Firecracker- John Shelby

-twenty one-

"What now?" I asked Tommy
"I'll organise a meeting with Campbell" he said
"Your gonna give up byrne to Campbell? What about when word gets out in Ireland?" I asked
"I'll have campbell put out word in Ireland we where not involved" tommy shrugged it off.
"And how where you planning on delivering him?" I asked
"Simple, I'll tell the him we need to meet, tell him a random location to find the guns then wait for campbells men ambush them" tommy shrugged
"I'll organise a meeting, I'll have Campbell put out word, I'll tell him we need to meet. what happened to equal partners" i questioned
"Your too emotional and I can't rely on you to stay calm, I don't want you to do anything irrational, Campbell is the last person you should be around" tommy said
"Irrational? Here's a question, do you really think the IRA won't just kill you as soon as they've got what they think it is they need?"I asked tommy frustrated.
"The IRA don't want a trail of bodies" Tommy said
"That's something your willing to bet your life on?" I asked cooly
Tommy stood still and didn't say a word, Indicating he had nothing more to say.
"Sometimes I think you want to die" I said throwing my hands up as I left.

As I headed back to the betting shop I spotted Arthur shelby snr heading out.
"What are you doing here?" I asked suspiciously.
"Arthur was showing me how things are run these days, apparently your quite the influence, giving orders and settling business ordeals. A little birdie also told me you married John, what on gods green earth possessed you to do that?" Arthur snr said
"Congratulations, you just learned a fraction of what you would know if you stuck around" I said sarcastically, shoving past him. He grabbed my arm.
"There's still time" he said with a sincere, pained look on his face.
"How long, a day? A week. Your more disappointing than my actual dad" I scoffed.
He looked like he was ready to plead for a second before abruptly turning and walking away. I headed inside to find Arthur looking pleased with himself, his smile dropped as soon as he saw me.
"I just saw your dad leaving, what was he doing here Arthur" I asked
"He was spending time with me, whats wrong with that, eh?" Arthur said.
"Nothing, as long as your telling the truth" I said
"You and tommy are the same, speaking to me like I'm a kid. I know what I'm doing, alright!" Arthur said angrily.
"That man can't be trusted! He doesn't come here again" I said
"Is that right?" Arthur said furiously
"Yes" I said
Arthur was red in the face and his chest was heaving, he stormed right past me and out the door making sure to slam into my shoulder as hard as he could.
I sat myself down at my desk and sat in thought, then the phone rang.
No sound came from the other end the the receiver.
"Hello?" I asked
"At midnight, Tommy plans on meeting two IRA men, when they have what they want, they plan to kill him" inspector Campbell said
"But that's in 20 minutes?" I said
"It's to my knowledge tommy has officers planning to ambush them before that can happen" Campbell said
"No offence, but that's not really reassuring" I said
"It's not ideal, there's a barmaid, an innocent, there's a chance she could be caught in the crossfire" Campbell said.
This set off alarm bells in my head.
"Goodbye, inspector" I said

I basically sprinted out of the shop and towards the garrison. Passing Arthur and barely stopping to briefly explain what was going on.
I arrived at 4 minutes to 12. While I waited I thought over what Campbell said, why was he so concerned about grace, when he had never seemed to care about civilian life before.
I was just around the corner so I could see the door to the garrison, a few feet behind me I heard movement, police.
I looked back but I didn't approach them, they didn't approach me.
When the clock struck midnight, I looked back at them, they didn't move, they didn't prepare, they hadn't even loaded their guns.
I watched as two men approached the garrison.
Once they entered I ran towards the door, the officers didn't follow.
I opened the heaving door a crack and kept the other double door closed, I could hear the conversation going on inside.
"Lost your thirst, eh?" I heard Tommy's voice
"Just show us where" another voice said
Then there was a pause.
"Give me the cash" tommy said
Another pause.
"Your gonna need a shovel"tommy said
I heard a voice chuckle.
"You thick fucking tinker. Did you think we'd let you live?" One voice said
"Make your peace, mr Shelby" another said
"I will make my peace my own way" Tommy said
I decided I have heard enough and charged in.
"Tommy!" I shouted to warn him before I opened fire, shooting the man who wasn't byrne.
Then tommy and byrne began fighting and I could get a clear shot at byrne without risking shooting tommy.
I saw grace come out of the back room and get hit accidentally amongst the chaos.
I gave Tommy the benefit of the doubt, but then byrne started to suffocate him and I knew I need to intervene.
I walked over and stood on byrnes neck as they both rolled around the ground, he struggled and hit my foot. I waited for him to loosen his grip so Tommy could roll away, sparing his ears, then I shot byrne.
I waited for tommy to catch his breath before I helped him up.
The officers all walked through the door.
"You where supposed to come on the sixth chime" I said dangerously low as tommy cradled grace.
"They refused to surrender. They fought well, they where brave men"I said after a while.
"He was shot between his fucking eyes, still, this never happened, they where never here, who cares?" The officer said sarcastically.
"exactly, now get these bodies out of here" I said