Bittersweet Irish Cream Ch. 06

Henrietta said what he was thinking. "Bullshit. I knew Uncle Jamie and there was no way he worked for the Riley crime family."

"Yah I know for sure yer aren't kin to Jamie, yer dumb as rocks. Everyone worked for the Rab Riley back then, in some way. That's how we kept everyone in line."

"Who the fuck is Rab Riley?" Henrietta asked, confused.

Jack answered, "Danny's father. Robert Riley. The head of the Riley family until he died the year before Danny had my father killed. Ruben Riley, the oldest then took over."

Barney nodded his head toward him since he had no hands and said, "This one did his homework." He smiled a bloody smile again.

"But what does one have to do with the other?" Jack asked. "They didn't know each other personally."

"I take it back. Seems there are some major gaps in yer history book." Barney scoffed at him.

"Then fill in the gaps," Jack said.

"Maybe I would have if yer woudda asked nicely. But seeing how I'm all tied up like a pig in a slaughterhouse, I'd rather keep it to mi-self," he said smugly.

Mina said, "Pretty please? We promise we won't kill you if you do." She smiled sweetly as Jack turned around to glare at her.

"Ah yer must be the little sister! A fine piece of arse you are," Barney smiled a bloody smile.

Jack turned back around to glare at Barney. "Watch your mouth."

Barney shrugged as much as he could with his hands tied behind his back. "I just wanted to know if she's a whoring slut like her dear dead mum."

Jack raised his gun again, put it to Barney's temple, cocked it and said calmly, "Call my mother a whore, or a slut or a cunt again. Go on. I dare you."

He stared him in the eye and Barney stared back with his bloodshot eyes. He did not smile or laugh. He said, "Yer kill me, and you've signed yer own death warrant. But alive or dead, I'm not going to give yer the answers yer want. So. Fuck. Off."

Jack breathed out air roughly through his nose, lowered the gun and walked away, going toward the side door. He needed some air and this was going to take a while. Barney turned to the women in front of him. "Any of yer cunts want to release me? The first one that does gets ta walk away alive."

"Shut the fuck up," Mina said annoyed with him now.

"Sweet arse and a filthy mouth. Just like yer cunty mother," Barney said. Jack heard it and started walking back angrily, gun raised.

But the women were faster, June in particular, who screamed a blood curdling scream, turned around and started hitting Barney with the gun she Jack gave her. She swung high and brought it down on him repeatedly, screaming and crying. Mina and Henrietta joined in with their hands, punching, scratching and kicking Barney.

He tried to yell, "Gerroff me, gerroff me yer stupid cu-" but was cut short by another blow to the face by Mina's gun. By the time Jack made it back over there, all three were beating Barney to a bloody mess. Jack stood back, lowered his gun and watched.

June had dropped the gun, reached down and picked up a piece of wood paneling that had a sharp edge, straddled him, reached her hand far up and jammed it into his neck, shredding an artery. Blood spluttered out everywhere; Henrietta and Mina jumped back shrieking. Barney looked at her in surprise as she held onto the piece of wood still in his neck.

She said coldly, "I am June Elizabeth Redmond you fucking murderous piece of shit. And you will die the same way my mother did -- slit throat and feeling fucked." She held onto the wood until the life drained from his eyes. No one spoke.

Jack came over and put his hand over hers and slowly pulled out the wood panel from his neck, then he took it out of her hands. He used his other hand to wrap around his little sister's waist and pull her to a standing position. She turned around and looked at him, and they stared at each other. Then she walked away. Mina picked up Jack's shirt and draped it over her, following her out the side door.

Henrietta and Jack did not speak as they left. They worked together to untie Barney, wrap him in plastic and cement blocks, and put him back in the trunk. Since night had already fallen, they drove further down to the bay, then rolled Barney's body off the dock. They went back to the warehouse and worked together to clean up, still not speaking, hosing the room down to get ready for the next one.

~~~~~

Ethan heard a knock on the door, and had no idea who would be coming to his home the next Friday at 6pm. For a moment he thought it might be Jack and his heart started pounding. But Jack would just enter with his key, right?

He called out, "Who's there?"

"Brayden," the voice said.

Ethan sighed, hoping that Brayden wasn't here to talk about Jack or Henrietta. He got tired of people trying to console him over Jack's absence and became a hermit, except to go to Mass, which he did the first two weekends and will do again this weekend. It had been two weeks since Jack left.

He opened the door and said, "Hey man."

"Hey!" said Brayden cheerily. A little too cheerily. He held up both hands full of packages. "I got beer, Chinese food and my Playstation. And I know you ain't got shit else to do so..." He smiled.

Ethan smiled back at him and opened the door and took one bag from him. "C'mon."

EJ was in the living room playing with his trucks and yelled, "Uncle Brayden!" Ethan took the other bag from him so Brayden could pick EJ up and spin him around. "Hey, your dad and I are going to play video games, you want to play with us?"

"Yaaaaay!!!" EJ said excitedly.

Ethan got plates ready while Brayden set up the game console and took out two games, Major League Baseball 2K7 and 2K8. They played teams and even let EJ play. Ethan let EJ stay up until 8:30pm and then gave him his bath and put him to bed. When he came back into the living room Brayden was still playing.

He said without looking at Ethan, "Your kid is awesome. I can't wait to have kids. Brayden Junior. Or Brienna. Actually we thought about Hayden instead of Brayden. For a boy or girl. Guess we'll see."

Ethan heard the pain in his voice and wondered if that's how he sounded when people asked him. Brayden had not come here to talk about it but he couldn't help but ask him. "Are you doing OK man?"

Brayden shrugged. "Everybody keeps asking me that and I don't know what the fuck to tell them. That's why I'm avoiding my parents and hers. Because I'm sick of everyone treating me like I lost my puppy or some shit. Just leave me the fuck alone."

Ethan nodded. He was about to apologize for asking when Bradyen continued. "They aren't dead. But something happened to make them all jet like that. I just can't think of what but I think it has something to do with Jack. Liam knows though and he's not talking. And that's pissing me off. But short of beating it out of him, there's nothing I can do but just wait until I hear from her."

Ethan nodded again. Brayden asked him, "You doing alright?"

Ethan gave him an honest answer, "I don't know. Some moments I'm pissed. Some moments I'm sad. Some moments I'm lonely. And all of that could happen within the same hour." Brayden nodded and he knew he understood. "Today...today I miss him a whole lot."

Brayden nodded again. "Keeping busy helps. I'm working long hours."

"I started repainting the kitchen," Ethan said.

Brayden laughed. "We are fucking miserable." Ethan found himself laughing as well. It felt good to have someone to commiserate with.

~~~~~

June stayed in bed for three days while Mina held her. On day two, Jack said to Henrietta, "Maybe you should take her home. It's too much."

"I tried. I told her that," Henrietta said. "She refused. She said wasn't going home without you. She made promises to people." Jack sighed, knowing the two people she made promises too.

On day three, Jack tried to talk to her. "I really think you should go home. Start your life with Liam. He needs you."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "And I need you. So we leave together or we don't leave at all." She sat up in the bed, looked around at all of them. "I'm OK. Just give me a day. One more day."

Mina said, "Let's go for a walk today."

They stayed out all day, returned with food from the nearby pizzeria and they ate together in Mina's room. There they discussed the next task. It was supposed to be June taking the lead but Mina said, "No. I'll do it. June needs a break. Don't worry, I got this." She smiled slyly.

~~~~~

Andrew Riley was at his regular table in Ballyboden near the bar with two friends. Katie walked in wearing a short white dress and blond hair in ponytail. Drew had never seen her before and he always noticed beautiful women. It was kind of a weakness for him, beautiful blue eyed blondes. She hadn't noticed him yet, she kept looking down at her phone so he left his friends and sat at the bar next to her.              

She looked over and smiled. "If you were supposed to be on a date with me, would you stand me up?"

Drew loved the sound of her voice and accent. "Pretty American like you? Never!" He reached out his hand for her to shake. "I'm Drew."

She shook his hand. "I'm Katie. I'm supposed to be on a blind date but I guess he isn't coming. Unless it's you?" She laughed flirty.

Drew smiled. "It's not but I can be now. What are you drinking?"

"Vodka and cranberry. But here's the thing, and I really hope I'm not being too forward. It wasn't a date date. It was more like a hook up. See I'm on vacation and I just wanted to experience something. Taste some Irish cream if you know what I mean." She batted her eyelashes at him slowly.              

Drew couldn't believe his luck. "Yea, I'm down for that if you are."

Katie sat back and sighed. "No, this is crazy. I don't even know you. You could be a killer."

Drew said, "I could be. But I could also be a fantastic lover. Which I am. Lover, not killer."

She laughed. "Okay I have a room in hotel in Terenure. Separate cars. Meet me in room 4." She gave him the address, then slowly reached down and touched his groin, not breaking eye contact. Drew instantly got hard. She got up and left. Drew paid her tab, then followed her in his car.

They got to the hotel together and walked in. When they got to her room door, Drew turned her around and kissed her. He put his hands under her short dress intending to move her underwear aside but he felt nothing but her hairless wet vagina. He moaned, "Holy Mother of Christ!"

Katie smiled and they kissed while he fingered her in the hallway. She opened the door backwards and they fell in laughing. He closed the door. Katie stood on the bed and said, "Are you sure you're not a killer?"

Drew walked over and lifted up her dress, exposing her midsection, kissed it and said, "I'm about to murder this pussy right now if that's what you mean." He lifted one leg on his shoulder and proceed to lick her clit.

~~~~~~

Jack had his back turned to the camera. He said from over his shoulder, "How long is she going to let this go on?"

Henrietta was watching her sister get eaten out by Drew shaking her head. "You know Mina. Go big or go home." She rolled her eyes.

June was also watching. "She is totally going to fuck him."

"She won't," Henrietta said. June raised her eyebrows and gave her a look. "She might..." They both looked at the camera that was hidden in Mina's room. Henrietta exclaimed, "She is! Fuck, Mina!"

~~~~~~

Drew's pants were down and he had Katie, aka Mina with her dress up above her breasts at the edge of the bed, thrusting in and out of her wet vagina. It was so wet the condom seemed like it wanted to slip off every time he moved out so he kept thrusting back in harder and faster.

Mina waited until she had her first orgasm, then said, "Wait! I want us to lay like lovers." She pushed him off her, then took off her dress completely. She scooted to the top of the bed, both hands under the pillows, spread legs wide open. "Can you hold me like you care about me? Let me hold you?"

"Um sure. I can do that," Drew said, as long as I keep beating this good pussy, he thought. He just might try to keep her around. He took off all of his clothes and crawled up the bed on top of her, entering her again. She pulled him down for a kiss with her one hand, then moaned in his ear. It was all too much.

Drew felt his orgasm coming on and said, "I'm gonna cum, OK?"

She whispered in his ear, "No thanks." She pulled her other hand from underneath the pillow and stabbed him in the neck with the syringe. Drew who was mid ejaculation shuddered and looked at her with a dazed surprised, touching his neck, before he fell over on top of her.

She called out, "Help, please."

Henrietta and June looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Jack left the room without a glance at the laptop screen and said, "I'll get the car."

The ladies followed Jack out but went into the room two doors down and looked at Mina. "Seriously Mina?" Henrietta said, as they rolled him off of her.

She shrugged. "He ate it well. I wanted to see what else he was working with."

She put on her nurse's scrubs and a black haired wig as the other two got Drew dressed. They put him in the wheelchair, and Mina rolled him out, taking him in the elevator while the others took the stairs. They all met at the side entrance where Jack was waiting in the car. He couldn't look Mina in the eye, she was just as much as a sister to him as June was. They put Drew in the trunk and drove to the warehouse.

In the room they bounded his feet together then his hands, then put a noose around his neck before waking him up. When the adrenaline hit, Drew opened his eyes wide, dazed and confused. He looked up and didn't recognize any faces at first, but then saw Mina who smiled and said, "Hi baby."

He started squirming in his restraints screaming, "Yer crazy bitch! Do ya know who I am!?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that to us?" Mina shrugged and walked away as Jack and Henrietta lifted Drew into a standing position.

They threw the end of the rope over the pipe above them with Drew screaming at them the whole time. "Who are ya fucking cunts!? When my brother finds out what you've done, he's going to murder ya nice and slow. Yer don't know who you're dealing with!"

Jack said in his accent, "Sure I do. You're Drew Riley, the youngest brother of Danny Riley, and the man who killed my father."

Drew still yelling, "What the fuck are you on? I've never killed anyone in my life!"

"You're lying," Jack said.

He motioned to Henrietta and the two of them started hoisting Drew up with the rope, lifting him off his feet while Mina and June watched. Drew started choking until Mina and June pushed the chair underneath him.

Drew started screaming and crying. "What the fuck! I'm not lying. I'm not a killer! Please! I don't want to die!"

"Then tell the truth," Jack said. "Admit you murdered our father and tell us why."

Drew started sputtering, "I don't know I don't know I don't know..." He was crying and wailing openly.

Jack was losing his patience. He came around to face Drew. "I know you're lying because I saw you! I saw you shoot my father from the closet. Admit that you killed him."

Drew stopped sputtering and looked at Jack, shocked. "Christ! You're Jamie's son aren't you. Christ! You look just like him!"

"So if you know who I am, you know what you did," Jack said.

Drew was still shocked. "I...I saved your life isall. Yours and Junie. I kept them away from the cubby closet." He looked at the women searching their faces, then used his chin to motion toward June.

"You! You look like your mum, even the curly hair. Except she was a blonde, and yours is black, like Jamie's. Christ! You survived! Barney always said you were alive but I convinced Danny not to go after you two, that you were young and innocent, that you wouldn't understand."

Something in Jack's memory clicked. He asked, "How did you know we were in the cubby closet? How did you know it called a cubby closet to begin with?"

Drew almost laughed. "I was 11 when your dad bought it from my dad, a month after your parents married, two years before you were born. Spent many days there myself with my own dad. I knew every nook and cranny of that house. In fact, I'm the one that named it the cubby closet, the little closet inside of the big closet. I told it to you but you were a wee one yourself, 3 or 4." Jack's head was spinning. Drew continued.

"When we were sent to find you in the house, I knew there was only one place you could have been hiding. I pretended to search the closet, then moved shoe boxes in fronta it, right up against the door, and told you to stay quiet no matter what you hear or see. I knew there was a slit on the wall that you can see out into the bedroom. And when we were in the room I stood in fronta it for most of the night, trying to block your view. I wouldn'ta let Danny hurt Jamie's kids. Shit I was a kid myself, barely 19."

Jack was stunned into silence. He remembered it now, something he didn't remember before. Boxes shuffling, a low voice saying, "Shhhh now wee ones. No crying, it's all just a game and it will be over soon. Hide and seek, let's see if you can win, yea? Stay quiet now."

June noticed Jack had froze and she walked over to stand by him. She asked Drew, "Why did Danny come for our parents?"

"Do you want the real version or the version we tell people?" Drew asked.

She snapped, "Just tell us what happened! Was our dad really part of the Family or not?"

Drew said, "Well yes, but no. He did work for our father from time to time but only the legal work. Your dad met ours when he was no bigger than yourselves, he went to school with our other brother. He helped our dad out of a bind once, don't know all the circumstances of that, but ever since Jamie was like a fifth son to him. He paid he way through university and hoped Jamie would come aboard but Jamie wanted his own way. He started doing the personal accounts and financial planning for our straight businesses and for others as well. No dirty money, nothing he had to clean. And our dad respected your dad's ethics. They were alright with each other."

"If our father was so well respected by your family, then why did your brother want him dead?" June asked.

Drew blew out some air. "Betsy."

Jack and June both exclaimed, "WHAT!?"

Drew said, "Listen, I had no problem with Jamie, he was like an older brother and was the only one that treated me with respect. Nathaniel and Jamie were best mates, they graduated together and were as close as brothers. Ruben our oldest brother didn't care or not care for Jamie, but had no issues. But Danny. Danny wanted Betsy, Betsy choose Jamie and it all went to shit after they got married and had you." He motioned to Jack with his chin.

"It's like he still thought he had a chance with her until she popped you out looking like a little Jamie." He laughed. "It all seems so stupid now. No, it seemed stupid back then too."

Jack was furious but tried to keep his voice even. "So that's why he killed my father? Because he wanted my mother? But then had her killed too? I don't get it."

Drew said, "That's an oversimplified way of putting it. He hated Jamie even before Betsy. He hated the way our father loved him. Hated how much everyone adored him, men and women. Hated how easy things came for him, love, respect, admiration. He wanted the respect that Jamie had. He wanted his life, his woman, even his kids. But he couldn't touch him, not with Rab Riley still around. My father would have killed Danny for Jamie. That's how close they were. But when Rab died, I think Danny started plotting from then to destroy Jamie."

"So our father wasn't a traitor," Jack said.

"Again, oversimplified," Drew said. "Jamie did go to Mi6 to rat out Danny, but Danny and Danny alone is who he wanted to get caught. He wasn't trying to bring down the Family. But that was after what Danny did...what he did and Ruben wouldn't admonish him the way Rab would have, he had to find another way to get to him."