by J. E. Taylor
“Let me say goodbye to my wife,” Steve growled sending a glare in his direction.
“Give him a minute,” Cleary said.
Jennifer pressed her lips to his and he closed his eyes, relishing the salty taste of her tears along with the sweetness of her cherry lip-gloss. She pulled away and held on like his life depended on it.
Steve kissed the crook of her neck. “I love you, babe,” he whispered in her ear. “You have to let go.”
She shook her head, pressing her face into his chest, muffling the first sob.
“Look at me,” he said and after a tight squeeze, she lifted her head, meeting his gaze. “We will be okay. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
He offered her a weak smile and kissed her forehead. Steve glanced over his shoulder at the boys. “Take care of her while I’m gone.”
* * * *
Tom nodded and crossed, pulling Jennifer off Steve. She immediately covered her face and burrowed in his chest, her sobs as heartbreaking as seeing Steve led out the front door and into the media frenzy on their front lawn.
The feds filed out, escorting Steve through the sea of vultures hurling question after question at him. The door slammed closed, leaving Jennifer and the boys alone with Cleary. Jennifer wiped her face and glanced at CJ.
“Can you make sure everyone is off the property?”
“Yes.” CJ moved to the window, staring outside as the procession departed. Some of the news crews started to set up their cameras on the lawn instead of outside the fence and anger surfaced at their audacity.
Camera bulbs began to pop like a series of firecrackers and at first the newshounds didn’t understand what was happening. When all the glass in the equipment started to crack and shatter into fine glass mist, they retreated, a confused and unnerved mass.
The moment they were through the gates, the iron bars swung closed and he glanced at Cleary shoving the irritation and anger aside and studying Steve’s boss.
“Why didn’t you stop them?” The accusation hung on the air leaving a tension that prickled everyone in the room.
“I need to make a call,” Jennifer said and headed for the stairs. She paused and faced the boys. “Thank you,” she said to Tom and gave a nod to CJ before she disappeared upstairs.
“Were either of you at the house when Steve first met your parents?”
“I was,” CJ said and traded a glance with Tom. “I actually let him in the house.”
Tom shrugged. “I remember being told about Eric and the rest is kind of hazy, like a dream. Why?” he signed.
Cleary stared at Tom’s hands with a line of concentration between his eyes.
“You don’t know sign language, do you?” CJ asked.
“No, I’m not proficient in sign language,” Cleary admitted.
“Tom said he doesn’t remember much after being told about Eric,” he said, paraphrasing.
“Mind if I go upstairs,” Tom signed. “I have some studying to do.”
“Do you mind if he goes upstairs to study?”
“No, that’s fine,” Cleary answered.
As soon as Tom was out of earshot, CJ turned to Cleary and narrowed his eyes. “Why all the questions?” he asked and crossed his arms.
“I’m trying to find something that will get Steve out of the mess he’s in,” Cleary said and glanced at the stairwell.
CJ didn’t buy it, not with Cleary’s lack of eye contact. He studied the man for a few moments and static filled his psychic airways. Steve certainly taught him how to safeguard his thoughts, but was Cleary on their side or on the FBI’s side. CJ didn’t know and decided to test where Cleary’s loyalty lay.
“What do you want to know?”
“I need to know if you overheard anything that will help Steve.”
CJ looked at the floor, playing back the memory as if it happened yesterday. Only one thing stuck out, but if he was right about Cleary, it would never see the light of day, so he shook his head. “No. Everything I heard would hurt his case.”
“What exactly did you hear?”
“After he told them about Eric, he said he knew who my father was and what he did.”
Cleary sat down and leaned his elbows on his knees. “Did Steve find out about your father when your brother died?” His tone held the quality of defeat and he met CJ’s gaze.
“I don’t know,” CJ said and took a seat facing the television. He glanced at the stairwell, listening for either Jennifer or Tom, because if they overheard the conversation, his bluff would be called.
“Did Steve say anything else?”
“Not before he and my dad got into a fight,” CJ turned his gaze on Cleary. “Steve actually took him down. Shocked the shit out of my dad, too.” CJ paused and glanced out the sliders at the moonrise. “That’s when he asked for help in return for my father’s freedom.” CJ shrugged and glanced away, unwilling to divulge more.
“Help?”
CJ met Cleary’s inquisitive stare and shrugged. He didn’t know how much of the story the man really knew and he wasn’t about to share any of the Ryan family secrets unless he had to.
“What happened next?”
CJ sighed. “That’s when his boss called to tell him about his parents and Steve lost it. He had nothing—his daughter, his partner and his parents, all slaughtered by the same psycho, and Jennifer was stuck in a coma. The guy was a loose cannon with very little to live for except revenge.”
“So he used your parents for personal gain,” Cleary said.
“No. He was actually going to walk away, but my father offered to help.”
Cleary’s eyebrow rose.
“And Steve isn’t an idiot. He knew what my father brought to the table.”
Cleary scoffed and folded his hands together.
“Would you have turned down a genius with unlimited resources with the same propensity for vengeance?”
“Yes. I would have arrested him,” Cleary said and stood.
“He helped Steve catch Winslow,” CJ said.
“And look what that cost him,” Cleary didn’t wait for CJ to reply. “I’ll be in touch,” he said and headed out of the house.
CJ leaned back on the couch, and made sure the front door latched closed before he spoke under his breath, “Asshole.” He reached forward and turned on the television, despite the internal warnings not to bother. The local channels were filled with pictures of Steve being escorted away in handcuffs.
“Turn that crap off.”
CJ met Jennifer’s bloodshot gaze. “How are you holding up?” he asked and turned the television off.
Jennifer bit her lip and tried to smile, but it came across as forced, and the sudden sheen in her eyes gave away her desperation as much as her thoughts. CJ crossed to her, pulling her into a hug.
“I promise everything will be okay. Steve will be home before we know it and the charges against Tom will be dropped and everything will go back to the way it used to be.”
She nodded and when he pulled away, a tear escaped and she wiped it away. “Our lawyer is on the way to Washington with a sealed envelope that your father had, but she isn’t sure they will allow it into evidence for his defense.” Her chin quivered. “He promised he wouldn’t leave me here alone,” she said and dropped her face into her hands.
CJ rubbed her back hearing the fears loop though her head.
“If the Windwalker is stupid enough to attack us, I’ll be here,” he said. He relished the thought of wasting the bastard.
“What if he shows up when you’re at work?”
CJ sighed. “Then you call Steve and he’ll be here like that,” he said and snapped his fingers.
Chapter 34
Tom sat at his desk and pulled the paper out of his pocket, staring at it and glanced at his computer and switched it on. With a few searches, he found software that allowed text to speech on both incoming and more importantly, outgoing messages.
He installed it and after pla
ying around with it on Skype and finding the right voice, he entered her phone number and held his breath with his finger over the salutation he typed asking for Raven.
“Hello, Adams residence,” a deep clipped voice answered.
Tom hit the button. “Hello, is Raven available?”
“May I ask who’s calling?”
Tom typed and pressed enter. “Tom Ryan.”
“Hold on one moment,” the voice said and Tom bit his nail, listening to the muffled sound of the phone being passed.
“Tom?” Raven’s voice filled the line.
“Hi, Raven,” he typed and hit enter.
Silence. “This isn’t Tom,” she said after a moment.
Tom typed fast. “Skype, text to voice,” the monitor said.
“How did you get my number?” Accusation filled the line.
“You gave it to Steve when he dropped you off.”
“Holy crap, it is you,” she said, her attitude changing from suspicion to excitement.
“Yes. I found this program that works with Skype, so any time I type, it reads it to you.”
“That’s fantastic! I didn’t think he was serious when he said you would figure something out. I thought he was just kind of humoring me,” she said.
“Despite my average grades, I am a smart guy,” he typed. “Not as smart as CJ, but I hold my own.”
Her laughter rang through the speakers and he smiled.
“So how’s your night going?”
His smile disappeared. “Shitty. Steve was arrested.”
Silence carried over the line and he heard her sigh. “What happened?”
“They arrested him for extortion, reckless endangerment and for aiding and abetting a known criminal.”
“What criminal?”
Tom smiled a little. “My father.”
“The angel?”
“Yes.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot,” he typed.
“I heard he wasn’t your real father.”
Tom looked out the window and then over at the shelf holding the Oscar. “No, he wasn’t my biological father, but he raised me like he was.”
“Do you know who your real father was?”
“Yes, Tom Whitman was my biological father. He starred in the movie Survival Games that came out when I was little. I actually met him the night of the premiere.”
Silence filled the line.
“Are you still there?” he typed.
“Yes. I think I saw that movie on television,” she said.
“The really screwed up thing about that movie, it was based on what happened with the three of them while they were in Albany.”
“Huh?”
“Ty kidnapped my mother. That’s where it all started,” he typed.
“Ty? I thought your father was Chris Ryan?”
Tom pulled his hands off the keyboard and cracked his knuckles and then typed, “No. The man who raised us was Ty Ryan, better known as Ty Aris. He assumed his brother’s identity when he escaped.”
“Holy shit,” she said and Tom heard someone scold her in the background. “Sorry,” she said.
“So if you remember that movie, it was the story of how my parents met.”
“Really? I cried at the end of that movie,” she said.
“CJ and I rented it once and watched it without my parents knowing. It scared the shit out of us; especially finding out our dad actually did those bad things. My dad could be a scary son of a bitch when he wanted to but we never knew exactly what happened to him. I overheard him say Tom did an uncanny and accurate job portraying him in that movie and Tom won the Academy Award for that performance,” he typed and felt a measure of pride as he glanced at the dust-laden award.
“Really?”
“Yep. I can show it to you the next time you’re over.”
“Cool.”
“So, I have one father that was famous and another who is infamous.” He grinned at his wit.
“Oh, please,” she said and he even imagined the eye roll that accompanied the sarcasm.
“Sorry,” he typed. “Just trying to see the humor in all this, otherwise I might just take a dive out my window or off the cliff behind our house.”
“You’re pretty upset by all this, aren’t you,” she said, her voice soft and caring and it hit a nerve.
Tom’s vision blurred and he squeezed his eyes shut, irritated at the surge of emotion.
“Yes. Steve didn’t deserve to be handcuffed and paraded out in front of the media like a common criminal. He’s a good man and a really good cop, and they’re shitting on his record.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“The crap going on with me is bad enough,” he typed and paused with his finger over the send. He didn’t want her feeling sorry for him and he deleted the note. Instead, he typed, “No, I’m sorry. You don’t need to hear me whining about the shit storm here.”
“I’m here any time you need to vent,” she said.
“I wish you were here right now.”
Silence filled the line. “I was serious about the fire and water signs,” she said.
“So you don’t have any feelings whatsoever where I’m concerned?”
“I never said that,” she whispered. “But you’re on the rebound and I just happened to be there, so I’m not sure that what’s going on inside you is authentic.”
His stomach dropped and Tom pushed away from the computer running his hands through his hair. Her words punched a hole through his chest, leaving emptiness in their wake.
“Are you still there,” she asked.
“Yes,” he typed and bit his lip wondering if she was right and he was only paying attention to her because of the timing.
“Are you mad?”
He sighed. “No, not mad, just digesting what you said.”
“Let me ask you a question,” she started and took a breath. “When all of this blows over and you go back to your old life, will you even give me the time of day?”
Tom clenched his teeth together, “I’m not like that.”
“So when you’re back on the football team, and the cheerleaders are throwing themselves at you, you’ll just smile and say ‘sorry I’ve already got a girlfriend’ like your brother does?”
“Is that what you want? To be my girlfriend?” he typed and pressed send before he chickened out.
Silence filled the line. “Damn fire sign,” she muttered.
“You know I might go to jail, right?”
“You’re not going to jail,” she said so softly that he almost didn’t catch it.
“If I do, will you come for conjugal visits?”
“Oh my god, you’re such a slut!”
He burst out laughing. “Yeah, I guess that’s pretty accurate.”
She chuckled. “So you admit to that?”
“Yeah. But it’s only because I’ve been trying to find someone like you. You know the saying, you gotta screw a lot of frogs…”
“Kiss not screw,” she whispered.
“Well, shit, I guess I got THAT fairytale wrong,” he typed with a big grin.
Her laughter rang through the line, lightening his mood. “You’re incorrigible,” she said through the laughter.
“I try.” He pressed send and then typed, “Seriously, is that what you want, because I can tell you, right now it’s what I want.” His finger hovered over the send button and he curled his hand into a fist pulling away from the keyboard. Tom shook his head and pressed delete, too afraid of the answer to just throw it out there.
“I need to get some homework done,” she said when she wound down.
“Did you want to come over tomorrow after school and study for the history test?” Tom asked and held his breath while he waited for the answer.
“We’ll see,” she said. “Thanks for calling.”
“Thanks for giving Steve the number,” he typed. “See you at school tomorrow.”
“See you,” she said and t
hen the phone clicked off.
Tom sighed at the disconnect sign on Skype and closed down the application. He stared out the window marveling at how much things could change in just twenty-four hours. His gaze dropped to the computer and he typed Wicca in the search box and began to read through the search results to gain an understanding of Raven and her beliefs.
Chapter 35
Steve sat in a cell on the plane, his hands secured to the seat, and Scully glared at him from the opposite side of the bars.
“You really are a piece of work,” he said and crossed his arms.
Steve raised his eyebrows. “Scully, I may be a piece of work, but you’re just a bureaucratic dick.”
“I’ll gladly put a bullet in your ass if you don’t shut up.”
“Do you always believe the crap they feed you?” Steve asked, staring him down.
“You made a choice, the wrong choice,” Scully started, pointing his finger at Steve and then he stopped, folding his hands in his lap.
“I needed help and Ty offered me an option. You know he was a computer whiz, right?”
Scully crossed his arms.
“The money trail had run dry and no one knew where Winslow went. Ty was motivated by his stepson’s death and he would have gone after Winslow with or without me.”
“Not if he was in jail.”
“Yeah, well, that wasn’t an available option.” Steve looked down at his hands. “Ever made a promise to someone that goes against everything you stand for?” He raised his gaze meeting Scully’s.
“No.”
“Of course not,” he muttered and leaned back in the chair as far as his cuffs would allow. He looked out the window and let the conversation die.
After a few minutes of silence, Scully bit, “What kind of promise?”
Steve turned and met his gaze. “What if your partner was dying and asked you to make a promise, would you honor it?”
Scully remained quiet and looked out the window but his thoughts turned over the question, mulling the answer. Instead of immediately saying no, he questioned himself because there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his partner.
“Not an easy question to answer, is it?” Steve said and Scully met his gaze, this time his expression wasn’t of disgust or anger.
