In the Arms of the Wind (23 page)

“Okay then,” she said, and closed her eyes.

Danny lay there for a breath or two longer until he gathered enough energy then wearily raised his hands to clap twice. The sound startled Kaycee but as soon as the lights went out, she relaxed.

“You gotta love the Clapper,” she giggled.

Chapter Nine

When Danny and Kaycee rose the next morning, showered then came to the dining room where Johnny, Moirrey, their twin eleven-year-old sons and thirteen-year-old daughter were having breakfast, only Johnny greeted his guests.

“I hope you slept well,” he said, inviting them to sit. “Rosario, coffee for my brother and future sister-in-law.”

Moirrey released a very unladylike snort, which her tall, gangly daughter echoed. The two boys looked from their mother to their uncle, to their uncle’s lady friend then to their father whose frown as he glared at their mother did not escape the young boys’ notice.

“Hey, Uncle Dan-o,” one of the boys said before turning his attention to Kaycee. “Hey, I’m Bradan and this is my brother Dolyn. The girl is Roseen.”

“Hay is for horses, Bradan,” his mother snapped, “and the girl is your sister.”

“If you say so, Ma,” Bradan said, and exchanged a high-five with his twin.

“Idiots,” Roseen pronounced, ignoring the newcomers to the table.

“Hi, Bradan and Dolyn. I’m Kaycee. Those are Manx names, aren’t they?” Kaycee inquired as Danny pulled a chair out for her.

“How’d you know that, Kaycee?” Dolyn asked.

“It’s Miss Kaycee to you,” Johnny corrected his son.

“Because my mother’s people were Manx and both my sister and I were given Manx middle names. Hers is Jonee and mine is Bree.”

“Cool. When you getting married, Uncle Dan-o?” Bradan inquired.

“We haven’t set a date yet,” Danny replied, and nodded to the maid who held a bowl of scrambled eggs.

“Your uncle hasn’t given the matter much thought at all,” Moirrey said as she sipped her orange juice. “He hasn’t even given the woman a ring yet.”

“Knock it off, Moirrey,” Johnny grumbled. “What they do is none of your business.”

Moirrey pursed her lips at the reprimand but said nothing else.

“Did Danny tell you what
Daideo
and I discussed with him last evening?” Johnny asked Kaycee.

Kaycee shot Danny a glance. “No.”

“It was late and she was tired,” Danny said. “I was going to ask her this morning but it slipped my mind.”

“Ask me what?”

Johnny picked up his linen napkin and blotted his lips. “The block of buildings in which Rosie Adams’ antiques store sits belongs to Gallagher Enterprises,” he told her. “I’ve spoken with Rosie’s daughter down in Coral Gables and found out she would like to sell the shop’s contents as soon as the police have finished with their investigation.
Daideo
and I believe the shop to be a prime asset and have agreed to purchase it from Rosie’s estate, but we’re going to need someone to run it for us. Since you are familiar with the operation, we thought you might like to manage it.”

Kaycee’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding!”

“He never kids about business,” Danny said. “If you wanna do it, that’s fine by me.”

“How very modern of you, Dan-o,” Moirrey drawled. “To let the little woman work.”

“Shut the hell up, Mally!” Johnny snapped. “This is none of your concern!”

“Please don’t curse, Dad,” Roseen chastised her father. “That’s so bourgeois.”

Danny glanced at his niece. “Spell bourgeois for us, Roseen,” he challenged. He smiled nastily when she swung her head around to glare at him.

“I don’t know what to say,” Kaycee told Johnny, wanting to defuse the charged atmosphere that had suddenly blossomed in the room.

“Say yes,” Johnny told her. “You’d be doing us a favor.”

“And I doubt you’ll have anything to worry about,” Moirrey said. “Unlike poor Rosemary, I’m sure my husband and his father will provide protection for you so what happened to her won’t happen to you.”

“That’s it!” Johnny said, throwing his napkin onto the table. “You’re finished with your breakfast so get the hell up and leave us!” When his daughter started to reprimand her father again, he pointed a finger at her. “And you keep your goddamned mouth shut, Roseen Ysbal, or you can forget about that beach party this weekend!”

Mother and daughter shot up from the table in tandem and stalked off together—heads high, shoulders straight—without a backward look.

“She’s getting to be as big a bitch as her mother,” Johnny grumbled, slumping in his chair.

“I’m sorry to be the cause of this,” Kaycee apologized.

Danny reached over to put his hand atop hers. “You didn’t cause anything. Moirrey was born with a stick up her ass.”

The twins giggled at their uncle’s vulgar comment.

“You two are excused as well,” their father snapped.

“Welcome to the family, Auntie Kace,” Bradan said, and his sentiment was echoed by his brother as they pushed their chairs back. “See you, Unk!”

“See ya,” Danny replied, lifting a hand to Dolyn as the young man waved his goodbye.

“So, Kaycee,” Johnny said, leaning forward to pick up his coffee cup. “What do you say? You will have carte blanche to hire whomever you’d like to work with you at the store and there will be guards around you all day, every day so you don’t have to worry about security.”

“You will be well protected,” Danny stressed. “I guarantee it.”

“No meeting clients alone though,” Johnny told her. “I understand the necessity for meeting with high-end buyers on the weekend, but not without bodyguards present. God only knows why Rosie was murdered, but we have no intention of taking any chances with you.”

Kaycee leaned back in her chair, her appetite suddenly gone. “Danny said she had been involved in illegal activities,” she said.

Johnny gave his brother a hard look. “Why would you say that, Daniel?”

“Because Thomas Gerring was about to be indicted by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia for illegally moving antiquities and it was suspected Rosie was helping him fence the items. Her name was on the indictment as well,” Danny said.

“I didn’t know that,” Johnny replied.

“I don’t want to be involved in anything illegal,” Kaycee said.

“You won’t be,” Johnny said.

Kaycee looked him in the eye. “No offense, Johnny, but I have heard the rumors about your family.”

“No offense taken,” Johnny said. “If you agree to run the shop for us, you will run it within the full scope of the law.” He grinned. “You’ll be one of our legit operations.”

Danny squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t allow him to put you in any kind of compromising situation, baby.”

“Of course the Feds will watch over you very closely with the shop being part of Gallagher Enterprises and that can be a hassle. They are scavengers of the worst sort, believe me—especially the blasted IRS. If you don’t want to have to deal with their rudeness, I will certainly understand.”

“It’s up to you,” Danny said when Kaycee looked at him.

“You really don’t mind if I work?” she asked.

He lifted her hand, kissed it. “Not if that’s what you want.”

She hesitated for a moment or two then turned back to Johnny. “I’d really like to run the shop.”

Johnny smiled. “Good, then it’s all settled. Welcome to the family, Kaycee!”

* * * * *

“She’s ugly,” Roseen said as she and her mother sat in the back of the limousine on the way to the private girls’ school Roseen attended. “And so common.”

“Common,” Moirrey said. “That is a very apt word.”

“What could Uncle Dan-o possibly see in her?”

Moirrey snorted. “What neither of us sees, obviously. His interest lies between her legs, dear,” she said, and at her daughter’s giggle she smiled conspiratorially.

“We’ll show her, won’t we, Mom?”

“Oh yes,” Moirrey agreed. “That we will.”

* * * * *

“She is going to take us up on the offer,
Daideo
,” Johnny informed his grandfather. “With the stipulation that it be a strictly legit business.”

At the other end of the phone, the old man laughed. “Smart lass, that one,” he said. “Is she there now?”

“Dan-o took her into town with him. He wants to check on the condo and then he’s going to take her to visit her sister and the new munchkin.”

“I know the cops are about as effective as a broken tooth, but have we any word on who planted the bomb?”

“It had to be Malone,
Daideo
. Who else?”

“I didn’t ask who was responsible for the damned thing happening, John. I know perfectly well it had to be the Malones. I’m asking if you know who did the job for them!” the old man hissed.

“Not yet, but we’re working on it. We’re going over the files of all the residents. It had to be an inside job.”

“Find him, John,” Xavier Gallagher ordered. “And take care of him.”

“Yes sir.”

* * * * *

“Nice house,” Danny observed as he pulled into the Crews’ driveway. “You want me to come in with you?”

Kaycee knew she was going to have trouble with her sister. Jonee’s voice when she’d called to see how the baby was doing had been cold and clipped.

“We’ll be going home this morning. I would like you to come over to the house, Kaycee. Maire and I need to speak with you.”

The moment Jonee had mentioned their middle sister who lived forty miles away in Jesup, Kaycee knew the big guns had been pulled out. Maire being there meant trouble.

“Is Mom coming too?” Kaycee had asked after a long sigh.

“She’s on her way. She’ll be here later this afternoon so plan on staying for supper when you come.” There was a pause. “Alone.”

“Babe?” Danny pressed as they sat there with the engine running.

“They are going to be reading me the riot act so it would be best if you weren’t there,” Kaycee said.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure,” she said, leaning over to kiss him. She caressed his cheek then turned to get out of the car.

“If they give you too much shit, I’ll sic the IRS on them,” Danny said.

Kaycee laughed and shut the car door, waved at him as he backed out of the driveway.

“A BMW convertible and a condo at Rampart Villas on a cop’s salary,” Jonee said as Kaycee climbed the steps to her sister’s front door. “I guess that says it all.”

Kaycee’s lips thinned. It was going to be a long, irritating day.

* * * * *

“I’ll take that one now,” Danny said half an hour later as he pointed to the three-carat heart-shaped solitaire engagement ring accentuated with two diamond baguettes side stones. “And for the wedding band, how about designing me one with two diamond hearts in between three sets of baguettes, three-carat total weight that fits around the engagement ring?”

The jeweler beamed for his customer had just designed a wedding band valued at well over four thousand dollars and the engagement ring was in excess of five thousand. “Of course, sir! How would you like to handle the purchase?”

“Check,” Danny said, reaching into his back pocket to take out his checkbook. “Oh, and on the inside of the band, I’d like this inscribed.” He took his business card and wrote
Le mo ghrasa mise, agus liomsa mo ghrá
.

Looking at the foreign words, the jeweler frowned. “What does it mean, Mr.…?” He turned the card over and as soon as he saw the name, his eyes flared. His head snapped up. “Gallagher?” he croaked in a squeaky voice.

“It’s Gaelic for ‘I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine’,” Danny said. He began writing in the store’s name on the check, the day’s date, and then signed it with a flourish. “You’ll want to call my bank to verify this.”

“There’s no need, Detective Gallagher. I thought you looked familiar,” the jeweler said, swallowing hard.

“I insist,” Danny told him. “It’s the First Fed. Sorry I don’t know the number right off hand.” He tore out the check that had yet to have the amount of the purchase applied to it and handed it to the jeweler. “You can fill in the amount if you would.” He braced his hands on the edge of the glass counter, cocked his hip and smiled amicably at the obviously frightened clerk.

“Y-Yes sir,” the jeweler stammered, and turned to retrieve the phone book to look up the bank’s phone number.

* * * * *

Kathleen got off the elevator on Danny’s floor and winced when she saw the destruction caused by the bomb. In her capacity as president of the owners association she had every right to inspect the damage and see that the necessary repairs were done efficiently and in a timely manner so as not to inconvenience the other residents. She passed two workers who were removing the jagged drywall and entered Danny’s home. She was not expecting to find him there, and as soon as their eyes met, she stopped breathing.

“What do you want?” he asked, his face tight.

She cleared her throat before she could answer. “Are you all right?”