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I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know about this.”
“Give him a chance,” Brody said. “I’ve been working on him. He’s on the right path now.”
I stared at Shaun for a long moment. He could be extremely useful if he wasn’t full of shit, but I didn’t know if I could trust the kid, not yet at least. He was like a rabid dog that day in the pub, ready to bite and kill.
But I knew this was more complicated with that. In a family like the Healys, a guy like Colm was a god to these young men. I could only imagine that Shaun and all these guys looked up to Colm and wanted to do everything he said, and getting away from that must’ve been hard as well. If Brody could do it, then maybe Shaun could, too.
“Who’d you lose?” I asked finally.
“My older brother,” he said. “Dead two years now. Died early on in the fighting.”
I nodded slowly. “I’m sorry. We’ve all lost something in this fucking fight.”
“I’m sorry too,” Shaun said. “I acted like a real fucking prick. I thought Colm was right, you know?”
“I know.” I extended my hand.
Shaun took it and we shook.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get down to business.”
I led the guys through the house, giving them the tour. Bea fluttered around and made all the appropriate sounds, offered to get them something to eat and drink, which they readily accepted, and then disappeared back into the kitchen. I took them into the living room where I had a table set up with plenty of chairs.
Sam was already at the head. She stood and nodded to the group as they entered, then gaped when she saw Shaun. “What’s he doing here?” she said, backing up.
“It’s okay,” I said. “He saw the light.”
“We convinced him,” Brody said. “Don’t worry, Sam. He’s on our side.”
Shaun stepped forward, rubbing the back of his head. “I know I fucked up,” he said. “I shouldn’t have said that shit to you at the pub like that. I’m sorry, Sam.”
She gaped at him then stared at me and I only shrugged, grinning back. She finally sighed and gestured at the table. “Let’s all sit down,” she said.
They nodded back and sat down at the table. I took the chair next to Sam, and for one second, I sat back and stared at the young Healy kids as they looked around the cavernous living room like they’d never seen something quite like it.
Which they probably hadn’t. These were real Healy kids, the sort of boys that grew up knowing only Philly row homes. I guessed they were all under twenty-five, maybe closer to eighteen. They were practically kids, and I could imagine why they’d want to end this war. Nobody wanted to die for some gang fight, especially not when there was an alternative.
“So how do we do this?” Shaun finally asked after Bea brought out small finger sandwiches and tea. The boys eyed the food and drink like it was radioactive, but ate and drank it happily enough.
“Plan’s simple,” I said. “We need to get Colm out of hiding again and into a meeting. That’s where all you come in.”
Brody looked at Shaun, who shrugged. “I can talk to Colm,” Shaun said. “He’s hard to contact, but he’ll talk to me.”
“Can you set up a meeting?” Sam asked.
“That, I don’t know,” Shaun said. “He doesn’t like doing shit if he doesn’t have to. That other meeting was a special thing, you know? He wanted to show that he was serious about talking to you people, but looking back on it, I think he never really wanted to make peace.”
“Did you?” I asked.
Shaun looked down at the table and shook his head. “No, I didn’t,” he said. “But then I talked to Nessa, and she made me talk to some of the old ladies, and then my mom came and told me how bad it hurt when Billy died, and I just, I realized that maybe none of this is worth it. Do I really want to die over some fucking turf?”
“Nobody wants that,” Brody said, jaw clenched. “We’ve all lost too much.”
“The Valentino family feels the same way. There’s a reason we haven’t rolled into your neighborhoods and started killing you all, and don’t act like we couldn’t.”
Shaun nodded, his jaw tight. “I used to think we were strong, but now I’m starting to realize how many dead bodies we’ve got behind us, and maybe we were never as tough as I thought.”
“That’s why we need to get Colm out of hiding,” Sam said. “Offer him reparations.”
Shaun laughed. “That was a joke. I mean, he thought it was hilarious, you know? Reparations? He never thought you’d go for it.”
“Tell him we’ll pay,” I said, shrugging. “Tell him whatever it takes. We want this war to end. Tell him we’ll write a check for it.”
