#6--The Missing Father--O’Connells

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  His brother was looking at his pickup and up the street, doing the cop surveillance thing he did.

  “Not sure,” Jess said. “He called, left a message, said he was being followed, he thought. Someone was in his place, too. Rex said he was on his way over to Matthew’s to check in, and he said someone’s been asking his super about him, too, and he spotted a car following him. I’ve left a message for Shaun, but he hasn’t called me back. When I start hearing stuff like this, I get a really bad feeling. Nothing weird at your end? People following you, calling, showing up?”

  Luke just shook his head. Outside, Marcus was dressed for duty and was almost to the front door, evidently wanting a word with him. “Nope, it’s all quiet. But you called and left a message, something about me being right?”

  Jess let out a breath on the other end. “Yeah, the Raymond O’Connell you were checking into in Wisconsin, where Sienna told you to drop it? There’s something really weird going on, because when I went in and checked, there was nothing there.”

  He stilled. When the front door opened, he gave everything to Marcus, who said nothing as he closed it behind him, evidently seeing that he was on the phone.

  “I’m confused,” Luke said. “What do you mean, nothing there?”

  “Exactly what I said. It’s as if he completely disappeared, no name, no address, no nothing. Raymond O’Connell no longer exists. It’s as if he never did. Sienna indicated he had a file that was red-flagged for security, like with the Marshals Service or witness protection, but that’s gone. I’m thinking either you found something, or you’ve spooked someone. Either way, he’s gone, as is any record of him. You’re basically back to the drawing board. All I can say is this: You’ve obviously stepped on some toes.”

  There it was, exactly what he didn’t want to hear. It gave him both hope and angst at the same time. He took in Marcus, who stepped down into the living room, working a piece of gum as he crossed his arms, waiting for Luke to finish and get off the phone. He could tell he had something on his mind.

  “Well, that’s interesting,” he said, pulling a hand over his jaw. That feeling he had, the one he got whenever someone was screwing with him or something wasn’t quite right, was back.

  “I guess that’s one word for it,” Jess said. “I’ll let you know if I find something else, but in the meantime, if you hear from Shaun or Matthew, let me know. And keep an eye out there. Seems off that both Matthew and Rex have this weirdness going on. If it were just one, I’d say fine, he pissed someone off, but two from the team? Something isn’t right. I’m going to call in to the colonel, as well, and Sienna.”

  He pulled in a breath, wondering what that was about. “Okay, you got it,” he said, and then he hung up, pocketed his phone, and took in Marcus, who was standing in front of him and gestured toward him with his chin.

  “Problems?” he said. His arms were still crossed, and from the expression on his face, Luke knew he had something to say to him. There was friendly, teasing Marcus and pissed-off Marcus. This one was pissed off.

  “Hope not,” he said. “That was Jess. I mentioned last night about how I found a Raymond O’Connell in Wisconsin and stepped on some toes. Apparently, now it’s as if he didn’t exist. Gone, bye-bye. If I didn’t know any better, it’d seem my looking into it scared someone. So what’s up?”

  Marcus was giving him everything. “Disappeared, huh? Well, maybe there’s your answer and you should leave it alone. Mom’s at my place with Eva. She said you asked about Dad.”

  Luke knew when Marcus had something on his mind, and he was sure his mom had told him more about their conversation. Marcus had likely sat her down and dragged out all Luke’s questions about what had happened the night their dad left, and that was what had him beelining it over to him now.

  “We’ve all danced around this,” Luke said. “I thought it was time to ask. But Mom said she didn’t know. She said he just walked out. I’m like, damn, isn’t she curious? But at the same time, I could see there was more she didn’t want to talk about. You want me to leave it alone, really?” He shook his head. “I can’t, but if it makes you feel any better, I’m back at square one in looking for him. Starting to think the man is a spook or something, the way he can just disappear. I can’t believe Mom isn’t just a tad bit curious. Hell, I am. You should be.”

  “So what, you’re going to track him down and bring him back into your life, our lives, Mom’s life?” Marcus inclined his head and shook it. “No. Maybe I wondered about him. Hell, I wanted answers too, at one time, but one look at Mom’s face today and I’m not interested in knowing. Do you have any idea what it would do to her?”

  He said nothing as he pulled in a breath, feeling the tension and resting his hands on his hips. His brother was challenging him. Great, all he needed was for Owen and Ryan to show up as well, because right now, he wasn’t entirely sure where everyone stood in regard to good old Dad.

  “I’m not planning on bringing him back here, and no, I wouldn’t do that to Mom,” Luke said. “I’m very well aware she was the only one here for us. She stayed while he fucked off, but at the same time, this is about having answers. I want to look him in the eye and make him tell me how he could be such an asshole. You say you were once curious, but you aren’t anymore?”

  “I didn’t say I’m not curious. I’m saying everything has changed for me. I have a wife, a baby on the way, and Eva, whose adoption is in the works. I’m running a town here and have an election on the horizon to keep my job as sheriff. I have to make sure all the Ts are crossed and the Is are dotted. I don’t have time to think about a man who’s not worth it. Maybe you should ask yourself why you need to know. You have too much free time on your hands? Maybe it’s time you considered finding someone, settling down.”

  He couldn’t believe his brother had said that. “Team guys don’t make the best partners or spouses, you know. I’m gone on a moment’s notice. I spend more time with a team of guys than I would a woman. I’m not relationship material. You should know that.”

  He was thinking of Rosemary, though. He had her number, yet he hadn’t called her. Maybe he would later that day.

  Then Marcus’s phone rang, and he pulled it out. “Yeah?” he started with a smile, but it quickly faded. “Whoa, whoa, Charlotte, what’s going on? Slow down.”

  All Luke could make out was a panicked voice on the other end. His brother was staring straight at him.

  “How many shooters?” Marcus said.

  Luke’s blood chilled, and he gave everything to his brother, but Marcus was already walking to the door.

  “Get everyone there. I’m on my way. Charlotte, you stay right where you are! You do not leave that office, you hear me?” Marcus said, then pocketed his phone and turned to Luke. He already had the door open.

  “Marcus, what’s going on?” Luke said as he followed him.

  “Not sure. Charlotte just called in a panic. Shots were fired by two different shooters at my house, where Mom is with Eva.”

  Luke recalled the warning from Jess about the weirdness with Matthew and Rex, even though it made absolutely no sense. “I’m coming too,” he called out as he yanked open the closet door, opened the gun safe, and grabbed his SIG. He shoved it in the back of his jeans and hurried out the front door, seeing his brother already behind the wheel of the cruiser. Luke started running.

  Chapter Ten

  The sirens cut through the peace and quiet of the neighborhood, and Luke knew they were driving into trouble. “Tell me again what Charlotte said.”

  Marcus was gunning the engine around the corner to his small older house, only a few blocks from their mom’s. He spotted Harold up ahead, lights flashing, car door open. He was hunched down behind it, gun in hand. This was something he was familiar with. People were running, and another cop, Colby, he thought, was hurrying them along. They were total amateurs.

  “Calls came in about gunfire, two guys with guns that the neighbors saw outside, one around the back of my house
. Charlotte thought it was a joke until another neighbor called in, knowing we’re cops and I’m the sheriff. She knew this wasn’t local cops…”

  Harold came on over the radio. “Hold back, Marcus,” he said.

  Marcus slammed the brakes and pulled up to where Harold was parked. Luke was taking in the scene, the flashing lights two doors down, where his mom’s red Hyundai was parked. He was instantly hit with that awful feeling that his mom and little Eva were in danger. It was the kind of feeling he’d had only a handful of times when on a mission, knowing his team of brothers could look after themselves and get themselves out of any dicey situation. This, though, left him with a sick feeling. They were in over their heads. His mom and little Eva weren’t able to protect themselves. This wasn’t the kind of thing that was supposed to happen here.

  He made his way behind the car where Harold was holed up, gun drawn, and Marcus joined him.

  “Tell me everything,” Marcus said, pulling his phone out. “Where are they? Who are they? Anyone talk to my mom?”

  Luke rested his hand on his arm. “No, don’t call. Something about this doesn’t feel right.”

  Harold just shook his head. “Haven’t seen them. All is quiet. Took a bullet to the front driver’s side as soon as I pulled up here. Pretty sure it was a warning shot to stay back. Worse, I never saw the shooters. Still haven’t. I know the first neighbor of yours to call in said she saw two men while she was watering her garden. They were dressed in black shirts. She thought they were Feds, cops or something. She thinks your mom and Eva were in the house. She ran inside when she heard a gunshot, then another. She said she was on the floor and called for help. She doesn’t know if they’re in the house or what.”

  “Not local law enforcement. A break and enter? Why the shooting?” Luke said. “Is this a mistake? What’s the reason for your house to be a target, Marcus? Is someone out for blood?”

  Harold was giving him everything. “Lonnie and Colby moved the neighbors out before I got here. Everyone else, I just hope they stay inside. Whoever it is hasn’t taken a shot at them, but seems they don’t want us coming in. No one’s talked to your mom or Eva. I didn’t want to call in case they’re hiding. It would tip off whoever these shooters are.”

  “Good, okay,” Marcus said. “We need to have eyes around back. I need someone to tell us who they are. The neighbors who called, where are they?”

  They heard another shot. From the direction, he thought it had to have come from Marcus’s yard. He peeked over the hood of the car and could see none other than Colby running the other way, now behind his cruiser. Maybe it had been another warning shot.

  “Colby, you and Lonnie stay back until I figure out who they are!” Marcus said over his radio.

  Luke took in the scene. Something about this seemed so much like a military attack on home soil. Was this the kind of thing his brother did every day? Something about it felt personal. “So what are we talking about, a break-in, home invasion? We need to get in there,” Luke added.

  “We don’t know who it is or what they want,” Harold said.

  Marcus reached into the car for the CB radio and flicked it on, and Luke heard the bark of the loudspeaker. “This is Sheriff O’Connell,” he announced. “You’re surrounded. There’s no escape, so come out slowly. Drop your guns—”

  A bullet hit the side of the car, and Luke grabbed Marcus and kissed the ground. He hadn’t seen anything except the bullet, which he didn’t think had been meant to hit him, but he took in the horror on his brother’s face.

  “These guys aren’t messing around,” Luke said. “Let’s take the back, find out who they are, and get in there and get Mom and Eva out.”

  Marcus turned to Harold. “You keep everyone back,” was all he said before lifting the trunk of his cruiser and reaching in for an AR-15. He pulled on his bulletproof vest and tossed one to Luke, too.

  Luke had his SIG in hand, ready, and he peeked around the car, taking a long look into the neighbor’s yard. Marcus was already around the car, crouched down, and Luke moved to the house on the corner, to the back. Two houses down, behind a fence, was where they needed to go.

  He took the lead, hearing his brother behind him, and stopped behind a lilac bush. He glanced once to Marcus before starting down the back way. “Stay low,” he said, knowing his brother knew better than anyone that he was their best shot at getting in there.

  Marcus carried the AR, and they made their way to the back of the next property, which didn’t have a back fence, so he could see the small garage out back of Charlotte and Marcus’s. He stopped at the corner, seeing the large yard, the swing set, and the backdoor, ajar, with a bullet having splintered the lock. He pressed his hand back to Marcus’s chest as soon as he felt him move, about to race to the door to go in.

  “Call it in,” Luke said. “Looks like they’re inside.”

  Marcus pulled out his cell phone, and Luke didn’t know who he called. “We don’t know who they are,” Marcus was saying. “Looks like they fired at the back door. The deadbolt is blown off and the door is ajar.”

  Nothing about this was sitting right with Luke. “Have you pissed off anyone of late? Any threats against you?”

  Marcus had long since spit out his gum, and his expression was tense. “More than usual? No idea. Get threats all the time, but not here, not at my home, where…” He didn’t have to finish the sentence. Luke knew. This wasn’t okay, not any of this.

  “All right,” he said. “How do you want to do this so we’re not walking right into something? Seems there’s a shooter out there, watching. I can’t see anyone from here, but your yard, with all the bushes, you have all kinds of hiding spots. How are we going to get in without being seen?”

  Marcus gestured with his chin. “We make it to the back door, and then you go around the side to my bedroom. The window is older, but you should be able to shimmy it open and climb in. The lock was busted on it. I keep meaning to fix it. Guess I will be now.”

  Luke just took in his brother and then the back door, the old wood stairs. They’d creak and give them away, but they couldn’t wait. He shook his head, taking in the house and how quiet it seemed.

  “No, we stay together,” Luke said. “We’ll both go in the back door. I’ll go first, and you have my back. You know what I do. I’m trained in the art of hostage rescue in small, closed spaces. But you should know, when we rescue hostages, the hostage-takers aren’t left alive. Just so you know, when we walk in there…”

  Marcus pressed a hand to his arm, glancing at the door. “I know you’re trained to kill, and you don’t leave them alive so they can come back to fight you another day. You take them out. I get it, but you can’t do that here, not on US soil. I need you to understand, Luke, this isn’t a military mission. This is my family, my house, and…”

  “Two thugs with guns inside are shooting at your cops to keep everyone away,” Luke said. “You tell me how you want to play this, because I’ve been trained for this. When we go into something, we’re prepared. We work a scenario over and over until we get it right. In close-quarters combat, you need to be prepared to shoot. I will, and I won’t miss.”

  He knew his brother understood, as he nodded.

  Luke started to the house first, keeping his head down, running fast to the back door, his gun in hand, waiting for shots to be fired. He stepped on the top step, his hand on the door, giving one glance back to his brother as he pulled it open, careful so it wouldn’t creak. His gun was up, safety always off, ready to shoot. He reminded himself he was on US soil, civilization, but his mom and little Eva were inside, and the last thing he wanted was for them to be dragged into what he did, into his own hell of kill or be killed.

  The door didn’t squeak, and he motioned back to Marcus to keep quiet. One step in, and there was nothing. He took in the small laundry room, the small closed-off kitchen, hearing a clock tick, doing everything he could to hear or feel something.

  His brother tapped his shoulder, and th
ey stepped into the kitchen, both close to the counters. When he poked his head around the corner to the darkened living room, a gun fired. He felt the burn and heard a scream.

  “The next one is in young O’Connell’s head, or maybe your mother’s!” someone shouted. “Drop the guns, both of you. Hands up! Stand up. Come in here.”

  It was chilling. Luke would have dived around the corner, but he knew he’d screwed up. He’d gone into a situation without any of the facts. This sounded personal.

  “Don’t hurt them!” Marcus called out. He dropped his gun, stood up, and stepped around Luke into the living room. “What do you want with me and my family? Who are you?”

  There was something almost familiar about the deep voice, Luke realized. He pulled out his cell phone where he crouched in the kitchen, gun still in hand.

  “Oh, it’s not you I want anything with, Marcus O’Connell. Luke! Come on out, Luke! Seems we have business. I have your mother, and you have my father.”

  He thought for only a second before sending a quick text off to Jess: Two shooters at Marcus’s, maybe more. They have Eva and my mom. I think this is about our last mission.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I’m right here,” Luke said. “Here’s my gun.” He slid his SIG across the hardwood floor and stepped into the living room, seeing his mom on her knees with such fear in her face, in her blue eyes, and Eva pressed against her in her arms. A gun was held steady behind her head.

  There was just one man there: brown hair, hazel eyes, thirtyish. Luke didn’t have a clue who this was. He’d never seen him before. He was slender, wearing a black knit sweater, blue jeans. The gun he held was similar to Luke’s, military grade.

  “You seem to know who I am, but I don’t know who you are,” Luke said. “Tell me your name. You said I have your father, so you break into my brother’s place?”

  He took in the way the man stood, not nervous, comfortable with a gun, wearing gloves so as not to leave any prints. The man smiled and lifted a brow. “Stop the games, Luke. Where’s my father?” he said.