by T N Lowe
In the same second, the cops start to yell for everyone to back away. I pin Rylie to the building and cover her ears. Liam presses next to us the instant his car explodes. The explosion reverberates off the walls of the parking garage and the force of the blast pushes me further into Rylie who lets out a squeal of discomfort.
After the air calms, I peel myself from Rylie and start running my hands and eyes over her body to make sure she is not injured. “Are you okay?” I yell over the ringing in my ears.
She nods, then asks, “You?”
I shake my head, reading her lips more than hearing any sound. She and I both turn to Liam. He is mesmerized, staring at what remains of his car, strewn in several pieces and on fire. “Who… who would do this?”
I shake my head, unsure of who could have put a bomb in his car.
A myriad of emotions cross Liam’s face, but anger is definitely burning in his eyes. “Do you know what I was doing tonight after work? I was going to take my wife, kids, her father, and brother to dinner. What if Hui and the boys were in that car with me? Who the fuck would do this?”
“I don’t know, but we need to find them,” Rylie growls, hugging her brother tight.
“Fuck Rylie. You were in the car with me?”
The police officer from earlier returns to us, “Are you all okay?”
“Yes, we’re okay officer.”
“There are ambulances outside the garage. The EMTs will do a preliminary examine then escort you to the hospital,” the officer explains over the ringing in my ears.
“We’re good,” I repeat myself.
“Sorry, it is procedure.”
“Can I drive us to the hospital?”
“No, sir. We have to clear the other cars parked in the garage. We will contact you when your vehicle is ready to be picked up.
With Rylie tucked in at my side and Liam behind us, we walk to the ambulances. The EMTs examine us and declare from what they can see we are okay but strongly urge us to go to the hospital for a full examination. I’m ready to blow this off and go someplace safe with Rylie, but Rylie feels differently. “Let’s go to the hospital and make sure everything is okay,” she pleads with me.
I nod, “I can’t seem to tell you no.”
“Good to know,” Rylie says, climbing into the back of the ambulance.
Liam joins us, shaking his head, “Welcome to the club. Since the moment I met Hui I’ve never been able to tell her No either.” Then he climbs in the back of the ambulance with Rylie.
After I join them, we speed off towards the hospital.
Upon arrival, the EMTs escort us inside and a nurse leads us to separate curtained-off rooms. Waiting, I call my supervisor and explain what happened at the law office. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll make some calls and see that they bring your car to the hospital,” he assures.
“Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome. Hey, be careful,” he advises before ending the call.
After forty-five minutes of waiting, I pull back the curtain to my left and find Rylie lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.
A nurse runs to me, “Sir, you can’t do that. She needs her privacy.”
“She is my girlfriend. We just witnessed a car exploding and I need to be with her.”
Liam pulls his curtain open and joins us in Rylie’s room. The nurse opens her mouth to chastise him but Liam shakes his head, “This is my baby sister and it was my car that blew up. I need to be with my sister. Now can you please ask the doctor to hurry up so you can have these beds for people who need them.”
The nurse huffs in aggravation, and turns to leaves; hopefully in search of ER the doctor.
Another twenty minutes pass before the doctor enters to examine us. “You three are fortunate. If the ringing in the ears doesn’t stop in a few hours or you develop a headache, please come back. Otherwise, you are all free to go.”
After signing our discharge papers, we make our way to the parking lot where the police parked my car. Rylie climbs into the back seat as Liam slides into the passenger seat. I take my place behind the wheel and start the car, “Rylie, would you please call Erin and explain what happened. I think it would be best if we stayed at Patrick’s until we know more about the situation.”
“What about my family?” Liam asks
“They should come too. You might want to call your father-in-law to let him know what has happened. Ask him to have everyone pack.”
Liam speaks to Li Wei as Rylie ends the call with Erin. “Erin and Lena agree that we should be together in a safe location, but not Patrick’s. Erin is calling our uncle Connor, Shauna’s dad, to see if we can stay at his house. He has a crazy security system no one can get through.”
Liam ends the call, “Li Wei is helping everyone pack.”
“Good. We’ll go to Rylie’s first then go to your house,” I inform them.
Parking in front of Rylie’s condo I look into the back seat, “Pack only what you need for about a week.”
Turning to Liam, I instruct, “Stay with the car. If anyone makes a move towards the car get out and run. Call me when you get someplace safe around lots of people.”
Liam nods as Rylie and I leave the car. Jogging past the doorman, I press the elevator call button. The doors open and we step in pressing the button for our floor. At our stop, the doors open and we jog up the hall to her condo. Rylie pulls her keys from her pocket; her hands are shaking and she drops the keys. “It’s okay baby,” I tell her, scooping up the keys and unlocking the door.
Racing around the condo, we toss clothes and toiletries into bags. In record time we are running back to the elevator to rejoin Liam in the car.
When we arrive at Liam’s, it resembles a war zone. “They will not drive me from my home,” a woman screams from upstairs. Liam runs upstairs to where I guess his wife and father-in-law are fighting. Rylie leads me into the living room where a man is sitting with a baby in his arms and a small boy is playing on the floor.
“What in the world is going on?” Rylie asks the man on the couch.
“Mommy doesn’t want to leave, but Yéyé is making her,” the little boy answers running up to Rylie and jumping into her arms.
“Hey bud. How are you?” Rylie asks, hugging him tightly.
“Good. Yéyé said we are going to stay at Uncle Connor’s big house.”
“We are, for a few days. Did you pick which toys you want to bring with you?”
Jian nods, “Yep. They’re in my Spiderman bag next to the door. Tanner’s too.” Pointing to me, he asks, “Who’s that?”
“This is my friend Tomas. Tomas this is my nephew, Jian. The gentleman on the couch is Hui’s brother Jai and the baby in his arms is Tanner.”
Before anyone else can say anything, Liam, Hui, and Li Wei come downstairs carrying bags. “This is ridiculous,” Hui mumbles.
“Bǎobèi,” Liam says to Hui. “This is not up for debate. Someone put a bomb in my car. What if you or the boys had been in there? I will not risk my family’s safety. Please help me get the boys in the Audi so I can take care of you all.”
Hui pales and drops the bag she is carrying. Liam sets his bags down, drawing Hui to his chest. He kisses her hair and mummers something to her. Stepping out of his embrace, Hui nods, then takes Tanner from Jai. Grasping Jain’s hand, they walk to the front door.
Liam turns his head our way and says, “We’ll meet you there,” as he follows Hui.
Chapter Twenty-Five - Patrick
“What did you say?” I bellow into the phone over the noise as the plane lands in D.C.
“Someone put a bomb in Liam’s car. It was parked in the garage attached to the law office. Tomas got him out of the car and called for the bomb squad. Apparently there was a tripwire on the hood and the car exploded; luckily no one was hurt,” Erin explains.
“Thank God,” I mutter.
“I’ve dismissed your security and we are relocating to Connor’s. He has an unbreakable security system I helped install.
Shauna’s brothers will be there along with Connor and Quinn. My mom, your mom, Shauna’s mom, her sister and brother-in-law, and her sister-in-law are going to Moose Valley with the kids. Landon called his brothers; they’ll pick everyone up from the airport and look after them. I doubt they will have any problems. I tried to convince Lena to go with Andrew, but she refused. Kegan took his family to New York and I told him to stay with them. We have more than enough help here.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” I sigh. “We just landed and will be at Connor’s in an hour.”
“Watch your back and be safe,” Erin advises before ending the call.
“What was that about?” Maks asks as he helps Shauna from her seat.
“Someone put a bomb in Liam’s car.”
“What!” Shauna shrieks. “Is he okay?”
“Yes, thank God. Tomas was there; he got them out of harm’s way and to safety. Everyone is relocating to your parent’s house, Shauna. It’s secluded and safe.”
“How the hell did I let you talk me into bringing my pregnant wife back to this God-forsaken city?” Maks seethed.
“Maks, Patrick would never put me in danger on purpose. I’m best friends with his wife and sister, and I’m his cousin. If something happened to me, they would never forgive him and he would never forgive himself,” Shauna points out.
“I’m taking you to where my pregnant wife and son are. There is no way in hell I would let trouble follow us,” I spit.
“I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe,” Maks snarls while pointing to Shauna.
“You and me both,” I mutter before exiting the plane and sliding in the back of the town car I ordered.
The Daly’s don’t just have a mansion, they have a compound. The ten bedrooms, thirteen bathrooms, three living rooms, two dining room home sits on ten acres of land in Virginia with the best security money can buy. Through the house does possess a formal living and dining room for when they host formal parties, for the most part the Daly home is informal and homey. A place where Connor and Riana can spend time with their children and grandchildren.
Arriving at the Daly compound, Maks stations his security around the grounds before we go inside. Stepping into the entryway, Lena walks quickly into my arms with Andrew on her hip. “Thank God you’re okay. I was so worried after what happened with Liam,” she mutters into my chest. Her tears wet my shirt.
“It’s okay princess. This will be done soon,” I say, kissing the top of her head and hugging her closer.
Liam comes to my side with Hui close beside him, “How are you?” I ask, happy to see my brother alive.
“Shaken, but thanks to Tomas, I’m still alive and kicking,” Liam answers, pulling Hui in closer.
“Where’s Dylan?” I ask, looking around the room.
“He’s still in Turkey with Asya. He wants to make sure she is safe before he comes back,” Dad answers.
Asya is my youngest brother Dylan’s fiancé. Their engagement was arranged as a peace agreement between their families. It took them a while to become comfortable with each other but now they are inseparable and hopefully in love.
“Good,” I answer, looking around to see Shauna and Maks surrounded by her family. “Now we are all here, will someone tell me what the hell is going on?”
“I couldn’t agree with you more Mr. Love,” Li Wei says in her British accent, stepping further into the entry.
“We’ll try to help explain,” Erin answers with Fi-Fi beside her. “Why don’t we go into the dining room? I’m starving and we ordered enough pizza to feed an army. We can talk as we eat.”
After everyone has a full plate and is settled in their seats, Erin asks, “Where should we begin?”
“From the beginning,” I answer.
“Okay. Liam, do you want to start?” Erin asks.
“Sure, why not. Three weeks ago a new client came into my office. The client was the CEO of Lewis Technology, Peter Lewis. He wanted to stop the hostile takeover of his company by T. Tech. T. Tech acquired a controlling interest in Lewis Technology and was demanding control of some algorithms written by employees of Lewis Technology. I took the case and subpoenaed all the records from T. Tech. That’s when I asked Rylie to join me,” Liam explains.
“Rylie, please tell everyone what you learned,” I ask.
“Okay,” Rylie answers. “Liam asked me for my assistance since I had helped the legal team of Kindred Corp with merger contracts for two summers. I looked through the contracts and the notices, but none of it seemed to make sense. It appeared that T. Tech was acquiring the whole company for one man and one algorithm. I looked at the algorithm too but couldn’t make head or tails of the information so I called Cain to help.”
“Someone paid millions of dollars for an algorithm for one person?” Li Wei asks, the disbelief written on his face.
“I know it sounds crazy,” Rylie agrees, “But that’s what they’re after.”
“Like Rylie said, she called me to take a look at this algorithm,” Cain cuts in. “I examined it and found it was a productive algorithm that would determine and track the users of Kinsman Communication’s Gnome Treasure and Pet Rescue games. The algorithm tracked the regular users of the game and predicted other users of the game. All the information was stored in a cloud drive where it could be accessed at a later date. Logging into the cloud account, I found they had a list of names from The Family, including most of us sitting here. Kegan and I looked even further and discovered the author of the algorithm was Miles Blue, a member of The Curtain. So it’s safe to say that he and/or someone in this group knows about The Family and it appears that they want to out us,” Cain explains. “However, the bad news that by the time we found Mr. Blue, he’d been killed in a mugging gone wrong.”
“I requested the case files on Mr. Blue’s mugging. The cops who worked the case did a poor job of processing the scene and evidence. I spoke to a detective who brought the case file to the house. She told me that the cops who worked the case had a history of overlooking or losing evidence. But before an investigation could be launched, they disappeared. I have two theories; one, they got greedy and whomever they were working with killed them; or two, whoever they were working with killed them to tie up their loose ends.”
Erin chews the bite of her pizza then starts again, “I was doing more research into who could be the mole. Someone on your security team is the most likely suspect. They know all your movements, the movements of your family, and they’re someone who can get close us without raising alarms.”
“It’s good you have a theory but we need to know definitively who they are, NOW. Someone put a bomb in my brother’s car,” I bark, pounding my fist on the table.
“It’s not like we have a lot to go on, Patrick,” Fi-Fi scoffs coming to Erin’s rescue.
“I know and I’m sorry, but someone tried to kill my brother. I’m worried that Lena or Andrew will be next or one of you.”
“I understand,” Erin laments.
“Maks, when your father was holding Shauna last year you said he was working with someone inside The Family. You said there must be people in The Family who are not happy with Patrick. Do you know who your father was working with?” CJ asks.
Maks shakes his head, “I don’t know names, but I know at least one person was high in The Family ranks.”
“The real question is, who knows the schedules and movements of the people at this table?” Fi-Fi asks Lena and me.
I look at Lena who shakes her head, “It’s a shortlist,” Lena answers.
“Well, there is Bryan, Billy, and Laura who are aware of our schedules,” I say. “Bryan and Billy also know most of my families’ schedules and movements too.”
“First thing tomorrow, Fi-Fi and I will dig further into their backgrounds,” Erin offers.
“What can I do?” Jai asks.
“Can you work with Cain and Shauna and continue to look at the algorithm? Maybe you can see something that we might be overlooking,” Erin asks.
“I’ve put in a call to the detective working on Liam’s case. They are going to keep me in the loop,” Tomas informs us.
“Now, what do we do?” Manus asks
“Yeah, do we cower here and wait for something to happen?” Hui jumps in.
“We are going to rest, relax, enjoy our time together, and watch each other’s backs. We will work together to find and locate who is doing this and bring them to justice, Family justice” I proclaim.
Later that night while lying in bed, Andrew tucked at my side sleeping soundly, Lena whispers, “I’m worried, Patrick. What if we don’t catch this person or people before they get to us?”
“Don’t worry princess; I won’t let anything happen to you or Andrew.”
“I know. But I’m worried about you. Maybe you should step down and let one of the others take the lead.”
“Never. Your family has been in charge for five generations. I will not give it up because someone isn’t happy. I’m calling Samuel in the morning; we will sort this out.”
I lean over a snoozing Andrew and kiss Lena’s forehead. “I love you and try not to worry.”
“I love you too,” Lena whispers.
The next morning I slip into Connor’s office and call Samuel at Camp David from a secure line. The operator comes on the line; I introduce myself and ask to speak to Samuel. With no delay, I am connected. “Patrick, what have you learned?” Samuel answers, instead of saying hello.
“We have a few possible suspects, but nothing is confirmed,” I answer, rubbing my temple.
“Do you know why they are doing this?”
“According to Maks, they may be unhappy with me being in charge. They feel it should be someone born into The Family, not adopted.”
“Bullshit,” Samuel bellows into the phone. “You’ve been a member of The Family since you were seven months old. The fact that your parents did not give birth to you shouldn’t make a difference.”
