“You dumb motherfucker,” Jardine says. “You stupid Irish donkey. I’ll put you under the fucking jail, I’ll—”
“Do what you’re going to do,” Danny says. “I’m out of this.”
He turns and walks away, down the beach.
Knows he can very well catch a bullet in the back.
Fuck it, Danny thinks.
He takes two more steps and turns around. Sure enough, Jardine has his gun out, pointed.
The crashing wave masks the sound of Danny’s shot.
Danny tosses his gun into the ocean and leaves Jardine’s corpse on the beach.
I gave you a chance, he thinks.
You should have let me walk away.
Danny drives back up the beach road.
For the last time.
Ian is out cold in the back seat. His forehead is beaded with sweat, his black hair damp from the overactive car heater. A little bubble appears on the corner of his mouth and then pops.
“I didn’t think it was possible,” Marty says.
“Think what was possible?”
“That you were as dumb as you look,” Marty says. “I have one son, and he throws two million bucks into Block Island Sound.”
“You raised me.”
“Your bitch of a mother told me you were mine,” Marty says. “I’ve always had my doubts.”
“Your lips to God’s ears.”
“What are you going to do for money now, genius?”
“I dunno.”
He has no freakin’ clue.
He’s on the run—from the mob, from the government. He has no money, no resources, no connections, no clear idea where he’s going or what he’s going to find when he gets there, wherever “there” is.
But he feels clean for the first time in a long time.
Marty starts singing an old Irish song Danny’s heard about a thousand times at the Gloc—
Farewell to Prince’s Landing stage,
River Mersey, fare thee well,
I’m bound for California . . .
The sun is up now and the sky is silver, tinting toward blue, one of those clear, crisp winter skies.
It’s not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me, But my darlin’， when I think of thee . . .
Danny Ryan drives up the beach road for the last time, his back to the cold sea, his face toward a warmer shore.
Acknowledgments
In this pandemic time, it would be the act of an ingrate not to express gratitude to the health workers and essential personnel who have worked so selflessly and sacrificed so much so that people like me can sit and write books. I appreciate you more than I can express.
Speaking of appreciation, a loud shout-out to my agent, Shane Salerno, friend and co-conspirator. Without him, these books don’t happen.
To all the folks at The Story Factory—Deborah Randall and Ryan Coleman—my deep gratitude for all you do.
To Liate Stehlik at William Morrow, my humble thanks for all the support and trust.
Thanks, of course, to Jennifer Brehl, for her caring editing, which vastly improved the book.
Appreciation, and sympathy, out to my copyeditor Laura Cherkas.
To Brian Murray, Chantal Restivo-Alessi, David Wolfson, Julianna Wojcik, Carolyn Bodkin, Jennifer Hart, Kaitlin Harri, Danielle Bartlett, Frank Albanese, Christine Edwards, Andy LeCount, Nate Lanman, Andrea Molitor, Andrew DiCecco, Pam Barricklow, and Kyle O’Brien.
I also owe a debt of gratitude to the unsung heroes and heroines of the sales, marketing, and publicity staff at HarperCollins/William Morrow.
To Richard Heller, lawyer extraordinaire, great appreciation.
Likewise to Matt Snyder and Joe Cohen at CAA for the years of great representation.
To Steve Hamilton, for his support and sage counsel.
For their support and inspiration, humble appreciation to Nils Lofgren, Jon Landau, and Bruce Springsteen.
To all the booksellers and readers—without you, I don’t have this job.
To the many friends and places that gave me more support than they can ever know: David Nedwidek and Katy Allen, Pete and Linda Maslowski, Jim Basker and Angela Vallot, Teressa Palozzi, Drew Goodwin, Tony and Kathy Sousa, John and Theresa Culver, Scott Svoboda and Jan Enstrom, Jim and Melinda Fuller, Stephen and Cindy Gilliland, Ted Tarbet, Thom Walla, Mark Clodfelter, Roger Barbee, Bill and Ruth McEneaney, Andrew Walsh, Jeff and Rita Parker, Bruce Riordan, Jeff Weber, Don Young, Mark Rubinsky, Cameron Pierce Hughes, Mark Rubenstein, Jon Land, Rob Jones, David and Tammy Tanner, Ty and Dani Jones, Deron and Becky Bisset, Jesse McQuery, the Flipper Eddie Crew, Drift Surf, Quecho, Java Madness, Jim’s Dock, Colt’s Burger Bar, Wynola Pizza, Tavern on Main, Cap’n Jack’s, the Charlestown Rathskeller, and Kingston Pizza.