Irish Throwdown (What Happens In Vegas Book 4) by Matt Lincoln (short books for teens .TXT) 📕

“Of course.” Gallagher shrugged. “He tried to argue that it didn’t matter how dangerous it was. Addicts would still keep buying it. The moron couldn’t see how doing that would eventually kill off our entire client base, not to mention sully our family’s reputation. I wasn’t about to be caught dead selling inferior products.”

I thought carefully as I listened to Gallagher speak. Patrick had made it seem as though he and O’Sullivan were partners and equal in power, but the more I listened, the clearer it became that Gallagher was really the one in control. O’Sullivan was a loose cannon who got too big for his britches.

“We heard that there were issues within the organization,” I prompted. “Patrick Gallagher told us that a lot of people didn’t like the way you run things and that they preferred O’Sullivan as a leader. Is that true?”

“I’m afraid so,” Gallagher replied without a hint of emotion. “A lot of the younger members aren’t as fond of the family’s traditions and rules. Someone hotheaded and ambitious like O’Sullivan appealed to them. Of course, there’s a limit to what I will allow him to get away with. Even as my partner, he was starting to take things too far.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“His little business ventures,” Gallagher scoffed as though he was talking about a child’s lemonade stand. “He started small, of course, drugs and guns. I was rather impressed by his drive and resourcefulness. But then he started getting too in over his head. Started moving on to bigger things. Living things.”

I shot a glance at Junior, who looked back at me with an understanding expression.

“Such as wild animals?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Precisely.” Gallagher grinned. “That’s around the time your little organization started sniffing around. He managed to get away with it, though, in the end. I’ll admit, I was impressed, though furious at how careless he’d been. I told him he needed to rein himself in.”

“Which he obviously didn’t,” Junior interjected. “Because after we shut down the animal trafficking ring, he jumped straight to human trafficking and started supplying women to the brothel in Japan.”

“He let all that success and power go to his head,” Gallagher sighed. “As more mafia members started admiring him, he became brasher. He even started putting that stupid little Celtic knot on everything like a trademark.”

“Celtic knot?” I asked. “You mean that flower symbol?”

“Yes,” he chuckled. “It isn’t a flower, though. Regardless, that was the final straw for me. I told him I couldn’t imagine anything stupider than leaving evidence of your identity all over your crimes, and I guess he didn’t like that. He told me I was going to pay for ever crossing him, and then he suddenly disappeared.”

“And that’s why he repackaged the drug as medicine?” I guessed. “He wanted to bait us into coming here while simultaneously getting back at you?

“I couldn’t tell you for certain.” Gallagher shrugged. “You’d have to ask him, though I suppose that’s not possible now, is it?”

He smiled wickedly as though the idea of O’Sullivan’s death was just a joke to him.

“I see,” Junior replied. He was calm, but there was a sharp edge to his voice. “So all the innocent people that died after taking that medicine were just collateral damage? It was all just a ruse to lure us here?”

“I’m afraid so,” Gallagher replied. “O’Sullivan was both ruthless and an idiot. A dangerous combination. Really, it’s all for the best that he’s dead now.”

“Wipe that smile off your face,” I snarled. “You have nothing to be happy about. He might be dead, but you won’t be getting out of this so easily. You’re going to spend the rest of your life rotting in a jail cell.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Gallagher smirked. “There’s a reason I didn’t pick that gun up back in the cell, agent. I don’t need it. There are other ways for me to get what I want than by resorting to brute force.”

“We’ll see.” I sneered back at him. “Because believe me, Gallagher. I won’t rest until I’m sure you’re exactly where you belong, behind bars.”

“I look forward to seeing your efforts,” Gallagher challenged.

“We’re done here,” I muttered. I wanted to punch him right in his obnoxious face, and I knew that if I sat here any longer playing this stupid game, I might actually do it. We’d gotten what we came here for, which was a confession and an explanation for what had been happening in Las Vegas, so it was time for us to go.

I stood from the table. Junior and Seamus stood up after me, and the three of us filed out of the room.

“You two go ahead,” Seamus said once we were out in the lobby. “After what happened earlier, I’m not letting this one out of my sight until I’m sure someone else has got eyes on him. Why don’t I meet you boys in the lobby in about ten minutes? We can go over all the logistical details about the extradition and such then.”

“Sounds good,” I replied. He nodded before turning and heading back into the room, his hand on his radio so he could call for relief.

Junior slumped against the wall once Seamus was back inside.

“You good?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I think I am. It’s just… hard to believe, I guess. That it’s finally over. And my ribs hurt.”

“Yeah.” I chucked as I realized what he’d meant. After a year of chasing him, we’d finally caught the man responsible for all the interconnected cases. We’d never have to deal with another one again.

A beat of silence passed before Junior burst into a fit of chuckles.

“It’s actually over,” he groaned as he pressed a hand gingerly to his side. “Ow. It hurts to laugh.”

“Let’s head back downstairs,” I suggested. “We can wait on that bench for Seamus.”

“Good idea,” Junior nodded.

As we walked down the hall, I could barely contain the sense of elation I felt. We