Chapter 29
Daniela paced around the perimeter of the safe house kitchen. The place had felt so homey before. But now that she was truly in hiding, on the run basically, it almost felt like a prison.
Or maybe that was just her life.
“My siblings are parking and will be here soon.” Cormac stepped into the kitchen, his big body vibrating with tension.
No wonder. She was still keyed up after running from those guys then grabbing all her stuff from her storage unit.
She had to assume the unit was burned now.
That she could never go back. Same as her home.
Now they were waiting for two of Cormac’s siblings—she had no idea which ones and hadn’t asked because it didn’t really matter.
“When Julian took over for my father, he told me that if I wanted someone to take over the gallery, to let him know,” she blurted.
The memory had resurfaced on the drive here as she’d been obsessing about Julian’s health, wondering if…
he was really gone. “I…don’t know if that was his way of giving me an out.
And I was…” She cleared her throat, stopped herself from admitting that she’d been grieving, that she’d been in shock about Cormac leaving.
“I never followed up with him about it. At that point the gallery was all I had. Now I wonder if he was trying to let me get out of my family’s web. ” Probably wishful thinking.
Cormac had started to respond when there was a rattle on the kitchen door—the one that led to the backyard.
She tensed but he shook his head.
“It’s Micah and Berkley.”
She blinked, then stared as yep, one of his brothers and sisters strode through the back door.
“We came through the connecting fence,” Berkley said, likely because of Daniela’s stare. “Micah owns the house behind this one too. We parked there so no one would see our vehicle.”
Oh right. Cormac had actually mentioned that his brother owned a bunch of safe houses, but she was in chaos mode. Or sensory overload. Whatever. Her brain was tired.
“I’m Berkley, by the way.” Petite with dark hair, eyes so similar to Cormac’s there was no doubt they were related, she had a soft smile and wore a sapphire art deco engagement ring.
“Oh. Thank you for the cookies,” she said, then felt like a dumbass because it was days ago. “I saw your note.”
The younger woman snickered. “No problem.” Just as quickly she sobered. “Your brother is at Memorial. He’s in ICU.”
“Oh my god. He is alive.” With a sense of relief that shocked her, she sat at the breakfast nook, allowed herself to drag in a few full breaths. Julian was alive. Yeah, she’d been ready to go to the Feds about him, but she still didn’t want him dead. He was her brother.
All three of them joined her at the table.
Micah spoke first. He was built like Cormac, was about the same six foot three, had eyes a similar shade of green, but had tattoos winding up and down his exposed forearms. “I’ve got a friend at the hospital monitoring things and Krystal is checking in on her end.
They’ve got two armed guards at his door and he’s currently in a medically induced coma. ”
“What does that mean?” She’d heard the phrase before but this was a lot to process. “And do they know who shot him?”
“As far as Krystal has been able to find out, you’re not an actual suspect.
Logan might be spreading the word that you’re behind this, but the cops aren’t looking for you.
So you’re not even a person of interest. It sounds like the woman who called you—Edith?
” At her nod, Micah continued. “She called 911 before anyone thought to stop her. Or I’m assuming.
Because I can’t imagine Logan calling 911 after shooting your brother.
Not that we know if he actually did,” Micah added.
“And Julian is in a medically induced coma,” Berkley said, “because it’s easier to stabilize him that way.
It’s basically giving his body and brain a pause but they’re reversible.
I’m not going to lie…this is a critical time.
But he’s young and strong. When you visit the hospital, his team will be able to explain it to you in better terms. That’s just how I understand it. ”
Daniela nodded but couldn’t find her voice.
“Logan is going to a lot of trouble to throw the blame on Daniela,” Cormac murmured, switching topics, something she was grateful for. “I’d bet good money he either pulled the trigger or is the reason behind it.”
“Julian said he was going to take care of him, to make sure he stopped harassing me,” Daniela murmured, ice settling in her bones.
“Whatever happened, no one except Edith is allowed to be with him. And you, but you’re not going anywhere near the hospital right now,” Micah said.
She nodded because yeah, she hadn’t planned on it.
Not yet anyway. She’d assumed the cops would want to talk to her since Logan was telling people she was behind things.
But of course he wouldn’t be talking to the cops.
“If Logan is hoping to kill me, or more likely keep me under lock and key, he’ll want to do it now while there’s still a lot of chaos around Julian’s… ” She swallowed hard.
Was thankful when Cormac took her hand in his, squeezed it. His grip was so warm, making her realize how truly chilled to her bones she was.
“Shit, we’ve got company.” Micah stood suddenly as he glanced down at his beeping phone. He silenced it as he looked around the kitchen. “Give me your phone.”
It took Daniela a moment to realize he was talking to her, but she handed it over as she stood with the others.
Micah tossed her phone in the garbage, which seemed off but she didn’t argue. Instead she hurried out the back door with Berkley as Micah and Cormac grabbed the two bags they’d tossed on the countertop earlier.
Heart in her throat, she held back all questions as they sprinted across the backyard. Sure enough, there was a well-hidden door along the fence line behind a row of perfectly planted bamboo.
They hurried through it with Micah silently closing it, then clicking a lock into place on the other side.
Once they were inside another ranch-style house, this one clearly used as a rental, given the cheery, relaxed vibe, she let out a breath.
The living room had a wall with faux leaves covering it with a neon pink sign that said Good Vibes Only like you might see in trendy restaurants.
“They’re in the other house,” Micah said as he pulled out his laptop. “I got the alert on my phone but we’ll be able to see better this way…” He worked quietly as they all gathered behind him in the living room.
After he had the screen where he wanted it, he set the laptop on the table and turned up the volume. “This looks like two of the men from the warehouse.”
Cormac leaned in, frowned as one guy swept into the kitchen, pistol raised. “Looks like it,” he murmured.
“I’ll know for sure soon,” Micah said.
The two men moved quickly through the house. She didn’t know them personally but she recognized them from the pictures that Cormac had shown her earlier. She hadn’t even realized the place had cameras, wondered if they were visible or if the intruders would see them.
“There’s a truck in the garage. Engine is still warm.” One of the men stepped back into the kitchen, looked around with a frown.
“Well they’re gone now.” The second man joined the other man in the kitchen, tucking his pistol away. He had a thick, ridiculous-looking mustache that seemed to be popular now.
“They couldn’t have gotten far.”
Mustache Man snorted as he started pulling open cabinet after cabinet, letting them bang shut. “We don’t know that.”
The other man started rummaging around in the pantry. “You really think that bitch shot her brother?” he called out.
Lovely.
“Nah. Had to be Brown. He wants to take over. Guy’s got fucking rocks in his head but he’ll be easier to manipulate than Hill. Either Senior or Junior,” Mustache Man added after a pause.
“Brown’s promising a big payoff but…” The other guy stepped out of the pantry. “He’s too messy. We got lucky catching that bitch on a CCTV near here. I say we cut our losses, tell him she’s in the wind and let him deal with this. This is his problem, not ours to clean up.”
Mustache Man didn’t stop searching the cabinets. “Two of my kids start college in the fall and I’m still paying alimony to my bitch ex-wife. I need the money.”
“Which ex?” The first man snorted.
“Fuck you. And the first one. Plus Nancy wants to get her tits lifted so I’m gonna have to pay for that.”
“These guys are disgusting,” Berkley muttered.
Daniela nodded in agreement, frowning at the screen. Disgusting seemed like an understatement.
Still chuckling, the other man said, “I’m going to grab the VIN from the truck and see if there’s anything in the glove box we can use to find the owner.”
“They won’t.” Micah sounded smug. “Just like they won’t be able to figure out who owns the house.”
Well that was another question Daniela didn’t need to ask now. “So the dirty cops from the warehouse are clearly working for Logan.” She wanted to say it out loud, to make sure they were all on the same page.
“Yep and we got all this on video. This is pretty damning,” Micah murmured.
“It’s not good enough. Not to take down cops.
And not to turn them against someone like Logan or my father,” Daniela said as she watched the men continue to search through the different rooms. They were thorough but not to the point that they were ripping up pillows or slicing into mattresses.
And they hadn’t looked in the garbage can yet.
She understood why Micah had tossed it, in case someone had tracked her that way. But it didn’t sound like it.
They were wearing gloves and booties over their shoes but that was it.
As they watched the men search, she said, “But I might have a plan to take them down.” As everyone turned to look at her, she resisted the urge to squirm.
“It’s not foolproof. But considering your resources,” She motioned to the house and the laptop, “it might be something we can pull off. And if we can get them to turn on Logan, it completely blows up his accusation against me.”
Cormac squeezed her hand in support.
She needed that more than she realized as she laid out her idea for the others. She might not have participated in the shit her family did over the years, but she’d heard enough living in that house that she had a very good idea how to set these cops up.
Timing would be everything.