The door of the trailer opened, and Jimmy Boy stepped out, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He stopped when he saw the gathering in his front yard, and for a second, it looked as if he might turn around and flee back into the safety of the trailer. Instead, he forced his feet down into the grass, taking a few hesitant steps toward the picnic table. He didn’t speak but crossed his arms over his chest, hovering behind me like hired muscle.
Pop Sheedy continued on without acknowledging my brother. “Then you’re in luck, Shay, because that’s exactly why I’m here. Sending you out with that trailer was a little test. An experiment, you might call it.”
I nodded to indicate I understood. I glanced at Pop’s sons, standing in a line behind their father just as Jimmy Boy stood behind me. It struck me that this meeting would present a pretty strange picture to anyone watching.
“And it proved exactly what I guessed it would, which is that you are an asset to this clan. I have a very special job, and you’re the only one who can pull it off.”
I’d been leaning forward, listening, but hearing this sent me reeling back several inches. “I’m honored, Pop. What did you have in mind?”
“I’m sending you up north to Pennsylvania. A place near Philadelphia called Balanova.”
“Balanova?” I’d never heard of the place. And I couldn’t think of a single person I knew who lived in Pennsylvania. “What’s in Balanova?”
“Revenge,” Pop said.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE WORD “REVENGE” hung in the air as Pop continued his explanation.
“There’s an old wrong that needs setting right, and you’re the perfect person for the job,” he said.
“Sorry. I don’t quite follow.”
“Did you ever wonder why, out of everyone in this clan, you were allowed to finish school?” Pop punctuated his question with a quirked brow.
I frowned. “Because Maggie wanted me to.”
“She did, but I didn’t ask why you finished. I asked why you were
Electricity prickled down my spine, and I squirmed, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable sensation.
“Something wrong, son?” Pop asked.
I shook my head. “No, sir. I guess I just never really thought about it.”
“Well, let me fill you in. Maggie wanted you to finish school instead of going out on the road with your brother, and I gave her permission to bend the rules because it served my purposes. See, I’ve had this plan in the works for a long time—since before you were born—and keeping you tucked away in school meant there wouldn’t be much chance of you getting a record.”
Almost every man and several of the women in the Village had at least a few misdemeanors on their rap sheets, and more than a handful had done time. Even Jimmy Boy had been pinched as a minor for shoplifting. “So my clean record is an asset?”
“Your anonymity is an asset. And, on top of that, it looks like your education might actually come in handy as well. Though I’ll be honest, that hadn’t occurred to me at the time.” He snorted in amusement.
“Okay. So what’s the job?” I was intrigued now. All my experiences as a Traveler were small-time. Quick and dirty jobs like the trailer sale. I’d heard of cons who played the long game, drawing out scams for a few months or even a year for a big enough payout, but a plan that had been put into motion two decades ago was something unheard of. And something I was anxious to hear more about.
“I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard the legend of Saint Thomas,” Pop said.
“The apostle? The one who didn’t believe Jesus had risen from the dead?”
“The Traveler.” Pop’s voice was sharp with hostility. “The one who betrayed your father, stole from us, and disappeared without a trace.”
I blinked at him. A thousand questions banged into each other in my mind, warring for the chance to be asked first. I turned to look at Jimmy Boy, and he shrugged, apparently as unfamiliar with this story as I was.
“What did he do to my father?”
“Shay, I don’t—” Jimmy Boy said, but Pop silenced him with a flick of his hand.
“Twenty years ago, Tommy Costello disappeared with $500,000 of the clan’s money after a con went wrong with your da. We’ve been looking for him ever since, but every time we got a lead on where he might be, he disappeared again. Costello used that half a million as seed money, and he’s made himself a very rich man in the two decades since he left. A few years ago, we learned he has a daughter, just a little younger than you actually, and as it turns out, that’s the best break we could’ve asked for. The girl got it in her head that she wants to go to college.” He said the word in a tone that suggested higher education was about as valuable as dog shit on his shoe, probably even less when it was for a girl. “Tommy’s bought himself a house and settled down near Balanova University to be close to her.”
“So you want me to get the money back? The five hundred grand and maybe some interest?” I cracked my knuckles, making a show of my willingness to get my hands dirty if necessary.
“The money isn’t what we’re after.” Pop leaned in, his voice a low rumble now. “There’s a book. A sort of ledger, full of important information. He took it from my safe along with the money, and I want it back.”
“What information?” I asked.
“That ain’t important now. All you need to worry about is getting it back. It’s about this big.” He held up his hand about eight inches apart, first horizontally, then vertically. “And it’s thick, with a leather cord tied around it to keep it shut.”
I nodded, committing this description to memory.
“And it better stay shut,” he added, stabbing a thick finger at me to drive his point home.
I leaned back to put some distance between us. “Of course. Get the book, bring it home. Got it.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself.” Pop sounded amused, but there was no humor in his narrowed eyes.
“I guess I am,” I said. In truth, I was almost disappointed. A long game that had been in the works for over twenty years, and all I’d have to do was break into the guy’s house to steal a book?
“I’d suggest you use the girl,” Pop said, interrupting my thoughts.
“Sorry?” I asked, my eyebrows inching toward my hairline.
“His daughter. Sweet talk her a little, get her to invite you over for dinner. Get access to the house.”
“All due respect, sir, but wouldn’t it be easier to just break in and steal it? I could be there and back in a few days.”
“‘All due respect’ means you do what your clan leader says without question, and unless that school of yours taught you how to disarm security systems, I’m pretty sure getting an invitation for dinner is easier than breaking in. Not to mention, I want to keep this quiet. Don’t do anything to rouse the attention of the police.”
Damn. I hadn’t thought about security, but of course someone paranoid enough to spend twenty years looking in the rearview would have a state-of-the-art system. And now, I looked like an ass for not realizing it right away.
“What’s all this then?” Maggie was suddenly beside me as if she’d just appeared from thin air.
Pop Sheedy fixed her with a warm smile. “Maggie, my dear, you get more radiant every day.”
“Hmph,” Maggie said, unimpressed. “And you get more rotund.”
I winced, embarrassed by her brashness, but Pop chuckled. “You’re not wrong,” he said and slapped his round belly. Only Maggie could speak to the clan leader that way and get away with it.
“So, what is it you want with my boys, Michael?” Maggie asked, her knuckles thrust deep into her hips. That was something else Maggie could do. Not even Bridget called Pop by his given name anymore.
“I have a job for your son, Maggie, and he seems happy to oblige, so I think we’re done here.”
“That so?”
I felt her eyes on the back of my neck, and my shoulders instinctively moved toward my ears. Suddenly, eagerness to accept Pop’s offer didn’t seem like such a great idea.
