Authors: George Norris
Flynn removed the towels from around his body and glanced at himself in the mirror. He liked what he saw. He decided to get dressed. After putting on a pair of jeans, Flynn picked up his gun and tucked it into his waistband. He put on a sweatshirt, careful to pull it over the butt of the gun. He put on his socks and shoes and walked back into the bathroom to take another look in the mirror. Once the sunglasses were back in place
, there was only one more item to complete the disguise, a New York Yankees baseball cap. His image in the mirror stared back at him. He was satisfied by what he saw. There was no question in Flynn's mind that the disguise was brilliant. His hair was now not only a totally different color but also about a foot shorter. The mustache, baseball cap and sunglasses added a lot to the disguise as well. Flynn had no doubt in his mind that even if Keegan were to look in his direction, he would never realize who he was.
Flynn grabbed the dark blue hooded sweatshirt which he recently bought. The
jacket that he had taken with him from home had to be abandoned in his Queens hotel just in case it was being watched. He put the sweatshirt on as he exited the hotel room. It was almost five o'clock. He wasn't sure where he was going but he didn't feel like being confined on the night before the biggest day in his life. Tomorrow, he was certain to make history. There may even be rebel songs which would honor his accomplishments, he figured.
Flynn had been walking around the city rather aimlessly, when a reckless thought came into his head. It really was a bad idea, he conceded but he considered it anyway. If he decided to go through with it, he would be chastised if anyone were to ever find out. Flynn didn't want to do anything that would possibly jeopardize his assignment, especially so close to the parade, but he really wanted to test his disguise to see if it was as good as he believed it to be. He wanted it to be a real test. He wanted to see if someone that had actually met him, would recognize him.
Flynn's idea was to go to McBride's Bar and Grill to see if he would be recognized. If he wasn’t, then his disguise would undoubtedly be a success. Flynn had nerves of steel and even though he knew going to McBride's was probably the worst thing in the world he could do at this point, he didn't care. It would get his blood pumping and his adrenaline flowing. The rush would be quite welcomed after being so bored the past few days. It would be something to get him psyched up for tomorrow. He again wondered how Quinn or even O'Brien would react if they had only known what he was up to.
They’d be infuriated, for sure; more so than ever before.
This thought also gave Flynn's ego a boost. Flynn had always been a rebel and wanted to do things his own way. Getting under people's skin had become more of a game to him than anything else.
There was one more thing that needed to be done first. The curiosity was getting the better of him. He descended down the stairs at the subway station located at Seventh Avenue and
Forty-Ninth Street. He couldn’t believe how crowded the subway was at this time of day. It was a sharp contrast from the last time he had taken the subway a few nights prior. He boarded the N train headed to Queens. He had to stand the entire ride, but it was still a more enjoyable ride than it was, smelling the homeless man last time. He enjoyed the brisk walk to get to the hotel where he had originally stayed. He walked down the block from the entrance to see that the Nissan was still parked in the exact spot where he had left it.
At first, he was surprised that it was still there. He had figured Keegan would have impounded it and dusted it for fingerprints. After a few moments however, Flynn decided Keegan might have left the car right here and have it staked out watching for his return. Flynn got a sick satisfaction out of the thought that there were probably detectives watching the car right at this very moment and here he was just walking past the car and they had no clue. He laughed to himself. “Stoopid fuckin coppers.” He muttered under his breath. For a moment, he contemplated stopping at the car and leaning on it just to peak the detective's interest. Flynn then thought that would really be pushing his luck so he just walked right past the car, never slowing down or even glancing in its direction.
Later that evening, when Flynn arrived at McBride's, he glanced into the bar from the outside before entering. He could see that both Dan O'Brien and Nora O'Donnell were inside working.
Perfect!
He then looked at his reflection in a storefront's window, making sure every aspect of his disguise was in place. Flynn entered the bar with uncertainty. This would be the true test. He personally felt he looked nothing like the old Gerald Flynn, but until he could get people who knew him to look at him and not recognize him, he wouldn't be confident.
It was nearly half past seven o’clock and McBride's was far from crowded. Nora O'Donnell appeared to be the only waitress working at the time. Just to play it safe, Flynn sat at one of the tables in her section. He made sure, however, not to sit at the table he usually did. There was no reason to tip his hand should she suspect it might be him. Flynn patiently waited at the table for Nora to take his order. The sunglasses were probably rather conspicuous, Flynn conceded but nevertheless, they were part of the disguise and they wouldn't be conspicuous tomorrow during the parade.
Flynn had been daydreaming about how he would carry out the assassination when Nora's voice broke his concentration. “We have two for one special on any draft beer until eight. Can I start you off with a drink or are you ready to order?”
Flynn looked up at Nora and quickly realized that she didn’t have any notion of who he was. Flynn wanted to be very careful not to give
him any clues to his identity. He answered her in a voice a couple of octaves lower than his normal voice and added his best impression of a New York accent. “I'll have a cheeseburga platta and a pint of Bud.”
Nora O’Donnell never flinched or took a second look at him. She answered in a gleeful manner. “Okay. I'll be right back with your beer.”
Flynn studied her up and down. He liked what he saw. She was wearing a black skirt, a bit shorter than usual, and a white blouse. Flynn stared at her legs, thinking about how he parted them during the night they had spent together only a few weeks ago. She had no idea the man she had given herself to, just recently, sat right in front of her.
Flynn watched Nora as she walked up to the bar and asked Dan O'Brien for the beers. He watched for any unusual conversation between the two to see if Nora may have sensed something and asked for O'Brien's opinion. There was none. There was almost no conversation between them at all and Nora promptly returned with his beers. She set them down on a napkin in front of him. “Here you go sir. Your dinner will be here shortly.” She smiled.
Gerald Flynn returned the smile. “Thank you dear.”
He was very optimistic. It became crystal clear to him that Nora had no idea in the world she was just talking to the man she hated. Flynn took a long swig of the beer and set it back down on the table in front of him. He glanced over at Dan O'Brien. O'Brien was taking advantage of the extremely light crowd and watching the news on television.
Flynn knew before he left he would somehow make sure O'Brien got a good look at him and see if O'Brien had any strange or suspicious reaction. Flynn downed the remainder of beer from the first mug and glanced around the bar to see if there was anyone he thought might be an undercover cop watching the place. He decided there wasn't anyone in the bar who seemed to be out of place. Nora returned to his table with his cheeseburger deluxe. She set the food down in front of him and she noticed he had already drunk his first pint. She teased him. “Wow you must have been thirsty. Let me know if there is anything else I can get you.”
Flynn looked down at his empty glass. “I was. How about some ketchup?”
“Coming right up.”
Nora walked to the kitchen to get a bottle of ketchup. Flynn started to feel a little cocky and decided to push his luck when Nora returned by engaging her in conversation. He had just taken the first bite of his burger when she returned. “Excuse me miss, don't take this wrong. I'm not trying to hit on you or anything but I just had to tell you that you have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.”
Nora had been working in a bar long enough to know when she was being hit on. She usually tried to be as polite as possible yet cut the conversation short. There was no need to ruin her tip by insulting the guy. This time, however, she would see where the conversation would head. “Oh, thank you. I'm sorry I can't return the compliment but I can't even see your eyes behind those shades.”
Flynn cracked a smile at Nora's taunt. “Well, I would show them to you,” Flynn began his lie, mindful not to let his natural brogue slip through his synthetic New York accent. “But right now, I'm afraid you wouldn't want to see them. I got jumped a couple of nights ago and the punks couldn't just take my
money; they had to throw me to the ground and kick me in the face too. I have a real nasty black eye. There were three of them. There wasn’t too much I could do.
“Oh, you poor thing.”
Nora seemed to buy his lie and it made a good excuse for wearing sunglasses in the dimly lit bar. Flynn could see Nora was trying to steal a peek at the alleged bruise but all he had to do was look up at her and she immediately looked away. With nothing else to say she walked away, almost feeling ashamed she had been caught staring at him. “Let me know if there is anything else I can get you.”
Flynn felt a great sense of accomplishment and enjoyed his burger more than he had ever enjoyed a cheeseburger before. After finishing his meal, he signaled for Nora to bring him his check. He gave her a twenty dollar bill to cover the bill plus the tip. Now would come the next step of the test, he thought. Dan O'Brien remained uninterested in anything in particular as he stood alone behind the bar.
O'Brien looked at the man as he approached. He thought there was something familiar about him but then he figured maybe he had just seen him in the bar before. He did think it was odd that the man was wearing sunglasses in the bar. New York was full of weirdoes, reasoned O'Brien, and this guy was probably one of them. “Excuse me pal, have you got the time?” he asked O’Brien, continuing to mask his voice.
The bartender looked down at his wristwatch and then up again at Flynn. “And so I have, lad. It's a quarter past eight.”
Flynn thanked the man and was now one hundred percent comfortable that the disguise was a success. He made his way to the door and put his sweatshirt back on, zippering it up. There was something about Gerald Flynn's character however, that wouldn't let him leave things alone. His narcissism got the better of him. He felt the need to play with Nora's head before leaving. He had gotten all the way to the door and then turned back around to see Nora. Nora was quick to speak to Flynn before he had the chance to say anything to her. “Thank you again sir, come again. I hope your eye heals quickly.”
He reached into his front pocket and removed a roll of cash. He peeled off a twenty dollar bill from the top and handed it to Nora, which she accepted. She figured the guy to be a very big tipper or he would be back to hit on her another day. His demeanor then changed and a sadistic smile came across his face. “Ah Nora, you're very welcome, you are.” Gerald
Flynn now abandoned his adopted voice and spoke with his own. “That’s for the cab fare you never took a few weeks ago, love.”
Flynn watched as Nora turned beet red. He had a feeling of satisfaction as he walked out the door. It was now raining fairly steadily. The weather had changed dramatically in the hour or so he had spent in the bar. Not wanting to walk back to his hotel room, he hailed a cab. The most important day of his life was one night’s sleep away.
James Keegan had just pulled into his driveway when the rain started to come down. Having worked a ten a.m. to six p.m. shift today, he would now be off for the remainder of the night. He hoped he would be able to get a good night sleep. If he did, it would be the first time in a week. He wished he could confide in Kate and tell her everything so he might feel a little better, but he knew this was something he couldn't do. He did decide, however, that he would tell her tonight after dinner about the possible hit at the parade tomorrow and that he was assigned to guard Devine. She wasn't going to be happy about this assignment, but at least she would know about it. From this point forward, he wasn't going to keep anything from his wife. Everything and anything that
happened would be shared with her;
unless of course, it had to do with his past ties to the Irish Republican Army.
He began to think about what Dan O'Brien had said to him. “
Once in, never out
.” The more he thought about it, the more angered he became.
Who the hell did O'Brien think he was talking to? This wasn't Ireland or maybe O'Brien had forgotten that small fact
. Keegan walked in the front door of his suburban home and was promptly greeted by his family. Kate gave her husband a kiss hello as he took off his coat. “How was your day, hon?”
“Uneventful.” He gave his kids a hug and kiss.
“Daddy, tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day right?” Keegan's oldest child said, leading his father on.
He grew suspicious but decided to play along. “Yes. That's right.”