Conor turned the key, switching off the engine. It was quiet - too quiet. Usually, this time of night he would hang out in Fiddler's Green, making fun of everything with his sarcastic jokes. His current situation didn't amuse him. He was waiting in the darkness, tenser than he had been in a long time. Waiting like this, watching his shop at night, brought to his head memories of his service. Most of it he spent alone in guard posts peering through a target - sometimes for days in a row.

Earlier that day he told Ashling to meet him at Fiddler's Green so he could introduce her to Sheenan. He even called Sheenan and told him she was coming. In the end though he decided to do things his own way. It might have been a foolish decision but Conor preferred to go with his gut than with an advice of an unproven college dropout.

It was around midnight when he saw a black car approaching. It parked near his shop and a man came out. 

[i]Not yet.[/i] Conor told himself. [i]Not yet...[/i]

After a few failed attempts the man kicked the door open and entered the shop.

[i]Not yet.[/i]

Sounds of breaking cages and screaming animals started to come out of the shop.

[i]Now![/i]

Conor got out of the car taking with him his shotgun. He walked towards the black car while the ruckus at the shop continued. He reached the drive's side window, still unseen by any of the assailants. He knocked on the window to draw the driver's attention. The driver turned his head to find himself peering into a barrel of a shotgun. Conor fired.

The man who went inside the shop must have heard the shot since the noise ceased. Conor hurried and crawled into the backseat of the car. The man opened the passenger side door and saw that the driver was shot. Panicked, he rushed to the driver's side, pulled the body out of the car and took his place. Right after he shut the door, Conor loaded his shotgun. Upon turning around in his seat, the man discovered Conor with his loaded shotgun aimed at his head. He shrieked with terror.

"ah ah ah, turn around and shut yar trap" Conor talked so softly it was almost whispered.

The terrified man, did Conor's bidding and turned his head to face the front window of the car. 

"Do you wanna die?"

The man didn't make sound.

"Good, so here's what's gonna happen: ya're gonna drive me to the man who sent you here. Then you're gonna get outside and tell him Conor O'Connor, the man from the pet store, had come to see him - that's me. Got it?"

The man was silent.

"Ya're a fish eh?... I hope fish know how to drive, cause it's either that or i'm returning ya to the river mate"