Tommy was taking Aidan out on his boat, supposedly fishing, but Aidan knew better. They never spent time together for its own sake. There was always some ulterior motive on Tommy’s part, usually a lecture, or something he wanted Aidan to do that would supposedly be good for him in the long run. Tommy’s big-brothering got old sometimes. But the weather was fine for the first time in a week, and Aidan loved the ocean. Tommy always stocked a cooler full of beer and his wife Kelly’s excellent meat loaf sandwiches. What the hell, if Aidan said no to the boat, he’d get lectured anyway. Might as well say yes and enjoy a day on the water.
Tommy was coming off an overnight shift and asked Aidan to meet him at the marina in Port Jeff at nine thirty that morning. It was a bit of a haul to the North Shore. Tommy only docked there because he got the slip on the cheap from a friend in town. The boat was an old bay, small and wheezing, fragrant with gasoline, that he got for a song after it was seized from a drug dealer. Aidan wondered why his brother didn’t take better advantage of his position. Tommy, Kelly, and their three kids lived in a cramped raised ranch on the same street where Tommy and Aidan grew up, which meant Ma dropping in to supper constantly. Tommy drove his work cruiser, and Kelly drove an eight-year-old Toyota. Vacation was splurging on the Holiday Inn for the kids’ travel soccer games. If it was him, he might consider cashing in. But that was Tommy, always the stickler. Aidan had to admire it, really.
Tommy was waiting for him on the boat, gassed up and ready to cast off. As Aidan hopped on board, Tommy touched his own forehead in the spot where Aidan had the bruise from getting slugged by Caroline’s husband last night.
“What happened to your head?” he asked.
“I, uh, had a few too many the other night at work. Walked into a door. Professional hazard.”
“I hope you don’t drive under the influence.”
“Never.”
“I heard you missed work last night.”
Aidan was annoyed with the direction of the conversation. But he was hardly surprised.
“Already with the interrogation? I just stepped foot on the boat.”
“Okay, you’re right. Get that line?”
The sun glittered on the water. The wind was in Aidan’s hair as he cast off the dock lines and joined his brother at the helm. If the only lecture was one small mention of his truancy last night, then he’d gotten off easy, and they could enjoy the day. Tommy steered the boat expertly out of the crowded marina, picking up speed as they hit the open water. They cruised for a while, not talking, squinting through their sunglasses at the waves. Eventually they reached a sheltered cove that was known for its striped bass. Tommy cut the engine, and they dropped anchor.
The wind died down. They sat there for half an hour without a single bite, enjoying the sunshine, a couple of morning beers, shooting the shit about football and the like, before Tommy finally got to the real point.
“This woman you’ve been hanging out with,” Tommy said, his eyes on the horizon. “The chick from the bar.”
“I knew it,” Aidan said, shaking his head.
“Knew what?”
“That you had some ulterior motive for taking me out here. It’s never that you want to hang with me.”
“I do want to hang out with you, and there is no motive. We’re together, so I’m asking about your life.”
“About Caroline?”
“Yeah. What’s up with that?”
“What do you mean, what’s up?”
“Are you seeing her? Is this something ongoing?”
“Why is that your business?”
Tommy shot him a look, which was easy enough to decipher. Tommy thought that anything Aidan touched was his business. And Aidan had touched Caroline.
“Because I care. I worry about you. How much do you know about this woman?” Tommy said.
“I know enough. I know what I need to.”
“Did you know she stiffed every contractor on the island? Unpaid bills from here to Kalamazoo.”
“I don’t believe it. That’s not even possible. Those guys don’t run balances. They take their pound of flesh along the way.”
“I’m telling you what I heard. Plus, I heard some concerning things about her husband.”
Aidan looked at his brother sharply. “Concerning, in what way?”
“That he might be mixed up with some bad characters. Involved in some crooked business dealings. That sort of thing. And if he is, and you’re getting with his wife, the guy could go medieval on you.”
“Have you seen him?”
“No. I haven’t. Have you?”
“He’s some uptight Wall Street type in a fancy suit. I’m not afraid of him.”
“Maybe you should be.”
“If there’s something I should be worried about, then tell me. You say you have information that this guy is involved in something criminal. So, tell me the details.”
Tommy met his gaze. “I don’t know any details, and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. I know you, Aidan. And I don’t need you going vigilante out of some foolish sense of chivalry. Forget this woman. She’s bad news.”
“Come on, Tommy, please,” Aidan begged, worried now. “I need to know what Stark is mixed up in. If there’s something shady with the guy, I have to protect her.”
“Protect her from her own husband? What are you even talking about? This is a married woman.”
“She’s getting a divorce.”
Now, based on what he’d seen at the restaurant last night, Aidan had his doubts whether Caroline was really getting divorced. Watching her greet her husband with that kiss shook him. If the divorce was off, that was a serious setback for their relationship. But it was only a setback. There were steps Aidan could take to change it. He could be her savior, her defender, like he’d promised, like she’d asked. From what he’d overheard at the restaurant last night, Stark was dealing in big money with this Russian woman. And now here was Tommy suggesting that Stark was mixed up in shady business. It added up to something that could pose a threat to Caroline, or even to her daughter. He had no intention of letting her get hurt, or of letting her slip through his fingers, either. They were destined to be together, and this was his route to winning her, forever.
“Whether she’s getting divorced or not,” Tommy said, “you don’t have a frigging clue what you’re walking into. You’re gonna end up screwing up your life again, and I won’t have it.”
“Do you know how you sound, trying to scare me off her? What are you, jealous? You can’t let me have a relationship.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Can you?” Tommy said.
“Yes, I can, but you refuse to see that. You can’t stop thinking of me as a screwup. Finally, after all these years, I meet a woman that I feel something for, that I can build a relationship with. Why can’t you let me live my life?”
“Maybe because the last time you fell for someone, I had to get you out from under a murder rap.”
Murder? It wasn’t murder. Tommy knew that.
“Manslaughter, Tom. I was convicted of manslaughter. It’s not the same. You’re a cop. You know that.”
“Yeah, well whatever they call it, someone died, and you went to jail. I don’t ever want to go through that again.”
“You think I do?”
Aidan’s mind flew back to the past, to the event that had ruined his life. The day he found out the love of his life and his best friend had been together behind his back. There had been a fight. A fight between two guys over a girl. Happens so often it’s almost a cliché. Aidan didn’t even throw the first punch. Matthew did. Then Aidan fought back, and Matthew wound up on the ground, unmoving, having hit his head on a rock. Aidan would never forget the panic when he realized that Matthew wasn’t breathing, that there was blood on the back of his head. It was a terrible tragedy that Matthew died that day. A tragedy for Matthew and his family. A tragedy for Aidan, too. He’d loved his friend. He hadn’t meant for him to die. It happened in the blink of an eye. Every day since, Aidan wished he could take it back. Hell, he wished it had been him who took the punch and hit his head, him who died.
Aidan crushed his beer can and threw it hard against the water, where it bobbed in the waves. The wind had picked up, and clouds were rolling in. The water looked cold and threatening, even in the shelter of the cove. Aidan’s mood swung with the wind. It seemed impossible to stay caged up on this boat with his brother, listening to the litany of his sins for the thousandth time.
He tore off his shirt, kicked off his sneakers, and stepped up onto the gunwale.
“What are you doing?” Tommy said.
“Getting out of here. I’m done with this bullshit,” he said, and dived overboard.