You had no way of measuring the pass of time, but every minute felt eternal as you were there, tied to the chair, sure that you were going to die...you didn't know when the four hours passed, as time seemed to move so slow, but then, one of the Russian men approached you.
"Time's almost up," he told you, and tears filled your eyes again...you had the crazy hope that since you had helped Murphy, and this had happened because of that, that he would come to help you now...you were such an idiot.
"I told you, I don't know then, they don't care if you kill me, I'm no one," you whimpered. "Please, let me go, please."
"We can't, woman, there's a message to send," the man told you, shrugging as if he were talking business and not about killing a person, you.
Then, the door of the warehouse opened and there were voices from outside saying something in Russian, before the Russian men who had been outside walked in, one at each side of a man whom you didn't know.
He wore clothes similar to what you thought you remembered Murphy wearing. Jeans, a dark t-shirt and a long black coat. You wondered if that might be Murphy's brother...Connor was it? Why wasn't Murphy with him? Maybe his wound had gotten worse? It hadn't looked like he was going to be careful with the stitches...
While you wondered on what was going to happen now, if Murphy was badly wounded, if his brother was now going to get killed right there and then maybe you too, the men shared some words in Russian, before the one who had been in front of you walked to Connor, leaving another standing next to your chair, gun ready.
"Where's the other?" The mafia guy asked Connor
"My brother wouldn't come, he decided he's not goin' to get killed for a stranger." Connor shrugged. "I don't know where did you find this lass, but we don't know her."
The men looked at each other, as if they hadn't expected that to happen, while you felt rage raise in you at Connor's words, not matter how scared you were...a stranger, sure, you were a stranger, but you had saved his brother's ass and fixed his wound, hadn't he told his brother?
Murphy hadn't cared about you getting killed because of him...he wouldn't come...a small part of you thought that it might be normal, not getting killed for a woman he didn't' really know...but you were outraged...you knew you shouldn't have trusted his cute look, he was an asshole who knew you were going to get killed because you had helped him and yet he wouldn't come to help you despite his brother doing so.
Suddenly, though, you could swear you saw Connor wink at you but it was so fast, you weren't sure you had imagined it.
"But...I disagreed with my brother, so I'm here," he said.
"Deal was for the both of you," the man said and Connor shrugged again.
"I can't control what my brother does...told ye, we disagreed, it's not the first time..." Connor shook his head. "My brother...he and I, we don't see eye to eye on this business of us. Aye, I know our business was killin' yer guys, but it's not personal, it's business." Connor shrugged, seeming unfazed when a gun was pointed at him.
"One week at it, we got more money than I've seen together in all my life...but my brother, he wanna quit, and now ye scared him more, kidnappin' some random lass, puttin' her murder on us...my baby brother's not cut up for this." Connor let out a disappointed sigh, and you thought that for a second his eyes darted to the platform at one side of the warehouse, but again, it was so quick that you weren't sure.
"But...I don't want to quit, neither to get killed by ye, and so that's why I'm here...not really for the random lass." Connor gave you a dismissive gesture. "So...what if we got pass ye guys tryin' to kill me and me killin' yer people, and instead we work together?"
"What you mean?!" The mafia guy pointing his gun at Connor seemed confused, and all of them still seemed like they didn't really know what to do and weren't expecting anything of this...you didn't know what they were expecting, though. Honestly, they looked scary, but not too smart...not that you'd say it aloud.
"I mean...ye don't kill me and I work for ye, guys. Italian mafia? Hard competition, aye?" Connor raised his eyebrows. "It's not a matter of whose better of more deadly...ye Russians might win at that, but the Italians? Been here longer, got more connections...I know they've stepped over some of yer business, aye?"
The Russians looked at each other, still seemed taken aback by the situation, and you wouldn't be surprised if they just went ahead and shot Connor without a word, but he kept going.
"But...what if I change bosses, what if I killed Italians for ye? I know people in there, I can get names, addresses, everythin', from half of them...I won't only give ye that, I'll kill them for ye...so, deal?"
The Russians seemed at loss of words, lost in the situation, but the one who seemed to lead this group kept aiming his gun at Connor. "We're going to kill you, Irish, and then we're going to kill her," he waved his gun from Connor to you. "Because we asked for both brothers!"
You couldn't help but whimper again at the man's words and the gun that was pointed at you, scared, but also mad at Murphy...this was all his fault...and your fault, for being an idiot, for helping him, for not going to the police.
"I told ye already why my brother is not here." Connor rolled his eyes and you wondered how he could not be scared. "The lass...told ye, she's nobody, I don't know her, so I don't care..." Now you didn't hate only Murphy but his brother too. "But...look at her, she got nothin' to do with this, ye really okay with killin' a poor innocent lass like that? Aye, I guess ye are." Connor shrugged. "But me? How I'm more useful to ye, guys, dead and my brother maybe back at givin' ye trouble for that, or, workin' for ye, killin' the Italians, improvin' yer business, uh?"
Much to your relief, the gun was aimed away from you, back at Connor, while the men shared words in Russian, still seeming to not know what to do.
"Aye, just phone whoever's up the chain from ye, guys," Connor said and you guessed he understood Russian. You still were bewildered at how he could seem so cool among all this. "It's a good deal...come on, aye?"
There were more heated Russian words exchanged, there seemed to be some disagreement between the guys, some more heated words, guns were waved, for a second the attention seemed to be away from Connor and you, when suddenly, you heard a gunshot, close...but nothing hurt, you weren't wounded, and neither seemed to be Connor...
However, the man who had been standing next to you, gun drew in case he was told to kill you, was dropping dead, and you gasped in shock.
The other Russian men seemed surprised too, but not Connor, who took advantage of the commotion to throw himself at the man closer to him, pushing him and grabbing the hand that was holding the gun, managing to aim it to make the man shoot himself before taking the gun from his hand.
Another man was now about to shoot Connor, but there was another gunshot and he dropped dead, along with another who Connor shot and who had decided to aim at you instead of at Connor, almost making you die of a heart attack before Connor killed him before he could shoot you.
You looked back towards where you thought the other gunshots were coming from and saw Murphy standing on the platform at the side of the warehouse, shooting.
Murphy might be safe up there, even if one of the men spotted him too and shot at him, but you were sure Connor was going to get shot dead at any moment, down there, and probably you'd get caught in it too, but he shot another of the men before he could kill him, and then the one who was shooting at his brother, before Murphy killed the remaining one.
You remembered Murphy saying something about his Irish luck...and now you wondered if there might not be some truth in it because, otherwise, how were you three alive and seemingly unharmed, while the mafia men were lying dead on the ground.
"We did it!" Came Murphy's voice from the platform and you saw him jumping down the stairs of it.
"Aye!" Connor rushed to him as if forgetting that you were there. "Aye we did! Told ye, we're good at this! No need to panic as ye did!"
"I didn't panic!" Murphy snapped, and they'd been almost hugging but then they were shoving each other.
"Oh, no, ye didn't?" Connor shoved his brother back but it seemed almost playfully. "What do we do, Connor, they're gonna kill that poor lass who helped me 'cause of me, what do we do, big brother," Connor mocked Murphy's voice.
"Shut up, I didn't say that! And I didn't panic!" Murphy shoved his brother again but then he was grinning once more as he nodded towards the platform. "See, told ya there was a way to come in, an openin' near the roof that they didn't guard, told ye I saw it."
"Aye, brother, ye saw it when ye got shot, right?" Connor nodded, laughing when his brother tried to smack him. "What were ye thinkin', though, shootin' at the guy so close to the lass, uh? Ye could have shot her by mistake."
"What did ye want me to do? He'd have shot the lass if I hadn't, the moment I shot someone else," Murphy said and they talked as if they hadn't forgotten about you but why the hell weren't they helping you then. "Besides, I wasn't gonna miss, God guides my aim, brother,"
"Sure he does..." Connor snorted.
"Is any of you both going to untie me!" You yelled, out of patience and still rather shocked, and both brothers looked at you before Murphy nodded and rushed to you.
"Aye, aye, lass, sorry, are ye okay?" He asked while taking a knife from his belt and cutting the rope that tied you to the chair. "I'm so sorry 'bout everythin', lass, it was my fault-"
"Of course it was your fault!" You yelled, getting up from the chair as soon as you were free, and still pretty much in shock. "And my fault too, because I helped you even if I knew I shouldn't, because I'm an idiot! And I didn't go to the police! I wish I had pushed you out of my car and let the mafia have you!"
Murphy didn't say anything, just looked at you with those blue eyes in a way that made you feel like you had kicked a puppy, but you were scared, you were angry, you almost got killed because of him, and you weren't going to fall for that cute façade of him again.
"Don't give me that look I almost got killed!" You yelled, tears filling your eyes again as you shook still in fear and shock. "I helped you because I couldn't let someone get hurt, because I thought you needed help, and it almost got me killed! You told me that you weren't involved with the mafia! I've worried about you!" You shook your head, you felt like such an idiot.
"Lass...lass, I'm sorry," Murphy said again and he reached as if he were going to touch you, but you pushed his hands away as more tears fell down your cheeks. "I needed help, when ye helped me, they'd have killed me," he said gesturing around. "Ye saved my ass, thank ye lass, and I'm sorry it got ye into trouble, I really am," he told you but you scoffed. He seemed genuine, he seemed almost about to freak out and cry himself, but you didn't trust it. "We're not involved with mafia, lass, not like that."
"How do you call this, then?" You said, gesturing around at the dead bodies.
"Savin' ye? Not a thank ye or anythin'?" The other brother said and you might not be a violent person, but you wanted to punch him. You didn't, though.
"I wouldn't have needed saving if I hadn't helped your brother!" You yelled at him, who by the look of his face, seemed to have thought you were actually going to punch him. "Helping me? Sure, and wining points for your Italian mob buddies by killing their Russian rival!"
"What?" Connor blinked at you, seeming puzzled, and you were done with the both of them.
"The stuff ye said! She got it all wrong! Thinks we work for the mafia!" Murphy slapped his brother's arm as if suddenly it dawned on him what you were talking about.
"We don't!" Connor had the audacity to look offended and you kind of felt again like slapping him. "I was just givin' Murph time to get inside and tryin' to distract them, lass."
"Aye!" Murphy nodded eagerly at you and you wondered if they were just bullshitting you again and laughing on your face or not. "But..." Murphy looked from you to his brother. "Lass got reasons to be mistaken! I almost believed it myself, ye sounded so real...how do ye lie so good? Ye know lying is a sin?"
Connor snorted, shoving his brother, who shoved him back, but you were ignoring them, waking to the door of the warehouse, you didn't know if they were mafia or not, if they were crazy, or what the hell was going on, but you were thoroughly done.
"Lass? Lass where are ye goin'? Wait for us!" Murphy's voice called after you but you ignored him and kept walking, reaching the door and trying to open it, but he stopped in front of you "Are ye okay?"
"No, I'm not okay!" You snapped and moved away when Murphy reached for you. "Don't touch me!"
"She's in shock, brother," Connor provided but he didn't try to approach you.
"I'm not in shock!" You yelled at him even if you knew you were, but it wasn't only that. "I'm leaving!" You pushed Murphy to the side and yanked the door open. "I'm going to the police as I should have done when you first jumped into my car!"
"Wait, lass, wait, please." Murphy held your arm but you moved it away.
"Lass, no, wait! Ye can't go to the police!" Connor was now stopping in front of you too, both brothers blocking the door for you, and you started to wonder if you hadn't managed to survive the Russian mafia just to now get threatened or maybe killed by those guys no matter how they looked...you looked around at the dead bodies and it dawned on you, the brothers had done that, killed them all, seeming unfazed by it...sure, it had helped you, but...
"Why? I was kidnapped, threatened, and almost murdered by the mafia, so, why shouldn't I go to the police?" You tried to sound firm but your voice was shaking, and the brothers looked at each other as if they didn't know what to do, before looking at you again.
"Lass...lass, we get yer scared but...if ye go to the police, tell them about this, us, they...they're not gonna get it..." Murphy told you. "They're gonna think...dunno, but...it wouldn't be good for us, aye? Lass, ye can't go to the police."
"Let me go," you said, trying to sound threatening, even if you were scared.
The brothers looked at each other again. "She's gonna go to the police, tell them 'bout us," Connor said to his brother.
"Aye...but she doesn't know much anyway, we gotta let her go," Murphy said.
"We can't...she's gonna get the police on us," Connor gave you a side glance before looking at his brother again.
"Nah, she-"
"So what, are you going to kill me to stop me from going to the police!" You snapped, even if you were scared that, indeed, that was going to happen.
"Kill ye?!"
The brothers looked at you wide-eyed, seeming baffled and horrified, talking over each other.
"Lass...how can ye say that!
"We're not gonna kill ye!"
"We'd never!"
"You just killed six men," you stammered, you had tried to appear strong but your eyes were watering again as you shook, afraid and exhausted as you were.
"Aye, aye lass...but mafia men, murderers that were gonna kill ye," Murphy told you and you knew he was right, but you were scared nonetheless. "That's the only people we kill, I promise, lass...we'd never hurt ye." He glanced at his brother and then at you. "If ye wanna go on yer own...if ye wanna go to the police...then go."
Murphy stepped to the side, tugging at his brother to drag him with him when he didn't move. "Just...if ye...if ye let us explain ourselves first..."
"Lass, yer gonna make our lives even more complicated if ye go tell the police 'bout us," Connor said. "And they can't help ye anyway."
"Aye, lass...my brother is right," Murphy said and you wondered why the hell were you still listening to them and not running away, but there you were. "The Russians, it looks like they knew where ye live...and it's my fault, it's my fault, aye I know lass," Murphy said, raising his hands as if he thought you were going to snap again. "But, they know, they're gonna be lookin' for ye even more after this...I'm sorry, lass..."
You swallowed hard, wondering how you could feel even more scared, shivering in dread. "That's not more reason to go to the police? If the mafia is coming for me?"
Connor shook his head. "Ye really think they can help ye? That if some big mafia guy wants ye dead, he's not gonna manage to get through police and take ye?"
"Connor yer scarin' her more," Murphy said hushedly, giving his brother a shove. "Sounds like yer threatenin' her."
"Just saying the truth." Connor shoved his brother back.
You knew that he was right...you didn't want him to be, but you knew. As a nurse, you had a patient once, who had taken a beating, a bad one. At first, he didn't want to speak, but finally, he told the staff that it'd been the Italian mafia, he paid them so they wouldn't target his business, after they had offered to lend him help when he had been struggling to keep it up...he couldn't pay that time, so they gave him a beating, and they'd kill him the next time if he didn't pay.
You all called the police, he got under protection, he was supposed to be safe...yet, a week later, you read in the newspaper how his shop had caught fire not only with him inside but with his family too, and you couldn't shake the feeling, that, despite police protection, that had not been an accident...
"They might not go for her, we don't know," Murphy told his brother.
"If they know what these assholes were doin', that they took her as bait for us...ye think they're not gonna go for her, after this?" Connor waved around. "Ye wanna risk it?"
You heard yourself whimpering aloud as tears fell down your eyes, you couldn't help it, you felt hopeless, you didn't know what to do, you felt dead already...
"Lass, hey, no, lass..." Murphy reached out to place his hands on your arms, but you moved away. "Lass, don't cry...we'll help ye, aye? Ye wanna go to the police, we take ye to the police."
"What! Are you crazy?!" Connor said to his brother, trying to keep it quiet but not managing. "If she's goin' to the police then we're goin' away right now!"
"We can't leave her!" Murphy retorted. "This is my fault! And...come on, brother, look at her..."
Connor did, before he ran a hand through his hair. "Shit!" He cursed. "We drop her at the police then we get the hell out of there."
"We can't just leave not knowin' if mafia's gonna be after her!" Murphy insisted.
"We can't help her either from the cell in which they're gonna throw us!" Connor retorted.
"I'm doomed either way, aren't I," you said, voice shaking. "Because I'm stupid...an idiot..."
"No, lass no...ye were just a good person, right, helping me? Not stupid..." Murphy said, reaching out to try to touch your arm again.
"Stupid," you scoffed bitterly. "It got me this...now I don't know what to do...there's nothing I can do..." you whimpered.
"Lass...we can help ye," Murphy told you. "We'll make sure yer safe."
"Aye." Connor nodded but you weren't sure if trusting them wouldn't be just you being an idiot again.
"We're not mafia...we kill mafia, people like them, murderers who believe themselves above the law, who always get to walk free, hurtin' good people like ye." Murphy explained. "We hunt them, that's our job."
"Our mission. God gave it to us," Connor added.
You let out a bitter chuckle, shaking your head. "You're crazy." They murdered people saying that they were chosen by God to do so...and you were supposed to trust them, and trust that they wouldn't hurt you, that they could help you be safe...
"We're not, lass, it's...just..." Murphy didn't seem to know how to calm you down. "Let us explain..."
"But not here, we don't know if more people's comin', we gotta go," Connor urged. "So lass, ye either come with us or go to the police but we gotta go."
"Lass..." Murphy stepped in front of you again. "We'll keep ye safe, we won't let those assholes from the mafia hurt ye. I know yer scared, that ye don't know us but, trust me, lass-"
"The last time I trusted you this happened," you said and the look in Murphy's face made you feel again like you had kicked a puppy...he seemed genuine, he and his brother had come to help you after all, but you didn't want to risk it again, they were definitely involved with the mafia, some way or another, and they were dangerous men, whether it was true or not that they only killed mafia...
"Aye...aye, lass..." Murphy nodded, seeming down. "We'll get ye to the police safe."
"This is a bad idea," Connor muttered, but Murphy ignored him.
Taking his gun, Murphy peeked outside the warehouse through the door and then nodded at you and his brother to follow him, and so you did, Connor behind you.
The brothers checked that the area was safe and then you three walked away from the warehouse, that seemed to be at the outsides of the city, and back to it, each brother at one of your sides, silent except for some words that they shared here and there, in a language you didn't know, and you were still confused about them, what was their deal...
You'd been still a bit afraid that they might end up hurting you, that Murphy had tricked you, but they were walking you to a busier street and so it seemed that they really were going to let you go.
As you walked, your heart was still racing fast and scared, but not as fast as your brain, as you kept wondering about the guys that walked at your sides...
They were dangerous, that for sure...but you thought you believed them when they said they wouldn't hurt you, it didn't look like so... but even if it was true that they didn't work for the mafia, that didn't mean they were not involved with them, and being around them...you knew it was dangerous, you had just seen that in first person...you had to go to the police and hope that they'd be able to protect you.
They had come to help you, though, even if it meant maybe getting hurt or killed, despite not knowing you...it'd been their fault why the mafia had taken you, though...also they claimed that killing those men was their mission...
They said that they hunt and kill mafia people, as some sort of movie vigilantes or something...not only that, but that God had made it their mission...it sounded insane...were they crazy, then? You didn't know what to think...
You didn't know what to think of that mission of them, either...they killed people, working out of the law, it was...it didn't feel right...but at the same time, you had seen what those mafia men and people like them did to innocents. You had seen them in the newspapers, in patients at the hospital, and now in yourself...
You had seen news of them walking free too, you knew how most times they acted as if they were untouchable, above the law, as if they owned everything... it always felt so unfair and you had found yourself sometimes wondering if there was not a way for them to finally be stopped, or if they'd always do as they pleased, intimidating, bullying and killing good people as they pleased.
But...just going ahead and murdering...you weren't sure how you felt about that, but a bit uneasy...
But even if one could say that the brothers were murderers too, since they killed mafia men, it didn't feel the same...they weren't murderers in the same way that mafia were...or maybe it was just your head...
"Police station is there," Connor's voice took you out of your thoughts. "She can cross the street by herself, we gotta go," he urged Muphy, who seemed reluctant. "Everyone's gonna put two and two together as soon as she tells them 'bout us, we drop her here and go away."
"I am...I am not going to tell them about you two," you said weakly.
You had kept thinking about it, about what to do...the brothers might be crazy and they killed people, but if those people were just mafia men...and they had helped you, even if it had been their fault that you were kidnapped, still, they had helped you...and you felt they were dangerous but not like the mafia were, not like that...but maybe you were just making another mistake.
"What?" Both brothers stopped walking to look at you, surprised, but you just shrugged.
"What are ye gonna tell them, then?" Connor asked you.
"I don't know..."
"Why ye wanna go to the police if yer not gonna tell them what happened?" Murphy asked.
"I...I'll tell them what happened, just...just not about you two..." You chewed on your lip, you felt uneasy about lying to the police, maybe you shouldn't do this. "I'll tell them that I was kidnapped by the Russian mafia, that they thought I was someone I'm not, that...I don't know, that they thought I was related to the Italian mafia or something, you said they're competing, right? And when the Italians showed up they killed each other and I ran away while they were distracted or something..." You wondered if you were copying the plot of a movie or something, you didn't know how you'd have come up with that otherwise.
"Italians wouldn't have come for a lass they didn't know," Connor said.
"Aye...but...if it was a challenge from the Russians, they might have come anyway," Murphy added.
"Neither of them would have let the lass walk away..."
"Aye, but..."
"So, what, should I tell them about you two, then?!" You interrupted them, you wanted to go to the police but you hadn't wanted the brothers to get in more trouble and now you felt like you'd been an idiot for thinking that.
"Lass..." Connor looked at you. "Why ye wanna go to the police, they're gonna go to that warehouse and they'll have nothing to do, wouldn't be the first time rival groups kill each other, nor the last, and police never can do anythin'."
"Yes but...but you said the mafia still can come after me..." You shivered and it seemed as if once again Murphy was reaching to touch you, but this time he stopped himself. "I want to tell the police that I'm in danger so they can, I don't know...help me..."
"We could do that," Murphy said. "Police can't do nothing to most of the mafia, they never do, ye know it... we'd make sure yer safe."
"The thing is..." You chewed on your lip. "Even if what you say is true and you mean it...it feels like it's dangerous to be around you two, not safe."
Murphy looked again like if he were a kicked puppy. "Okay, lass," he muttered before looking to his brother. "Let's take her to Smecker, I think he's the only one that will make sure they'll listen to her and do something," he told to his brother who looked like it was the worst idea in the world.
"Are ye crazy?!" He snapped. "Ye think he's not gonna know what's going on if he sees us with her?!"
"It's okay, I'll just go by myself." You didn't know who that man was, but you were next to a police station already, you just wanted to get it done with. "And don't worry, I won't tell them about you two, just...just that I'm in danger...you both get going..." You wondered if this was not another big mistake.
"Thanks, lass," Connor said and Murphy nodded.
"Don't make me regret it," you sighed.
"We won't, lass," Murphy said eagerly.
"You should get a doctor to remove your stitches in a couple of days," you told him.
"I can do it," Connor said, although Murphy gave him a questioning look.
"Well, then...try not to mess my work and the wound if you do." You gave him a stern look.
"Be careful, lass," Murphy told you and you nodded, opening your mouth to tell them to be careful too, but didn't, and with a last look at them, you turned around and headed to the police, hoping that you were not going to regret that you were letting them go like that and kind of covering for them when you talked to the police.
Notes:
N/A
This was a long chapter, but I didn't see fit to cut it anywhere. Don't worry, it seems the MacManus and the lass went on different paths, but they'll be reunited the next chapter...because of reasons. Thanks to everyone who let me a comment in the last chapter telling me what they thought about it and to everyone who supported it!
Please, if you enjoyed this, let me know your thoughts in a comment, and as always, likes are more than welcome.
As always, excuse my English, it's not my first language.