Chapter 1

The settlement that in the Bronze ages was considered to be simply a village of little importance was destined to become one day the largest and most productive city in all of Ireland in modern times.

Danny was not around during the Bronze ages but he had been to Belfast before. He was there during the time of the troubles and he had left in a hurry getting out before he was arrested or assassinated just because of his last name and his reputation for mayhem. He was much older now and none of his old friends both male and female would ever suspect him to be "Butcher Boy" Danny Hogan from the western part of the city right in the middle of a stridently Catholic neighborhood known for deep roots of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

The fact that he looked so different now was a lifesaver in more ways than one.

Fortunately for him, they had never gotten his prints or his DNA on any lab report or file and only the old file photos identified the wanted criminal Hogan as still being a "most wanted" character of dangerous intent.

Actually, he was standing right in the hallway of the courthouse looking at the lighted display of known criminals and saw his youthful image right up on top along with a couple of former friends that he knew for a fact were already long dead and buried.

A young girl was standing next to him and she laughed at his obvious interest in the list of desperados.

"I hope it is not yourself you are looking for, Mister. These fellows would all be headed for the gallows if we had that sort of thing anymore."

"Butcher Boy" Hogan smiled his most charming smile and was confidant his appearance was the best disguise because his age made him seem less formidable than any of the young roughnecks on the wall.

"That's a fact to be sure, my dear, but it would be nice to be spending some of that reward money if I ever saw any of those troublemakers."

The girl laughed with a deep throaty sound that ruffled his libido like raw whiskey on a cold winter day.

She was just a wee bit of a thing barely coming up to his shoulder.

Of course, he was taller than most and had put on some extra stones eating the rich American food the past two decades. It was time for him to take the thought of a diet seriously and get back to something resembling his "fighting" weight if such a thing was possible at this late date.

The girl was not his type at all. He liked his women big and meaty with generous boobs and hips wide enough to promise a good ride when things got serious in the bedroom. She was the poster girl for the new generation with her pert barely-formed tits and her neat little heart-shaped bottom tucked into a loose-fitting skirt of plaid design that made her look like a schoolgirl even though she was most certainly on the other side of thirty.

He saw the stack of papers and files in her arms and the familiar ribbon of some legal case to be presented in a court of law.

Danny tried to hide his shudder of distress.

First, she has this little sprite of a body and now she turns out to be just another fucking lawyer. He couldn't stand lawyers because they were so greedy and pompous that he wanted them to be wrong even if they were on his side.

The girl saw him looking at her piled papers and announced defensively,

"I work for the prosecutors but I am more of a researcher than one of the official counsels in the cases. They told me I was too young to be effective in the courtroom."

He was surprised she had shared her most personal concern with him since he was no better than a complete stranger. It had to be because he sounded more like an American than an Irishman and she felt it was safe to give such details to a foreigner.

Danny's left leg was starting to ache from standing so long in one place. He had taken two bullets near the knee at the height of the troubles and was lucky that he was still able to walk without too much of a limp in public.

The girl looked down at his leg when he winced as he turned to his left to move along with her to the courtroom.

"Are you all right, Mister, we can sit on that bench over there if you need a quick rest?"

Danny cursed the fact that one of the bullets was still lodged inside near the kneecap. It was not a good location for being dug out without some risk of losing the use of the leg and he had declined to take that risk unnecessarily.

He didn't want her to know the reason for his momentary weakness so he merely said,

"Just a tendon I pulled playing squash a while back. I keep forgetting that I am not as young as I used to be."

The girl laughed and held out her hand.

"I'm Molly Malone and I think you need a good masseuse to straighten that out for you."

He shook her hand which surprised him with her strength and dexterity and replied,

"Hello, Molly, my name is Danny Ryan and I was born not far from here but have spent most of my life in the United States learning all those bad American habits that drive Irish girls crazy."

They sat on the bench for a few moments watching all the rapidly moving courthouse regulars heading to their next appointment with scarcely a look at the people around them. They were equally as blind to the constant barrage of human emotions ebbing and flowing like a tidal wave of hidden feelings around them. Those unspoken vibes were both positive and negative depending on the person and the mission to be accomplished.

Danny could recognize most of them but he kept it to himself.

Molly probably wasn't aware she could see them as well because she had too much on her plate as it was and didn't want to add to her load without some sort of pay-back for making the effort.