Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

11.

"Ailbhe, come on" Niall rushed her, grabbing her arm and helping her into the car. They had to go, fast. Whoever had taken Charlie would phone and they had to be near the phone when they did.

Back in the office in Small Heath, there was more tension and panic in the air than Ailbhe had ever felt. She was plugging the spare phone into the wall after Tommy had flung the other phone against the wall in a fit of rage.

It was only Tommy, Polly and the Shelby brothers, the Kennedy brothers and Ada and Ailbhe in the room, standing and looking at each other. It was all of the people who knew about the robbery, who knew about Tommy's real plan and what was meant to happen that night.

"Alright where's Linda and Esme?" Tommy snapped, throwing his soaking wet coat onto the floor. He had been outside with the priest, the man who proudly admitted to stealing Charlie. It made Ailbhe sick to think about it.

"They're at our house, Esme's waters have broken with everything else going on" John admitted, joining the room. He had enough to be stressing about without his wife now going into labour but there was nothing he could do to stop any of it.

"Alright" Tommy nodded "I need to know who spoke. Our enemies know everything, fucking everything. Who spoke?"

Tommy was shaken, his eyes were wide with panic and he couldn't think calmly.

"I need to know who spoke about business, outside of the family. I need to know who spoke and who they spoke to" he said through panted breaths.

"Tom" Niall spoke, stepping forward trying to calm him down but Tommy was beyond that point.

"Your wife Arthur" Tommy snapped, pointing at Arthur as he ignored Niall's efforts.

A nervous tension filled the room as Arthur defended Linda entirely

"I'm gonna tell myself that you're not thinking straight" Arthur responded, his voice low but tense.

Ailbhe's eyes flitted around the room. Everyone was on edge and trying to rack their brains as to who could have talked. Ailbhe trusted everyone in the room, she always had. But Tommy didn't. That was now abundantly clear.

And if Ailbhe trusted Tommy, did that mean she shouldn't trust them either?

"Or Esme?" Tommy snapped, turning to look at her husband "Getting cash for cocaine John?"

John's loyalty to Esme reared its head immediately, his anger coming through too.

"Fuck you Tommy" he snapped.

He was there, with Tommy trying to do anything he could to help while his wife was in labour. That was where he wanted to be, but John knew that Tommy needed them to find Charlie, he knew that if it was one of his kids, they'd all be out looking too. So, he had left Esme with her sister and with Linda.

"And you Ada!" Tommy turned to face his sister now. "Back in the family all of a sudden, that's a surprise, out of the blue"

Nobody was safe. Tommy spun around to accuse Polly of spilling the beans to her painter friend and then Ailbhe and her brother.

"And you Liam, perhaps you got a little loose lipped in Camden Town with Alfie and his men"

Somehow, Liam and Alfie Solomons had come to a mutual liking, maybe even just respect. But Ailbhe knew that Alfie dealt with Liam regularly, making contacts and doing deals so that Liam got more of a foothold in London.

"Or you Ailbhe, maybe you aren't finished with the IRA like I asked you to be. I know you've gone back to The Harp for meetings"

Tommy snapped, his eyes boring into Ailbhe's as shock washed over her. He actually thought she would betray him. She had gone back to the pub, to meet Maggie Brennan and ask more about Ireland, to educate herself but she hadn't gone to any more meetings.