“How did you connect?”
“I…” he has to take a steadying breath, “I bugged the car Taylor uses and overheard his phone call to Kenji. I tracked the parents down. That Moses guy paid me fifty thousand to get the kid.”
“And you thought you could just walk into my home, hurt my family, and leave here alive?” Dad’s voice is cold.
“I wanted you to pay for humiliating me.” He yells.
“I hope your need for revenge is worth the price you will pay for your failure.”
The phone contains all the information that I need to get to the fuckers that are threatening what is mine. It’s time for revenge of my own, but unlike Kenneth, I won’t fail. Conor walks in with the doctor, breaking the moment.
“I see I’m right on time. I’ll get the IV started. I’ll come back in a day or so to insert the feeding tube. How long do you expect to be?” Dr. Wright says as he places his bag down. I don’t pay him any attention. My focus is on the phone.
“Mom asked that you come back upstairs. There’s a problem with Ollie.”
I don’t hear if he says any more. I bolt from the room. Was he actually hurt, and no one noticed? I take the stairs two at a time. If he’s hurt, the doctor won’t have to worry about coming back with a feeding tube.
I hear the wails of Ollie crying as soon as I exit the basement door. I run to the living room, dodging furniture on my way. Franklin, Mom, and Liam are huddled around them. I shove Liam out of the way to see what’s happening. Ollie’s eyes are locked on Liam, and he’s pushing against Colton.
“What’s wrong with him? Is he hurt?” The sound of my voice pulls Ollie’s attention to me. He all but leaps from Colton’s grip into my arms. His face is hot against my neck as he buries his face there. My skin soon becomes wet with his tears.
With a hard sigh, Colton is the one who answers my questions. “He’s not hurt. He’s been calling for you since you left. Then Liam walked in. For some reason, that set him off.”
I glare at my twin. “What the fuck did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. He just took one look at me and started that God-awful screaming.”
“I think it confused him that Liam looks like you but isn’t you,” Mom says as she rubs Ollie’s back. “Sweetheart, it’s okay. Uncle Liam isn’t going to hurt you.”
I shift Ollie so I can see his red, puffy face. “Look at me, a stóirín.” He pulls back and, dear God, the kid has snot on his face. I momentarily forget what I want to say. Mom must notice because she wipes his face with a tissue. After he’s clean, I continue. “No one will ever hurt you. I won’t let them.”
I want to add that if they do, I’ll kill them, but I don’t think that would be appropriate for baby ears. Ollie points at Liam and then pushes his tiny finger into my chest, babbling as he does. “That’s Liam, my brother. If he hurts you, I hurt him.”
Ollie smiles at me, his dimple popping into his cheek. He glares at Liam. “Lmm.” Then Ollie balls up his chubby fist and shakes it at him. The room erupts into laughter.
“Said like a true Murphy,” Mom says. “He even has the glare down pat.”
“Kid, I’m on your side,” Liam says, holding up his hands.
“Excuse me, Ronan.” I turn at the sound of Taylor’s voice. “Conor texted and said that you have an address.” He stands with military straightness, but something is different. I study his face. He’s maintaining eye contact, but he’s blinking more than usual. His jaw is tightening as if he is grinding his teeth. “He also told me how Kenneth got the information.”
“Speak freely, Taylor,” I tell him.
“I’m sorry, sir. I missed the bug in the car and led that bastard here. Kenji,” if possible, he straightens even more, “was shot because of my negligence.”
“It’s not protocol for the vehicles to be swept,” I tell him. “So there was no negligence on your part.”
“That SOP will be put into place from now on. A mistake like this will not happen again. I’d like to get eyes on the house and get a visual on the targets.”
“I’ll go with him.” Liam offers.
“Don’t move on them until we have all of them. They are going to know something is wrong when Kenneth doesn’t come back.” We need to take them all if we want this to end.
Chapter 33
Colton
I’m crashing. The adrenaline that carried me through is gone, leaving my body heavy and useless. Even breathing feels like work. But this whole mess is far from over. I need… something. I’m not sure what.