4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Carys
L ucas is in front of the big ocean-view windows on a play mat, and I’m on the floor with him. He’s finally starting to sleep in longer stretches, so when he’s awake, I’m not feeling like such a sleep-deprived zombie. Jay’s daughter, Rosa, is beside me, rattling a baby toy to get his attention.
“Come on, Lucas. Roll over,” she coaxes.
At six, she’s baby obsessed. Her four-year-old sister, Luciana, is in the kitchen making lunch with Lena. Jay is at the casino, Dominic is at the door, and Sofia is reading a book on the couch behind me. The hustle and bustle of the house is a level of domestic bliss I never expected to achieve. There’s just one person missing.
When Lucas rocks and falls onto his back again, Rosa does a cheer. “So close. Try again.” Using the toy, she leads him toward his stomach. When he tries to grab it and flips onto his tummy, his giggle squeezes my heart.
“Oh my god. He rolled over from his back to his front.” I glance over my shoulder at Sofia.
She grins. Her long dark hair is in a ponytail, and her curvy frame is encased in a tank top and shorts. She peers over the top of her book. “Now the fun begins. Diaper changes go from a relatively quiet affair to a progressively bigger battle. Who wants to be on their back when they can be on their front?”
Rosa gets him to go through it again, and we clap. His first laugh, his first roll from front to back and now from back to front, his first tooth, his first solid food—I’ve gotten those moments thanks to Finn’s sacrifice. So every milestone is a flood of happiness followed by the bittersweet realization Finn made each possible.
“Go on.” Lena ushers Luciana from the kitchen.
She rings the bell on the island. “Lunchtime!”
Every Sunday, Luciana helps Lena make brunch. When Rosa lifts my son into her arms, I have to quell a moment of panic. She’s strong for her age and careful, but he’s a sturdy baby and not exactly light. At the highchair, I take him from her to get him buckled in. His tray is already filled with Lucas-sized bites. There isn’t a day where I’m not grateful for the village I built in this house with these people.
I slide the tray onto his highchair and smile at Lena. “Thank you.”
“Anything for that toothy little face.” She runs a finger down Lucas’s chubby cheek.
The front door opens, and Jay sheds his sandals before coming into the kitchen. “Just in time.” His voice is light, but there’s tension around his eyes.
Sofia and I exchange a glance. I brace myself for more bad news about either the hotel or the casino.
“When lunch is done, girls, why don’t we set up the sunshade on the beach and have a play?” Sofia says.
He kisses Sofia’s temple. “Thanks, babe. When Carys and I are finished talking, I’ll come join you.”
“Whenever you get a chance.” She pats his cheek. “I know there’s a lot going on.”
While Jay and I have spent significant time together over the years, Sofia and his daughters were more of a shadow than a fully-fledged part of our interactions. With them living here, I see their family dynamics up close and personal. The care they have for each other amazes me. As a kid, my house was fraught with tension. I chalked my parents’ problems up to my father’s affairs and my brother’s long illness and death. But now I wonder whether my mother’s desperation to escape her first husband hadn’t been the main problem. Had she ever loved my father? Or was he the lesser of two evils?
Chatter happens around me, but I’m lost in my own thoughts. When it’s time to clean up, Lena shoos me away. “Go put him down for his nap.” She nods at Lucas.
“Are you sure? I feel like I never help.”
Lena laughs. “You raise your miracle baby, and I’ll keep the kitchen clean.” She winks. “Least I can do for giving me a house filled with so much happiness.”
Happiness. Tears spring from my eyes, and Lena rubs my back in soothing circles.
“You’ll get your happiness.”
“That’s just it,” I say. “I am happy and then I feel guilty.”
“He wanted you to be happy. Seeing what you’ve built here, he’d never begrudge you a full life.” She gives me a side hug. “And soon, God willing, he’ll be here too.”
Finn doesn’t want God to have anything to do with his fate. He hasn’t lived a holy life. “I hope so.” We’re going to need more than hope to see our plan through. As Evander keeps reminding us, in an escape this complicated, there are a lot of moving pieces. If even one of them misses their slot, the whole jailbreak could fall apart. Depending on whether we’re in the planning or execution stage, Finn could be moved to the supermax prison after all. If that happens, Evander says it’ll take years before he’ll be able to maneuver Finn into a position to try for another break. Years .
After washing his face and hands, I pluck Lucas out of the highchair and head to the master bedroom at the back of the bungalow. At the moment, the master acts as our sleeping quarters and the place where I do the most worrying. When the renovations on the house went so well, I expected the same outcome with the casino and hotel. With my son tucked into the crook of my neck, I rock him to sleep. Nothing better than baby snuggles. My heart stretches in my chest. I may not have everything, but I’ve got him, and that’s a lot.
Jay clicks through his phone, a frown on his face.
“Are you going to tell me?” I ease into a high-backed chair across from the couch.
“Not much to tell. Everything is delayed. Shipment is stuck in customs. Some permits are on hold, and they’re the ones we need to move forward.”
I sigh. “Can we throw more money at it?”
Jay laughs. “’Course we can. But I’m starting to wonder if that’s part of the problem. We encounter an obstacle and out comes the checkbook. This place is small, and I’m thinking they’re putting the squeeze on us to see how much cash they can bleed out before we stop paying.”
“So, we stop gushing money?” I sit up straighter in my chair.
“I don’t know. When I ask around, I get the”—he rubs his fingers together in the universal symbol for cash—“from everyone. But they also give me a sly smile, which makes me believe we’re being hosed.” He tosses his phone onto the couch. “It’s frustrating, but if we hold off on paying anyone for a while, we send a message. We don’t pay anybody until something starts to go our way.”
“No one?” My instinct is to disagree. The ruthlessness I sometimes need doesn’t run very deep in me. What would Finn do? Probably start shooting people in the knees until we got the answers. Not my style. Money is a powerful motivator in either direction. As much as I don’t want to create bad blood here, Jay is right. We can’t keep going on as we’ve been doing.
“No one. Not a cent comes out of any account for anyone until there’s movement. We’re not a bank, and people on Boa Vista need to stop treating us like we are.”
“Going to Praia, the capital, hasn’t helped speed anything along?”
“People talk. Everyone knows we’ve been throwing money around like we’re flush. A good strategy until it isn’t. Screwing us is shortsighted. The luxury resort and casino will bring a significant influx of tourist dollars to this island. Our negotiation with the government was very reasonable because we wanted in here so badly. It’s part of what’s so frustrating. Why is there so much foot dragging? Everyone benefits when the resort is done.”
“Okay.” I nod. “We’ll hold back on paying people, see what happens.” I check the clock by the front door. “What time is Evander arriving?”
He follows my gaze. “Should be any minute. At least that scheme seems to be ticking along.”
“As far as we know,” I amend.
Dominic pokes his head in the door. “Mr. Williams has arrived.”
“Let him in.” Jay stays in his seat.
Evander enters carrying a long cylinder. “Game plans.” He holds them up and comes to the coffee table. “A strategy is starting to take shape.” He taps out the prison blueprints, and once again, I’m impressed at his efficiency. The maps and architectural drawings are highlighted in various colors. The legend has them marked as Plan A, Plan B, Plan C.
I scan the pages. “Three plans?”
“Sort of. Each plan is a series of contingencies.” He points to the first place on the drawing where three lines branch off. “Plan A is the fastest, most efficient way to get Finn out of there. Plan B is if something in Plan A falls apart. Plan C is a last resort. There are several more risks in Plan C than in either A or B. At that point, we’ll just be trying to extract him alive.”
My stomach swoops low. I lace my hands together and press them against my nose. “That’s not comforting.”
“I’m not here to comfort you. I’m here to be honest with you about the risks. Seventy percent of the time when I formulate a plan, we never deviate from A because we strategize that sequence of events so meticulously.” His dark eyes meet my gaze. “We’ll get him out. The exit might be neat and pretty, but it might be messy and dangerous.”
“Do you have any idea of when?” Jay asks.
“A few more weeks. We’ve got the best route, now we need the best people in place. That might take some hiring and firing and shift changes to ensure we’re on the same page.”
“You can do that?” I’m doubtful.
His jaw tightens. Any time I second guess his abilities, he gets his back up. I suppose Finn would too. “Yes. That’s the easy part. Knowing who to put in there is the hard part.” He gestures to the papers. “Any questions?”
Jay leans over the pages, riffling through them, and I trace the different routes with my finger. He asks a few logistical clarifications, and I try to absorb as much of the information about where Finn is located as I can. I haven’t been to a visitation at the new place yet.
“So, he’s here?” My voice is rusty when I point to a squared-off cell on the page.
Evander shakes his head and points at a circled cell in another block. “This is where he is. I need to get him moved to this spot before go time. Tactically, this location gives us the three options. If he’s over here, it’s more complicated.”
“Moving him won’t be a problem?”
“They’re my problems, Carys, and I can handle them. If I didn’t think I could do something, I wouldn’t plan like I could.” His tone is snappy.
Jay slides me a glance. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t speak to her like she’s being ridiculous.”
Warmth spreads across my chest. He’s been my right-hand man for years, but since he spent so much time with Finn, he’s become more assertive when people are trying to walk over me. He told me, after Eric was dead, that he regretted not being more forceful with Eric when he was taking advantage of me. It’s been a rough few months, and I appreciate any support I can get.
Evander’s jaw tightens, but he meets my gaze. “My apologies. I didn’t want to be short with you. Occupational hazard.”
“Probably helps you get the job done,” I admit. “But you’re the only person I can get reassurance from that this is going to go as smoothly as it can. I’m paying a lot of money for your services, and I’m trying to respect your process. Doesn’t mean I won’t have questions, even if you deem those questions silly.”
He gives a curt nod. “Ask your questions,” he says. “I’ll take a deep breath before I answer.”
A smile tugs at my lips. Would Finn like him? Hard to say. Two rams, probably butting heads. “I appreciate that.”
He rubs his face. “All right, fire away. Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you as much as I can, given this stage of planning.”
For the next hour, Jay and I pour over the different routes and ask logistical questions. At no point does he indicate he doesn’t have an answer, but sometimes he has more than one solution to a potential problem.
When he leaves, I meet Jay’s calculating stare. “What’d you think?”
“I think I want to give him the hotel and casino project on top of Finn’s escape. There wasn’t a single question he faltered on. He had an ‘if this, then’ for every scenario we posed.”
“Any doubts I had are gone,” I agree. Rather than the unease that’s been building in me, hope is taking its place. Evander’s plan is solid.
“Now we wait for the cogs in the machine to line up.”