Internal Affair (16 page)

Morgan finally glanced up at them. His expression held a grim satisfaction. “You’re just like your old man, aren’t you? A white knight and too pure to get down in the mud with the rest of us mortals. Got him killed and his woman, too.” His lips curled up in a nasty smile. “Maybe if he’d been a little less holier than thou, he would have seen the viper in his nest.”

“What do you mean?” Parker jumped in before Daire could. Fury vibrated off of him in palpable waves.

Morgan dropped his gaze again. “Who better to hide us all than the man with the spotlight on him? Hiding in plain sight. Clever, ruthless bastard. Could have worked his way up to mayor at least. Bring him down and you’re right, the rest will be easier.”

A small, wounded sound came out of Daire’s lips. Parker looked at him with alarm. He shook his head at her. “No.” The one word was almost a plea.

“I don’t understand.” Her brain tried to make sense of Morgan’s cryptic words, but Daire had obviously worked them out already.

“You’re lying,” he spat out.

Morgan again looked up at them. The smile he gave sent a shudder down Parker’s spine. “I’m not. No point in it for me, is there? Get him. Get him today, or he’ll kill me and you, your brothers, even this nice piece of tail you’re obviously sniffing after.”

Parker had to put a hand on Daire to restrain him. Curling her fingers around his arm, she pulled him up to a standing position with her.

“Thank you for visiting with us, Mr. Morgan,” she said in a voice loud enough to carry. “I’m sorry if we bothered you.” With that, she all but dragged Daire back to the car.

****

On the verge of hyperventilating, Daire pulled into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant a couple of blocks from the dementia facility. He stopped the car and placed his forehead against the steering wheel. How he’d kept it together enough to get out of that place and back on the road without losing it entirely, he’d never know. He probably should have given the keys to Parker, but he’d shaken off all of her attempts at communicating.

Her delicate hand came to rest on the back of his neck. “Are you okay?”

He shook his head, unable to give voice to his feelings at the moment. He took great shuddering breaths and worked to get his emotions under control. Finnegan, his father’s closest friend, Finn’s godfather and a man Daire himself had looked up to all his childhood, had been at the center of it all along. When the man had said those terrible things about Daire’s father the other day to stop the investigation, it hadn’t been a horrible mistake. It had been a calculated move to derail him and his brothers from delving further into the murders. He supposed he should be glad the guy hadn’t put a bullet in his head instead.

Daire exhaled sharply and sat back up. He grabbed Parker’s hand as it left his neck and clasped it between both of his. “I should have seen it long ago. Finnegan was an obvious suspect.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Parker scoffed. “Why in the world would you have suspected someone so close to your family? The effing Police Commissioner, for God’s sake. Don’t beat yourself up for not seeing it. I certainly didn’t. He never showed up in any file I saw except for the list of people who graduated with your father. He wasn’t in any of the pictures you shared with me. I never gave him a second thought.”

He twisted his neck to look at her without lifting his head. It felt like it weighed a ton. “I always thought he distanced himself from the murders because his ambition didn’t allow him to be potentially tainted by dirty cop rumors. I thought he’d put his career ahead of friendship.”

“In a way, he did.”

“Yeah.” Daire turned his head straight and closed his eyes. They sat silently for a few minutes. He still needed time to come to grips with the shocking information. “Morgan could be lying.” Even as he said it, however, he didn’t believe it. Not really.

“It makes no sense for him to. He’s gone to this elaborate effort to pretend to have dementia to put himself in the safest position he can. Lying to us about Finnegan would only make him vulnerable if word gets out we’d been to see him.”

Daire indulged himself with one heavy sigh and sat up. He kissed Parker’s hand before letting it go. “I need to call my brothers and Regan, have them come over and plan out what to do.”

“I should bring this to my superior.”

Daire winced as he put the car back into gear. “I’m sorry. I hate to ask this of you, but we can’t be sure yet who’s involved. I want to confront Finnegan first. I know that puts you in a bad position, and I’m sorry. I just can’t risk my brothers’ lives in particular if this goes to shit.” He spared her a glance. “If you want, I can drop you off at your district before I meet with the others. You stay in plain sight of as many people as you can until I contact you.”

“No. I’m sticking with you.” Parker’s tone brooked no argument.

Daire kept his eyes on the road. “I love you.”

“I know.” Now, her tone was a bit smug. “I love you, too.”

****

Ronan became the designated driver on the way to Finnegan’s house. Daire had happily given up that duty in order to sit in the back with Parker. Regan rode shot-gun, and Finn flanked Parker’s other side. No one said a thing. There was nothing more to say.

They’d hashed out the ugly truth and agreed on the plan back at the house. All that was left was to confront Finnegan. In the raw November afternoon, more than eight years after the lives of the Callaghans had been irreparably shattered, answers and that much vaunted closure were finally at hand. The thought brought him no relief. He felt like throwing up.

His brothers probably felt the same as he did. They certainly had stated a desire to pound the man into oblivion, which was why they’d decided once again, Parker needed to take the lead on the confrontation. Besides, it was her investigation. They already risked problems with the D.A. for cornering Finnegan at home instead of bringing him in for questioning. They didn’t want to give his defense attorney any more ammunition than necessary.
Uncle
James Finnegan needed to be locked in a cage for the rest of his life.

Parker squeezed Daire’s hand. “It’s going to be all right. We’ll bring him in, and he’ll be smart enough to rat out his associates.”

The smile he gave her didn’t fool her he knew. “I hope so. Morgan is hardly a reliable source of information. Finnegan’s no fool. I don’t see why he wouldn’t deny everything and try to ride it out.”

“I’ll get the truth out of the fucker,” Ronan fumed.

Before Daire could respond to rein his brother in, Regan reached over and patted Ronan’s shoulder. “We have to trust in the system, boyo. Uncle Rory always did.”

“And look where that got him.” The hard observation had come from Finn.

“We do things by the book,” Daire said as firmly as he knew how. “If he talks, great. Otherwise, we build a case against him.”

God, he sounded more emphatic than he believed. Part of him worried they wouldn’t be able to sweat anything out of Finnegan and he’d walk, at least temporarily, with time to come after them. For the moment, the others in their family were safely tucked away at Uncle Jack’s house. Michael and Diego were sufficient guards for Craig, Cassidy, and Jack. Kyle had surprised everyone except Regan when he showed them he carried a gun as well. Three armed men could hold down the fort for the time being. Come night, however, Daire wanted this whole miserable thing over as much as it could be.

The rest of the ride remained quiet, albeit ever more tense as they approached their destination. Finnegan’s impressive house sat on a corner lot in the West Roxbury section of Boston. Daire had never been here before, having only visited his parents’ friends when they lived elsewhere. Success had given the commissioner a nicer lifestyle, although not too flashy. Whatever ill-gotten gain Finnegan raked in over the years, he’d been smart enough not to use it in obvious ways. Ronan parked the car on the street, and they all sat there for a minute just looking. The garage door stood open, and a large, dark sedan could be seen parked inside. It was the only indication that anyone was at home.

With the confrontation imminent, worry pricked at his determination. He glanced at Parker, then past her at his baby brother, then focused on the backs of Ronan’s and Regan’s heads. He loved them all and didn’t like the idea of leading them into a viper’s pit. Their being cops made no difference. He wanted to protect them. Of course, any notion that he’d go in alone would be shot down entirely, so he didn’t even try. The weight of his service revolver sitting within his shoulder holster gave him some comfort. Everyone was going in armed, of course, even Parker.

She squeezed his hand. “Let’s go.”

Blowing out a sigh, he nodded. “Right. Remember everyone, Parker takes the lead. The rest of us are here first and foremost as back-up. We do this as much by the book as we possibly can.”

He thought he heard Ronan mutter something like “fuck the book,” but he ignored it. They were all on edge. By necessity, he had to exit the car before Parker. He held out his hand to help her slide over and out and let her pull free in order to walk up to the front door first. He scanned the windows and doors, worried that bullets might come flying out and hit her. It was an unlikely scenario, yet given how his parents had died, he cut his fears and himself some slack.

If Parker worried about her safety, she didn’t show it. Maybe he didn’t have the right so early in their relationship, but he was proud of how she marched right up to the door and rang the bell. Daire came up to stand a half-step behind and to her right to make it clear she led the team, yet close enough to intervene if Finnegan threatened her. The others ranged themselves in a semi-circle one step below them.

It took a couple of times pressing the bell before footsteps could be heard and a shadow loomed in the curtain covering one of the long windows on either side of the door. Daire’s heart lurched with renewed fear. He fought to steady his breath and nerves.

By the time Finnegan opened up, Daire felt in control and determined. The man stood in the doorway, one hand on the knob. The other held a tumbler of amber liquid. His eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch as he took in the group.

“Commissioner Finnegan, we’re sorry to disturb you,” Parker said in the very same official tone of voice she’d used on Daire in his office only a few weeks ago. “I’m Detective Parker Li from internal affairs.”

“I know who you are.”

Parker blinked a couple times back at him. “Of course, sir. We’d like to come in and ask you a few questions.”

Finnegan didn’t respond right away. Taking a sip of his drink, he stood staring at them all, his gaze shifting from Parker to Daire and beyond to the others. His lips curled into a smile. “Well, of course. I always have time for the Callaghans.” He flicked his gaze back to Parker. “And their
friends
.”

The lewd way he said the word made Daire’s hand itch to curl into a fist and let it fly. Fortunately, Parker had a thicker skin. “Thank you, sir.”

Finnegan shoved the door open wider, turned, and walked away. He didn’t bother to see if they followed him into the living room. Of course, they did, quietly, edgily, ready for trouble. The house was eerily quiet and looked a little unkempt. Surprising. Maura Finnegan had always struck Daire as an elegant woman if not very warm. He couldn’t imagine she’d let her home get so messy.

Parker must have had similar thoughts. “Is Mrs. Finnegan at home, sir?”

Stopping by the wet bar in one corner, he grabbed a bottle of Jamison and splashed more into his glass. He turned around and leaned against the bar. “No, she’s not and hasn’t been for some time. She and I are taking a little time to
reevaluate
our relationship.” The smile he gave with this surprising revelation didn’t reach his eyes.

“I see,” Parker replied briskly. She went to the long couch in the middle of the room and sat down at one end as if she’d been invited to. Daire positioned himself at her side. She opened her briefcase and took out the thick file she’d brought. She also pulled out a small recorder, clicked it on, and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. “Do you mind if I record this interview, sir?”

Keeping her gaze steady, she waited for his reply, as if she had all of the time in the world. This was a critical part of the visit. Massachusetts being one of the few states that required both parties’ consent to record a conversation, Finnegan had to agree. Otherwise, it would be their words against his if he tried to renege on anything he said. Normally five people’s testimony compared to one person’s was a good case. This wasn’t normally.

Finnegan kept them waiting for a full five seconds. It seemed like an hour. Eventually, he waved his glass in Parker’s direction. “Sure, why not?” He slugged down more scotch.

Parker started laying pictures down beside the recorder. “I’ve been investigating the death of Sergeant Mahurin, the murder of Detective Forrester, the murders of Rory and Sheila Callaghan…”

Finnegan waved her into silence. “I know what you’ve been up to, Li.”

Parker sat up straighter. “I’m sure you do,” she replied in a quiet, yet firm, voice. “And before I continue, I’m going to remind you of your Miranda rights.” Finnegan started chuckling loudly, but Parker didn’t allow his response to distract her. She recited the words that anyone who watched cop shows could also recite, words that the Commissioner also knew by heart. Her voice rang loud and clear over the derisive sounds her quarry made.

“Do you understand your rights?” She stared him down when he failed to answer her right away. At his impatient nod, she said, “For purposes of the recording, Commissioner Finnegan has physically confirmed he understands his rights to remain silent.

“Sir, I won’t bore you with how I’ve come to believe that you are at the center of my investigations. Suffice to say that you haven’t done as a good a job tying up loose ends as you thought.”

She let her words sit between them like a big glove thrown down in a challenge. Finnegan didn’t respond right away. He stared at her, sipping at his drink as if he hadn’t just been accused of being dirty. Behind Daire, his brothers and Regan remained quiet, although he could feel their barely leashed anger radiating off them. Finally, Finnegan looked away, his gaze skidding to the side. His chest rose on a deep breath, and he let it out with a harsh whoosh.