The Man Who Carried the Gun

Chapter 05 - The Man Who Carried the Gun

Elias Grant was found before midnight.

Alive.

Sitting in Maeve Sullivan’s apartment kitchen with his hands visible on the table and two NYPD detectives beside him.

He had not run.

He had gone to her.

That changed the story again.

Declan arrived with counsel.

Police would not let him into the interview.

Good.

Maeve came out first.

She was thirty-eight now.

Dark red hair cut short.

No engagement ring.

No fear of Declan.

That had once been part of why he loved her.

“Why did you go through Mrs. Doyle?”

“Because you block my number.”

“Why?”

“Because the last time I came here you had me escorted out.”

Fair.

“What was in the file?”

“Armory records.”

“From?”

“An old Graham security archive.”

“How did you get them?”

Maeve looked toward the interview room.

“Elias.”

Declan went still.

“He gave you evidence against himself.”

“Yes.”

That made no sense.

Which meant it probably did.

Maeve continued.

“Elias signed out the gun the morning you were shot.”

“Why?”

“Seamus ordered him to.”

There.

Declan’s jaw tightened.

“For what?”

“To scare you.”

Maeve looked sick.

“Not kill you.”

Declan laughed once.

“No.”

“I know.”

“How do you fire three rounds into a moving car to scare someone?”

Maeve’s expression changed.

“Elias didn’t shoot.”

Silence.

“Then who?”

“Patrick Donnelly.”

Name from old crew.

Dead.

Killed in the retaliatory war Declan started after the ambush.

Convenient and horrible.

Maeve explained.

Seamus wanted Declan warned.

Declan had been planning to sell the family’s narcotics routes and shut down extortion on two docks.

Seamus believed he was dismantling the old power base too fast.

He ordered Elias to provide an unregistered security weapon to Patrick.

One bullet into the rear quarter panel.

A message.

Patrick changed the plan.

Three shots.

Driver panicked.

Car crashed.

Declan’s spinal cord was damaged by the combination of bullet trauma and impact.

“Why did Elias hide it?”

“Because Seamus threatened his daughter.”

Declan’s face hardened.

“Where is she?”

“Alive.”

“Then why now?”

Maeve looked toward the interview room.

“Because Seamus is trying to remove you from Graham Holdings.”

The sabotage.

Chair connector.

Medication.

Catheter clamp.

Elias admitted something after counsel arrived.

He did not place the clamp.

He did not tamper with medication.

He did disable cameras years earlier for family operations.

He did sign out the gun.

He did help Seamus bury the truth.

He had spent two years protecting Declan from the consequence of a conspiracy he had helped begin.

Then the current sabotage started.

Elias suspected Seamus.

He began collecting evidence.

Quietly.

Too quietly.

“What about the camera outage during the blood pressure episode?” police asked.

Elias looked at the table.

“I saw the command start from my terminal.”

“So?”

“I shut the whole corridor system down.”

“Why?”

“To stop whoever was watching from seeing what I checked.”

A terrible decision.

Understandable.

Still terrible.

He found a remote access device hidden behind the security rack.

Installed weeks earlier.

Registered to Mercer Systems.

He removed it.

Then said nothing.

“Why?”

“Because I thought I could trace whoever came for it.”

No one did.

He had created the perfect gap for someone else to sabotage Declan.

The clamp could have been placed during that gap by any staff member with access.

Elias had not saved Declan.

He had made him more vulnerable.

Both.

Declan listened through counsel later.

Then called him.

Elias answered from police custody.

“Boss.”

“No.”

Silence.

“Don’t call me that.”

Elias swallowed.

“Declan.”

“Did you know Seamus ordered the ambush?”

“Not the ambush.”

“The warning.”

“Yes.”

“Did you know Patrick changed it?”

“After.”

“Did you tell me?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because you were in the hospital.”

“That is not why.”

Elias closed his eyes.

“Because I was afraid you’d kill Seamus.”

Probably true.

“And then?”

“You blamed Keane.”

“Yes.”

“I thought if I told you then, you’d start another war.”

“I already had.”

“Yes.”

The dead men from retaliation entered the call without being named.

Declan looked away.

“Are you asking forgiveness?”

“No.”

Good.

“What are you asking?”

“Nothing.”

Also good.

Police charged Elias with obstruction tied to the old shooting evidence and weapons violations.

Not attempted murder.

No current sabotage charge.

Evidence did not support it.

Seamus was questioned.

He denied ordering any warning.

His lawyer called Elias a liar.

Then armory records.

Old phone logs.

One payment to Patrick.

Circumstantial.

Strong enough for investigation.

Not certainty.

Narin heard the outline the next day.

Only because Declan chose to tell her.

She stood by the bookshelf.

“So the man who protected you helped create the danger.”

“Yes.”

“And the man you blamed may have been innocent.”

Declan’s face tightened.

“The Keanes were not innocent generally.”

“Not the question.”

“No.”

He looked at the desk.

“The three men I had killed in retaliation…”

Narin went still.

“Had killed.”

“Yes.”

No euphemism.

“Were all involved?”

“Two were.”

“And one?”

“No.”

Silence.

“Name?”

“Sean Keane.”

“Family?”

“Wife.”

“Children?”

“One daughter.”

Narin stared.

“Did you know later?”

“Six months after.”

“What did you do?”

“Paid them.”

Her face changed.

“How?”

“Anonymous trust.”

“Did you tell them who ordered it?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Declan’s eyes hardened.

“Because I would have gone to prison.”

There.

Good.

Ugly.

True.

Narin put down her cloth.

“Then your uncle isn’t the only problem.”

Declan looked at her.

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

For once, she believed him.

Then Mrs. Doyle entered.

“The board meeting moved up.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Who called it?”

“Seamus.”

Declan almost smiled.

Of course.

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The old man was trying to remove him before the past could be turned into evidence.

And now Declan had to decide whether keeping control of an empire was worth using the same tools that had built it.