"He was looking for a fight. He got one."

"Eddie Coyle's a prick, but that doesn't mean he deserves a beating."

Campbell knew when to back down. "Yeah, fair enough. I'm sorry."

McGinty smiled. "You can apologise to him next time you cross each other's paths. He'll be told to let it go. Anyway, I might have a wee job for you. It's kind of a sensitive one."

"Oh?"

"You were always good at sniffing out troublemakers. Our internal security's lost a good volunteer. Vincie Caffola was the best at clearing out touts and such, but I seem to remember you were pretty sharp yourself."

Campbell looked up at the sound of a helicopter. "I had my moments."

McGinty moved close to the yard's back wall, out of sight of the intruder in the sky. "You sniffed out that bastard Delaney when he sold me to the Loyalists." McGinty sneered. "Ulster Freedom Fighters, for Christ's sake. Bunch of fuckwits pretending they're Al Capone, not a brain between them. What was Delaney thinking? They'd never have pulled it off. Still, they could've gotten lucky if you hadn't twigged it. It was you who beat it out of him. I haven't forgotten that, Davy."

Campbell watched McGinty closely. "Delaney was easy. It was Gerry Fegan who got the UFF boys."

"If you hadn't fingered them, Gerry wouldn't have sorted them out, and I wouldn't be standing here. I owe you and him a lot. That's the only reason Gerry Fegan's still alive this afternoon."

"What do you mean?"

McGinty's eyes narrowed. "Who else do you know would have the balls to take out Michael McKenna and Vincie Caffola?"

"I heard it was-"

"Forget what you heard," McGinty said. He beckoned Campbell to come close. "You don't need to know the details. Just believe me when I tell you it was Fegan."

Campbell played it sceptical, stringing McGinty along. "I heard he'd lost it, took to the drink."

"Maybe so." McGinty nodded as a shallow smile spread across his mouth. "But don't you ever underestimate Gerry Fegan. He's strong, but there's stronger. He's smarter than he lets on, but he's no genius. You want to know what makes Gerry Fegan so dangerous?"

Campbell couldn't help but play along. "What?"

McGinty took a packet of cigarettes from his pocket, placed one between his lips, and tucked the packet away again. "He's fearless. Gerry Fegan isn't afraid of any man alive. Not one."

"Fearless means careless," Campbell said.

"Maybe for some. But not Gerry." McGinty lit the cigarette and stuffed the lighter back into his pocket. He took a drag. "I'll tell you a little something about Gerry Fegan. Years ago, late Seventies, him and Michael McKenna were just kids, fifteen, sixteen, something like that. Me and Gusty Devlin, God rest him, used to take some of the young lads down to Carnagh Forest, just over the border, for camping trips. Michael nagged me to take Gerry, but I didn't want to. I didn't like him. He was too quiet, always watching, saying nothing. But Michael talked me into it, and we took them in this old Volkswagen Camper I had."

McGinty smiled and straightened his designer jacket, blue plumes of smoke leaking from his nostrils. "I didn't dress so smart in those days. Fancied myself as a working-class hero, you know? Anyway, we got stopped at a checkpoint just this side of the border. The cops knew all about us, thought we were carrying guns. Some of the boys went to bits when the peelers searched them, had them down to their socks and their underpants on the side of the road. Not Gerry. He looked every one of those fuckers in the eye.

"So we get to the forest, set up camp, and Gusty hikes them round the lakes for a couple of hours. Everybody's knackered, so we turn in. About two or three in the morning, all hell breaks loose. Gerry's up shouting there's people in the trees, watching us. Can you believe that? A kid who'll stare out a peeler who's ready to take his head off, and he's scared of shadows?"

Campbell tried not to flinch as McGinty laughed, blowing smoke in his face. "You said he wasn't scared of anything."

"Not of any man. The dark, maybe, but no man. Anyway, next morning Bull O'Kane arrives with the guns the cops thought we'd be carrying. Nothing much, just a couple of air rifles and an old .303 from the war. So, Gusty sets up paper targets for the lads to practise with and, fuck me, Gerry can't hit anything. Up close, he's fucking deadly, but more than twenty feet? Couldn't hit a cow on the arse with a shovel."

Campbell nodded, smiled, and filed that fact away.

"So one of the other lads, can't remember his name - he was a thick shite, blew himself up with a pipe bomb - he starts slagging Gerry, how he's no use, he's scared of the gun, he's scared of the shadows in the trees, he should get his ma to come for him. So Gerry fucking lit on him. He's battering the shit clean out of him, pasting his nose all over his face, and we're all stood back laughing.

"All of a sudden, Bull says, 'Enough of this,' and grabs a-hold of Gerry, pulls him off the other lad, and he's still kicking and screaming. Bull plonks him down on his feet, and before anyone knows what's happening, Gerry spins around and - POP!"

Campbell blinked as McGinty slammed his fist into his palm.

"Gerry only goes and smacks Bull O'Kane, the scariest fucker I ever met, right in the mouth."

"Jesus," Campbell said. He'd never heard of anyone crossing Bull O'Kane and getting away with it. With genuine curiosity, he asked, "What did the Bull do?"

"Fucking decked him." McGinty grinned. "Bull's got hands like sides of beef. He belted Gerry and he went down like a sack of spuds. Now, I've never seen anyone raise a hand to Bull O'Kane before or since. So, I was thinking, Christ, what now? He'll kill him. I'm thinking we'll have to bury this kid in the forest."

McGinty's smile washed away. "Well, Bull goes and gets one of the air rifles, puts a pellet in the breech, and comes back to Gerry. Gerry just stares up at him, breathing hard. Bull aims the rifle, says, 'You've got some balls, son.' I says, 'Jesus, Bull, he's just a kid, he didn't mean it.' Bull says, 'Just a kid? Takes more than a kid to clout me. You better watch this young fella, he's got great things ahead of him."

Campbell realised his mouth was open. "And?" he asked.

"And he shot Gerry in the thigh. Tough wee bastard never made a sound. We drove all the way back to Belfast, him with a pellet in his thigh, and all he did was sweat and bleed till we dropped him at his ma's house."

"Christ," Campbell said. "And now you think he's done McKenna and Caffola?"

McGinty shrugged and dropped the cigarette butt to the ground. "Like I said, who else?"

"So why hasn't he been sorted out?"

"Because I'm getting soft in my old age." McGinty smiled as he slapped Campbell's shoulder. "That's all I'm saying. So, I've given him a wee job, you know, to see if he'll do what he's told. To see if he's under control." McGinty leaned in close. "Now, here's what I need you to do for me . . ."

19.

The little girl sized Fegan up as he stood on the other side of the low garden wall.

"What's your name?" she asked from the doorstep.

"Gerry," he said.

"I've got new shoes." She extended her foot for his inspection. "Mummy got me them."

"They're pretty," Fegan said.

"Ellen, show Gerry the lights," Marie said as she closed the door.

Ellen jumped from the step onto the tiny garden's path. Little red lights danced on her heels. She looked up at Fegan and grinned.

"You're good at jumping," Fegan said.

"Yeah, I can jump really high," she said, lifting her arms above her head to illustrate.

"Show me," he said.

"Okay," Ellen said as she squatted down. She launched herself upward with all her strength and landed square on her feet. "That was really high, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Fegan said.

"How high can you jump?"

"Not very high," he said.

"Show me."

"No, I'm too tired," Fegan said.

"But I showed you." Ellen's little blue eyes pleaded with him.

"Oh, go on," Marie said. "Fair's fair."

Fegan looked up and down the street. Marie and Ellen joined him on the footpath.

"Don't worry, nobody's watching," Marie said, suppressing a giggle.

Fegan sighed and bent his knees, wondering when he'd last jumped for the sake of jumping. He pushed upward and staggered as he landed, his leather soles slapping on the pavement. Marie and Ellen both applauded as he smoothed his jacket. He still wore his black suit, but the tie was tucked into his pocket.

"I jumped far higher than that," Ellen said.

Fegan couldn't argue. "You win."

She grinned at him and her mother in turn then spun on her heels to walk east along Eglantine Avenue towards the Malone Road. She turned to acknowledge Marie's instruction not to go too far ahead. Fegan and Marie followed.

"It's a beautiful evening," Marie said. Trees lined the avenue and the evening sun made shadow patterns on her skin. "You forget how lovely Belfast can be. All it takes is a little sunshine."

Eglantine Avenue's old houses glowed red. Some were better kept than others. Some, like Marie's, were divided into flats. Others housed students or migrant workers, while others provided office space for dentists or lawyers. The avenue ran between the Lisburn and Malone Roads, and the rumble of traffic at either end seemed muted by the gentle May warmth.

"Ellen looks like you," Fegan said.

"So everyone says. She's taken a shine to you already."

"You think?"

"Oh, yes." Marie smiled. "She's a love-or-hate kind of girl. She loves dogs and she hates cats. She loves peas and she hates carrots. With people, it's one or the other, but I think you've got on her good side. That was a wise move, complimenting her jumping skills. You'll have a friend for life."

"Where's her father now?" Fegan asked.

"Oh, he's around somewhere," Marie said. "Sends her money at Christmas. Other than that, we haven't heard from him in years."

"It must be hard, managing on your own," he said.

Ellen waited at the corner of Eglantine Gardens for the adults to take her across the road. Fegan felt something flutter inside when she took his hand instead of her mother's.

"Sometimes it is," Marie said as they crossed. "But we're better off without him."

Ellen didn't release his hand when they reached the other side. She kept his index and middle fingers gripped in her small fist and he wanted to tell her to let go, she didn't know where his hands had been. She would find flecks of old blood in the tiny creases of her fingers if she held his hand too long. He was sure of it.

"I do all right at the paper," Marie continued, "And I can work from home most days, so I don't have to spend too much on childcare, especially now she's started school. Jack knew what I sacrificed for him, and he betrayed me anyway. Ellen doesn't need a man who'd do something like that. Neither do I."

I've done worse things, Fegan thought. Marie seemed to read it on his face. Her smile faltered and she looked straight ahead.

They walked in silence to the Malone Road, and turned north towards Queen's University. This part of the city was alien to Fegan, a million miles away from the Belfast he knew. Grand residences and private clinics lined the Malone Road, guarded by high walls with electric gates.

"Did you go to Queen's?" Fegan asked.

"No, Jordanstown," Marie said. "I used to come to the Students' Union here, though. That was a long time ago, but it hasn't changed much. Did you go to university?"

She realised it was a foolish question.

Fegan shrugged. "I never quite got around to it," he said.

She nodded. "What about in the Maze? Did you study anything there?"

"Woodwork," Fegan said. "A lot of the boys got degrees. Politics, history, that sort of thing. They got a better education there than they ever did at the Christian Brothers. I was never much for studying. I do better with my hands. My father was a carpenter, so I thought I'd give that a go."

"Are you any good?" Marie asked.

"I'm okay," he said. "I had a good teacher."

Her head tilted. "Tell me about him."

Fegan saw that expression on her face again. The same one she had worn in her car the day before, the same one the prison psychologists like Dr Brady speared him with when they wanted him to spill his guts. Lorries and buses rumbled along the Malone Road. They approached the iron fences of Methodist College. The boarding school's windows burned orange as the sun ebbed. Fegan battled within himself, part of him wanting to stay hidden, part of him needing to show itself.

He surrendered.

"He was called Ronnie Lennox," Fegan said. "He was a Prod, from the Loyalist block. He wasn't a teacher, really, just an auld fella with nothing better to do. It was after my mother died, not long after the Agreement in '98. I didn't want to be around the boys any more. I couldn't listen to them arguing and shouting, so I used to stay behind in the workshop. You could do what you wanted in the Maze, not like a normal prison.

"This one day, there was just me and him and a guard in the workshop. The guard was sleeping in the corner. I was building a cabinet for my cell. I was trying to make the carcass with dovetail joints." Fegan looked at the scar on his left thumb. "I cut myself and Ronnie came over, cleaned it, put a plaster on me. Then he showed me how to use a coping saw properly. We talked a bit. He coughed all the time; he had asbestos poisoning from the shipyard. He shouldn't have been in the workshop with all the dust, but he couldn't stick it in the Loyalist block. He loved to show you stuff. You started him talking about joints and dowels, you'd never get him stopped."

Fegan noticed Marie's amused expression. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, her face glimmering. "It's the first time I've seen you really smile, that's all."

Fegan coughed. "Guitars were Ronnie's thing. He played beautiful. Not like those guys in the pubs, banging out the same old songs, but really playing it. Like he was talking to you."

He caught himself making shapes in the air with his free hand and dropped it to his side. "A couple of the guards had sons who played. They used to bring their guitars in for him to work on. He could take a cheap plank and make it play like it cost a grand."

"Where is he now?" Marie asked.

"Dead," Fegan said. "The asbestos finished him. The fluid in his lungs. He would have got out two weeks later."