Shay followed Pat into the meditation room. He knew this was where he took people for one of his private chats. The priest had rung him earlier and asked him to call up.
Shay was struck by the hushed, carpeted quiet in the room.
‘Thanks for coming,’ the priest said. He was about to close the door behind him. ‘Want some tea or water?’
Shay realised he was a bit parched and asked for water. He took one of the two seats as he waited. The lights were down low. A large crucifix adorned one of the walls.
‘There you go,’ Pat said, coming back and closing the door behind him.
‘How you keeping, Pat? Tough day yesterday?’
‘The toughest of days, Shay,’ the priest said, shaking his head.
The funeral mass for young Taylor Williams had taken its toll on the priest by the looks of him. Not that Shay felt much better. He’d had nightmares again last night. This time Taylor was reaching down into the canal and was throwing water up onto her missing face.
Shay felt like he hadn’t slept in days.
He watched Pat take off his glasses and give them a clean with a tissue before placing them carefully back on – a ritual he’d done more than once during the funeral.
Shay noticed that Jig’s parents had sat the family way back in the church. There were looks in their direction. Maggot wasn’t with them, an absence not lost on some people. Jig kept his head bowed for the whole mass. Shay saw him react when Sharon, his and Taylor’s friend, blanked him as she walked past.
All the top brass of the force were there, led by the commissioner. Crowe sat a number of rows behind. He saw her looking in Jig’s direction a number of times. Her face was ashen. Garda Grant’s funeral had just been the previous day.
‘You know Leo King, Shay?’
The priest’s question took him by surprise.
What could the priest want with me regarding Ms King’s son?
‘You might have heard there were suspicions around her death. A detective was looking into it. Did you get to speak to her?’
Shay guessed the priest knew anyway.
‘Yeah, Garda . . .’ Shay pretended not to remember, ‘something or another.’
‘Yes, Detective Garda Crowe, Tara Crowe,’ the priest replied. ‘Seems a very capable young woman. Anyway, I knew Ms King well. She was under terrible pressure from dealers about a debt her son had. He’d been caught with drugs and was ordered to pay. He was charged, but disappeared.’
Shay was nodding along, not sure where this was going and what part he could have in any of it. But the unit would want to know whatever it was.
‘Well,’ the priest added, lowering his voice even further, ‘he’s turned up.’
‘Right,’ Shay said, trying not to show any reaction. Inside his mind, quick calculations were being done as to possible ramifications.
The priest coughed and leaned his hands onto his knee, looking earnest.
‘Now, Leo was holding drugs for . . . certain well-known individuals . . . and he blames them for his mother’s death.’
The priest paused for a moment.
‘Shay. I swore to Leo that I would not talk to the guards . . . but he mentioned the people he was out to get.’
Shay’s heart skipped a beat. He resisted adjusting his body, to keep up the pretence of disinterest.
‘Who?’ he said.
‘One of them is Jig.’
Jig? What’s he want with him?
‘I see,’ he said calmly.
‘You’re the only person I know he’s anyway close with.’
‘I wouldn’t say close, Pat.’
‘I wanted someone to know, in case we need to act, if something happens.’
‘What kind of something?’
‘Well, it’s just vague talk. He’s rambling and raving a bit. I’m mainly trying to help him and keep him safe.’
‘He’s here?’ Shay said, finding it hard to believe the priest was sheltering Leo in the heartland of the gang out to get him.
‘I swore to his mother I would find her son and do my best to help him,’ the priest said. ‘I did find him, although he was the one who wanted to come back. Out of the blue he rang me, just after the murders. I have to tell you, Shay, I’m worried.’
‘You think Leo’s capable of posing a threat to anyone?’ Shay asked.
‘Not at the moment. He’s still got a severe drug problem. I’m trying to sort out some detox for him.’
‘And who else is this Leo after?’
The priest squinted at Shay. Shay didn’t show any reaction. He needed to get as much information as he could.
‘Well, Ghost for one.’
Shay nodded.
‘You better be careful getting mixed up with this, Pat.’
‘Bit late for me, Shay. I’m already a marked man with them. What I can’t get around, after being here for more than ten years now, is how everyone knows who Ghost is, what he does, yet no one says anything, let alone does anything.’
Shay adjusted his legs against the chair.
‘It’s the way things are around here, Pat. You know what it’s like.’
He saw that the priest was still looking at him, as if waiting for more.
‘I can only do what I can,’ Shay added.
‘I understand, Shay.’ The priest nodded. ‘Even good men have to make choices, compromises they’re not happy with.’