“Oh, it’s exactly what we think. Kidnapping – it’s on camera and eye witness testimony. Care to rephrase your piss poor answer?”
Dunham put his hands up in surrender, his eyes widened in panic as the barrel of Liam’s gun fell inches from his face. “Please. Listen. I was there, okay? I took Felicity and the girl, but it isn’t what you think. I can explain – swear it.”
Liam looked at his watch then grabbed a nearby wooden chair, turning it so he could straddle it in front of Dunham. His arms were crossed over the back, his weapon still in hand, resting sideways, aimed at Dunham. “It’s getting late, and I want to tuck my little girl in tonight, but I’m not leaving without my lady. Start talking, and you better fucking impress me because I’m in a really pissed off mood, and I get a little trigger twitchy when I’m in a mood.”
The brothers looked at each other with ornery smirks, impressed with Liam’s intimidating interrogation tactics. They’d never seen him this way. It was funny but also had them concerned. They nodded to each other in understanding. They needed to keep a close eye on twitchy fingers; he was losing his shit.
“Felicity is Wells,” Dunham said. “She’s always been Wells.”
Liam’s head tilted quickly. “What did you say?” He stood, kicking his chair away. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
When Liam raised his gun to Dunham again, Luke stepped in, placing a hand on his brothers extended arm. “Let me do this, brother. Take a breather.”
Liam stared at Dunham, his expression full of hate and menace. He’d been triggered; somehow, this took him to an ugly place where his emotions were controlling his every action. He bit his bottom lip, nostrils flaring he was breathing so hard, and his eyes glazed over with a venomous look.
Looking at Luke out of the corner of his eye, the standoff broke, and he stepped back, his body slumping in defeat. Carter placed a hand on Liam’s shoulder and squeezed, a silent message of support. Liam nodded, and turned to lean against the cabin wall, watching his brothers take the lead.
He was a mess. It was all catching up with him. Felicity was still missing, and this asshole said she was the villain in this game? He’d lost enough in his life and only began to live again. This wasn’t where it all ended for them, not today. He wouldn’t believe that.
“Care to elaborate on that?” Luke stepped in. “You better talk fast, or I’ll let ol’twitchy fingers over there take the reins again.”
“You…he… He didn’t let me finish.” Dunham was frazzled, and clearly intimidated. “She’s always been Wells, to me. Don’t you get it? It was part of the game, we were pit against each other.”
He went on, “When everything went down all those years ago, I took off. I was always moving, never in the same place more than a handful of weeks, doing odd jobs just to keep moving.”
“Hacking…” Luke clarified.
“When I didn’t have a choice – plane tickets, train tickets, rental cars. Then she found me – Lainey – and told me everything. The missing money, that Felicity was Wells, everything. She needed my help because the Feds were after her too. We needed to find the money then find Felicity because she wasn’t dead. We were supposed to turn her over so our names would be cleared.”
“So, Lainey was a part of this?” Liam stepped forward, trying to piece it all together.
“Yes and no. She doesn’t know the first thing about computers, but she knew all the right people through Felicity. We’ve been looking for her the last year.”
“You and Lainey, you’re a couple?” Liam asked.
“It didn’t start that way, but yes. We finally found Wells, here in Portland, and when she knew we were here, all hell broke loose on the city. We were running from her again but never too far because we were determined to take her down.”
“But you’re Wells,” Liam said.
“I’m no more Wells than Felicity is. I know that now. We were all played. While you were hunting me, I was hunting her, and Wells was getting what he wanted.”
“Felicity,” Liam deadpanned. “You were after her for justice but really just delivering her to the real Wells. Wells needed her to get the money that she funneled out of his accounts all those years ago, thought she’d know how to get it.”
Dunham nodded, relief washing over him. “I only figured out after we grabbed her and the kid and brought them back to your, place. When I brought up the money and faking her death, she had no idea what I was talking about. I knew she wasn’t lying. She’d been fed the same story about me as I was fed about her.”
“Son of a bitch. Why didn’t you just try and get the money back? Why Felicity?” Liam asked.
“Because I can’t hack like that. I can empty an account and get into people’s shit, but I can’t break through the kind of shit she can – never could. I didn’t think there was anyone as good until we came across you,” he said to Liam.
“So, you didn’t do all that shit around town? The bridge, the hijacked cars?” Liam paced, anxious to get the piece of the puzzle he was missing so he could get what he needed. Felicity.
“No, I thought it was her doing it – coming for us.”
“You shot me.” Liam stood arms semi-crossed, weapon relaxed across his chest. “You were aiming at her.”
“With all due respect, there were a dozen of you chasing after us. I thought you were her goons, and we were done.”
“There were only seven of us,” Liam corrected.
Dunham cocked his head with furrowed brow. “I’d run from one of you, especially that one.” He pointed to Wylie. “You guys aren’t exactly…small and inviting.”
Each of the brothers shrugged; they’d give him that.
“Carter Landry, U.S. Attorney.”
“Oh shit.” Dunham tossed his head back in defeat.
“Chill out. I want Wells, not you,” Carter went on. “You help us grab Wells, right now, and put all this in writing, and I can help you out of the mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“I’d help you even without a deal. Wells needs to go down. I can’t get back what’s been taken from me – all those years…running. But I can make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. I owe Felicity that much.”
“Where?” Liam interrupted, looking around the sparse cabin. “There’s obviously no hacking going on around here. So where, where is she?”
“Wells knew you were coming. They’re taking off. Felicity couldn’t get into whatever she was supposed to, so now, Wells is holding her until…” Dunham hesitated. The fury in Liam’s had him recoiling.
Liam grabbed the guy by the throat, and through gritted teeth questioned. “Until what, Dunham?”
Dunham’s face turned crimson and he was choking on his words, gasping between them. “Until… Until you get the money back. Wells is taking off. The money is her ransom.”
Liam ran his hands through his hair, trying to wrap his mind around the bomb Dunham just dropped while Luke asked, “Who did that to your face?”
Dunham snorted, “Felicity. She never used to do that. Guessing I have you to thank.”
The brothers smiled with pride and nodded. At least she’d fought.
“Taking off?” Liam began to pace, smacking the palm of his hand to his forehead while those words danced around in his head, nagging for his attention. “Taking off?” It was all coming back to him. Wells had been right under their noses, probably laughing the entire time they were there. “Taking off! The plane! The signal wasn’t coming from here. The hacking didn’t happen here. It happened from the fucking plane! That was Wells’ plane! Let’s go!”
CHAPTER 26
Liam led the men to the grassy knoll where he and Felicity had caught up with Big Johnson. While they were talking, Liam tended to the dog and took in the surroundings. He recalled a private air field in the distance and a private jet that was parked in front of its hangar. When he pointed it out, Big Johnson said it belonged to some rich dude or something. It was a travesty to have such an eyesore
blemishing what was once such magnificent beauty.
“I can’t get in. Shit.” Liam was frustrated. He just didn’t have the equipment he needed to get into the plane sitting only yards away, readying for takeoff. “I can grab the signal, but that’s it. Hacking a plane is a totally different ball game.”
“You need to be at the lair,” Luke said.
“No time for that. They’re leaving,” Liam said. “I can’t see what’s going on, but somebody is working in there.”
“Last attempt to grab money from the ground?” Luke asked.
“Maybe? More likely trying to cover some tracks? Once they’re in the air, it’s all about complying with the FAA or find a fighter jet on your wing. My guess? Filing fake flight plans, securing more than one airfield to land in, making it look like that plane is supposed to be wherever it’s going while leaving a dozen trails in its wake.”
“How do we get in if you can’t get in through that?” Carter asked.
“Manually. The old fashion way. There’s a control panel at the back of the plane. Typically, in the belly where the cargo is held, but that one is too small, no belly.” Liam was looking at the jet then a screen, trying to pull up a schematic that would tell him where he needed to go on that plane.”
“You need to be on the plane to get to it?” Dace asked.
“Yep. I need to be at the tail end. There’s a panel behind that room.” He turned the laptop to show the schematic.
“Are you just going to knock on the door or…” Luke didn’t like the idea, not one bit.
“Nope Climbing in.” Liam smiled, packing his stuff away. “I get to that panel, and I can dump the fuel, keep the landing gear down, and do all sorts of other shit.”
“Wow. That sounds really…technical,” Wylie added.
“You can’t climb up there. You don’t know what you’re fucking doing,” Luke scolded.
“It’s right up that rear wheel, through the hatch. How hard can it be? If the plane starts moving, I need you to blow out the tires, keep them grounded.”
“Why can’t we just take out the tires now? Jesus, Liam, you’ve lost your fucking mind.” Luke said, grabbing him by the shoulders. “We’re getting her out of there, but not like this.”
“Do you have a better plan?”
Luke looked to the plane. “Windows, blow out the windows.”
“I may as well just knock and let’em know I’m outside. Felicity is on that plane; we can’t risk hitting her. So, unless you have a better view inside than I do or a hidden monster computer – I’m going in.”
Luke stood in silence, unable to find a reason to stop Liam because it was the best plan they had. If they had more time, they would find another way. But there wasn’t a minute to spare. Luke dropped his head and nodded the direction of the plane. “We’ll cover you. Don’t do anything stupid. I’m armed, what can go wrong?”
Before anyone could answer, Liam was gone, using the night sky to light his way as he ducked behind trees and hid in the shadows until he made it to the plane, climbed up the landing gear and disappeared into the undercarriage of the plane.
Carter, Declan and Dace moved in, each positioning themselves strategically with their own wheel target should the plane start to move. Wylie watched for movement in the fuselage while offering Luke cover. He was at the door, wiring explosives that would take the door off in a second should Liam get himself in a jam. One way or another, they were going to need to get in, and this was their plan B should Liam not have time to accomplish what he set out to do.
Liam quickly found what he was looking for, but the panel had been tampered with. It was blocked. There was a steel plate over the panel, riveted to the wall, making it completely inaccessible. He could toy with Luke’s favorite little micro explosives, but it would not only potentially damage the panel behind it, but it would let everyone on board know he was there.
The jets engine started to cycle, readying for takeoff, and Liam was no closer to grounding the plane than he was from the grassy knoll.
“Brother, tell me that’s you fucking with the engine from some flashing buttons in the back of the plane,” Luke said through Liam’s earpiece.
“I can’t play with the engines back here. That’s not how it works,” Liam replied.
“I know, dammit. Tell me you found what you were looking for. You’re about to take off to parts unknown.”
“I found it, just can’t get to it. If we take off, at least I’m on board. I have a gun and…”
“You can’t fire the weapon in flight, asshole. You’ve gone rogue, so get it together and do what you need to do or…” The wheels started to turn, cutting Luke off. “Dammit! Get off that plane.”
“I’m not going to be this close to her and not do a damn thing to save her. I’m armed too. I’ll take out Wells, the pilot, and whoever else I need to, but she is not leaving me. I’m not doing this again, she isn’t leaving me.”
Static interference came through the earpieces, for a brief moment, then silence. “Liam? Liam do you copy? God dammit, do you copy?”
“He turned it off,” Dace said. “We need to create a diversion out here. It’s the only way we can help him.”
Luke leaned his head against the plane and said a quick prayer. “Fire on three, and don’t fucking miss…”
When Luke called out the final count, three shots rang out in unison like the well-trained machine Brother’s Keeper was, taking out all three tires. Only moments passed before the engines cut, and someone started shooting out each window from inside the plane. It was clear their positions were safe, or whoever was shooting was a really bad shot because none of the attempts came anywhere near the brothers.
Luke ducked behind the rear wheel, under the belly of the plane, and hit his watch, detonating a charge of explosives on the door. Chaos within trailed outside, alerting the brothers to the fight in progress. Liam found his mark. With each blast of a gun came haunting screams full of fear. Were they hurt? Were they just scared? Had Felicity just witnessed Liam being shot? Every scenario ran through the brothers’ minds as they raced to get to their brother.
They gathered at the wrecked door, easily pushing it open. Luke handed Dunham a gun. “Shoot one of us, and the rest of us will kill you, got it? Stay out here and protect yourself.”
Dunham nodded, taking point outside the plane as each O’Reilly filed in, followed by Carter. The scene they happened upon was surreal, something they never thought they’d witness. Liam, with a gun to a man’s head.
Liam wasn’t foreign to battle. He’d been trained, involved in gun fights, hand to hand, but only to serve justice and self-defense. His eyes were wild, fear consumed him, and the hate in his eyes took them aback. Liam had never claimed a life, never had to. It wasn’t in him to do so. His brothers were highly trained experts who fought with multiple branches of the military and took on many humanitarian cases that occasionally left blood on their hands.
Liam never fought on those missions. He was the brains of the operation and fought from behind a screen. He was their eyes and ears to everything. Shooting someone? Sure he’d done that. It didn’t sit well, but it was always a justified fire. This was different; this was willing and methodical murder. When the proverbial dust settled, Liam would regret it. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
Felicity cried for him to stop. She knew he was doing it for her and that it would one day destroy him. But he didn’t hear her. He didn’t hear Luke when he tried to reason with him, tried to take the hit for him as he often did. Liam was lost, feelings from his past colliding with his present.
“Nice to see you in clothes, Vern,” he said to the large man on his knees. “Meet my brothers. Brothers, meet...Vern Johnson. You can call him Wells.”
“Liam, don’t do this. He isn’t worth it. Please don’t do it. This isn’t you,” Felicity cried. “I know you love me. I know you think you’re doing this to save me, but I’m here. I’m safe. Now, you don’t have to do this.”
<
br /> “Shoot him!” Lainey sobbed. “Shooot him. He killed our mother. He killed Dunham…shoot him. Please, make it…stop.”
Liam calmed but didn’t take his eyes off Johnson, nor did he drop his weapon. He was at war with himself, fighting what he knew he should do and what he thought he needed to do. “Dunham is alive. He’s outside.” His tone was emotionless, monotone. He was fighting it.
“Liam. Let me do this. Let me do it the right way,” Carter offered. “He’ll go away forever, never see the light of day. I can do that.”
“Yeah, until he gets five minutes of computer time for good behavior and hacks his way out.” Liam laughed, then adopted a sense of calm that was more Liam. “Don’t you see? It won’t ever end. We’ll always be looking over our shoulders, wondering what his next move is. He’ll always be there, even behind bars, watching, lurking, hiding in the shadows of the innerwebs, finding ways to get what he wants, settling for tormenting us. This doesn’t end… Ever… So long as he’s alive. I can’t live that way. I finally have my life back, a life with City and Reagan. The minute he walks out of here alive, he owns that.”
Vern smiled and let out a maniacal laugh that sent chills down everyone’s spine as he looked each of them in the eye. “He’s not wrong. Not wrong at all.”
“Oh my God. He found us all once. He’ll do it again,” Lainey cried, desperation in her voice. “Make it stop before he takes anything else away from any of us.”
“Liam?” Felicity said. “Liam look at me. Find the joy…find the joy,” she cried, her voice dropping to a whisper while her lip quivered. “Weather the storm, Liam, so we can dance in the rain.”
He whipped his head Felicity’s direction as he choked on the emotion caught in his throat. Those words – they meant everything to him. Felicity meant everything to him. He looked back at all the stares pointed at him. The shock and concern they all wore struck him. He was hurting them. This wasn’t him. This wasn’t the way, and he knew that better than anyone.
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