“Mom, stay with her. I want Curtis to be
there too, as well as Jesse. She won’t…they won’t be able to bully her too much,
but I’d still like for someone to be there just in case.” They all agreed, and both
his brothers went down the hall toward her room. The agents were waylaid by
Alan, and Daniel felt better. “Mom, don’t let her leave. Please. There’s
something…she and I have some things to talk about, and I don’t want to have to
hunt her down to do it.”
~~~
“How much in love with her are you?” Royce
asked his brother. He knew that he did, but he was wondering if his brother
knew just how much the girl meant to him. For that matter, the kid as well.
“Love her? I didn’t realize there was a
chart to go by. How much do you love Kasey?” Daniel snorted. “I’m sure you have
it all figured out.”
“I love her enough to die for her. And
if she were to die, I’d want to go with her.” Royce did love his wife and son. More
than anything in this world. “If you don’t love her that much, why are you
bothering with the kid?”
“He could be hurt.” This time Royce
snorted. “Okay, maybe not hurt, but he could be missing her. I’d hate to think
of him missing her. Is that a crime?”
“Nope.” Royce drove for a few more miles,
not really thinking about anything. When the street came up, they went down it
and weren’t surprised to see police tape had been wrapped around the garage, as
well as where he thought Reilly and the woman called Jeannie had been.
“What business is it of yours anyway
what I do with my personal life?” Royce looked at Daniel when he asked. “I mean,
last I looked, I’m over twenty-one, on my own, and have been making my own
money for some time now. So I ask you again, what business is it of yours?”
“You’re my brother. And I love you
despite how brain dead you can be sometimes.” They parked, and Royce reached
over and grabbed him by the arm before he could leave the car. “Reilly is right,
you know.”
“About what? About her being able to
protect them better than me?” Daniel looked out the window toward the large
studio. “She more than likely can. But there’s something about her. Something
that makes me what to be near her, protect her. I don’t understand it. I mean
I’ve never been in love before, and to be honest, I’m not even sure I care for
the feeling. It’s sort of all consuming, isn’t it?”
“It can be when you’re trying to fight
it. If you love her…
really
love her, I mean, you need to walk away now. Walk
as far away from this as you can and never look back.”
Daniel turned to look at him. He had the
most confused look on his face that Royce wanted to laugh. Daniel shook his
head and looked back at the studio.
“About five years ago I fell in love…or
so I thought. She was everything I wanted. Beautiful, sexy, and knew all the
right people. She hung on my every word, and the sex was fantastic.” Royce
waited for him to finish, knowing that there was more to this. “She was perfect
in every way. But….”
“But what, Daniel? What did she do to
you?” He vaguely remembered his brother mentioning a girl. He’d been overseas
on another project for the firm. When he’d returned several months later, he’d
looked hurt, depressed. Worst of all, he’d looked beaten. Beaten in his heart
and head. Everyone worried because Daniel assured them he was fine, but they knew
that he wasn’t.
“There was another man. Her husband. She’d
only wanted what…what I could give her. Not my heart, not my family; hell,
Royce, she didn’t even want my name. All she wanted was an opportunity to prove
to her husband that she could get any man she wanted.”
Royce hurt for his little brother. “Do
you think that’s what Reilly wants? To see if she can get you?”
“I don’t know. But I do know one thing. She’ll
never get the chance to find out.”
Daniel got out of the car and moved
toward the building. Royce got out of the car and followed, wondering who the
bitch was and where could he find her. When the door opened and closed behind
Daniel, Royce picked up his pace. He didn’t want the kid to shoot his brother….
He thought maybe if he kept on this same line, Reilly just might do it instead.
Chapter
16
Daniel tried to shake off the memory. Alisha
had done a number on him back then. He’d thought that he’d never love again,
much less want to keep a woman forever. He snorted to himself. Sure, and
monkeys would fly. Daniel wasn’t husband material. And worst yet, he was not
made to be daddy dearest. He was having too much fun as a single man. Married
men had curfews, had distrust, and they especially didn’t have nine cars in the
garage and a few more across the world they liked to play with.
He walked to the newspaper article that
hung on the wall, the only thing framed on this particular wall that had her
picture in it. The door behind him opened before he could press the face. Damned
if he didn’t laugh out loud at the man standing next to O’Reilly.
“It’s the president. She didn’t give
them her name, just said that he was encouraging others to seek their dreams
and do what they loved most. It says here that she donated a large amount of
money, nearly five million, and wanted to remain anonymous.” He pressed the
president’s face and heard a click of a mechanism move behind them. “I guess so
far so good.”
The wall slid open. He watched it move
without a single sound. Behind it was the panel that she’d told him would be
there. He dropped to his knees and punched in the code. The thing blinked for
about twenty seconds before it turned green. He almost forgot to step back. If
it hadn’t been for Royce he might have tumbled down the stairs.
He watched as the stairs revealed
themselves, and wondered if he was walking into a trap. He didn’t really think
so. She wanted Benny too badly to do that just now.
Maybe later
, he
thought, when they sat down to discuss what he wanted from her. He walked down
the iron stairs that emptied into a small room…so small, in fact, that Royce
had to stand on the stairs to give him room. As soon as he pressed in the
second code, the door opened. Benny was standing there with a gun in his hands
pointed right at his chest.
“She said you weren’t supposed to point
that at anyone. She promised me that you’d—” The wind rushed from his lungs as
Benny launched himself at him. He heard his brother inhale sharply, and
wondered if Benny still had the gun in his hands.
“I was so worried about her. But when I
get…is she all right?” Daniel nodded and stepped into the room when Benny
pulled away. Daniel felt…sorry that he’d let him go. “She and I never used this
room before, but I knew how it worked. Hello, Mr. Royce.”
The room was monstrous. And from where
he was standing, Daniel figured a person could live down there in comfort for a
good long time. There was even a big screen television. To his left was a
kitchen with all the appliances one would ever need, including what looked to
him like a freezer.
The television wasn’t on, nor was the
game system that was under it. The computer was set up, and from the screen that
Daniel could see, the boy was doing his homework. He looked at the kid and felt
a certain kinship to him. Daniel had been like that, preferring to read or do
homework over watching anything on the “idiot box,” his grandda had called it.
“Your mom is fine. She’s been hurt, but
not seriously. The doctor just wants to keep her for a little while so he can
run tests. She fell again and bruised her back.” Daniel didn’t add that she’d
killed a man, though he thought Benny might have figured that out. “I’m to take
you to her.”
“Hey, kid, how long can you stay down
here before you run out of food?” Daniel looked at his brother and frowned.
Who
cares?
he wanted to ask him. “Did your aunt design this place?”
“No, sir. We both did. She got the idea
off a movie. It’s a safe room. And the only thing I don’t have is Internet. She
was afraid that if it was here, then somebody could track us if we…why?”
Daniel wanted to know the same thing. He
looked at his brother and waited. He didn’t have long to wait.
“Reilly kept you safe down here, right?”
Benny nodded. “And in doing so she made sure, in the event something happened
to her, you could get out. Why didn’t you?”
Benny flushed and looked toward the back
of the room before looking at Royce again. “She said I was to wait for three
days. If she didn’t come, I was to get out and take the emergency bag and run.”
“But you didn’t want to wait, did you?” Benny
dropped his head before saying in a low voice “
no
.” “I wouldn’t have,
either, if anything happened to someone I loved. Close it down, kid, and let’s
go.”
Benny walked to the wall where the
television was and moved it to the side. Daniel watched as a large doorway showed.
He looked at his brother and asked how he knew.
“I wouldn’t stay, and she wouldn’t let
him die down here. Plus,” Royce pointed at the bag on the floor, “he was
leaving, and I could see the dust on the mantle where the set was moved. He was
at the door not because he was hoping to be rescued, but because he was afraid
he wasn’t.”
Benny hadn’t asked for the code, and it
wasn’t until they were in the car that he remembered. He decided not to tell
his aunt, and he wasn’t going to remind Benny that he’d not asked. They were
nearly out the drive when Benny asked where they were going. Royce answered
before Daniel could.
“My house. That’s where your aunt is
now. Our family is there, as well as few of our friends and your aunt. Kasey,
my wife, is having everyone over for dinner.” Daniel raised a brow at him. “I
got a text when you were playing with the panels. Seems Mom has called a
special meeting.”
This couldn’t be good. He looked at
Benny in the rearview mirror and saw he didn’t think so either. He glanced at
his brother. Royce was grinning.
“What is really going on? I’m serious,
Royce, if you know you’d better, tell me. Mom is calling a meeting for what?”
Royce shrugged. “She wants to see them
both. And I think from what Kasey was saying last night, she wants an invite to
the show. I guess your girlfriend is having a big art to-do and mom is hoping
to get to go.” Royce grimaced. “It’s black tie. I’m hoping that we can’t get
in.”
“Reilly won’t be at it, either. She’s
got about a million tickets, but she won’t go. She never does.” Royce turned in
his seat as Daniel continued to drive. “She don’t like those things. She said
people want to know why she did whatever she did on each piece and they treat
her funny if she tells them she didn’t know. She just wanted to do it.”
“She doesn’t. And have you ever been to
one of her art shows?” Daniel grinned when Benny rolled his eyes. He was sure
it was because he’d corrected him.
“Yes. Just one. It was boring, and I had
to wear a tie. Nobody knew who Reilly was, though. She just walked around
holding my hand like she was drowning and I was her savior or something.” He
shifted on his seat and looked back at him in the mirror. “She told her agent
that she would rather have her fingernails ripped off one at a time than to go
again.”
Daniel wanted to take her. And Benny. He
had no idea why she hid behind the mask, the one where everyone thought she was
an old man, and decided to ask her when he saw her again. She was doing really
well—very, very well as a matter of fact—and she should be out where people
could praise her work.
“I think she just needs the right man
taking her. Maybe if all of us was there with her she’d be…I don’t know, maybe
she’d not squeeze your hand so tight.” Daniel winked at Benny. “And if you help
me convince her to go, then maybe I’ll make sure that it’s worth your while to
wear a tie for her.”
He snorted. Daniel was pretty sure he
got that nice habit from his aunt and laughed. He looked over at Royce when
they got to his house, and he was looking at him strangely. Daniel wasn’t going
to ask him what. He knew it had something to do with the conversation they’d
been having earlier.
They pulled in the gated drive and up to
the house. It looked to Daniel like everyone was there, including his mom. They
got out, and Benny didn’t move from the side of the car. He held the handle,
and Daniel went to him and kneeled before him.
“I don’t like people.” Daniel could hear
the terror in his voice. “They do things to you…make bad things happen to you.”
Daniel still didn’t know what had
happened that day that his mother was killed, and wondered if he should see if
he could get Benny help. He’d need it if this continued. His terror at
strangers could cripple him in his life.
“I swear to you that while my family is
very odd, they’d never hurt you. In fact, there are days when I think I have
the best family in the world. My mom is a lot like your aunt. She only wants
the best for everyone.” Daniel watched as Kasey came out of the house with her
Lee standing next to her. “See that little boy? That’s my nephew Lee. That’s
his mom Kasey, and his dad is my brother Royce.”
Lee broke free from his mom and came at
them full tilt. He was just a little over two years old now, but he still
didn’t run as well as he walked. Lee was almost to them when his feet tripped
him up and he started to fall forward. Benny let go of the door and grabbed him
before he fell on the concrete drive.
“You almost let me falled,” Lee said,
and then looked up at his rescuer and smiled. “You have pretty eyes. Did you
get them from your mommy?”
“No, I didn’t let you fall. You tripped
and I saved you. And I got my eyes from the bas…no. I got them from my…from the
man who fathered me.” Benny started to put him down, and Lee grabbed him around
the neck. “You can walk, kid.”
“I knowed that, silly. But you can carry
me. What if I falled again?” Benny looked at Daniel as if to say “is he for
real?” then put Lee on the ground.
“I’ll hold your hand, and I can snatch
you up if you start to fall. And ‘falled’ isn’t a word, and neither is ‘knowed.’
My aunt will have a hissy fit if you mess up.”
They walked up the front stairs, and
Kasey stepped back as they entered the house, talking to each other. Daniel
followed and stopped in front of his sister-in-law when he got to her.
“Tricky.” She grinned. “How did you know
it would work? And what if he hadn’t’ve tried to save Lee?”
“Lee is always falling now when he runs,
and after a couple of band aids…even when he doesn’t
falled
he has to
have a band aid. Anyway, the fall wasn’t planned, but Lee charming him was. He’s
a good boy. I saw how he acted at the school that day and knew the kid had a
big heart.” She looked into the house, and he did as well. “She’s mad at you by
the way. Do you care?”
Did he? He did plan to talk to her, and
she’d thrown him out of her house several times already. Did he want to end it
now? Maybe it was time. He rubbed the area over his heart. He was already in
love with her. What if she started making demands, or, better yet, what if the
boy did? He looked over at Kasey.
“I love her, but I’m not marrying her.” She
nodded. “I’m not. So whatever you have planning in your head, get rid of it.
I’m thinking she and I should end it now so that you all don’t get any stupid
ideas.”
“Good,” Kasey said as she walked into
the house. Daniel stood there for several seconds, wondering what had just
happened. Were they all against him continuing this…whatever it was with her? Or
were they trying to make him think that they didn’t want him to see her just so
he would. He shook his head as he entered the house. He was nearly thirty years
old. He was certain they wouldn’t be trying stupid childhood tricks on him at
his age. Confident that he had it figured out and that he was going to break it
off with O’Reilly, he walked in the house.
~~~
Benny came to her and nearly made her
pass out from pain when he hugged her tightly. She’d been so worried that
Daniel wouldn’t remember the codes or he’d simply not go and get him. Reilly
knew he really wouldn’t do that, but she needed to think the worst of him right
now. Especially when she’d been shanghaied there against her will.
Mrs. Hunter was tricky. She’d have to remember
that next time. She’d told Reilly that she’d take her home when the doctor released
her. She’d just neglected to mention that it was her son’s home and not
Reilly’s. When the woman she wanted to strangle most in the world sat next to
her, she didn’t even acknowledge her.
“You can’t be mad at me forever, Reilly.
I have something I need to ask you, and I need you to be at least friendly with
me.” Reilly looked at her as Benny and the little Hunter boy wandered off. “I
need something from you, too.”
“No. Whatever it is, the answer is no. If
you need it in different languages, I can do that, too.
Pas du tout. De
ninguna manera.
Or if you prefer in Swedish,
inte en chans jävla sätt.
”
Reilly felt childish the moment she closed her mouth. Before she could apologize,
Mrs. Hunter spoke again.
“You’re not going to frighten me off,
young lady. I know for a fact that my son loves you, and you and I are going to
be best friends.” She looked at the man they were talking about when he stepped
up to the couch where they were sitting. “Isn’t that right, son? You love
Reilly?”
He stared down at her. She’d seen that
look before. Not on him, but on other people when she’d seen them at shows and
the price of her work was told to them. The “mother fuck what have I gotten
myself into” or her personal favorite “how the hell do I get out of this” look.