“Jesus Christ. How you all got to where you are is beyond me. Nothing but a bunch of oversized children. She’s a fugitive. One of the nations most wanted criminals for the assassination of Senator Martinez.”
“What? A fugitive? Assassination?” Dace took the lead this time. His brothers were having too much fun. “Luke, I’m shocked by you. Is this your way of getting back at the country for sending you out to pasture after your little injury? Wait…did you help her kill him? You’re good with a weapon – a mercenary no less. Oh my God, were you her gun for hire?” Dace put his hand over his mouth, muffling a shocked gasp, earning a round of more laughs.
The director slammed his hands on table with a loud boom, leaned in, and yelled, “Cut the shit, all of you,” as his face turned red. And in walked the general.
“Oh, player number two! Didn’t see that one coming,” Luke said. “I thought it was the environmental guy.”
“Seems we have a predicament, boys. I have a fugitive, in your building. She assassinated a senator, is responsible for the death of a US attorney, and a family that includes a few war heroes. Damn shame,” the general began.
“Oh, this is how it ends?” Luke leaned back in his chair and tossed his feet up on the table. Disrespectful and intentional. “He’s talking about us, guys. We all die at Daisy’s hand.”
“You’re hiding the girl, even from us. Which means you know…too much, if you catch my drift. Such a shame. Several of you served under me, and it was an honor to lead you. I’ll be sure to salute you at Arlington.”
“Arlington, will we be buried next to each other? Make it easier on our Ma,” Dace asked.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“You’re all loaded and ready to go. System is live,” Liam said, referring to the software he designed for them. “Guess that means we’re done here.”
“Damn shame you won’t be here to help implement the program and assist with training. We’ll be sure to have a moment of silence for you. Then life will go on,” Waterman offered.
“Just like that, huh?” Luke asked. “Why do I suspect this program will not be used as intended, and that you two assholes will be using it for your own gain?”
“Just…like…that. And…no comment to the rest. Now, if you don’t mind, enough of the small talk. I have meetings for the rest of the afternoon. Let’s hurry up and get this over with,” the general commanded. “I have men, armed men, on the other side of that door, waiting to escort you to the vehicle that will drive you to your plane.”
The general led them to the door, exposing a handful of heavily armed guards on the other side when he opened it. The guards led them through a private hallway, to a tunnel that must’ve ran under the Pentagon grounds, because it felt endless. When they finally emerged through an unassuming door that seemed to come out of nowhere, they were met by yet another well-planned surprise. The men were corralled into the back of a large black cargo type van and were seated along the cold steely benches that flanked each side, facing each other.
“Why, General…why go to all this trouble?” Declan questioned, disgusted by the idea that he once respected this man.
General Grover smirked and let out a huff of a chuckle. “Pride, country, family, legacy. Just to name a few.”
“Legacy?” Luke interrupted. “Murder is your legacy?”
“No. Quite the contrary. I’m one of the most highly decorated and respected generals in history. I’ve served and led our country through a handful of wars, endless number of battles, and have received nearly every accolade available. I’m a hero, gentleman. A patriot, and a goddamn hero.”
The general’s voice got louder as he went on – if he were anything, it was passionate about his cause, as convoluted as it was. “I will be in history books. Your children and your children’s children will study me, learn about me, and want to be me. My sons and daughter are all lifers – career military and on track to receive and be known for many of that which I have accomplished. That is my legacy.”
He began to spit as he emphasized with the emotion he felt. This jackass really believed his own bullshit. “I am country first, everything else a distant second, and plan to continue that. You’ve seen nothing yet. That do-gooder senator with all his morals, and assholes like you, threatened that legacy, and in turn, threatened the security of our country.”
“He had something on you. And you, Director,” Carter realized. The more he pondered, the more clear it became. “Or maybe it’s the general who has something on you, Director. Either way, you’re both a disgrace. There is nothing noble or honorable about what you do. You are not the epitome of hero, nor are you a legacy of this country.”
Luke took over. “You’re weak. You’re greedy. Your insecurities and psychopathy cloud your judgment and inflate your ego. You’re nobody. You’re a fraud, and your actions give men like us, good men who sacrificed everything for our country, a bad name. You’re pathetic, General.”
General Grover chuckled, enjoying that he got a rise out the men. “Says you. The rest of the country, world even, says otherwise. It’s a shame you won’t be around to see what happens next.”
When they came to a stop and exited the van, they found themselves back where they had started: at their plane.
Dace shrugged, seemingly confused. “You’re…letting us go?”
“Yes, but don’t get any ideas. You have a limited amount of fuel and a specific flight plan. You’re going to go down around Iowa. Seemed fitting since you spent time there with the old woman you took in. It’ll be tragic and beautiful. Upon your return to surrender the fugitive you captured, your plane went down – eight passengers, eight casualties.”
“Eight? There are six of us.”
“Oh, your pilot is on a suicide mission. He’ll fly you to your final resting place. We have his wife and kids under a sniper’s scope right now. He was happy to oblige when we showed him. I’ve thanked him for his service and sacrifice for country.” The general was a twisted son of a bitch.
“That’s seven,” Luke counted, confident he knew where the eighth death would come from.
“The fugitive. She’ll be among the casualties,” the general reasoned. “On paper, anyway. We’ll dispose of her.”
Luke lunged at the general, and rifles raised, Luke as their target. His brothers grabbed him and held him back.
General Grover glanced at his watch. “We have a team collecting her as we speak.”
“Don’t be so sure of yourself, asshole.” Carter was ready to drop the proverbial bomb and let the general and his weasel sidekick know the jig was up.
“Excuse me?”
“Look around, General. While you were spouting off about your legacy, you missed a few things. Take a minute,” Carter insisted. “Look around.”
The general looked, and what he saw took his breath away as the wind was knocked from his proverbial sails. There were men, snipers, lying flat on hangar rooftops with weapons aimed. There were men staged behind a few military-like vehicles that may or may not have been there before. Even the airplane hid a few men from obvious site. They were surrounded.
Carter walked over to the jet and knocked on the side. The door opened in response. The steps descended, and out walked Blake Cooper, their friend from McKenzie Ridge, along with a string of men with weapons aimed on the general and his now outnumbered posse.
“Hey there, General. Been a while. I hear you’ve been giving my friends some trouble, so I thought I would come out and see if I could help,” taunted Blake.
General Grover recognized the uniform Blake and his team wore. Their unit was supposed to be a myth, off the record, yet, here they were, acting as the highest law of the land. “These men are to be arrested – treason, obstruction of justice, terrorism, and murder, just to name a few offenses.”
“Yeah, it’s actually you we’re here to arrest,” Blake bluntly stated. “For those crimes, and then some.”
“How did you even get on the airfield this
close to the Pentagon?” The general turned on Blake when he realized he couldn’t manipulate the situation to his benefit any longer. “You’ll be arrested too.”
“Oh, see, nobody told you.” Carter was enjoying this far too much, but couldn’t help himself. “So, there are parts of the government that are…well, top secret. In fact, Blake Cooper wasn’t even here – nor were these men.”
“Blake who?” Dace asked, proving Carter’s point.
The general guffawed. “But I have the highest clearance there is. I know about every agency, publicly known and otherwise.”
“Do you? Are you sure about that? Or did someone just tell you that you were special and a big deal?” Luke added a layer of insult as well. They all had an axe to grind with this asshole.
“I oversaw those divisions – I led them,” Grover insisted.
“Did you?” Blake interrupted, ready to make his arrest. “You didn’t even stop to think how the O’Reillys landed their private plane right here and walked right into the Pentagon…no questions asked.”
Wylie let out a low whistle. “He has his head too far up his own ass to notice details like that.”
Carter turned to Wylie with a wild look and agreed, “Great observation, Wylie. I think you’re on to something there.”
“You don’t hold the highest clearance, or you would have been able to upload the software to every government server out there. Do you think the federal government with all their intelligence and top-secret shit would let some computer guy from Portland into their mainframe?” Liam laughed. Though he’d never served like his brothers and the rest of them, he held the same clearance with the same value assessed by the government. He served behind the screen – he was the brains, they were the brawn.
“But…you never served.”
Exasperated by the general’s ignorance, Liam went on to right his incorrect thinking. “Not in combat, but seems you don’t have to enlist or go to war to earn accolades and all that other shit you mentioned. For such a big deal around here, you don’t seem to know shit from shit.”
Carter was shutting it down, or they’d be out there all day exchanging insults and enjoying it. “Game over, General. You and the director are under arrest for—”
“It doesn’t matter. We still got the girl, and the senator is dead – it’s your word against ours. I think it will go something like this: co-conspirators and a bunch of other serious shit, boys,” the general interrupted Carter, assuming he had a final hand to play.
Luke laughed. “About that. Turns out, you were a real jackass in Portland, Director. You didn’t exactly make friends. Field Director Pete Langley was happy to step in and make some arrests when he heard the charges being brought against you…and your people.”
“You didn’t even get the girl,” the general seethed, looking at Director Waterman.
“You…you have no idea. You have no fucking idea what you’ve done,” Waterman said to the O’Reillys.
General Grover was suddenly worked up. “Shut up, Waterman!”
“No. No way am I going down for this. I want a deal. Carter, you can get me a deal. I’ll talk – I want immunity, and I’ll give you everything.” Waterman was a weasel through and through, but that suited the case just fine.
“Shut the hell up, Director.”
“No, you shut up, old man. I knew this wasn’t going to work. Jesus, I should have come clean, but—”
Carter broke up the quarrel before he lost what seemed to be another willing witness. “I don’t know about immunity, Director. You’ll have to give me a little something to work with for me to offer something like that.”
“I said shut…up!” The general pulled a gun on Director Waterman, but shots rang out as he was met with a dozen or more bullets before he could get a shot off himself.
“Oh my God. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. What have you done?” Waterman rambled, fear consuming him, despite the general now being dead. “You have no idea what you’ve done. You’ve started something none of you can finish – you just signed your own death warrants, and mine.”
“Calm down. He’s dead. There’s nothing—”
Before Carter’s thought could be finished, the director pulled his handgun from a holder under his jacket and turned the weapon on himself. There wasn’t time to intervene before he pulled the trigger, taking his own life. It was over. The threat was neutralized by their own hands. Daisy was free. Luke was free.
And the weight of it all was suddenly lifted from Luke’s shoulders. This was freedom. He was free to do as he pleased, which started and ended with Daisy.
“Well. That was…dramatic?” Blake had never really been worried about tact.
“Thanks for your help. Appreciate the backup,” Carter said to Blake.
“Anytime, brother. I’m a phone call away.”
“That goes both ways.” Carter nodded.
The guys exchanged handshakes and a few bro hugs before Blake dispersed the mess. “Get out of here. My team will take care this. We have some staging to do.”
“Well, hate to do the whole shoot out and run thing, but there’s a wedding to get ready for,” Liam joked, as if they weren’t standing over the bodies of the FBI Director and a four-star general.
“I’ll see you back in Portland at the end of the week,” Blake said.
Declan was the first to take the stairs to the jet. “Wheels up, boys.”
Dace stood on the tarmac, not interested in getting on the ticking time bomb of a jet just yet. “Who’s going to talk down the pilot?”
“He’s not flying. He’s three sheets to the wind drunk in the back,” Blake laughed.
Luke nodded. “Irish Whiskey?”
“Do you need to ask? You’re all taken care of. My guys are escorting you.”
“Yeah, we need to tip that pilot,” Wylie said, climbing aboard. “He may never fly with us again.”
On their way, like another day at the office, they were headed home. It had to be that way. They had to be able to turn it all off, given the things they witnessed – the things they did. Flying away from a scene like that should have screwed with them, but it was no different than a grocery clerk needing a cleanup on aisle seven. That’s how they survived it and went on to fight another fight. It was time to get home.
23
It was wedding day. The family gathered at Pittock Mansion, which seemed to be a family trend, given Declan and Lydia had been married there too. The mansion sat at the top of the foothills overlooking the city and boasted grand views of the Pacific Cascade Mountains where McKenzie Ridge was. The Pittock grounds were stunning, blanketed in festive fall colors from the leaves turning for as far as the eye could see. The vibrant jewel toned foliage added extra charm, and the stunning mansion itself was a beautiful host to the occasion.
Liam and City married on the lawn, lucky to celebrate on a beautiful and warm fall day, sans rain. Their vows were exchanged amongst the Pittock’s most stunning views and the garden of roses the city was nicknamed for: City of Roses. The ceremony was fairly quick, almost too quick for Luke. He enjoyed the stunning view of his future bride at the other side of the altar. She took his breath away. When she sang during the ceremony, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place, and Luke couldn’t have been prouder. Then she sang again at the reception as an encore. Everyone loved Daisy.
As best man, Luke had called the guests together by tapping his champagne flute with a piece of silverware. A man of more grunts than words, he managed to pull out all the stops and stun the crowd with an incredible speech, honoring his twin brother and his new bride. It would be hard for Liam to trump that speech when he stood up for Luke at his wedding. The day was perfect in every sense.
As the reception was winding down, the remaining guests, mostly family, gathered to toast the happy couple and their family growing by one more. They were short a few champagne flutes, since the event host was beginning to clean up, so Daisy volunteered to grab some.
City was able to book
Daisy’s best friend and well-known event planner, Cally, so Daisy knew the drill, down to where the champagne flutes could be found, and she took off to do just that. Wandering through the mansion to the large kitchen, Daisy couldn’t help but get caught up in the magic of the place and how it emanated into every part of the day.
Watching two of her favorite people come together in marriage, to witness their happiness, made her look forward to her own wedding that much more. This day was a great day, but the day she married Luke would be a grand day. She couldn’t wait to be Mrs. Luke O’Reilly.
Finally to the kitchen, the mansion was enormous, the flutes were exactly where she thought they would be. If Cally was anything, it was consistent. Reaching to the top of the stacked racks of glassware, she was a tad too short, despite her substantial heels.
“Need some help with that?” a man asked from behind her.
Startled at first, she turned to see one of the servers who had been working the wedding all afternoon. Grasping her chest to catch her breath, she said, “Oh, thanks. Appreciate it.”
“Actually, I think those are going back through the washer. Something about the grounds keeper spraying down the patio with cleaner and the door being open…overspray?” he informed her, trying to decide if they were safe to use. “There’s a batch already loaded up in the party rental truck. I know they’re clean because I did them myself. C’mon, I’ll help you.”
“Perfect. Thank you so much. I almost just poisoned my…family.” Daisy thought about that word and what it meant. Family.
They rounded the outside of the mansion to a small service path where all the delivery trucks were staged. “We put them in the black one up here with the doors open.”
“I really appreciate the help. You guys have done a fantastic job. The event was amazing.”
Another man in the same uniform jumped out of the back of the small delivery box truck, smiled, and nodded.
Daisy remembered him from the reception. He tended mostly to the wedding party. “Oliver, right?”
Brother's Keeper V: Wylie (the complete series BOX SET): NEW RELEASE + Series Box SET included! Page 88