Chapter 22

(BELFAST – 1972)

It was far too early in the morning for whiskey in his coffee but Danny had that urge to soak up the bite of the dog before facing the stern faces of his masters in Belfast. His recollection of the evening before was a bit cloudy but he distinctly remembered inviting his landlady in for a drink and then found her stretched out next to him snoring when he woke up the next morning. It would have been a matter of amusement except for the fact her jealous husband was on the verge of reporting her kidnapped to the authorities and that would have brought him unwanted attention when all he really wanted was to blend into the background.

Life on the run was becoming a bit of a bore lately but he had become addicted to the excitement of never knowing if the next turn of a corner would be the last thing he would see in this life.

In the last six months, he had taken part in no less than four kneecappings, two perfectly executed termination operations and a beauty of an explosive device at an infamous police station known for harsh interrogation methods. He had called in the details on the device to the authorities to insure there were no unintended consequences in accordance with a policy decision that seemed counter-productive but popular with the general public.

The landlady was fixing him a grand meal in the small kitchen under the disapproving eye of her husband unhappy at her fussing over a whisper of a lad who drank too much and kept odd hours with no sign of gainful employment. All he cared was that the young man paid his rent on time and in that regard he was fairly well satisfied. He tried to sneak a slice of bacon off the pan and his joyfully humming spouse hit his hand with the wooden spatula like he was a small child engaged in petty theft. It was downright demeaning but he shrugged it off and went back to his newspaper and the all-important racetrack reports that had mixed results. His sideline of taking bets for bored housewives was his primary source of income and he had the perk of sometimes collecting his debts in an unorthodox manner.

Danny was still limping from a sprain he sustained running from scene of a minor kneecapping of a known informer with blood on his hands. It had been a trying exercise because he knew the man as a father of one of his many conquests and he felt guilty that he had to enforce the grim code of revenge on someone he would probably see when he took the daughter out for an evening at the pub. He did his best to avoid the areas that would splinter or endanger the use of the entire limb and conked the man on his head to put him out of pain until the doctors could attend to his wound. Still, it was a better way to deal with discipline than to kill the transgressors in an unwelcome permanent way that did no good for either side.

In the case of female culprits, the policy was quite different and a team of young lads would make the women suffer the consequences in a way that would rob them of their dignity but not cause any harm to their limbs. Those incidents were usually never advertised in any way because of the shame involved with the circumstances but almost everybody knew the story by word of mouth that traveled a lot faster than any television report or newspaper article.

The meeting was short and sweet.

He was informed that his services would no longer be required for the next two months because it was necessary to go into deep cover whilst the special unit brought in from Whitehall sifted through the data to connect the dots of their organization. Two out of the three cell leaders voted to go into voluntary "sleeper" mode until the heat eased up and they could resume their much needed services.

Danny was not pleased by the development because the excitement of the day to day struggle to survive was the juice he needed to get through a totally boring day. It just so happened that his Aunt Rose was in hospital in Derry and he was recruited to be the family representative to make arrangements for her since he had no family of his own to speak of. Of course, they didn't realize it conveniently coincided with his sudden availability because of the tightening noose across all of Northern Ireland.

He showed up at the hospital early in the morning and saw the shambling wrecks of humanity that entered the forlorn doors like Zombies from some horror film with terrible make-up. He hoped he didn't look that sad or disheartened but sometimes he was almost afraid to look in the mirror except when he had no other choice because he was shaving.

His Aunt was conscious but in a foul mood and told him,

"What the devil are you doing here, foolish boy?"

He explained that he was doing the "Watch the Auntie" bit at the family request and she lifted her tea cup like she was considering tossing it in his direction. Fortunately, it was still partially filled and she just sipped the hot sweet stuff until the cup was empty. The young girl in the next bed was watching them silently like they were a special act put on for her entertainment on another dreary day in the medical ward.

Danny's Aunt saw him looking at the red haired girl with the big black glasses and she teased him by saying,

"Julie, dear, this is my wayward nephew Danny. Whatever you do don't believe a word he says. He is cursed with the gift of gab and he never tells a story the same way twice. Be sure to guard your sweet backside whenever he is around too close."

The girl blushed in a shade almost as red as her pretty hair.

He was tempted to squeeze his Aunt's long slender neck but there were too many witnesses standing around and he didn't want to make a bad impression on the young girl called Julie.

Danny was curious about what was the reason for Julie's hospital stay and his