New Lodge Affair
by A.J. Russo
Prologue
Belfast, Ireland, 1991
The taxi sped down Ormeau Road toward New Lodge. Doctor Megan
McGrath looked out the window. She was staring at a blur of row
houses, when she caught a glimpse of children jumping rope and
playing catch on the sidewalk.
The driver slammed his foot on the brake. Megan jerked forward.
She looked out the window to see a ball rolling toward the car.
It went under the taxi and then out the other side, hitting the
curb and bouncing back in front of the car. A little girl in a
blue plaid dress and pigtails stood at the curb. She looked at
the driver. He looked back at her and waved, silently telling
her to go get the ball. She walked in front of the taxi.
Megan looked at her niece, Ann. "You O.K.?"
"Whew! You wouldn't see that in New York," Ann said.
She looked down at her waist. The seat belt was pinching her skin.
It had been a long flight from Kennedy Airport. Megan and Ann
were on their way to visit Megan's aunt, her mother's sister,
Mary Curry.
Mary had a good friend who's daughter had been trying to conceive.
She had called Megan two weeks ago and asked for help. Megan agreed
to come to Belfast.
Ann wasn't really Megan's niece. She was her best friend, Deb
Scalia's daughter. As one of the leading in vitro physicians in
the world, Megan had helped her friend Deb have a child. Ann was
the result. Ann took a week's vacation from classes at Columbia
to make the trip. She was a freshman with aspirations of becoming
a physician, following in the footsteps of her favorite aunt.
It was her first trip to Europe. Megan had been back and forth
a few times to visit family.
Megan was staring at Ann. Her long, black, full hair, dark eyes
and slim, fit body.
"What?" Ann asked.
She really has grown into an attractive, intelligent young
woman.
"Oh, nothing, just thinking about you and your mom. What's
wrong? Did you get hurt?"
"No, I'm just glad that I had this belt on," Ann said.
Megan looked toward the driver. The cab still wasn't moving. She
leaned forward and looked out the front window. The girl was still
standing in front of the cab, turned around so that her back was
facing the driver.
The cabby rolled down his window and yelled at the girl. She stood
still. He blew the horn. Still no movement.
Megan looked to her left out the window. A man was approaching
the door. He had a gray beard and dark eyebrows. A blue knit skull
cap hugged the top of his head.
A sense of panic. Megan looked to the right, out Ann's window.
Another man approaching. Same type of skull cap. He was pulling
the cap over his head. Megan reached over Ann and tried to lock
her door. Too late. Both men got in, pushing Megan and Ann to
the middle of the seat. A third man slipped into the front seat
of the cab next to the driver.
"What's going on...?" Megan pleaded.
"Shut up," the man with the beard demanded. A gun was
tucked inside the front of his pants. He pulled it out.
"Oh my God!" Ann screamed.
"I said shut up!" the bearded man yelled. He reached
out and, with the gun in hand, swung his arm and hit Ann across
the face.
Ann's head dropped. Blood was flowing from her nose.
"What..." Megan began and then stopped. The other man
shoved the barrel of his gun under Megan's chin.
The man in the front seat, holding a gun to the side of the driver,
said, "Antrim Road."
Megan could smell the must. She could hear people mulling around
her. Speaking loudly. Heavy Irish accents. She felt the cold,
hard concrete below her. She was sitting in a corner. Blindfolded.
Rag in her mouth. Hands tied behind her back.
She moaned. Tried to call out, but her muffled cries were unintelligible.
She tried to stand, pushing her back against the cement blocks,
slowly walking her shoulder blades up the wall.
Two heavy hands pushed down on her head and shoulder. She slid
back down. Her back side slammed down on the concrete. She cried
out. This time in pain.
"Somebody shut her up," she heard.
A hard push on her shoulder. She fell on her side. Someone had
his face close to her head. She could feel and smell his breath.
"We are not going to hurt you, doctor, as long as you cooperate.
Do you intend on cooperating?"
Megan nodded yes. She felt someone untie the handkerchief which
held the rag in her mouth.
She coughed and spit.
"What the hell is going on here?" she cried. "Why
am I being held?"
A man with a deep voice spoke. "You are being held for a
very important reason, a very humane reason. You will soon learn
why.
"Where is Ann? Is she here? God, tell me she's alright."
The same man spoke. "She's alright. She's not here."
"Where is she? What have you done with her?"
Ann sat quietly. Blindfolded. The side of her face throbbed.
She felt blood on her cheek. Her hands were tied behind her back.
She heard someone enter the room.
"Who's there?"
No answer. She heard steps coming toward her.
"Relax, young lady, I'm here to help you." It was a
woman's voice. "I'm a nurse. I'd like to look at your face.
Is that O.K.?"
"Yes. It hurts. Am I bleeding?"
"Just a little, but you've stopped. I'm going to wipe some
of the dried blood off."
Ann felt a damp cloth gently touching her face.
"Can you remove the blindfold?"
"I'm sorry, I can't do that."
"Where is my aunt?"
"I can't tell you. She's alive and O.K."
"Why am I here?"
"To help us."
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