The Killer II (13 page)

‘Aye, I remember.’

‘Well it was Jonny who did it.
It was orders from the Committee Belfast and he had to make it look like a
Shankill
job.
He didn’t know why, but those were the orders.’

‘And you believed him?’

‘Christ, Thomas, why would he lie?
Besides you should have seen him man.
He was broken.
His head was messed up from it all.
I mean I didn’t believe it straight off and I beat him up a bit, but it was all true.’

‘What the fuck for?
You’re making no sense Butch.’

‘I know, right?
I couldn’t figure it out.
But they wanted me to join up.
I don’t know why they wanted me so bad, but they did.’

Thomas nodded slowly.
‘You know, I remember that.
I didn’t know you well back then.
Just a young ‘un having fights in bars, but there was one time I was asked to watch you and see what I thought.’

‘Really?’

‘Aye.
I didn’t think much about it at the time
but,
now you mention it, then it’s odd they were so interested in you.
I mean you were a good fighter an’ all, but I’ve seen others just as good.’

‘Aye, well I still don’t know either, and neither did Mad Dog.
He just told me that
Peter Moore issued the kill order for me Ma so I would join up.’

‘You’ve seen Mad Dog?’
Thomas’ eyes opened wide.
‘He knows you’re alive too?’

‘Well
- he did, but he won’t be
tellin
’ anyone.’

‘You - are -
fuckin
’ - joking.’

‘No.’

‘Are you telling me you’ve done for Larry - Mad Dog -
O’fuckin
’ Brien?’

‘Well, you see, that’s sort of why I’m here.’

‘What?’

‘Well, the thing is, there was kind of a cock up and I should have been back in England by now, but I’m kind of stuck here and…’

‘Oh, no, no, no, mate.’
Thomas said with a long, low whistle.
‘Listen I can take you coming back from the dead and I can see something in what you said about them wanting you to join up, but there’s no way you can drag me into this.
You’re still a tout, whatever the reason, and if you’ve gone and done for one of the bosses, then I don’t want nothing to do with it.’

‘Thomas, I…’

‘No,
listen,
I’ll do you a deal.
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and I won’t say anything for twenty-four hours, OK, for old-times’ sake, but you’ve got to get out of here.’

‘Jonny killed your
Duggy
too.’

The boldness of the statement caught Thomas off guard and it was a few seconds
before he could speak.
‘Oh shut the fuck up Butch.
Now you’re pushing it too far.’

‘No, Thomas, I’m not,’ Liam said quietly, holding his friend’s gaze.
‘Jonny told me.
That was on orders from the
Provos
too and I know he was telling the truth.
You had to be there, man.
If you’d have seen him, you’d have known.’

Thomas stared at the unblinking eyes and listened to the quietly spoken words.
He’d come to know this man well over several years and they’d been in some intense situations together.
He was a vicious man and he could be cruel, but he’d never known him be anything but honourable and loyal.
Above all, he’d never known him to lie.
‘Why?’ he asked finally.

‘They said he was about to turn tout.’

‘No way.
Not our
Duggy
.’

‘No, I don’t see it either, but that’s what they told Jonny and they gave the kill order.’

Thomas didn’t respond and a dark silence spread between them.
The gun lay limply now on his lap as he stared at it for a long time.
Eventually he raised his eyes back to Liam’s face.
‘You’re telling me the truth, aren’t you Butch?’

‘Yes mate, I am.
And I’m so
fuckin
’ sorry.’

‘What the fuck do I do now?’

‘I’ve no idea.
You’ll have to come to terms with it in your own way, but right now I could do with some help.
Now can you help me man?’

Thomas slowly nodded his head.
‘Aye.’

The two men sat quietly for a while until Liam decided he’d had enough.
Thomas had always been prone to long periods of silence and it had always fallen to Liam to break them.
‘I’ve got a right throat on me mate.
You got any juice in the house?’ he asked.
Thomas remained deep in thought but indicated a cabinet across the room where Liam found a bottle of Jameson’s and what appeared to be the last two clean glasses in the house.
‘You’re
gonna
have to have a good clear up before
yer
Ma gets back,’ he suggested as he returned with the drinks.

‘What?’

‘It’s a
pig-sty
in here, mate.
Yer
Ma’ll
have a fit if she sees it like this.
’

‘Nah, she’s gone Butch.’

‘Aye, but when she gets back…’

‘No, I mean she’s gone
gone
.
Like dead gone.’

‘Oh no.
How?
When?’

‘About two weeks back.
Some kind of embolism the doc said.
Just dropped down dead.
She wouldn’t have known a thing about it.’

‘That’s a blessing then, but I’m so sorry Thomas.’

‘Aye, well, we sent her off proper like and
Mrs.
Brown came round with a rose bush and we planted it out back in her memory.
Took
fuckin
’ ages to do.
The
ground’s
like rock out there.
Aye, ‘tis what it is.
All I’ve got left now is
Tiddles
.’

Oh Fuck.
Liam downed the rest of his whiskey in one gulp, his eyes rolling back in
his head.
He couldn’t tell him.
Not now, not tonight.
His friend had taken in a lot over the past hour or so and a dead cat on top of all that seemed too cruel for one sitting.
Maybe it would be a comfort to know that
Tiddles
was buried with
Mrs.
Malone’s rosebush?

‘Talking of which, where is the little bastard?’ Thomas continued.
‘He’s usually come pawing to be let in by now.’

Oh Fuck.

‘Fancy another mate?’ Liam suggested, holding out his empty glass in an effort to change the subject.

‘Aye, fill us up,’ Thomas agreed.
‘It’ll help me sleep.
There’s a spare bed for you at the top of the stairs.’

‘That’d be fine.
I could do with getting me
head down in a real scratcher.’

‘Listen,’ said Thomas as Liam brought the Jameson’s over for a re-fill.
‘I’m
gonna
need some payback for our
Duggy
.
But I reckon I’m
gonna
need some proof first.’

‘You calling me a liar?’
Liam didn’t care if he was.
At least they’d moved off
Tiddles
.

‘No, I reckon I believe you, it’s just…’

‘Aye, it was the same for me,’ Liam assured him.
‘I can get you proof when I get back to England.
I guess Turner will still have the recording.’

‘Your turner has the recording?’

‘Turner.’

‘That’s what I said.’

‘No, the man’s name is Turner.’

‘You were turned by a man called Turner?’

‘Good God!’
Liam paused for a second.
‘Holy Christ, that never occurred to me.
I guess that’s irony then?’

‘Guess so,’ Thomas agreed with his first real smile of the night.
‘Anyhow, you get me that proof and I’ll take the bastards out.
I’ll do the
fuckin
’ lot of ‘
em
.’

‘Now slow down me old skin,’ Liam cautioned him.
‘That was my first reaction too when I found out about me Ma.
Luckily someone talked some sense into me.
It’s far better to take ‘
em
out one by one, and for that you need support.
The kind of support that only the Brits can give.’

‘The
fuckin
’ Brits,
ya
say?’

‘Aye, that’s right, the
fuckin
’ Brits.
They’ll give us the arms, intelligence and resources to get the lot of ‘
em
.
So what
d’you
say mate?
Come back to England with me and, together, we’ll take ‘
em
all out.’

‘Have you gone altogether
fuckin
’ crazy?’
Thomas stared at him.
‘Me, trot off to
fuckin
’ England, and play
bleedin
’ cricket on the
fuckin
’ village green.
What the fuck are you talking about you
bleedin
’ eejit?’

‘
No one said anything about playing
fuckin
’ cricket,
ya
scutterin
’
gobshite
.
God forbid.’
Liam smiled at the mental image of his overweight friend in whites chasing a ball.
‘I’m talking about me and you going back to my house and planning each and every kill instead of you
faffin
’ around Ireland like some sort of John-
fuckin
’-Wayne and getting your
friggin
’ head blown off.’

‘Oh, it’s a house you’ll be having now, is it?’

‘Thomas,’ Liam began, the smile now threatening an all out laugh.
‘I live in a
fuckin
’ manor house.
Me.
Can you believe it?’

Thomas said nothing as his belly began to shake, the tremble spreading up his body until it emerged in a snort and a guffaw.
It was the tension breaker they both needed and the two men laughed together.
The more they laughed, the funnier it seemed until tears were rolling down Thomas’ cheeks and Liam could hardly hold the bottle steady as he poured another refill.
‘Hey Thomas,’ Liam finally managed between hiccups, ‘we
gotta
make a plan before this whiskey does for me brain.’

‘Aye,’ Thomas agreed, controlling himself with effort.
You say you got stuck here?’

‘There was this helicopter to get me out after I’d killed Mad Dog, but the fucker went off and left me.’

‘That’ll be your new British friends then?’

‘Thomas, don’t start.’

‘OK, OK, leave me be to think a while will
ya
?
Can you keep that gob of yours closed for a bit?
’

Liam nodded as he quelled the final rumblings of laughter and watched as his friend went into deep concentration.

Several minutes later Liam was becoming bored, but he made the effort to remain silent and he glanced round at the furnishings in the room to distract himself.
He was thinking about
Mrs.
Malone and poor old
Tiddles
when he jumped out of his skin at an exclamation from the chair opposite.

‘
Laa
Laa
!’

‘Jesus, Mary, mother of God.
What?’

‘
Laa
Laa
.’

‘What? Thomas, have you lost it man?
This
ain’t
no time for singing.’

‘No, we need
Laa
Laa
.’

‘What the fuck’s a
Laa
Laa
?’

‘Not what.
Who.’

‘
Laa
Laa’s
a who?’

‘Aye.’