The Wicked End

The dusk of another evening fell as Claire sat in Frank’s chair on the balcony.
It had been a long and exhausting day of phone calls and lawyers and constant irritation. It had ended as it had begun with Frank still in custody and the feds being stubborn. Now she was waiting for Mikey and James to come back home so they could decide what to do next. She knew that Gerard was down in Frank’s office still on the phone and doing his best but right now there seemed nothing to do but wait.
She felt numb, no matter how many times they kept saying that there was no evidence, that there was nothing anyone could pin on him, the thought of Frank being in jail was something that she could hardly stomach. There was no fear in her, just a deep and burning anger. Of all the things he had done, all the things that legitimately could be placed at his door and it was something that he was innocent of which got him locked up. In the mood she was in Claire would have been happy to take whatever guns Mikey had left lying around and go get him out.
“He’ll be out by morning, no crazy shit. Coming from me you know that’s a good idea.”
“You a mind reader now Mikey ?”
“When it comes to you ? Yes.”
Claire smiled and folded her arms against the increasing cold. They had known each other a long time and he had become a brother to her after their relationship had fizzled out. Ironically it had been due in part to her wish to avoid all the violence he was caught up in and the trouble it tended to bring. She hadn’t been surprised when he had settled into a long term relationship with James, he had never been content to limit his sexuality.
“I wasn’t going to batter the door down and break him out really.”
“Not a bad idea but Gee says the lawyer is confident of cracking them by morning. I’m gonna grab a shower and then go down there with him and meet the fucking overpaid prick.”
He regarded her pale face and knew that there was anger there and that he was damned if some snot nosed bitch agent was going to keep Frank from his family for any longer than one night. He had arranged for his old buddy Reardon to be brought in and knew his lover was extracting information on this new enemy downstairs somewhere. The fact that he wasn’t down there enjoying it also pissed him off.
“You need sleep and food, how long where you on that plane ?”
“Too long but it will wait. Ray is trying to divert the attention of the press onto some of his new budget initiatives. Quite what the fuck that will do is beyond me but he thinks it will help.”
She chuckled, Mikey and politics were two things that just didn’t mix.
“It will help take the press heat off, maybe make the feds lose interest a little.”
Mikey shrugged and checked his watch, it was hard to remember when he had last slept but there was still enough energy in the tank to make it through till morning. He had managed a few words with Frank who seemed more amused than anything else and certainly wasn’t taking the murder charges too seriously. The fact that the message on the wall had been addressed to him was a pretty big fucking clue.
“James and Bob are here plus the guard is on alert. Any sign of trouble and give me a call.”
“I’ve been home alone before Dad.”
A giggle escaped him and Claire took the opportunity to wrap her arms around him in a hug. He returned it gratefully, his face buried in her hair. He had been serious with the warning, Frank had been very clear that the compound was to be locked down and that his wife was to be guarded at all times. Both Mikey and Gerard had received lectures on being careful, making sure James was careful and that Ray was kept out the whole thing as much as possible. Mikey had begun to think that even if Frank went down he would never give up control of the family.
The cold and Mikey’s desire to leave drove them inside and back down into the office where Gerard was slouched and tired in the big leather chair. The older Way looked less happy than the younger, a persistent ache in his head was a warning that the bullet wound was suffering from the stress and he welcomed it. There was a freedom in the violence that usually followed and he had been unable to resist the urge to go and watch James at work for a while.
“C’mon Gee, lets go scare the shit out of some suits.”
“Subtle, always so subtle. Although if there is any fun, I get to hit him first.”
Claire rolled her eyes and shooed Gerard from the desks.
“No hitting anyone until Frank is on his way home.”
Both of them mock saluted and went back outside, instructing her to bolt the doors behind her. Claire had a brief conversation with the staff and even forced down a sandwich before returning upstairs to her room. The hours seemed determined to tick by as slowly as possible and she couldn’t bring herself to watch television or read. Even a brief call with Sharon did little to ease the waiting and it was nearly one in the morning before James appeared, the red stains up his arms that were drying to brown telling her all she needed to know.
“Is he still alive ?”
“Yes, he doesn’t get to die till the Don says so. Interestingly he is convinced that the woman he met was indeed Angel, the woman they buried.”
Claire frowned and pulled Frank’s sweater a little closer around her body. James was as calm as always, not showing his thoughts or emotions although she knew he would be playing every possibility out in his mind.
“Frank was convinced it couldn’t be her.”
“They were young and blind drunk, we can’t take anything for granted and need to think for them over this. Can’t say either of them are thinking clearly and I’m banned from mentioning it to Ray at all.”
He checked the door to the balcony was locked and considered the options again. People didn’t lie to him without James being able to see it and everything pointed to the scared middle aged man telling the truth. He had said she wanted to look up Frank for old times sake, she had been abroad and only just got back. When Reardon had admitted that he thought she was dead, the woman had told him to take nothing for granted.
“Well, goodnight. I’m taking first watch and then Bob will be just outside the door.”
“Get some sleep yourself. Pair of you will pass out by morning.”
James gave her a charming smile and left Claire to continue trying to pass the hours. Sleep was something else that seemed determined to evade her even though every bone in her body ached and she knew nothing else would happen until morning. Finally exhaustion won through and a deep and dreamless sleep enveloped her until it was shattered by a single frightening sound.
Glass breaking.
Claire sat bolt upright and listened again. For a moment she believed she imagined it before something that sounded like furniture moving made a cold sweat break out on her skin. For a moment she considered calling for Bob but Claire knew that it would attract attention if there was indeed someone in the house. Slowly and carefully she glanced at the clock and slipped from the bed toward the door. It was a little after four, the chill permeating even the deep carpet and the sound of her own ragged breathing was unnaturally loud.
There was no one outside the door, no sign of Bob or James or any of the other men that routinely checked the house and grounds. Claire tried not to panic, they may just be in the kitchen drinking beer while James slept and she would go down and yell at them a bit for scaring her. There was no reason to believe that anything was wrong and yet every internal alarm bell was going off.
The moon shone through the landing window and every step took her closer to the main stairs. Again she cursed herself for leaving the revolver locked in Frank’s study drawer but there had seemed no need for it when James was somewhere nearby. She reached the bannister and a low moan became stuck in her throat.
“Ah, Mrs Iero. I wondered if I would have to come looking for you but here you are. Come down, please. We have so much to talk about.”
The female voice was friendly and slightly accented with the familiar New Jersey. There were five men with the lone woman, all of them in black and masked up whereas she just wore dark jeans and a black leather jacket zipped up. This woman was not blond and she was older but it was still very much the woman in the photograph and worse was the figure who’s hair was tightly gripped in her fist, his head twisted up at a painful angle. Blood ran freely from a head wound that caused a certain confusion in his eyes but he was pissed.
“James ?”
“James is fine, this is Mikey’s pet right ?”
Claire could do nothing but leadenly walk down the stairs. A better view of the hallway caused even more terror. Bob lay in a pool of blood, the dark stain spreading from his head onto the cream carpet and making a purple glaze in the moonlight. All she could think about was the gun pressed tightly to James’ head and the pleasant smile on Angel’s face.
“Frank isn’t here. He’s in jail.”
Angel smiled and twisted a little harder, enjoying the grunt of pain from the young man kneeling beside her. The compound had been surprisingly easy but then patience and the new men in her life made so much seem achievable.
“I know. I didn’t come for him. I came for you because we need to have a serious talk. Finding out that there was something else of value here was just an added bonus.”
Claire found she couldn’t speak, not even when two of the large men forced her hands behind her and cuffed them tight. She considered trying to make a fight of it but James shook his head and kept so still that she knew it wasn’t worth the risk. While she was well aware that this was the one thing guaranteed to make Frank go into full on psycho mode, it wasn’t exactly a comforting thought.
“Problem is, I only have room for one and Mikey fucking Way needs a message. Night night James.”
Claire screamed as the sound of a gunshot split the night in two and echoed out into the air outside.

Notes