But theMiguelthat was attached to them…
No. That man…talk about seriously confusing. She just wasn’t ready to think about Heather’s new—old—bestie right now. She just wouldn’t. “Imean…Luc wants Daniel to spy on us. Well, why don’t we let him? We haven’t done anything wrong. We can control what he finds out, too. And half our family secrets have already been thrown around like parade candy. So...what can he really find? None of us have ever done anything wrong.”
They’d had some pretty crappy things happen to them individually, though. Usually wheremenwere concerned. It made a womanleerywhere the male of the species was concerned and everything.
“And…the man really does need a place to recuperate,” Cashlyn said. “He’s not nearly as strong and recovered as he thinks he is. He is rather stubborn. Maybe…the man just can’t help how he is. Is he…dirty, Hope? From what you’ve seen?”
Hope hesitated. “I don’t know. I don’t trust him. I probably never will. But...do I think he’s in on what happened to me and Heather…I don’t. I’ve…dug…into him. And I can’t find anything that doesn’t look right.”
She’d dug intoeveryonein Major Crimes now. Even…Commander Miguel Rodriguez. But she wasn’t going to go into detail about him. She wouldn’t invade his privacy that way.
“So…what are you two getting at?” Crispin asked, that look of confusion on her face. Crispin didn’t always understandpeople.To her, everything was more finite—like math. People were good or people were bad. That kind of thing. Just like with Cara. Cara’s autism caused her to miss social cues sometimes, but Crispin was just a little extra unaware. “What do you want to do?”
“I want to bring that man here, and justmesswith him a little.” Cashlyn had that diabolical-evil-Cashie look on her face Hope had seen so many times before. Daniel was probably going to be toast, now that she thought about it. “Bring himhere.And in the meantime, Hope and Crispin can find outwhyLuc wants someone to spy on us. And then…when Heather isback—”Her voice broke and it had Hope’s eyes watering as she thought about the sister who was missing right now. Nothing…felt right without Heather there. Heather and her mom—theywere the ones who kept their family going, and always had.Theywere the strong ones. “We let Heather loose on Daniel McKellen and his little buddies. The man won’t know what hit him. None of them will. I say…if it’s a war with the Colesons Luc wants, we should give it to him. I have hadenoughof their damned games.”
Cashlyn could look sosweet,but there was a temper hidden inside.
Cashlyn filled them all in on what was going on in her demon-head. It would work. Hope could see it workingreallywell, actually. Her niece-bestie was kind ofscaryat times. She just hid it behind that sweet Cashlyn-adorable face. Cashlyn came up with the plan to punish Daniel McKellen faster than Hope would have ever managed the same.
It was a good plan, too. It would work.
And if all it required was her parading around in her skimpies…well…she had a drawer full of silk and lace just waiting. And her sisters-of-the-heart had even more.
Daniel McKellen theSpywouldn’t know what hit him.
28
He hungup the phone after his nightly call to County Gen. They believed him, that he was just asking for updates on all who had been injured that night along with his son. But it was his boy, always his boy…
Things were going to get worse before they got better. And his son…his son might not ever recover. Not ever open his eyes, or look at his children, or…have any kind of life at all now. If he did wake…he would need assistance with even the most basic of tasks. They were sayingparalysisnow.
No improvement. No change. Not in weeks.
His son wasn’t getting worse, but…no sign he would wake, either.
He had been researching traumatic brain injuries. The odds, and outcomes. What the results would be after recovery. So many people were injured in accidents. It hurt him to think of the future his son faced, if he was lucky enough to recover.
His son would never marry, most likely. He’d never know the three daughters he currently had. Not going forward. He didn’t know if his son would even have full function of his own body, if he did wake. How was his boy going to live like that?
Have a normal life, even with all the other problems he’d been involved in?
Would his son evenrememberwhat had happened to put him in the hospital bed in the first place? If he did wake…prison was in his son’s future. For what his son had been involved in, what his son haddonethat night.
Maybe it would be best if his sondidn’twake? He did not want to think of his son living the rest of his life in a medical prison ward. And there was no legal way to get his son out of what he had done. His son had made too many mistakes, left too many things behind. If people started digging deep enough…everythingcould unravel.
It wasn’t fair. His son was young, had been strong and healthy. Intelligent and courageous. Building something, a future. Now, this.
He hadn’t deserved this.
Now…his father couldn’t just wave a magic wand and make everything better again. The world wouldn’t work that way. Not now that what his son had done had been revealed to all.
He forced himself to take a deep breath. Tothink.
Thingswould get better eventually. But he needed to have a plan. For one thing…the woman…who had his grandchildren.
She was the one ultimately responsible for what had happened that night. If his son hadn’t fallen so hard for her all those years ago, three children would have theirfather.
She had no business raising his grandchildren after this. None at all. He’d thought at first…maybe. But after this—she would pay. She had to.
