Welcome to the Family

by Nancy S. Reece

  “Niko sent me a letter apologizing for his behavior. I received it the morning after he died. I guess he mailed it on the way to meet you.” She slid down the elevator wall and sat down on the floor, her legs straight out. “Of all the relatives and friends who abused me when we were young, the only person who refuses to say they were wrong in the ways ya’ll treated me is you. I want to know why you hate me so much more than anyone else.”

  “Because I hate you! Can’t you tell? Ever since we were small you’ve filled my dreams with all sorts of ways to get rid of you and return to Martin’s good graces. Then you stole my big brother’s affections, and then my mother’s. I wanted to snap your little neck and watch the light go out. But wait, you aren’t really my sister, so that means I’m not quite as perverted as I thought!” Greg’s eyes darted to and fro as he worked out the logic out loud. Cassie cringed and pushed herself deeper into the corner, tried to reach the button to start the car moving again, before she heard any more.

  Greg saw her, but was a moment late. Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her close, Cassie struggling against him every inch of the way. He still maintained a death grip in her hair and pulled her face to him, as her nails tried to rake out his eyes. At last he was forced to release her hair in order to grasp both wrists. Pinning her arms to her sides, he grinned in victory.

  “Now that’s the feisty Cassie I remember,” Greg crowed. “I knew I’d get to you sooner or later. You’ve never been very good at ignoring me.”

  Cassie shook her head. “I’m not a child anymore Greg. You can’t lock me in a closet and leave, pretending I’m not there doesn’t work. Face it Greg, you’re out of luck, out of time, and out of weapons. Even if you kill me, Sean will make sure the sun doesn’t go down before killing you. I’m sorry Martin made you stay away from the others, you needed your brothers. But you only hate me because…”

  “Don’t even try to psychoanalyze me Cass,” Greg screamed in her face. “I took the same classes you did. But maybe you’re right. Maybe this isn’t really about you. There’s only one way to know for sure.”

  Greg pointed the gun at her and fired.

  Chapter Sixteen

  December 26th, 6 a.m.—Seattle

  Cassie’s eyes were closed, anticipating the end which never came. As the bang from the gun sounded, the door behind Greg slid open and the internal security forces came from above and below, swarming her brother just when he pulled the trigger. Therefore, his shot rang wide, missing a direct hit on Cassie. However, the ringing in her ears made everything a little harder to comprehend.

  Three guards were needed to restrain Greg, while another two helped Cassie slide out to the lower floor of the building. Strong arms caught her as she slipped, and she found herself looking up at the object of her search—Kwan Tsi. Familiar features stared back and at last she knew the truth of herself. Martin Devlyn was her legal father, but Kwan Tsi had to be her biological one. The similarities could not be denied.

  Kwan smiled fondly, “I’m very glad to see you looking so well, Cassandra. Your black eyes are almost gone. From pictures I’d been shown, I was afraid you’d be in much worse shape.”

  It was too much. Cassie burst into tears, deep retching sobs shaking her frame. Kwan held her somewhat awkwardly, until the worst of the tide past. At last she raised her eyes and saw the other guards standing around, wishing they were somewhere else she was sure. A furious blush colored her face as laughter broke out among the men.

  Looking up she caught the rather embarrassed, pained expression on Kwan’s very formal face. Quickly she understood and removed herself from his embrace. Drawing on inner strength and memories of traditions she’d forgotten she possessed, Cassie smiled bleakly and bowed deeply in respect.

  “I am so sorry,” she began, but another voice cut in.

  “Cassie?”

  Sean’s presence was so unexpected, she jumped when he spoke her name. He ran down the hall and picked her up, spinning from the force and speed. Cassie buried her head against his shoulder, lips pressed against his neck. For his part, Sean just hugged as tight as he could without breaking any ribs. The rest of the crowd disappeared and there was only the two of them.

  “I heard the shot. I thought I was too late.” The relief on Sean’s face shone as a beacon to the world. “Are you wounded? What happened?”

  Cassie shook her head. “I don’t know; the shot must have gone wrong.”

  He ran his hands over her shoulders, down her sides, stopping when he reached her waist. A large red stain was spreading across her right thigh. Looking up, their eyes met, and a cold steel curtain slid down over Sean’s features. It frightened her to see how quickly his mood changed. He turned from her and crossed quickly to where Kwan Tsi’s men still held Greg.

  Softly Allison Traynor reminded Ferguson, “Sean, this is Seattle not the streets of Baghdad. Let the justice system, let me, do our jobs.”

  Crossing swiftly to Devlyn, thunder on his face, Sean growled at the cowering slime. “You son of…”

  Greg screamed, interrupting Sean’s wrath. “Go ahead, kill me, it isn’t the worst thing that could happen to me! Just keep me from Kwan Tsi and his ninja butchers.”

  The words brought Sean to his senses, and he stared at the tall, silent Asian. There was no visible expression on Kwan’s face, and the two men regarded each other with caution; adversaries taking the measure of his opponent. Cassie held her breath, waiting to see whose testosterone would win out.

  The Japanese businessman was tall, over six foot, with the same strange color blue eyes which Cassie possessed. The resemblance between the two was undeniable. He wore khaki corduroy slacks and a deep blue cashmere sweater. It was obvious he had been disturbed and dressed in a hurry. His face still bore the faint imprint of his pillowcase.

  “Why is Greg so frightened of you?” Cassie asked.

  Kwan glanced at his newly revealed daughter and smiled. “I put a call out for his head. After Pieter Tsichevna told me you had no knowledge of the underhanded business Martin and he were conducting, I sent a message to Greg. We informed him you were going to be taking the family yacht for a getaway. The idea was to blow the ship while Greg was still on board, but that failed. Everything else was Greg: the fire, your father’s murder, your apartment.”

  Cassie nodded and looked at her trembling brother. “Are you really going to kill him?”

  “Can you give me a good reason NOT to kill him? Do you think your husband would stand idly by if I let him go? There isn’t a man in this city who wouldn’t kill Greg if they knew what he’s done to you, in the past and now. Don’t cry for him, Cassandra. He wouldn’t return the favor I can assure you.” Kwan’s eyes hardened. “Let others decide his fate, both of you, and I will not kill him. I will turn him over to Detective Traynor and let the justice system have its day.”

  Sean slid his arms around Cassie as she gazed up into his eyes. “What do you want, love?”

  “I want a medic for my leg.”

  Everyone laughed, the tension of the moment releasing like steam. “The bullet grazed your leg. If it were serious, there would by puddles of blood around your feet.” Sean smiled.

  “Then I want to go home, unless someone else around here wants to kill me.” She glanced at Kwan Tsi’s expression. “But that brings up another problem. Since everywhere I’ve called home are now crime scenes, I’d like to head for the best hotel in the warmest climate we can find.”

  Sean smiled broadly. “Anywhere you want love, anywhere you want.”

  As the police were taking over from the building security force, Cassie turned to go clean up. Just as she walked into the other elevator, she caught sight of Greg’s face. She was puzzled by the expression of glee on his face. The doors slid shut and she was left curious as to his excitement. Finding no logic in her brother, she turned to Sean.

  “What now Mr. Ferguson?”

  “Now we sit back and let the shit fall where it may. Your father is dead, and Greg is going away fo
r a long time. You asked me when we were stuck under the house from the bombing if I wanted to have a normal marriage for a while. Well, if you’re still interested, then I’m game. I don’t think either of us could keep up with this much stress all the time.” Sean pulled Cassie tight against him, the sound of his heart beating its steady pace into her ear.

  Soon her own anxiety slowed down and their heartbeats sync’d up. They left the building under heavy guard, just in case. As they settled into the back seat of yet another black SUV, Cassie allowed herself to relax. Everything was going to be all right. They were going to be all right.

  ****

  Three hours later they were in the air, heading back to Atlanta and home. Greg was in a secure mental facility for the criminally insane, and it seemed unlikely he would ever leave there alive. Kevin and Matthew were back at the Devlyn estate north of Atlanta, and Kevin had already allowed the IRS to look at Martin and Greg’s business dealings. While it looked bleak for the company, they hadn’t found evidence of anyone other than those two involved in the deceptions. If the rest of the investigation went well, it was possible they might come away scarred but still in business.

  In first class, Cassie spread out, reclining her seat to the couch position, and plugged in her ear buds to the soft jazz station on satellite music. Though the bruises and whelps from the Thanksgiving bombing were faded at last, she moved as if her body still felt sore, abused to the point of breaking. She was asleep before more than one song had time to play.

  Sean smiled as he studied her sleeping form. She hadn’t given up no matter what shit Greg threw at her, and he was immensely proud. Now they needed to decide where to settle down and build a family. Not Ireland, or Great Britain; the taxes were too high. America was too crowded with crazy relatives, but it did offer them a sense of invisibility. Europe was too small for that.

  When they touched down at Hartsfield airport, they decided to walk from the terminal to baggage claim. Hand in hand, they strolled through the underground access walkway, sometimes using the moving sidewalks, and other times walking on the regular walkway as others sped by. It was wonderful to have nowhere to go and all day to get there.

  Joe Callahan waited at baggage claim for them. Once the luggage was gathered, and they reached the car, Sean helped Cassie into the back seat and took the driver’s seat. Joe took the passenger side, and they headed out of the airport congestion and onto I-85 north toward Atlanta. Traffic was light, and soon they were exiting in Midtown.

  Their condo overlooked Piedmont Park in one direction and the Georgia Tech campus where Cassie had her lab in another. Decorated in the minimalist style Sean preferred, it was their first joint purchase and the one place they always returned to. Cassie lived there full-time, Sean when he could. But now they would be there together, until she threw him out.

  Joe also brought their two dogs home, and there were many doggie kisses and joyful barks from the resident canines.

  Cassie threw her coat on the couch and kicked off her shoes. “I am so glad to be back; I could just scream,” she murmured with her head thrown back and her fingers running through her long black hair. “Joe, thanks for meeting our flight. I’m not going to be a great hostess tonight so don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”

  Joe looked at Sean with a smile. “Not a problem, ma’am. He needs some time off just as bad as you do. I’ll be in the office this week if you guys want to talk. Otherwise, I’ll see you after the New Year.”

  Cassie stood on her tip toes and kissed the brawny ex-Special Forces teddy bear on the cheek. “Awesome, we’ll talk soon, won’t we, Sean?”

  Sean steered Joe out the door. “I’ll call you soon as I can, old sport. Have a wonderful holiday season.”

  Once the door was closed, bolted, and locked, Sean looked at Cassie lying sprawled across the overstuffed couch in the living room. She was already lightly snoring. Shrugging, Sean carried her slender body into the bedroom. As he placed her gently on the king size bed, the two dogs came in to claim their spots on the family’s communal gathering place.

  Sean petted the two hounds, Jekyll and Ireland, named for two of their favorite islands. They loved it when both Sean and Cassie were home, it meant twice the treats. Smiling he laid down on the bed and sighed as the two settled in around their owner’s bodies.

  They were finally home.

  ****

  The next morning, they dressed and rode up to Alpharetta. Kevin and Matthew met them in the parking lot of the nursing home, and together they went to the large suite that had comprised Ryn Devlyn’s universe for the past twenty years. Cassie took a deep breath and squeezed Sean’s hand for support. She walked to her mother’s bedside.

  Tubes and wires were connected to her mother, just as always. The quiet, unstopping ‘beep’ of the machinery reminded Cassie of all the holidays and other special events she had sat alone beside this bed and watched the gauges as the hours passed and nothing ever changed. A lonely vigil for a young girl only wanting to feel her mother’s touch again.

  Ryn’s eyes were open, staring off into a dream only she could enjoy. Every so often she would blink, but the doctors assured the family it was simply an automatic response her muscles were enacting. For more years than she could count, they had been told the mother they loved and visited was gone, this was only the remains. But none of them ever believed it. Ryn had been too vibrant, too alive, for them to believe she wasn’t waiting for the right time to return to them.

  Cassie took her mother’s pale white hand in her own and held it to her cheek. She watched as Ryn’s chest rose and fell, unsure of where to start. The silence ticked on and on, broken only by the steady beep of the machines. At last, when she could stand the silence no longer, Cassie blurted out, “Mother, Martin is dead, Greg killed him. Now Greg is in an insane asylum, and I met Kwan Tsi.”

  Gasps sounded around the room as Ryn’s head turned toward Cassie. While her eyes didn’t focus on Cassie, it was obvious she was listening to her daughter’s voice. Kevin urged his sister on, his own eyes glued to his mother’s face.

  “Mother, Greg killed Martin, and he killed Nikolas, our cousin. Remember him?” Cassie paused but wasn’t expecting the faint nod she received in answer to her questions. “Greg tried to kill me and Sean, but we managed to get away with help. Kwan Tsi came to our assistance, and he saved me from Greg. Do you remember Kwan Tsi?”

  Cassie almost fell apart when tears formed in her mother’s eyes. Silent sobs caused the older woman’s shoulders to shake, and when she closed her eyes tight, the tears rolled in orderly fashion down her pale cheeks. For the first time in twenty years, Ryn Devlyn was reacting to the people in her room.

  “I know now, Mama. I know he’s my real father. Now that Martin is gone, no one can hurt us, either of us, anymore.” The tears falling from her own eyes blurred Ryn’s face, but it didn’t matter. They were a visible sign of the huge weight she was allowing to roll off her shoulders.

  Kevin and Matthew raced to the bedside to join in the miracle. Slowly, Ryn rotated her head and looked at each of her remaining children in turn. Soon the nurses and doctors arrived to see what all the commotion was about. They were astounded to be greeted by the bright eyes of their long term coma patient. She could not speak, the damage Martin did to her vocal cords was permanent, but she recognized everyone and soon asked for paper and pen to sketch out her words.

  She confirmed she had been prepared to leave when Martin arrived home early, before she had a chance to slip out of the house. They struggled, and everyone knew the rest of the story from that point. She remembered little of the days since the attack until sometime around the previous Halloween, Greg came to visit.

  It was the first time in years he had been to see his mother. As he was rambling to the empty room, she grew aware of what he was talking about, which was the upcoming holiday season and Greg’s planned kidnapping of Cassie. Ryn was helpless to alert anyone of Greg’s confessions; no one knew she’d r
egained consciousness. In frustration she sat alone and brooding for days before Kwan Tsi came to see her. Apparently, he was a regular visitor at the center. No one told the Devlyns about the visits, because the only ones who cared enough to visit were her children. Kwan swore to protect Cassie, but was still setting plans in motion when Tsichevna took her. Of course, everything switched around when the depth of Martin and Greg’s betrayals was discovered.

  But now the remainder of the family were bonded closer together than before the kidnapping, and Cassie was at last, safe. Martin was dead, which meant there was no reason to pretend any longer. Kwan would be arriving from Oregon late in the afternoon, along with Martin’s body. There were arrangements to be made, lawyers to be contacted, and in all the rush and madness, Cassie suddenly realized they hadn’t opened the first present.

  ****

  A week later, they were all gathered at the Alpharetta house to celebrate Christmas and the New Year all at once. Kevin and his family, Matthew, Ryn, Sean and Cassie all spent the day cleaning out Martin’s things and restoring Ryn as mistress of the house. For the first time in years, Cassie walked the halls without fear of physical or emotional attacks.

  Standing in the doorway from the kitchen to the living room, watching her mother become acquainted with grandchildren she didn’t know, and reacquainted with those she knew prior to twenty years of living at the assisted care facility, Cassie smiled to herself. Across the room, she caught Sean staring at her. When he realized she was staring at him, he crossed over to join her.

  “Well, darlin’ I forgot to get you anything for Christmas. Are you going to forgive me, or do I need to run to the twenty-four-hour gas station for something?” Sean put his arms around her and pulled her tight.