The Untouchables by J.J. McAvoy Page A

bit.
    Kneeling down, I stared at him. “You should have done that a long time go.”
    Sighing, I pulled out my phone. Liam was going to be pissed.

NINE
    “Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.”
    —Herbert Hoover

LIAM
    “I’m sorry, what the fuck did you just say?” Neal asked our father as he poured himself a drink.
    “Your grandfather shot himself in the head with a nine millimeter while we were talking in the woods,” he repeated before downing the entire glass.
    I opened my mouth, but for the first time in my life, I wasn't sure what the hell to say. How he could just stand there all calm and collected as if he’d just told us about the weather and not a man’s suicide. Melody, Declan, Neal and I sat there, and I allowed them a moment for the news to sink in.
    “Shamus just shot himself?” Melody asked, eyeing him. “In the woods?”
    “I feel as though you are implying something. Which is odd because you’ve always been so direct.” He glared at her.
    Melody crossed her legs, folding her hands in her lap. “Fine, then let me be direct; did you kill Shamus?”
    “No, but I planned on it. Just like the bastard to go and ruin that for me as well.” He frowned, still colder than ice.
    This was the father that taught me everything I needed to know growing up.
    “The Shamus I knew loved himself way too much to take his own life,” Declan added.
    “We all fear something no matter how much we try to deny it,” he replied, moving to look out the window. “I can only guess it has something to do with Melody’s mother.”
    “I do not have a mother,” Melody said quickly.
    “Either way, Shamus’ last words were ‘You have no idea what you did when you arranged for their marriage. There are rules even we have to follow.’ So whoever that woman is, he was afraid enough to take his own life because of her.”
    “None of this makes any fucking sense,” Neal groaned, rubbing his temple. “I mean I can’t be the only one totally confused.”
    He wasn’t, and the fact that I was now as clueless as my brother pissed me off to no end.
    “Enough is enough,” I snapped. “We’ve been behind this for far too long. I want answers. I want them yesterday . Who the hell is this woman? What does she want with our family?”
    Melody sat up and turned to my father. “Shamus did two things when he got here: he insulted us, and he said you should have married Catherine Briar.”
    “I’ve checked over that Briar family,” Declan replied. “They’re nothing but a small bunch of Irish thugs. They have a few dealings with ecstasy and other second rate drugs, but they can’t even hold a flame to us.”
    “That doesn’t matter,” I said, looking Melody in the eye. Was she thinking what I was thinking? “If Shamus wasted his breath on it, then it has to be important. We need to get to the Briars so that we can piece together whatever the hell is going on.”
    “Only problem is, after you threw Natasha into the nut house, her family went into hiding. No one has seen them,” Neal said.
    “Then do your fucking job and find them!” Melody and I yelled together.
    Declan shook his head but rose along with Neal, heading to the door. It was only after they’d left that I turned to my father. “Were you really going to kill him?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
    He didn’t reply, he just looked out the window. “You both have a mystery to solve and I have a parent to bury.”
    “You’re really going bury that bastard?”
    “Rule forty-four,” he replied before walking out the door.
    Melody looked to me, eyebrow raised and questioning me.
    “Rule forty-four: Family is family, even when you wish they weren’t,” I explained.
    She laughed as she moved beside me. “If this has anything to do with my family as well, I’m going to look into it.”
    “Everyone in your family is dead.”
    “Rule 171.” She smirked, and I stared at her in confusion.
    “Care to