There were CHILDREN killed at Omagh. Two toddlers, one with her pregnant mother. He remembered that particular event because his mother went to church with a list of the dead and prayed for hours. Grade schoolers as well. Even as Cath disavowed being involved in that, Mae opened up with an outburst that made it sound as if she were proud of her father being involved. It didn't matter what you fought for, killing babies was an atrocity. Murder itself was a sin, but there was a special place in hell for those who slaughtered children. He'd SEEN what bombs did to people. He'd seen enough dead children to give anyone nightmares. He didn't care if someone held a gun to Molly's head and told him she'd die if he didn't kill a child. God and Molly would forgive him for not being able to do it.
Two days, two confessions. Next Father Peter would admit he was the Zodiac killer.
But Ronnie opened up and started talking again.
Sean gave a broken laugh. "I figured you were military. Likely in actions and you didn't want to talk about it. Good to know I got it partially right."
"It isn't the name, Mea. It's what you do with it." Political reform at the end of a gun or at the switch of a bomb wasn't reform. It was terrorism. It was designed to create terror in the perceived enemy. The definition of the word.
The words of the anonymous CIA operative on board flashed at him Waco. It was botched and children died. But it was in the upholding of the law. The children were being used as hostages to keep an attack from happening. But children died. He hadn't been there, but the letters FBI were still associated with it as much as ATF.
Ronnie did have a point. Sean hated it, but the kid was right. Cath knew about defense, and sentries and lookouts. He was still the man who plotted out security. His calls had, so far, all been good.
"What do you want me to do? Say it's alright? You're sorry and it's all okay?" Hell, this made Lisa's confession seem like small change. "Well I can't. And if these people didn't NEED you, I'd have you locked in a storage closet right now."
House arrest was a show of trust for Lisa-Karen. But it wouldn't mean shit to Cath and Mae. "I'm going to put you under arrest, you know that." Cath was too smart not to.
But like Lisa-Karen, he'd come clean. Bared his soul in a church. Of course the setting made sense now. "I'll mirandize you when we dock. Until then, you've joined the house arrest list." No playing favorites. There were none. "Prove to me you aren't that person anymore." He half whispered the last.