Page 36 of Dublin Debacle

Emily’s eyes widened. “Did he die?”

Jack shot a glance across the console. “No, but it was close. I was gutted and crazy angry, my emotions completely out of control. I volunteered for point on every mission and did insanely stupid things that could’ve gotten me killed. I think, deep down, I wanted to die. Yet, I was still alive. I knew that if I didn’t get a grip soon, I’d get kicked out of the army, sidelined or sent to a mental hospital.”

“How could you even function?” Emily asked.

“I had my family,” Jack said without hesitation. “And by family, I don’t mean blood relatives. I mean my brothers-in-arms—those people I trained with, fought alongside and lived with in the trenches who always had my back. I was closer to them than anyone with my DNA flowing through their veins. I would’ve been a mess without them.” He laughed. “I was a mess with them, but they didn’t abandon me. They kept me moving until I could move again on my own.”

“I get that,” Emily said. “That’s a lot of the reason I stayed in Ireland. When my mother passed, I knew I couldn’t fall apart. Finn needed me to keep it together. Inside, I’d lost the rock that had anchored me all my life. The trip to Ireland was supposed to be short, a chance to get away from all the memories, to give us time to digest and get back to our lives in the States.”

Jack turned right at the next street, following the directions on the map.

“When we were reunited with our father, he welcomed us with so much love and longing, I immediately felt like we’d come home. Like our mother would have wanted us to be with him. My father and I shared the responsibility of seeing Finn through the rest of his schooling, supporting him in his transition to adulthood and surrounding him with my mother's love for us that lived on through our father.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how I would have made it without my father’s support.” Her voice caught on the lump in her throat. “Now that he’s gone and Finn left home to make a life of his own... I wonder if I’m meant to continue with the pub, the family legacy, or sell it and start over somewhere else. I miss my mother and father. I can’t lose Finn as well.”

“One thing I learned through losing Laura and some of my brothers in battle is that you think life can’t go on, but it does. You keep putting one foot in front of the other and get through it carrying the scars.”

“And the memories of the good times,” Emily added. “You never know if the next person you meet will have as big an impact on your life as they did. You could find a new best friend and partner to love.”

“I didn’t want that pain,” Jack said, his voice gravely and full of emotions he seemed to hold in check. “I barely made it through the first time.”

Emily’s heart hurt for him. After all the years, he couldn’t move past losing his first love. “If you had known what would happen in any of those situations ahead of meeting your Laura or the men who meant so much to you, would you have avoided getting to know them?”

Jack was silent for a long moment before answering, “No.”

“I lost my father after only having him back for a few short years. I’m glad I had him for that. After years of thinking he’d abandoned us, I’m glad I had a second chance with him. I’d do it all over again, even knowing I would lose him.”

Silence fell over the inside of the Mercedes as they neared the wharf.

“This is a big place,” Jack said. “Do you know where your brother works here?”

“He works for a private cargo handling company by the name of Mulhaney. Keep following the map.”

As they neared the destination point on the map, Jack found a place to park the car. They got out and continued on foot.

As they weaved their way through giant stacks of shipping containers, the sound of heavy machinery echoed off the walls of metal. As they neared the center of the Mulhaney operations, shouts intermingled with the sounds of the cranes and engines. The shouting grew louder the closer Emily and Jack moved toward the water.

Suddenly, they emerged from the walls of shipping containers into an open area beneath the giant cranes that plucked the huge metal boxes off the backs of tractor-trailer rigs and placed them into the bellies of ships.

The cranes had stopped as if poised, waiting for the next truck to roll into the yard. In the open area, a dozen men stood in a circle, shouting across at each other. Some of them held what appeared to be tire irons or crowbars. With each word shouted, they punctuated the air with the metal bar and moved closer to the opposing side. The men shifted enough that Emily could see what they were looking at. At the center of the circle were two men rolling on the ground, throwing punches and wrestling to gain control over the other.

“Holy shit,” Emily muttered. “What’s going on?”

“Looks like a fight.”

Emily’s gaze raked over the participants, searching for Finn. “Where’s Finn? I don’t see Finn.” She started forward.

Jack’s hand shot out, stopping her. “You can’t get in the middle of that.”

“But my brother?—”

“Do you see him?”

She shook her head. “No. But I can’t tell who’s on the ground. It could be Finn.”

“Then let’s move closer without drawing attention,” Jack said. He took her hand and led her back the way they’d come. He hurried to the end of a row, ran around the back and started back toward the crowd of fighting men. When they came in view, Emily and Jack were closer.

“I still can’t tell if Finn is the one getting the shit beat out of him,” Emily said. “We have to stop it.”

At that moment, all hell broke loose. The fight went from being between two people to all the men jumping into the fray.

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