Leann Sweeney - The Cat, the Wife and the Weapon

“Trouble?” Ed asked. He hovered over a catfish filet sizzling in a cast-iron skillet on the old gas stove.

“You could say that,” I said. “But between Tom and Candace, they’ll get the situation under control. Everything will be fine.” I looked back to the entry and Finn was gone. “Maybe I spoke too soon.” I went after him.

“Is that you, Finnian?” I heard Rory Gannon say.

I arrived in the living room to see Karen standing on the threshold of the open front door. Tom had stepped outside to speak with Gannon—probably trying to keep him around until Candace showed up.

“Mom, please go inside and shut the door,” Tom said.

Finn peered around Tom’s tall frame at Gannon. He said, “Do I know you?”

“I’m your dad, son,” Gannon said.

There it was, another slug to the jaw from the past.

By his expression, Tom sure seemed to have felt the blow when he turned to Finn. “We don’t know if he’s telling the truth, Finn.”

But Finn was nodding his head. “I’ve seen your picture. How did you find me?”

“See? He knows me,” Gannon said. “Too bad I never saw your picture after I left for that hospital, Finnian. Sure wish I had, but your mother took you and disappeared.”

Tom tried to block Gannon’s view but without much success, since Finn seemed more than interested in this man—and with good reason.

“See? He wants to visit,” Gannon said. “You can’t keep a boy from his kin.”

“Where have you been all this time?” Finn’s voice was a monotone.

“Does it matter? I’m here now to meet up with my boy,” Gannon said and added a half laugh. “My long-lost boy.”

No, I thought. That’s not why you’re here . Though he seemed more in control than earlier today, I thought of the Eagles song about “lying eyes.” Gannon had some other motive for coming here, of that much I was certain. I had the feeling Nolan or Hilary Roth might have had a hand in Gannon’s arrival. How else could he have known to come to Mercy?

“Your long-lost boy, huh? What a nice sentiment,” Candace said. She’d come up behind Gannon so quickly and quietly I hadn’t heard her. She must have parked halfway down the block because I surely would have recognized the sound of her RAV4’s engine. She still wore her uniform and her hand gripped her weapon. “How’s about you come down to the station and you can talk to me about why you’ve come to Mercy, Mr. Gannon?”

Gannon’s eyes locked on me. He raised a hand and pointed past Tom. “You called the cops on me twice in one day? What did I ever do to you, lady?”

Scared me silly? I thought, wishing I could make myself invisible. As if he’d read my mind, Tom sidestepped to block Gannon’s view of me now, though he wasn’t completely successful. I could still see Gannon, so he could certainly still see me.

But he abruptly turned to Candace. “As for you, I don’t have to go anywhere you say, especially not to a police station. I have every right to visit with my son.”

Candace said, “Finn’s rights are what concern me, not yours.” Candace looked past the two men in the doorway. “Finn, you want to talk to this man?”

Finn’s answer was to return to the kitchen without a word. As I went after him, I heard Karen talking, though I couldn’t make out what she was saying. Ed was smiling and humming, in his own fish-fry world. He’d placed several pieces of finished catfish filets on paper towels on the counter near the stove.

Finn went to his side, apparently ready to forget what had just happened. “You really caught all these fish yourself?”

“Easy to do. Ever heard of a trotline?” Ed asked.

Seemed like Finn felt the same way I did—that here in this old-fashioned kitchen filled with the smell of a home-cooked meal, the world seemed sane and safe. You could escape and pretend crazy people weren’t stirring up trouble only twenty feet away.

“I used to fish with Tom when I was a kid,” Finn said. “Is a trotline the one with all the fish hooks baited and you string it out across the water?”

“That’s exactly right. You and me, we can do some fishing if you want. I can show you more than the easy stuff,” Ed said.

I listened to their conversation while keeping an ear on what might be happening in the other room. Finally I heard the front door close, and soon Candace joined us in the kitchen. Tom and Karen remained in the other room; I hoped not with Rory Gannon in their company.

“Mr. Gannon’s gone,” Candace said. “I couldn’t really arrest him since he hasn’t broken the law. But I sure wish he would have agreed to visit with me down at the station. I might have found out more about him and how he ended up in Mercy—that is, if you want to know, Finn.”

Candace’s question snatched Finn back into the reality of fractured families and serious problems. He wore his sadness in his body language and on his face. My heart ached for him.

Finn said, “I don’t care why he’s here. I have to say, he sure looked different than I imagined.”

“I’ll find some reason to pull him in for an interview. For now I told him to keep his distance from you and your family,” Candace said. “But I want you to tell me if he bothers you again.”

“Sure,” Finn said quietly.

Ed smiled at Candace. “Join us for supper, Miss Candace? We’d sure like to have you.”

She said, “Love to, Ed, but I have way too much work to do—and just added Rory Gannon to the list of things I have to follow up on. Maybe there’s a parole violation I can use as leverage.”

I would have thought Finn would be upset by the revelation that Gannon had been to prison, but his face remained impassive.

I could tell Candace was upset with herself for saying anything about Gannon’s past. “Sorry I brought that up. Are you okay, Finn?”

“Yeah. I’m good,” he said in a monotone.

“Guess I’ll be leaving, then. Y’all take care and call me if he comes back.” She turned and started for the living room.

“Don’t be driving around corners like you’re trying for a spot on a NASCAR team, you hear?” Ed said, returning to his job.

I walked Candace back through the dining area and into the living room just in time to hear Karen say, “He’s the boy’s flesh and blood, Thomas.”

“He’s also a convicted felon,” Candace said.

“Oh my,” Karen said. “I had no idea. Poor Hilary had to live with two men who ended up on the wrong side of the law. This is like a Greek tragedy, isn’t it?”

Greek tragedy? Karen did have a flare for the dramatic.

Meanwhile, Tom was saying, “Poor Hilary, my ass.”

Karen’s cheeks reddened so much I could see her cheeks flush despite her heavy rouge. “Watch your tongue, son. She brought Finn into our lives. You need to reconcile your differences with her for Finn’s sake—and for your own. She hurt you, yes, but she’s a good person who’s simply made poor choices.”

Since Karen was a recovering alcoholic with multiple failed marriages in her past, I understood how she could relate to Hilary Roth.

“Mom, can we drop this before Finn comes back into the room?” Tom said.

Candace cleared her throat. “Um, I’m thinking paperwork looks mighty inviting right now.” She said her good-byes and left.

Ed appeared and called us to supper. Though the food was delicious, I learned a lesson. Do not eat fried fish after two days like we’d all experienced. My stomach was churning when Tom, Finn and I climbed into my van for the short trip back to Tom’s house.

Rory Gannon was on my mind, and thoughts of him were not a good thing.

The next morning, I woke up feeling disoriented because I’d slept so hard. But with Chablis on my chest, kneading away and purring, the feeling didn’t last long. Her usual morning behavior reintroduced me to the comforts of my daily routine in a week that had been anything but.