Boston Blood

Fifty Four

Frankie couldn't sleep. How could she? Every time she closed her eyes she was plagued with images of Tony's bloody corpse lying beside her, or her brother's face or Bill or Mary. She gasped and sat upright in the bed careful not to wake Lucy. She could hear the shower still running and the small bit of light radiating out from the bottom of the bathroom door.

She felt sick thinking of poor Bill and Mary and knew that they must be worried sick. She was sure that Colin would have called them after leaving her earlier to tell them how concerned he was about her and she was petrified that Bill might already be on the way here. She felt for the phone on the bedside locker as she tried to keep her panic at bay but all she could think about was Aidan's threats about hurting them and after tonight she knew it was time to finally do the one thing she was dreading. She had to tell Bill the truth.

She knew the number off by heart and took her time punching in the numbers. She had to be quick, She knew Cillian couldn't be much longer in the shower and had to talk fast. She typed in the last number and shut her eyes tight to stop the tears that were burning her eyes from falling. The line had barely rang once when his frantic voice filler her entire body with pain. "Hello? Hello? Frankie is that you?"

She bit her hand to try to silence her cries as she felt her stomach flip. "Bill, yeah it's me."

"Oh thank God. Mary! Mary It's Frankie! Sweetheart what happened? Are you okay? Colly called me and said you weren't well. He said you were drinking and had pills and that something wasn't right. Are you okay? I'm trying to get the next flight out but there's a storm here and there are no flights and I need to ge-,"

"Bill, Bill stop please. I'm okay. It's okay. It was nothing. I didn't take anything." The tears were falling down her cheeks and she wiped at them furiously, looking back at Lucy to make sure she was still asleep.

"But he said you were-, Sweetheart please tell me what's going on? I haven't spoken to you in weeks. I know something's wrong just please tell me or so help me I'm getting in my car and I'm driving up to Boston right this min-,"

"Bill no! Please just listen to me okay? Just listen to me and trust me. I need you to do that for me. Do you understand?"

He didn't say anything and Frankie had to put the phone in her other hand because she was shaking so much.

"Bill. I need you stay where you are. Or better yet, leave and go check into a hotel. I'm in trouble Bill and I don't know what's going to happen but I need you and Mary to listen. There are people who want to hurt you because of me. I'm trying to fix it but I can't risk something happening to you."

"Frankie what the hell are you talki-,"

"Bill, listen, please. I don't have much time but I need you to be careful. Stay in doors and if anyone looks suspicious, get yourselves out. I can't explain now but once this is all over I promise I will come down and explain everything. You just please have to trust me when I tell you everything is going to be okay. I'm going to be okay. Okay?"

Her voice broke on the last word and she held the phone to her chest while she heard him scream down the line.

"Frankie! Frankie please. Let me help you. I'm leaving Florida now I should be there in a few hours and we'll get through this. Is it money you need? I'll give you whatever you want just please tell me what I need to do."

Frankie's chest was heaving and she couldn't breathe properly. The fear in Bill's voice was breaking her heart.

"Bill. Stop. It's too late. The only thing you coming up here is going to do is get you killed. This is my mess and I am so sorry for dragging you into this but I promise I'm gonna fix everything. I'm going to keep you both safe no matter what. I just need you to promise me you'll stay where you are. Please Bill. Please do this for me and I'll never ask you for anything again. I love you so much. Both of you. You have no idea what having you in my life has done for me. You saved me Bill and I will be so fucking grateful for the rest of my life but I need you to let me to return the favour now, okay? I need you to say you'll trust me when I say everything will be okay and listen to what I'm telling you. Stay where you are. Please. I'll call you as soon as all of this blows over. Hell, I'll be on the first flight down. I love you Bill but I need to hear you say it."