Chapter Five
Arthur nodded at themall.“It's not funny but it is fascinating to listen to you guys.”
“And why would that be, lad?”Finn asked.“Is it our way of talking?We use the ole speak rather fiercely at times.”
“Nah, I really enjoy hearing it.But it’s not that.It’s because you all think inside the box and sometimes life ain’t inside that same box.”
“What do you mean by that?”Liam stared at him.
“You think out loud like honest men, but you aren’t dealing with honest people here,” Arthur explained.“You’re dealing with very dangerous women and while most women aren’t that dangerous these two are downright evil.They crossed that line of having no conscience, years back apparently.They think about themselves only.You are honorable men but you’re dealing with people that have no honor at all.Those two are as selfish as it gets.Whatever honor they did have was lost a very long time ago.We may never know why they ended up bad, but we need to stop them no matter what.This Shanon White is a name I know, I’ve heard of her as most people have.She’s a criminal element all on her own.I’ve also heard the name Stuart McGruder and that’s a name a person only hears in whispered rumors.And he isn't an honest man, so the rumors are probably correct...”He paused, then said, “But there are some of us that know the actual truth.”
“And you are one of the people that know the truth about those rumors?”Finn finally asked.
Arthur just shrugged.
Darleen turned to look at him with more questions than answers.“What are you talking about, Arthur?”
Arthur turned his head to look at her.“Darleen, honey, you know me.You know I watch the people here.”
Darleen nodded.“Yeah.You showed me how to watch them too.”
Arthur nodded.“I did but what you didn’t know is that I was watching people for a reason.I spent some time in the army years ago and I found I was very good at that.I protected my unit by watching the right kind of people.And somewhere in my mind I could connect the dots and I stopped people from dying.So after my lost life I came here because this is a major shipping area.A major West Coast freight hub handling over 11 million tons of cargo annually.Autos, grain, forest products, minerals.So, I’ve watched these monstrously large ships come and go from all over the world.Then one day, I spotted a man I knew in the service.He was on the docks with some other men.He was high ranking by this time and I gave him my number.Telling him if he needed intel from the port, I was his man.He called me a year later.Said he was setting up a pipeline that would go from the east coast to the west and he wanted someone in this area to watch for trouble coming and going.”
Seamus paused and stared at him.“Is this man called Shay?Shay Montross?”
Arthur turned his head to look at him and nodded.“You know Colonel Montross?”
“Aye, I met him in Boston once and then again in New Orleans.He’s the one who shut Stuart McGruder and his brother Ford Donnaly down.Now he’s hunting Shanon White and keeping her father in prison.”
Arthur smiled.“That sounds like Shay.Always working.Many operations going all at once.”
“Is that how you know the names McGruder and White?”Finn asked Arthur.
Arthur nodded.“Yeah, that’s how I know those names.But then I also hang around the docks sometimes and I’ve heard the names there as well.
Finn looked at his brother and Seamus.“McGruder is shipping from the ports here too.He’s in on this in rag order, he is.”
Arthur nodded.“Yes and I’ve let Shay know that too.He’s getting ready to shut him down.”
Finn ran his hands over his head and sighed loudly.“But while that’s good and fine it doesna help us find Ria Sanchez.”
Arthur shook his head.“That alone wouldn’t help you find her, but I can tell you exactly where she’s hiding.I’ve seen her around town many times and she’s a creature of habit about where she stays.She may be here to see her son but not even she can stand the way that manchild lives, so she doesn’t stay with him, that’s for sure.”
Liam stared at him.“But you know where she stays when she comes here.”
Arthur nodded.“I do.”
