“Thanks for seeing us, Michael,” Rian says. “I know you’re a busy man.”
“Ah, you know how it is. Work doesn’t really start until after five.” Uncle Michael winks. “Besides, it’s not often I get a visit from my favorite niece.”
“How many nieces do you have again, Uncle Michael?” I ask, grinning.
“Three, and you’re top of the list, congrats.” He laughs, booming and joyous, and throws back his drink. “So, what can I do for the pair of you?”
“I wanted to ask you about something a little awkward,” Rian says, sipping his own drink and sitting back to study the old man. “Your boys, Quinn and Sean.”
“What the fuck did they do now?” He scowls like he expects the worst.
“Nothing that we know of.” Rian’s lips quirk and Uncle Michael laughs again. “We’re actually thinking about the past. Do you remember if your sons were ever involved with Megan Byrne?”
Uncle Michael’s eyebrows rise. “That girl you killed?”
Rian doesn’t flinch. “That’s right.”
“Now why the fuck are you poking around her? You do realize half the clan hates you for what happened.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“I’m not one of them, mind. Young men make bad decisions. It’s a damn tragedy the girl died because of it, but these things happen from time to time. You’ve more than redeemed yourself in my eyes.”
“Thank you.” Rian seems extremely uncomfortable, but he’s covering it well.
“But still, it’s bad taste to go sniffing around a dead girl, especially one you killed.” Uncle Michael looks at me, still smiling, but there’s an undercurrent of danger in that look. “And you, does your father know why you’re here?”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Should I tell him?”
“You can, but I’d rather you didn’t.”
He nods slowly. “I’m guessing you want to know about the girl, too?”
“If you remember your boys spending any time with her, that’d be really helpful.”
He sighs and pours another drink. “Yeah, I remember her. She didn’t come around much, but there were a few times the boys had her over. Both the boys talked about her all the time, though, about meeting her places and so on and such. Teenagers and all that. I didn’t pay too much attention to it at the time and only remember because she’s dead now and both the boys were such fucking downers after it happened.”
I grimace and try not to let him notice. Anger’s rolling around in my spine. I hate the way he’s talking about Megan’s death like it’s no big deal.
“Do you think we could talk to them?” I ask, trying to cover over my increasing discomfort.
“I’m sure you could, but I don’t know why you’re talking to me about all this instead of going directly to them.” He raises his glass to his lips. “Unless you think they wouldn’t talk to you.”
“That’s the fear,” Rian says with a bashful grin. “I was hoping you’d call them up and bring them here now.”
“So you can ambush them?”
“Something like that.”
Uncle Michael barks a laugh and shakes his head. “Ballsy, fucking ballsy. They’re my own boys. Why the hell would I help you?”
“Because I think they know something, but they’ll never talk if they’re too scared. You can help with that.”
He sighs and nods. “As luck would have it, the boys were coming over anyway. We planned on going to the driving range.” He stands with a grunt and pulls out his phone. I exchange a look with Rian, and he winks, looking totally at ease while I’m a nervous wreck. “Quinn? Yeh, it’s Dad, why don’t you come a bit early? Yeh, you fucker, bring your brother. You got some visitors that want a word. Yeh, right now.” He hangs up and throws back his drink. “The lousy assholes will be here in five. Need anything else? Or can I go back to watching the Phillies lose yet another one?”
“By all means,” Rian says, gesturing expansively, and Uncle Michael walks back into the living room with a grumble. The sound of the game comes back on, a replay from the night before. Rian leans toward me, grinning. “Now those fuckers can’t run.”
I nod back with a sigh. We don’t have long to wait, but we kill it in silence. I don’t feel like talking and Rian seems distracted. He jostles his knee and sips his drink, and when the garage door opens and Quinn and Sean come inside to greet their father, Rian practically jumps to his feet.
Quinn’s a younger version of Uncle Michael. Same eyes, same nose, but more muscular and even taller. Sean takes after their mother, with softer cheeks and a slender build.
“Hey cousin,” Quinn says, giving me a quick hug. I do the same dance with Sean. “What are you two doing here?” He frowns skeptically at Rian, who offers them a drink from the bottle their father left on the table. I’m sure they heard about what happened at the barn, and I wonder if they’re thinking about it right now.