Page 98 of Honorable Sins

No one speaks.

I look past Kenneth’s body to O’Grady. He is staring at the floor. He knows enough to be afraid. Not enough to save himself.

The room empties slowly.

Captains gather their men and lead them out. Lieutenants remain long enough to speak with Brogan, then follow. Wraith leaves with the soldiers who will dispose of Kenneth’s body.

Brogan pauses beside me.

His eyes move from Kara to me.

"Labor Day," he says.

"Aye."

He leaves without adding anything else.

When the door closes behind the last soldier, I turn to my wife.

She is looking at the blood on the stage. Her eyes are not haunted. She isn’t smiling either.

"It’s done," she says.

I cup her face, losing myself in her serious hazel gaze. "You were magnificent."

She always is.

"We are in this together." She holds out her hand.

I take it and lace our fingers. "Always and forever, mo chiste is a stór."

Chapter twenty-two

Consequences

MICK

Moonlight leaks through the gap between O’Grady’s curtains and falls across the bed.

He sleeps too soundly for a man who spent the afternoon watching Kenneth Shaughnessy bleed out on the Bunker stage.

I lean against the wall near the foot of his bed and flick a rat pellet from my fingers.

It lands on his cheek.

O’Grady smacks at his face and snuffles, but does not wake.

I flick another. This one settles on his eyelid.

Still nothing.

The third lands in his open mouth.

He inhales sharply. I send another after it before he can breathe again.

His body jerks. The snore cuts off and he comes awake choking, clawing at his throat as he tries to sit up. His legs tangle in the sheets. He coughs without enough air behind it, eyes wide and watering.

I cross the room at an easy pace.