Boston Blood

Fifty one

Three hours earlier.

Cillian pulled up beside Aidan's car, careful to make sure his headlights were off. The harbour was quiet with only a few boats docked. Cillian could see the lights of a small ship sailing closer to them and knew that was the one they were waiting for. He turned off the engine and peered into Aidan's car. Aidan was on the phone and nodded to Cillian while talking.

The car was momentarily illuminated when Bridget lit a smoke next to him. She was uncharacteristically quiet as she took a long drag. Cillian noticed how her hand was shaking, ever so slightly as her eyes darted around the deserted harbour.

He knew it was a mistake to tell her what Frankie had told him. She, like him, was completely baffled by Frankie's accusations and shared in Cillian's feelings that she was lying and must have been trying to mess with Cillian's head somehow.

Bridget was furious and Cillian had to physically stop her from storming over to Frankie's to kick the living shit out of her. Aidan was also like a father to Bridget, he had taken her in when she was young and helped raise Lucy. The idea that he was working with their enemy and had been lying to them all this time was ridiculous. Cillian was able to calm her down, somewhat, when he told Bridget that he had spoken to Aidan and after their talk he had no doubt in his mind that Frankie was just desperate and was trying anything she could to bring them down.

But the familiar knot that was continuously gnawing at Cillian's stomach was making him feel uneasy. He hated feeling like this, like he wasn't 100% in the game. This was the most important night of his career and it would only take one mistake for everything to go tits up. He needed to get his shit together.

"I mean, how fucking stupid does she think we are? I mean, I know she's like the enemy and all but I was actually starting to like the bitch, ya know? I just thought she'd go along with it and get the job done and she would be able to protect her family. The stupid bitch is dangerous."

Cillian lit his own cigarette but let his eyes drift back to Aidan. He knew Aidan was on edge about tonight but there was a look on his face that made Cillian's stomach hurt. Aidan looked more than nervous, he looked angry and afraid. Bridget's phone rang but Cillian didn't take his eyes off his uncle.

"Yeah? Okay we'll head over now. That was Damien, he and Dotser are down at the water. It's time." Bridget got out of the car and tapped on Aidan's window. He said something else into the phone and wiped his face with his hand before slowly opening the door and nodding to Bridget.

Cillian took a deep breath and got out of car, silently reminding himself of the plan. He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and pulled it out, scoffing when he saw Frankie's number flash across the screen. He rejected the call and stuffed the phone away.

Aidan had bribed one of the harbour workers to instruct the ship's Captain to Dock the ship further down harbour than he had planned. There was a truck waiting there, ready to load Tony's haul and drive it to a safe house. Cillian knew Tony's crew would be waiting and they had to act fast. He removed his gun from the back of his jeans and checked that it was loaded and that the safety was on.

He felt prepared to do whatever was necessary in order for tonight to go right. He had shot many people before but never killed anyone. And tonight, he hoped that that would still be the case. Aidan had ensured them all that there would only be a few of Tony's crew here, that Tony would expect the shipment to come in and everything would be business as usual so it wouldn't be too hard to steal the goods from them. But something felt off. He watched Aidan as he walked behind him, trying to study his body language. He hadn't said a word. He just walked silently down to the water to where Damien, Dotser and the others were waiting for the ship to Dock.