to Oscar. “Sober him up.”

Oscar moved slowly, giving me time to walk back to my spot against the wall. He knew I wouldn’t want anything on my suit, and Oscar made a mess.

Every. Goddamn. Time.

“Hey, Garritt.” Oscar leaned over to look Garritt in the eye.

“Only gonna ask once. Who do those numbers belong to? I don’t enjoy repeating myself.

Makes my fuckin’ head hurt. So, I’ll ask the question, you give the answer, and everything gets done.

We all go home. You don’t answer, well..

. then I gotta find a way to make you answer. ”

“Good God, he’s gonna talk him to death,” Cian groaned.

“Hey, sometimes it works,” Liam offered.

“It works at home, ’cause everyone knows what a fuckin’ psycho he is. Not sure everyone has heard about him out here,” Aiden said.

“They will after today.” I smiled as Oscar continued his monologue with Garritt. It was pointless. Garritt was high as a fucking kite. That, combined with the pain from the beating, not much was getting through his head.

But Oscar had a process. For being messed up, he still believed in being fair. Giving someone the opportunity to do the right thing. He didn’t seem to grasp that if they chose to do the right fucking thing in the first place, we wouldn’t need Oscar to show them the error of their ways.

Oscar stood, and it signaled that his fun was about to start.

“Hey, Cal, you might want to back up,” I offered. Nodding to the far wall where he would avoid the over spray.

Callum and Niall moved back, but Aran stuck close. The look in his eyes told me he had heard of Oscar and was hoping to learn a few things.

Oscar picked up his pipe wrench and walked behind Garritt, whom someone had strung up with his hands over his head. I watched as Oscar squatted behind Garritt and removed his shoes.

“What the fuck’s he doing?” Niall asked.

“Watch.”

Oscar looked up at me, and I nodded. It didn’t matter what he did to Garritt, he wouldn’t be leaving this freezer alive.

Oscar attached the wrench around Garritt’s heel and twisted. Severing the connection between the leg and the foot. The sound that reverberated around the room was one I had never truly adjusted to.

Those of us familiar with Oscar’s brand of interrogation winced. The men from New York, well... they got a quick education into what happened when you fucked with Boston.

While New York teemed with business executives and millionaires, Boston was home to blue-collar boys.

The original fuck around and find out.

Oscar had wrenched that aptly named tool quickly and efficiently in a way that had Garritt’s foot completely turned around. His cry would have echoed throughout the city if not for the steel walls surrounding us.

“STOP! Please God, stop!” he cried out. His body convulsed on the hook as he tossed and turned in pain.

“Why were you helping Tyran?” I asked, more interested in that than anything else.

“Nolan said I had to. Said he’d kill me if anyone found out.”

“How long has Tyran been working with Kelley?” I moved closer to Garritt. When he didn’t answer fast enough, I nodded to Oscar, who attached the wrench to Garritt’s other ankle.

“Wait, please. No!”

“Answer,” Oscar growled, but didn’t remove the wrench.

“Years. I was the go-between. I didn’t have a choice. Kelley killed my dad. He would have killed me, too.”

“And you thought somehow Sal would spare you?”

“Tyran said Sal knew. Said he authorized it with Nolan.”

I stepped back. A moment of doubt assailed me before I shook the questions from my mind. Tyran was a fucking liar.

“Where is Tyran?”

“I don’t know, I swe—” Oscar flicked the wrench a second time, severing the foot. Garritt’s scream died in his throat as his head fell forward.

I grabbed his hair and lifted his head. Pressing my fingers against his neck, I groaned, “Fuckin’ pussy is dead.”

“What?” Cian moved forward to check his wrist.

“Did he have a heart attack?” Callum asked.

“Ah, boss.”

I looked over at Mac, and he was pointing at Garritt’s feet. Looking down, his ankles were swollen and purple.

“Hand me a knife.” I held my hand out, and someone placed a small blade in my hand. I sliced the swollen flesh and blood poured from Garritt’s ankles on to the floor.

Glaring at Oscar, I growled, “Don’t ever fuckin’ do that again.”

“Sorry, boss. Didn’t know it would sever the artery like that.”

“Jesus Christ.” I ran my hand through my hair.

“Well, we confirmed Tyran was working with Kelley,” Mac offered.

That was all we confirmed. We still didn’t know where he was or who else was helping him. We had been through the paperwork from his office, both in the city and at home. And found nothing.

Rubbing a hand over my mouth and chin, I racked my brain trying to come up with some connection.

“I need to talk to Caity,” I said out loud to myself.

“No.”

Eyeing one of my best friends, I turned. His face was placid. He showed no emotion in front of the others, but I saw the rage burning in his eyes.

I chose to stay quiet. Refusing to argue with Cian in front of Callum and his men.

Instead, I turned to Callum. “You have a problem with me leaving someone here to go through the office?”

Not that he had a choice, but his answer would alleviate any doubts that were trying to burrow into my head, telling me the whole fucking family was against us.

“Not at all. Leave as many as you need. Maybe they can help us make heads or tails of the shit Kelley left behind.”

Dropping my hand to my side, I narrowed my eyes. “What shit?”

“The books are a mess. Nothing makes sense.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked, those doubts growing in my mind.

“Figured you had enough shit going on. Once I had all the information, I’d get it to you. No point in us both chasing down empty leads.”

I shook my head again. Callum is a good man , I told myself. He wasn’t out to fuck us over.

“Mac, call Cael. Tell him to get his ass out here tonight. Liam, you and Aiden stay here. Help Cal go through that office from top to fuckin’ bottom. Pull up the goddamn floorboards if you have to.”

“You got someone to clean this mess up?” Mac asked, his phone in his hand ready to call in cleaners if we had to.

“I do. Aran, wait here for the Houlihan boys. Niall, Liam, and Aiden let’s head to the office. Maybe you boys will see something we can’t.”

“Wait. Aiden, you stay here for now. I want Garritt’s office turned upside down. Conor, you help him. Nevan, go with Liam. Shane, Brody, and Quinn, go to Garritt’s home and tear it apart. He has information tucked away somewhere.”

“Yes, boss.”

Conor Gallagher, while young, was fucking smart. Like Cian. He had been Cian’s shadow for months now. I trusted him to help Aiden despite barely being twenty years old.

Nevan O’Brian was older, but not by much. He had a touch of OCD. If anyone noticed something in the room out of place, it would be Nevan.

Callum led the men out, leaving me, Cian, Mac, Oscar, and Aran. I turned to Oscar and hissed, “You stay and help clean up this fuckin’ mess. Then you watch over Conor. Anything happens to that kid; it will be your ass.”

“Yes, boss,” he said with his eyes on the floor. He knew he’d fucked up. The blame was misplaced, though. Who the fuck knew you could sever a goddamn artery in someone’s foot?

“When we get back, pick up a damn anatomy book. I don’t want a fuckup like this again.”

“Yes, boss.”

I walked out of the freezer, followed by Cian and Mac.

“A little harsh don’t you think?”

I ignored Cian until we were outside. Taking a left out the door, I walked down an alley, knowing they would follow.

Once we were halfway down the alley away from the street, I grabbed Cian by the lapels of his coat and pushed him against the wall. “You got something you want to fuckin’ say?”

“That wasn’t Oscar’s fault.”

“It’s his fuckin’ job to know what pain he can inflict without killing someone. His job is interrogation, not fuckin’ murder.” I slammed him against the wall and let go. My temper was getting the better of me and I knew it. I needed to blow off some steam before I went back to the hotel and Freyja.

“Garritt wasn’t leaving that freezer alive, and we all knew it.”

My chest expanded with a deep inhale. I counted in my head. Ten, nine, eight, seven, fucking six, five, motherfucking four, three, goddamn two, one.

“We don’t kill them until we get all the fuckin’ information, asshole. What the fuck is your problem? Didn’t you get laid last night?”

“Didn’t you?” he growled back instead of answering.

My head tilted as I looked at him.

“You didn’t, did you? Who the fuck was there at three in the goddamn morning if you weren’t getting fucked?”

“I told you, who I fuck is none of your goddamn business.”

“Don’t make me doubt you like everybody else. Who was she?”

Cian just stood there. His mouth twisted into a thin line, refusing to talk.

“It was Maddie. For Christ’s sake,” Mac announced. I stumbled back.

“What the fuck?” I moved again and got in Cian’s face. “What the fuck was Maddie doing at your place in the middle of the fuckin’ night?” I snarled.

“Fuck you, Duncan, for even thinking that shit.” He shoved me back and walked away. He stopped, placing his hands over his head. Then slammed his hand against the wall. “How did you know?” he asked Mac.

“’Cause I watched her leave her house and walk to yours.”

“Why were you watching her?”

“I asked him to.”