BELONGING: Hope, Truth And Malice (Beauty 0f Life Book 3)

by Laura Acton

  But something changed in the past year. Richard no longer blamed himself. Richard never gave the doctor a name, but for some reason Donner now believed someone else was responsible for his father’s death. Dr. Carter shared that Donner spoke a lot about eyes, lost eyes, and she felt that had something to do with the change in her patient.

  She disclosed that Donner was suicidal, but that his fantasies about it had also changed. He’d begun indicating he wanted to do it in a way that made the responsible person live with the same pain he’d lived with. When Davis described how Donner killed himself, Dr. Carter said it made sense.

  Apparently, Richard had never planned to actually kill the person he blamed. He only wanted to kill them in the sense Richard had been killed years ago. He wanted to make the person watch as Richard committed suicide like he’d watched his father do. Davis thanked her and hung up.

  Davis wondered if he would cause more hurt to Broderick if he shared this or if it would help Broderick to know. The inspector really had no clue. Perhaps a call to Gambrill would be in order—Broderick was his godson after all.

  TRF HQ – Dispatch Desk – 7:45 a.m.

  When Ray, Loki, and Winds had returned, everyone except Patch was at the dispatch desk while Dr. Fraser was doing a full checkup on Dan. They handed out the cups and everyone milled around waiting for the word as they sipped their coffees and ate the breakfast sandwiches the guys had brought from Timmy’s. The doctor was taking a long time and that worried them all.

  When Dr. Fraser finished his exam, he stepped out of the briefing room and approached the worried group. “Jim is just finishing the IV. I still can’t believe that Constable Broderick left the hospital in his condition. He should still be there, but I understand from Jim that isn’t possible at the moment. Luckily, his fall didn’t cause any additionally injuries. Jim has my personal number. Please call me any time day or night if Dan needs anything or if his condition deteriorates in any way.”

  Gambrill nodded. “Thank you for coming. We appreciate it.”

  Dr. Fraser shook his head slowly. “No thanks needed. I owed him that and more after last night’s mistake. Please call if he needs anything, anything at all. Also, have him follow up with me in a few days so I can check his progress.”

  “Will do,” Nick stated.

  As the doctor left, the rest of them headed back into the briefing room. Loki took a quick detour and put Dan’s iced capp in the break room fridge.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  July 16

  TRF HQ – Briefing Room – 8:00 a.m.

  Coffee in hand, everyone settled into chairs to get down to the business of protecting Dan. Loki passed the bag of timbits around and handed Patch one of the breakfast sandwiches they had gotten.

  Patch grinned. “Thanks, Loki.” He took a sip of his coffee too and sighed. “Much better than boiled boots, much better.”

  Loki grinned. He liked Patch. It made him happy that Patch took such good care of Dan. With as often as Wile E. Coyote got hurt, Loki could see a real advantage in having Patch as one of Toronto’s paramedics.

  As Nick sat down, he thought, Time to understand the new situation and get some answers regarding Dan’s past. As everyone settled into seats, Nick looked at the Commander and asked, “Okay so what do we need to know? What is this new situation?”

  Gambrill took a steadying breath and started, “The new situation actually has relevance to something in Dan’s past.”

  He was interrupted by his phone vibrating. Looking down at the number Walter recognized the first three digits as ones reserved for police. He’s held up his hand to the group indicating ‘hold on’ as he answered the phone, “Gambrill here.”

  “Good morning, Commander. This is Inspector Davis of Special Victims and Homicide. I was the one on the detail last night involving Constable Broderick. Got a moment to talk?”

  “Kind of busy at the moment. Is it important?” Walter responded.

  “Might be. Last night, several things didn’t add up. Got my brain into overdrive. I’ve just spoken with a Dr. Carter and she shed some light on the situation,” Davis shared.

  “Who is Dr. Carter and why would she have anything to do with last night’s events?” Gambrill asked. His comment about last night’s events perked up the ears of everyone in the room, except the sleeping Dan.

  “She was Donner’s psychologist. I think you should hear what she shared with me. Might be important for Broderick, too. Your comment about him not knowing intrigued me. Might be helpful for him to know, but I don’t want to cause more problems for him. I don’t know him, so was hoping to talk with you about it and get your opinion,” Davis replied.

  Gambrill was thinking hard. He had put together that Donner was the son of the driver. But was there something more going on? Could it possibly have any bearing on the current situation? Decision made, he said, “Davis, I’d like to hear what you’ve found out, but I want to do it in person. There are a few others that may need to know what you’ve found, so if you could come to us here at TRF HQ, that would be best.”

  “Will do. Heading out shortly. It’ll take me a while to get there. I’m all the way across town,” Davis concluded. He hung up the phone then started to gather up all the info and put it into a file folder. Always the investigator, his brain started to niggle on the comment ‘others may need to know’. Oh well, Davis guessed he would find out when he got there.

  Walter looked at the expectant faces. “That was Inspector Davis, who worked the incident with Dan last night. He says he has some information he needs to share. As you heard, I’ve asked him to meet me here. I have no idea what he’s found. It may or may not have bearing now.”

  Gambrill received nods from around the table.

  Nick looked at the Commander and stated firmly, “Before he gets here and before we start the briefing. I have a question that needs answered. I had hoped to ask you in private, but all this is centering on Dan and his past. I feel that we need to know some facts that only you can provide.”

  “I’ll answer what I can,” Walter responded warily.

  Ottawa – Scott Broderick’s Home – 8:30 a.m.

  Scott leaned down and kissed his wife. Wow, his wife. She was his wife now. He was the happiest man in the world. Lilyanna was his one true love. It took him years to find her, and then a few years to get up the nerve to ask her to marry him. But now his world was complete. Lily was his wife now.

  Lily smiled up at Scott, “You’re gonna be late.”

  Scott grinned. “Don’t have to be in until nine today. I have some meetings in the afternoon, but I should be home in time for dinner tonight.”

  He sat back down on the bed and gazed into Lily’s baby blue eyes. He reached out and touched the short, silky tresses of her dark chocolate brown hair. Scott couldn’t get enough of his wife. They’d been married for only three months now. Tomorrow it would be officially three months. April seventeenth was a day he’d never forget. The entire family was there to witness their marriage vows and celebrate their happiness. His face fell slightly—not quite everyone.

  Lily reached up and caressed Scott’s face. “What’s wrong?”

  Scott shook his thought away and smiled. “Nothing.”

  “Scott Erik Broderick, don’t you start lying to me. I can see something is bothering you. Maybe I can help?”

  Scott chuckled. “All three names. Makes me feel like an errant little boy.”

  Lily smiled. “Changing the subject isn’t gonna work.” She took his hand and held on. “Let me share your burdens if they’re not of the secret type.”

  He squeezed her hand. “No, not secret. Just sad. I was thinking of our wedding.” Seeing the flash of hurt in Lily’s eyes, Scott quickly clarified. “Best day of my life. But it would’ve been better if Dan was there. I found out yesterday that Dan’s been in Toronto this whole time. If I’d only known … I would’ve gone to see him.”

  Lily nodded. “Dan means a lot to you, doesn’t he?”

>   “Yeah. I feel like I’ve let him down. I should’ve done more. I should’ve tried harder. He was so lost after Sara died. And then he was just gone. I never agreed with what Uncle Will did, I was only seventeen, but I feel I should’ve done something more. He was the little brother I wanted for years … I was lucky to have him before my brother Kyle was born. Dan and Kyle are so different, but each one of them means the world to me.”

  Lily smiled. “All your siblings and cousins mean the world to you. I’m glad you are all so close. It’s the large family I always wished I’d had. Growing up, it got a little lonely with just me and my dad after Mom died. Neither of them had any siblings and both sets of my grandparents were gone.

  “So it makes me happy that you have such tightknit relationships with your sisters, brother, and cousins. Now that you know Dan is in Toronto, maybe we can go visit him. I’d love to meet your twin that’s eight years younger.” Lily chuckled. Scott and his male cousins loved to tease her about a twin cousin. She knew they were just pulling her leg. But it was fun to be included in the teasing and bantering of this large extended, loving family.

  Scott grinned. “Now that you are safely married to me, I can introduce you to my doppelganger. But meeting him will have to wait. Dad shared some disturbing news with me last night. He’s working with my uncles to coordinate emergency leaves for all of the guys so we can visit Dan for a long overdue Broderick intervention. Dad will let me know the date, but it should be within the next few weeks. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.

  “There are some things that we need to work out. Dan needs to know that we care and that we didn’t abandon him.” Scott blew out a shaky breath as he recalled what his dad told him about Dan’s mail being intercepted.

  Scott knew he had to keep it quiet since it was still under investigation. It made him sick to think that Dan thought Scott had forsaken him and no longer cared enough to write.

  It was quite the opposite—Scott had written more often. He’d hoped that whatever it was that caused Dan to stop writing to him would be resolved. But now Scott knew that Dan never stopped either. Scott wanted to hang whoever was responsible from a yardarm by his balls.

  Lily sat up and wrapped her arms around Scott and kissed his cheek. “I love you so much. You have a heart of gold. I can wait to meet Dan. You and your family will get things sorted out. I have complete faith in you.”

  Scott hugged Lily and began to kiss her. He got lost in the sensation and only came back to the world when Lily gently pulled back and placed her fingers on his lips. He kissed her fingers as Lily said, “As much as I’d like to keep doing this, you’ll be late if you don’t get going now.”

  He chuckled. “I’d gladly take a dressing down to be late because of you, my love.”

  Lily smiled. “Get going. Duty First.”

  Scott stood and saluted Lily. “As you command, Ma’am.”

  Her laughter stuck with him as he headed out to work. It made him smile. He was the luckiest man on this earth—Lily was his wife.

  Vancouver Island, BC – Empress Hotel – 5:30 a.m. (8:30 Toronto)

  Jorge Pletcher sat at the desk in his hotel room as he worked on his laptop. He was frustrated. Things hadn’t panned out like he’d planned. It was a good thing that Plouffe had given him a heads-up that the General’s security detail was onto him.

  He’d barely slipped away from Galloway and his men. If he hadn’t turned on his phone before getting off the plane, he would’ve been caught. Galloway was turning out to be more of a challenge to evade than he’d expected.

  Distractedly, Pletcher tapped away on his computer to do the funds transfer to Plouffe. What Plouffe charged for the heads-up was exorbitant, but better than being caught and charged with treason and attempted murder. Had he known Plouffe would become so greedy, he’d never have begun a partnership with him. At first it was small potatoes, but over the years, Plouffe had demanded more and more money for slipping him intel.

  It was a good thing his clients were willing to pay ridiculous amounts for information. He and Plouffe had made a significant chunk of money off of a deal he’d brokered years ago. Plouffe had been so pissed off when Broderick survived being taken captive. The Major had fully expected and wanted the General’s son to be killed.

  But that had nearly blown up in their faces. Broderick never divulged a single thing in the months he was tortured. It made his contacts leery of the quality of his deals and information for some time. But he’d managed to sort things out over the past few years.

  His most lucrative client, Abdul Khaliq Mousa, was still willing to pay outlandish amounts for intel and connections. He’d managed to introduce Mousa’s right hand man, Anwar Yassin, to Christopher Alfred Thruston, Jr. Christopher was a malcontent party boy with a penchant for getting into trouble and for underage girls. He was also the son of Christopher Alfred Thruston, Sr. The senior Thruston was CEO of the Thruston Group which had major military contracts and were working on an experimental type of explosives. That could prove to be very lucrative for him if it panned out.

  His mind shifted back to his near capture, that would’ve ruined everything. Damned Brodericks were the bane of his existence at the moment. Plouffe’s latest scheme was the reason he was on the run. Jorge couldn’t believe he’d gone for it.

  Becca Broderick turned out to be was a witless, blonde bimbo. She had no useful information. Why the Major ever thought she’d be a source of good intel, he’d never know. But when Plouffe offered him a bonus to kill her, Jorge couldn’t pass that up. He had have to kill her anyways. She knew too much about him.

  Jorge also couldn’t believe that she’d actually jumped from his car. He almost turned around to finish her off when he noticed a car stop and two men jump out. He recognized the General’s security men. It meant only one thing—he’d somehow been found out and had to run.

  But then Plouffe made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, he’d have to go into hiding for years, off the grid, and he needed to stockpile money. When Plouffe offered him a cool million to finish the job and told him that Becca and the General’s wife were in a safe house in Vancouver, he couldn’t pass it up.

  Pletcher hit the send button to transfer the funds to Plouffe’s Cayman Islands account. He would have to lay low a while and then figure out where they’d taken Becca. Then he could figure out how to finish the job.

  As he sat back, Jorge blew out a breath. “Damned Brodericks.” His phone vibrated and he received a text on his burner phone.

  It read, Double payment if you eliminate my toy soldier.

  Jorge shook his head. No. No. He couldn’t do that, it was too risky with Galloway on his tail. He texted back, No. Not worth the risk.

  Easy money, sitting duck, in hospital.

  No.

  Toy soldier no longer innocent, has to pay the price.

  No.

  Triple payment.

  Pletcher hesitated. That was a lot of money. He sent, Where’s the toy soldier?

  St. Michael’s in Toronto.

  Okay, but I choose the time and place.

  Agreed, but soon, he has to pay for what he did.

  Jorge blew out another breath. “Damned Brodericks!”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  July 16

  TRF HQ – Briefing Room – 8:30 a.m.

  Having already discerned the answer to his first question— why the meeting time had been moved up—Nick asked Gambrill his second question. “I’ve read Dan’s file, and as blacked out and redacted as it is it still contains nothing relating to him as a child. Nothing about his sister Sara. Just how long have you known Dan?”

  “Since he was born. Daniel is my godson,” Walter replied getting shocked looks from everyone, but they remained quiet hoping he would offer more. Silence drawing out, Walter realized he had to say more, explain more.

  “I was with William the day Danny was born. Should’ve seen the panic when William realized Yvonne was in labor. She was three weeks early and W
illiam hadn’t even put the crib together. He was lucky to be home—he was going to surprise Yvonne, but he was the one that got surprised—well, I guess they both did. I drove Yvonne and William to the hospital, alerted family members, and waited for news. I was among the first visitors for the new family and held Danny when he was only a few hours old.”

  Stunned looks and more nods implied that he should continue.

  “I’ve known William Broderick since we met as young boys on a base in Saskatchewan. Our fathers were both stationed there and we just seemed to hit it off. We were as different as night and day, but we formed a friendship. Even as we moved to different bases it just stuck.”

  More nodding, continued silence.

  What else to say? Better lay out the essentials as it might be relevant to current problem. “Okay. I’ll lay it out for you, I know you all care for Dan so I’ll tell you what I can. Some of it will have to wait until General Broderick arrives tonight,” Gambrill continued.

  That drew even more shocked and a few disgusted looks. Gambrill was surprised to see hatred clearly evidenced on the hard planes of the faces of Blaze, Winds, and Patch. What was the cause of that? he wondered. His friend was a hard, stoic military man and his nickname ‘Badass’ was well earned—William didn’t give a rat’s ass what people thought about him personally.

  But Walter thought he had at least engendered a sense of loyalty in his Special Forces men. William watched out for them and truly cared about their well-being. Perhaps Dan’s opinion of his father had rubbed off on the men, they did care a lot about Dan. Still, that intense hatred was confusing

  “Not sure when Davis will arrive. Let me lay a quick Broderick foundation up to Sara’s death at least,” Walter said and looked around at them.

  Several nodded. A few relaxed into their chairs, preparing to listen, wanting to know more about Dan. While others, namely Blaze, sat tensely near Dan with one hand on the kid’s leg and with a fierce expression that if Gambrill had known him better he would’ve read as ‘I don’t want to hear anything about the hardhearted SOB that treated his son so callously’.