“What difference does it make?” I parrot his ridiculous question back to him with vitriol.
“Well, would you have done anything about it?” Christian asks, sipping the coffee that was already before him when I arrived.
I would’ve killed the bastard. Slowly and painfully. Pulled his flesh from his body. Buried him in a shallow, unmarked grave… Something fitting for what he put my sister through. What he put us all through.
“From the look on your face, you would have. And I can’t say I would’ve stopped you. It would be to my benefit anyway. But Ayla… Ayla could’ve lost you. And my daughter wouldn’t have her godfather, so we decided to sit on it.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m wondering if we take him down, swiftly and legally. Via the courts.”
I toss the other half of my scone into my mouth in one go. My espresso is already drained. My mind is wired.
“We ask Ayla and Cian.” It’s on them.
“And we find a way to make sure no one knows you were there.”
“That too. But if they’re in, I’m all the way fucking in.”
For the first time in a long time, I see Christian’s body release some tension. Tension I should’ve recognized in him long before now—a snake coiled tight, poised to strike.
26
fake-smiling-lying
Liam
I’m leaving it with my brother-in-law to discuss with Ayla and Ci. I hate my father, but my brother and sister suffered terribly at his hands. Making a decision to relive their ordeals must be something they can live with. And something they can explain to Mom.
I’ve made some calls and should arrive home to a company ready to install a new garage door on Lorien’s unit. Along with it, I’m adding a stronger opener and a Bluetooth relay to notify us when it’s opened or closed. While they do that, I’m adding another router and Wi-Fi network. I want the camera feeds to have back up beyond the robust system I already have in place. Hers already backs up to mine but both need redundancy.
I know she’ll hate it, but we need to discuss what could be in her house that someone would be searching for. There’s no evidence she lives lavishly, so I don’t suspect it’s cash or jewels. Hell, the ring on her finger cost more than everything I’ve seen in this house combined.
I exclude the thumb drive, because the only person who seems to know about that is in St. Louis, and he has never seemed to be interested in the data. Only in the fact that it was stolen. For someone to have known the data was stolen, there would have to be bugs or cameras in her office. And those types have the money to hire non-idiots for their contract work.
So, who or what could be after the plucky biochemist? As best I can tell, her biopharma bosses, the board, and the shareholders have no knowledge. Hell, she hasn’t done anything with it and isn’t trying to sell it. From what it sounds like, she’s protecting whatever she found that’s on the thumb drive more than her own job security.
Her ex isn’t in the picture. She doesn’t know I know about him. Then again, I don’t think she even knows what he’s capable of, what he attempted, or how poorly their breakup went. Blissfully ignorant.
We have two movers and a company she got crossways with. Well, they got crossways with her, and I straightened it out.
So why the foiled break-in attempt and the not-so-foiled alley antics?
Assuming they were coming after me would be more reasonable, but neither seems to be accurate. My name is on the police reports along with my address and other pertinent details. It wasn’t my garage, my yard, or my car. And the criminal didn’t seem interested in me as I passed him. He didn’t tail. He was after something in her house.
I run his plates and the clearest photo I can from my GoPro through the engines at my disposal. The plates are stolen and don’t belong to the vehicle. I have no VIN to check, but maybe the tow company does.
The picture is clear as is the fucker who whined like a baby and ran when the police arrived.
He has a mug shot from an armed robbery of a convenience store in Idaho eighteen years ago. He was charged with a felony and served time. He’s been out for a handful of years with no real work history and no permanent address. His dad has been incarcerated since he was ten and his mom is deceased. One living biological family member. I set the crawlers to run on both and check on the garage.
After signing off on the work, I take a shower and collapse into bed.
A ding wakes me. I have so few I allow through, it must be important. I roll over, grab my phone, and grin.
Lorien: Don’t worry about later. I’ll grab an Uber.
I don’t respond but check the clock.
