Midnight Court.’
‘But that’s in Irish, surely?’ Keogh reached for the book and saw that he was right.
‘And why shouldn’t it be? You think a Protestant shouldn’t read Irish? Why not? It’s our country too, mister, and if you’re Sinn Fein or any of that old rubbish I’d prefer you went elsewhere. Catholics aren’t welcome. An IRA street bomb killed my father, my mother and my wee sister.’
‘Girl, dear.’ Keogh held up his hands defensively. ‘I’m a Belfast boy home from the sea who’s just come in for a cup of tea.’
‘You don’t sound Belfast to me. English, I’d say.’
‘And that’s because my father took me to live there when I was a boy.’
She frowned for a moment then shrugged. ‘All right.’ She raised her voice. ‘Tea for one, Mary.’ She said to Keogh, ‘No more cooking. We’re closing soon.’
‘The tea will do just fine.’
A moment later, a grey-haired woman in an apron brought tea in a mug and placed it on the counter. ‘Milk and sugar over there. Help yourself.’
Keogh did as he was told and pushed a pound coin across. The woman gave him some change. The girl ignored him, reached for her book and stood up. ‘I’ll be away now, Mary. Give it another hour then you can take an early night.’ And she went through to the back.
Keogh took his tea to a table by the door, sat down and lit a cigarette. Five minutes later Kathleen Ryan emerged wearing a beret and an old trench-coat. She went out without looking at him. Keogh sipped some more tea, then got up and left.
It was raining harder now as she turned on to the waterfront and she increased her pace, head down. The three youths standing in the doorway of a disused warehouse saw her coming as she passed under the light of a street lamp. They were of a type to be found in any city in the world. Vicious young animals in bomber jackets and jeans.
‘That’s her, Pat,’ the one wearing a baseball cap said. ‘That’s her. The Ryan bitch from the café.’
‘I can tell for myself, you fool,’ the one called Pat said. ‘Now hold still and grab her on the way past.’
Kathleen Ryan was totally unaware of their existence as they stayed back in the shadows. It was only the quick rush of feet that alerted her and by then it was too late, one arm round her neck half choking her.
Pat walked round in front and tilted her chin. ‘Well, now, what have we got here? A little Prod bitch. Ryan, isn’t it?’
She kicked back, catching the youth in the baseball cap on the shin. ‘Leave me be, you Taig bastard.’
‘Taig bastard, is it,’ Pat said. ‘And us decent Catholic boys!’ He slapped her face. ‘Up the alley with her. Time she learned her manners.’
She didn’t scream for it was not in her nature, but cried out in rage and bit the hand that fastened on her mouth.
‘Bitch!’ Baseball Cap called out and punched her in the back and then they ran her along the alley through the rain. There was a stack of packing cases clear under an old-fashioned gas street lamp. As she struggled, two of them pulled her across a packing case and Pat moved up behind and racked her skirt up.
‘Time you learned,’ he said.
‘No, time you learned!’ a voice called. Pat turned and Martin Keogh walked up the alley, hands in the pockets of his reefer. ‘Put her down. I mean, she doesn’t know where you’ve been, does she?’
‘Stuff you, wee man,’ the one in the baseball cap said, released his hold on the girl and swung a punch at Keogh who caught the wrist, twisted and ran him face-first into the wall.
‘You bastard!’ the third youth cried and rushed him.
Keogh’s left hand came out of his pocket, holding the Walther, and he slashed the youth across the face, splitting the cheek from the left eye to the corner of the mouth. He raised the gun and fired, the distinctive muted cough of the silenced weapon flat in the rain.
Baseball Cap was on his knees, the other clutching his cheek, blood pouring through his fingers. Pat stood there, rage on his face.
‘You bloody swine!’
‘It’s been said before.’ Keogh touched him between the eyes with the silenced end of the Walther. ‘Not another word or I’ll kill you.’
The youth froze. Kathleen Ryan was pulling her skirt down. Keogh said, ‘Back to that café of yours, girl. I’ll see you soon.’
She hesitated, staring at him, then turned and ran away along the alley.
There was only the rain now and the groans of the injured. Pat said wildly, ‘We did what you told us to do. Why this?’
‘Oh, no,’ Keogh said. ‘I told you to frighten the girl a little and then I’d come and save her.’ He found a cigarette one-handed and lit it. ‘And what were we into? Gang rape.’
‘She’s a dirty little Prod. Who cares?’
‘I do,’ Keogh told him. ‘And I’m a Catholic. You give us a bad name.’
Pat rushed him. Keogh swayed to one side, tripping him with his right foot and dropped one knee down hard in his back. Pat lay there sobbing in the rain.
Keogh said, ‘You need a lesson, son.’
He jammed the muzzle of the Walther against the youth’s thigh and pulled the trigger. There was a muted report and Pat cried out.
Keogh stood up. ‘Only a flesh wound. It could have been your kneecap.’
Pat was sobbing now. ‘Damn you!’
‘Taken care of a long time ago.’ Keogh took an envelope from his pocket and dropped it down. ‘Five hundred quid, that was the price. Now get yourself to the Royal Victoria Casualty Department. Best in the world for gunshot wounds, but then they get a lot of experience.’
He walked away, whistling the same eerie little tune, and left them there in the rain.
When he reached the café there were no longer any customers, but he could see Kathleen Ryan and the woman Mary standing behind the counter. The girl was on the telephone. Keogh tried the door, but it was locked. Kathleen Ryan turned as the door rattled and nodded to Mary who came from behind the counter and unlocked it.
As Keogh entered Mary said, ‘She told me what you did for her. God bless you.’
Keogh sat on the edge of a table and lit a cigarette. The girl was still talking. ‘No, I’ll be fine now. I’ll be at the Drum in twenty minutes. Don’t fret.’ She put the phone down and turned, her face calm. ‘My Uncle Michael. He worries about me.’
‘And why not?’ Keogh said. ‘Desperate times.’
‘You don’t take prisoners, do you?’
‘I could never see the point.’
