“You know I respected your father, everyone did. He was a good man and a good boss. Smart, and ruthless when he had to be,” Colm said.
“Thanks for saying that. I appreciate it.”
He leaned forward. “But you’re not your father, Liam. You know that, right?”
I nodded, trying to keep my anger off my face, and said nothing.
“Good. You’ve been protected for a long time because of your father’s influence. True, you’ve been a damn good boss on your own, one of the best. But it’s time you started pulling your full weight.”
“What’s this about, Colm?”
He leaned back and smiled. “You did a good job the other night, hitting that junkie scum. I was proud of you.”
“Just following orders,” I grunted.
The mention of that guy sent chills down my spine, and I could feel sweat spring up along my chest. I struggled to keep the memory of his last breath from my mind.
“Of course, you always have.” He paused and looked down at the heavily lacquered table, running his fingers over its smooth top. “As you know, there has been a lot of shit lately in the gang. People fighting over scraps, making chaos. And chaos makes more chaos, all around us in waves. I don’t have to tell you how many bodies that’s making, and how big of a problem it is.”
I nodded, understanding. As soon as one minor boss was knocked down, two more stepped up to cause problems in his place, and the deaths were beginning to mount. Colm was barely clinging on to power, mainly through his willingness to cut the head off any snake that appeared. That meant his men were working overtime, trying to get rid of bodies, and there were only so many places to dump them.
“Do you need me to start helping out with disposal?” I asked.
“No. You have a more important job. Two days ago, I sent out two of my guys on a hit. Everything went smoothly, no problems, the fuckers are in their graves. But when they went to dump the bodies in the river, some bitch walking her dog saw them.”
I blinked, letting that settle in. If the civilian went to the cops about what she saw, the heat could make the entire chaos worse, and could potentially give the other bosses enough of an advantage to wrench Colm from power. He wouldn’t be able to handle both the police and his internal issues.
“You know how bad that would be if she talked, and so far it seems like she hasn’t. But we can’t take any chances, Liam. We need to make sure she stays quiet.”
I stared at him, shocked, as comprehension slid down my spine.
“You want me to kill her?”
He let the question hang between us, smiling.
I shook my head, at a complete loss for words. It was unprecedented; at least, it was unprecedented for the last fifty years. We didn’t kill civilians, period. That was part of what kept us alive. We had a code of honor, and that involved not murdering random strangers that were unlucky enough to come upon our business. We paid them off when we had to, and we dealt with the cops when we couldn’t. But we never, under any circumstances, murdered someone who wasn’t directly involved with our business.
“Colm, we don’t do that. I mean, we don’t just kill unlucky assholes who stumble on our shit.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “I knew that’s what you’d say.”
“It’s the honor code, Colm. It’s what keeps us from getting the worst of the heat. We don’t kill innocent civilians, and the cops don’t care if a few junkies go missing from time to time. That’s how it works.”
He leaned forward again, pressing his palms flat on the tabletop, a wicked grin spreading over his face. His crooked teeth made him look like a monster as his eyes lit up, excitement rippling down his expression.
“Fuck the code and fuck the old ways.”
I blinked. “It keeps us safe.”
“You don’t get it, do you? The old ways are dead. They died out when the old bosses passed on. This is a new fucking world, with new cops and new officials and new shit to deal with.”
“You’re talking about murdering an innocent girl,” I said softly.
“I’m talking about survival,” he said viciously. “I’m talking about adapting to our new reality. We either change or we get rolled over.”
I stared at him, shock and dread mixing in my stomach, as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.
“I can’t do it,” I said.
“We’ve been soft on you, Liam. We’ve been soft on you because of your father and your good work. But a new age is coming, and you’re one of the people I don’t trust. You kill this girl, you take care of our problem, and you’ve earned my respect and my gratitude.” He paused, staring at me. “You don’t do it and we’ll have a problem.”