“For as far back as I can remember.” Dom pulled a laptop from his overnight case and set it on the table. “My mom died when I was three. I don’t remember her at all.”
“That must have been hard.” Kendra knew she and her siblings were blessed to have had their parents’ love and support. They had been married for thirty-eight years when they died.
“It was harder for my dad,” Dom said. “He never remarried. To be honest, I can’t even imagine why anyone would have paid Stuart Ramsey to sabotage his plane.” Dom dropped into a chair and began working on the computer.
“How are you going to hide your ISP?” She leaned over his shoulder to watch. “I’ve heard of that capability but have no idea how it works.”
Over the next few minutes, Dom described how he planned to reroute his ISP to hide their identity and their location. She found the information interesting, but also far more technically advanced than she’d anticipated. Kendra doubted she’d remember how to do this again if needed.
While she’d taken over most of the computer work for her family’s ranch, updating social media and renting cars and homes for her siblings as needed, her skills were nowhere near as good as Dominic’s.
She activated the new phones and powered them up, knowing she couldn’t put off calling Chase much longer. She wouldn’t put it past Burt Jones to call him first.
“Is this Kendra?” Her oldest brother’s voice held a mixture of concern and anger.
“Yes, Chase. I’m fine, nothing for you to worry about.”
“Where are you?” Anger overwhelmed the hint of concern. “I can’t believe you took off without telling anyone where you were going!”
She looked up at the ceiling, striving for patience. “Are you going to listen to what I have to say? Or continue to lecture me?”
She imagined steam blasting out of his ears, but to his credit, Chase didn’t explode. “Kendra, what is going on?”
“I’m with Dominic Lakeland. He’s the son of the pilot who was killed alongside our parents. We have new information that proves the crash wasn’t an accident. A man by the name of Stuart Ramsey was paid to sabotage the plane.”
Chase didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Why would anyone want our parents dead?”
“Dominic’s father, Gary Lakeland, was the real target. According to the man who confessed, he didn’t know our parents would be on the plane. That was part of the guilt that was eating at him all these years.”
Another long silence. “Where are you staying?”
Kendra knew her brother would hop into his vehicle and drive out there the moment she revealed their location. “Wyn is pregnant, and you have Eli to consider. I don’t need your help at this point. We’re safe. We’re only using disposable phones as a precautionary measure.” That wasn’t the full truth, and she squelched the stab of guilt. “Please, Chase, I’m asking you to trust my judgment. If we run into trouble, I’ll call you, or one of the other siblings. I promise I won’t be reckless.”
“Taking off without a word to anyone in the family was reckless,” he shot back. “I don’t appreciate being kept in the dark about this new information. We all care about what happened six years ago.”
She knew that was true, but she was the only one who’d insisted the crash was no accident. She was the one who’d requested the police broaden their investigation. Something that hadn’t happened, mostly because they hadn’t been able to find enough of the plane to determine what had happened one way or the other.
It was only because of Ramsey’s confession that they knew now the plane engine had been tampered with. Discovering how it had been brought down wasn’t as important as understanding why.
Especially now that Dom was in danger.
“I don’t like this, Kendra. You’re usually more level-headed than this.”
She rolled her eyes, knowing he couldn’t see her response. This was Chase’s attempt to convince her to act more responsibly. Even though he had run headfirst into danger back when his son, Eli, had been kidnapped. “I called so you and the others wouldn’t worry. That’s being responsible. I’ll let you know if I need anything more. That’s also being responsible. For now, we’re going to keep digging into Stuart Ramsey’s background to see what we can uncover.”
Another long silence. Then, “You’re being awfully stubborn.”
“Why are you surprised? Stubbornness is a big part of the Sullivan DNA. I’ll be in touch, Chase.” With that, she ended the call. Setting the phone aside, she fully expected Chase to call her right back.
But he didn’t.
“Your brother sounds concerned about you.” Dom glanced at her, then turned his attention back to the computer screen. “He’ll blame me if anything happens to you.”
“No, he won’t hold my decision against you.” She couldn’t deny feeling relieved that the dreaded call home was behind her. “Are you sure your dad didn’t have another career? One prior to being a charter pilot?”
“I don’t appreciate you insinuating my dad had done something so bad that he was murdered.”
“I didn’t say he did anything bad, but maybe he was a witness to a crime. Something that caused someone to silence him, permanently.”
