Rowan (The Irish Wolves Book 3)

Chapter 25

“What do you mean?” Hugh demanded. Dean was updating Detective Jeffreys, Stanton, Hugh, his sons, and Rowan’s sisters about the intel on BlackOut, the tech company in Canada suspected of being behind the kidnapping.

“We did not find anything that would indicate that this company or any of their people are behind the kidnapping. They are months away from bankruptcy, and they’ve made many foolish investments, but they are not involved in this case. They were also not responsible for Stanton’s breach of security. MacGregor agrees, and he’s spent probably more hours combing through every single email, text, phone record, and bank statement.” Dean sat back, clearly disappointed they were no closer to an answer.

“We’ve already pivoted our efforts. All my people are now invested in a deep dive into Stanton Industries. If this problem isn’t a result of outside influence, it has to be internal, Stanton,” MacGregor boomed. The Scottish security firm owner was on speaker. “I am pairing you with Ethan Jones and Sara Deter. You are going to help them go through every division of your company, who has access to sensitive information, and who might be willing to turn on the company and take your loved ones down at the same time.

“Ethan and Sara are expert profilers. If someone working for you raises even the most infinitesimal of red flags, they’ll find them. Stanton, I have already sent you their contact information. I want you to give them full access to the names of those who are working on your newest Government project—especially the names of those who wanted to work on it but weren’t chosen. The rest of the team will start with phone and email records, specifically overseas and, of course, relating to Shane Reynolds.”

“I don’t understand why they haven’t contacted William, Thomas,” River questioned, her hands covering her face, trying to cover the tears that hadn’t ceased flowing.

Patrick murmured in her ear and rubbed her back, but Raven and River were inconsolable. They’d moved into the hotel, in his boys’ separate small apartments, and attended every meeting, no matter the time of day. All of them looked haggard. None of them had slept more than a handful of hours since Rowan’s abduction.

When he got her back—and he would—she was never leaving his sight again.

“It’s a very common tactic, River,” MacGregor answered. “Fear. They want Stanton to be so out of his mind with fear that he’ll agree to any and everything.”

“In cases like this one, six to seven days is not unusual,” Jeffreys’ concurred. “Whoever planned this has been working on it for a while. They probably feel confident. They’ll ask for the projects files to be sent to an untraceable email address, then once it’s been verified, they’ll give up the location of the women. They may already be in another country, leaving their hired men to complete the trade.”

“They may think they’re smart, but I can assure you,” MacGregor’s voice rumbled over the line, “they are not smarter than my team. Between us and Jeffreys, we’ll find a thread and then pull that sonofabitch until it’s completely unraveled.”

The meeting broke up. Everyone silently walked out of the precinct conference room. The mood was eighty leagues below somber. He walked because he had to move from one point to another. He breathed because he was no good to Rowan dead. He no longer cried himself to sleep because his body was numb. Empty.

He chose to walk back to the hotel. He needed the quiet. He loved his family, but seeing their tortured faces increased his barely capped horror, and he selfishly wanted a moment to himself to just picture Rowan the last time he’d seen her. His favorite memory to examine was her leaning on his chest in bed, grinning with her precious dimples on full display, telling him…I love you.

He pulled out his phone and clicked on Raven’s text messages. She’d sent him Rowan’s last message that she’d sent to her sisters. Less than an hour before she’d been taken.

We did it! For hours and in a million different ways. How in the hell did I ever live without Hugh’s D in my life? I just snuck out of his suite—he deserves to sleep in. ?? I’m going to change at Tilly’s and go for a run. Sore muscles. I’ll call you both after. PS. I hate condoms. PPS. We decided on Forever.

We decided on Forever.They were forever, damn it. He read it again and again as he walked, smiling at the massive overshare. Shaking his head, he realized he didn’t give a single goddamn if she gave her sisters a play-by-play of every one of their moments. He just needed her back.

Tomorrow had to be the day the kidnappers contacted Will. It must. Stanton was struggling with his guilt. His company might have been the impetus, but he couldn’t have foreseen or prevented what was happening. He was thankful the man’s father and children had come to Tulsa. It was important for them to comfort one another.

As he exited the hotel elevator and opened up his front door, he stared at how empty it felt. He felt empty. He walked to the bar and poured three fingers of Slane. Taking a sip, he remembered the first time Rowan had been to his Muskogee home. She and her sisters had been invited for a weekend after he and his sons had hired their design business.

The six of them, plus James O’Connor, had been enjoying the bar Hugh had built next to the pond when he heard Rowan tell James she would have asked for Slane Irish whiskey over the Scottish Glenmorangie, but there wasn’t any on the shelves. It had infuriated him that he hadn’t had something that Rowan had wanted. He became even more frustrated that he even gave a shit.

Slane had been stocked in every bar he owned from that day on. Such was his need to make her happy and see her smile…see her taken care of and loved.

He took another deep pull of whiskey, his gaze landing on three jewelry boxes. Oh God. It was Rowan’s wedding jewelry. His mom picked it up earlier today. She’d texted him. He forgot. The boxes were made of beautiful, soft, butter-colored leather. He’d had the jewelry store find a set of handcrafted boxes for the set.

He nudged the two bigger boxes asides, touching the smaller ring one. He almost picked it up. He wanted to see the ring that he prayed would eventually encircle Rowan’s finger. He shoved it aside with the others. He would look at it when he had Rowan back. He only wanted joy associated with the ring. Not sorrow and despair.

Hugh picked up the crystal lowball of Slane and walked slowly to his bedroom. He didn’t look at the mussed sheets or the pillows still on the floor. He’d canceled housekeeping, not wanting the last place he’d felt her in his arms to change. Still, he couldn’t look, walking on into the bathroom.

A hot shower and whiskey. Maybe he’d catch a few hours of sleep on the couch. He learned to try to nap in the afternoon. Darkness was where nightmares ruled.

Day seven was still several hours away.

Rowan. Rowan. Rowan.

It wasfour in the morning when his phone buzzed with a notification. His hands shook when he saw it was a group text from MacGregor. With suddenly clumsy fingers, he opened the short, heart-stopping message.

Found the person behind Stanton breach and kidnapping. Apprehended trying to board plane-Houston airport. Meet at precinct. Now. Dean will take you to a conference room. Jeffreys waiting.

Hugh had been working on the Irish distillery project, tweaking the architect’s design and creating a business plan for the property to send to Bran and Patrick. He stood so quickly that his office chair crashed to the floor. He was already dressed and only had to slip his feet into shoes on the way to the door. His phone dinged again as he stepped into the hallway.

Another message from MacGregor. To William and Hugh only.

Have your pilots on standby. Will need to be in the air as soon as suspect gives up women’s location.

Hugh flew to the elevator, calling Bobby as he got in, barking instructions. His pilot knew what was happening and didn’t waste time with questions.

“Understood, Sir. Notify me immediately with the destination. I’ll have everything in order.”

Hugh disconnected and called his mother. She’d only moved back to her apartment two days ago. He knew she and Tina were prepared for calls no matter the time. She answered on the first ring.

“Hugh,” Mom answered breathlessly.

“They arrested the person behind all of this. Everyone is on their way to the police station. They’re going to work on getting Rowan and Katy’s location. I’ll call you when I know something. Bobby’s on standby.” He heard his mother choke off a cry before yelling to Tina to grab her purse.

“I’m not waiting. I’ll meet you there. Diana is calling me now. I love you, Son. We’re getting our precious girl back.”

Mom didn’t sign off, just hung up, as determined as everyone in their family to see Rowan returned.

Lucy Pérez.A forty-five-year-old MIT graduate and disgruntled Stanton Industries employee was behind everything. The hacking, the kidnapping, and attempted extortion. MacGregor’s team found one text, made eight months ago, sent from her phone to a person called Guilermo. Guilermo Pérez was her brother. Ex-military. He had gone on three missions with Shane Reynolds.

That single text was the nail in her coffin.

After six hours of interrogation, where the Stanton and O’Faolain families sat in tense silence in the police conference room, the woman finally confessed to her fury at being excluded from the team picked to work on the newest Government military project. Mrs. Stanton was supposed to be the only target, but then pictures of Stanton and Miss Byrne began circulating. She decided to hedge her bets and take them both.

The technology was so classified, William did not receive clearance to divulge any specifics to the police. The case did not hinge on the disclosure of the project. It was neither here nor there.

Hugh understood the secrecy of Stanton’s project, and because that intel wouldn’t help them find Rowan, he brushed it off. MacGregor, being a special forces vet, had no problem with the omission.

Lucy had hacked Stanton’s system on three separate occasions with help from her Chinese conspirators.

Pérez used her vacation days right after she hacked into the system the final time to clean out her apartment. She sold or trashed her belongings, planning to take only what would fit in two checked bags and a carry-on.

Her deal with a Stanton Chinese competitor promised them the new tech in exchange for ten million dollars. She had overseas accounts set up to receive the tech files, a new bank account to route in her millions, and fake identities for herself and her brother. She planned on never stepping foot on American soil again.

She admitted that she’d planned on messaging Stanton Friday morning, this morning, with her demands. Her brother and Reynolds had driven cross country. They were supposed to have rented a house in Alabama and await instructions.

She hadn’t been able to contact her brother for four days.

MacGregor cautioned patience. He was handling it with faster results than the police force could produce. His people went after the brother’s IP address and found an address in Alabama that it had pinged at several times four days ago.

The day he went radio silent.

They were in the air an hour and a half later. Bre and Daniel were already onboard when, he, Bran, Patrick, Raven, River, Mom, Tina, and Detective Jeffreys boarded the O’Faolain jet headed to Huntsville, Alabama. Jeffreys was working with the Huntsville SWAT team who were currently moving people into the area surrounding the block and the house where they believed Rowan and Katy were being held.

The team would monitor the area and look for movement in the house and anyone coming or going before moving in. Pérez and Reynolds were dangerous and assumed armed. Hugh sat in his seat, looking at nothing. Not speaking, barely breathing. Rowan could easily be hurt if there was a standoff. If she wasn’t already….

Rowan. Rowan. Rowan.