Dace stepped aside and gestured to the belongings she’d piled in the chair. “Fine. Go. I can’t keep you safe if you won’t let me. If you’re right about all this, well…then, it’s your funeral.”
She flinched at his words but didn’t let them stop her. She grabbed a bag from under the bed and made her way to the pile of clothes. “Thank you. I’ll grab these and be on my way.”
“It’s probably for the best.” Dace shrugged. His sharp stab and his cold demeanor caused her to flinch. “Would you like to say goodbye to everyone first?”
“No. I don’t know that I could bear the goodbyes. Would you mind…?”
It brought him satisfaction to know that she really did not want to go and that it would be painful. She cared for all of them, and that was when he knew she was still worth saving.
“What about Eli? Would you like me to tell him goodbye for you as well? Or would you like to handle that one yourself?”
Ivy spun on her heels. “Excuse me?”
“The man in the picture, Eli. Would you like to see him before you leave?”
Her teeth clenched as crimson rose, filling her cheeks. “Is that some kind of joke? You discovered someone in my life – from my past, rather – and you want to use it against me?”
“I’m not using anything against you. Just know he’s important to you and thought maybe…you know, you’d like to say…”
“Eli is dead. Dace.” Ivy took a step closer to Dace, fists clenched. “He died because of me. How dare you?”
And there it was. Ivy did think he was dead, so maybe the tale about her father’s death was truly her belief as well. Dace was finally getting somewhere with her.
“He’s very much alive and well, actually. You didn’t cause anyone’s death, Ivy. None of this is your fault. Eli is here because of you. He told us this was the plan. You were to come here if anything went wrong. You were supposed to come here for help. So let me help you.”
“No.” Ivy took several steps backward. Her eyes began to wander around the room, looking at everything and nothing at the same time as her breaths quickened. She was frightened and confused. “He can’t be. If he’s alive…”
“If he’s alive, what?” Dace prodded. “If he’s alive, Ivy…what does that mean? Tell me, honey. What does it mean? Is this about your father? The boy? Cashel?”
“I-I don’t believe you.” She straightened, and her defenses went up with her. “You guys can do stuff; I know how you are. You found the picture, and you figured out who Eli is…He isn’t here. You’re tricking me.”
“Why would I do that? Ivy, I’ve spent my whole life loving you and searching for you. Why would I hurt you when I finally found you again?”
“I-I don’t know. Maybe…maybe it was you all along. You were the one we were running from. You and your brothers.”
Panic was overwhelming her and distracting her from the truth. This wasn’t her, she didn’t believe that, but she had to cling to anything she could as a means to keep her secret protected, to force it back down because Dace could see just how badly she wanted to tell him. She was trying to protect him by accusing him, by hurting him.
“You and I both know that isn’t true.” Dace pulled out his cell phone, and with a few taps of the screen, he pulled up a video feed. “Look, that’s the lair. Eli is in there with my brothers, C.T., and Carter.”
“Carter?” she questioned. “Carter Landry.”
“You remember him.”
“Of course I do,” she said. “This can’t be real. Liam did this, right? This isn’t real. It’s some simulation or something. He can make anything digital seem real.”
“No. I assure you, it’s live. Eli is really here.” Dace tapped the screen, and the feed became audible. “Hello.”
The men in the video stopped talking and looked at one another, except Eli who seem startled when he didn’t see Dace standing in the proximity of his voice.
“Dace?” Eli said. “Are you resorting to games at a time like this?”
“Behind you, look up,” Dace said.
Eli turned in his chair and smiled when he saw the camera. “Ah. I assume you’re with our girl.” He raised a hand and waved. “She being a bit stubborn?”
Ivy smiled through a quivering moment of fervor. Relief. She wore it like a comforting blanket meant to soothe her soul. Her voice quaked. “Eli.”
“Aw, love.” Eli’s stature softened at the sound of her emotion. “It’s going to be okay.” He stalled before saying, “Dace is going to help. Just like you said.”
She nodded her head as if he could see her.
“I’ll be down shortly. We’re almost done here,” Dace said to the men before disconnecting the feed.
It wasn’t lost on him that Eli was pained to give any kind of credit back to Dace. That had to be a blow to what appeared to be an immensely large ego, but it showed that Eli really did have Ivy’s best interest at heart. It was as if he was telling her it was safe and trusting Dace was the right call. Dace also didn’t miss that Eli referred to her as, love. His affections were obvious, but Dace decided to table that until the tasks at hand were under control and behind them.
“I would never lie to you,” he told her. “I wish you wouldn’t lie to me. Don’t make all of this – your injuries, the guilt you’ve been living with – all for nothing.”
“I can’t believe he’s here,” she said, seeming hopeful.
Dace was determined to exploit that hope to get the information he wanted and that which he needed. “Want to tell me what happened now? The truth, Ivy.”
“I can’t, Dace. I still can’t. They’ll hurt him if they haven’t already. Maybe even kill him…”
“Hurt who?” Dace pressed on. “Who? Eli’s fine; he’s safe. You just saw him; they can’t hurt him. I’ve said it a hundred times, and I’ll continue to say it until you believe it. I’m not letting anyone or anything hurt you, and if that means Eli is a part of the fucking package, fine. We’ll protect him too.”
“Not Eli. I’m not talking about…”
“Dammit, Ivy…then hurt who?”
“Our son!” Ivy shouted before collapsing to her knees. She tossed her head back and wailed, “Our son, Dace.”
The room began to spin with the truths Ivy had just delivered, and he met her on the floor. The truth Dace had been prodding for – begging for. He finally got it, and it was a blow to everything he thought he knew. His world was upside down, and he wasn’t sure which end was right because he couldn’t wrap his head around the implication. Ivy was a mom. The boy in the picture was her child. She was protecting her son.
“You have a child…” Dace was cut off before he could question her further.
“Cash is our son, Dace.” She whimpered with her head buried in her hands. “Your son.”
“In the picture…?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Our beautiful boy has been taken.”
And that was when Dace’s world really began to fall apart.
16
“We need to call up everyone available,” Dace said as he entered the lair with Ivy.
The brothers each looked at each other before Wylie asked, “For?”
“A rescue,” Dace finished. “By the way, you’re all uncles.”
“That’s been established…like a few kids ago.” Wylie chuckled. “You okay, Dacey?”
All eyes were trained on Eli and Ivy’s emotional reunion.
“I thought you were dead,” Ivy said into Eli’s chest. “I thought they found you too.”
Eli stroked the back of her head as he held her close. “I’m fine, love. I’ve been right behind you the whole time.”
Dace glared at the sight of Eli hugging Ivy. Their embrace was a little too long for his liking. The sense of loathing he felt for Eli at that moment was far from fair or healthy, especially when he considered that Eli had been helping to raise his child all these years, and Eli didn’t have the balls to mention it.
“We can squa
re up, later, pal,” Eli said, sensing Dace’s disdain for him. “I was only trying to be respectful.”
“Now I’m your pal? Not bloke, mate, friend…?” Dace stepped to Eli. “Let’s make things clear, I’m not any of those things to you, got it?”
Eli dropped his head. “Dace…”
“Thank you for watching over my family, but I have it from here.”
Ivy stood between the men. “This really isn’t the time or place for this. I understand you’re upset with me, Dace, but Eli was only doing the job he was hired to do.” She touched Dace’s chin and turned his focus to her. “Okay? This was me, not Eli. Cash needs both of you, right now.”
“Uh, someone want to fill the rest of us in?” Wylie interrupted. “I think we missed something, and this is starting to feel a lot like a soap opera.”
“I’m a dad,” Dace announced. “And my son – it’s a boy, in case you didn’t put that part together – is missing.”
A unanimous what the hell could be heard throughout the room.
“C’mon, Dace…” Eli started.
“No.” Ivy put her hand on Eli’s chest, stopping him. “This is a lot. I deserved that.”
What was once a look of compassion for Ivy was now one of disappointment and hurt. When he saw the picture of her holding a child, he’d considered it could be hers, and it stung. But after years apart, it wasn’t fair to judge or hold her in contempt for moving on with her life. Hell, she’d already moved on without him the day she ran off. But then to find out the child was actually his and not Eli’s, like he’d assumed? There wasn’t a word for how that felt. It was like a roller coaster that never stopped – the earth being pulled from beneath your feet – and it fucking hurt.
A certain guilt came with that hurt. Shouldn’t one feel joy at the thought of being a parent? A surprise child should be just that, surprising. The kind of surprise that brought joy, but this felt like getting hit in the gut over and over. Especially finding out that child is missing, and you’ve never heard their voice, smelled their hair, or witnessed any of the milestones people lose their shit over. Even his brothers got gah over this stuff, and he always wondered why. And now, he may never get to know that why.
“You’ve seen the picture.” Ivy took the burden off Dace’s shoulders and spoke to the group. “From my phone?”
“Ivy,” Dace interrupted.
She stood next to him and wove her fingers with his in a tight grasp. “His name is Cashel.” She smiled as she said his name, then looked up at Dace, and said, “But we call him Cash. He’s…perfect. He’s our son.”
Dace removed his hand from hers and pulled out a chair for her to sit. “There is more to the story, and Ivy is going to share it with all of us so we can accomplish two things. Get to the bottom of this threat that’s been looming and find my son.”
She took her seat, swallowed hard, and told those gathered the same story she’d told Dace just moments before. “I was coming home from the farmers’ market. It wasn’t all that far. I’d walked through the woods on one of our favorite trails since living there.”
“Where is there?” Wylie asked coldly.
Eli chimed in, “We’d been settled in Moss Bridge, Mississippi, for a few months. Small town, Southern, off the beaten path if you will.”
“I’m familiar with it,” Declan said. “We have a safe house there. I used it when my now wife was under our protection. Quiet, easy to stay anonymous despite its small size, near the interstates to anywhere, but not too close…we have a lot of contacts and supports in the area, even a chapter of the MC.”
“That’s it,” Eli said. “Odd we ended up there if you are so heavily loaded there. It doesn’t make sense why we’d be sent there. Is this a new location for you?”
“Not at all,” Dace said. “We’ve been rooted there for years.”
“It’s like we’d been delivered to your front steps, then.”
“Delivered by who?” Dace asked.
“I would move Ivy and the lad anytime I received orders to do so. A team would be sent ahead to secure the area, and I would serve as their protection on the move and after the team left once we would settle.”
“Who gave you your orders?”
“My boss. Her father,” Eli said.
“That has to be a coincidence,” Ivy said. “He’d never put us in harm’s way intentionally.”
“What makes us harmful?” Dace asked pointedly.
“I didn’t mean it that way. He must not have known.”
“We’ll make a note of that, but let’s get to the rest of this story. What led you here. They need to hear it,” Dace instructed.
“I’d come back the way I’d left. It was a beautiful day, nothing unusual – until I got home. It was quiet. Too quiet. When I’d left, Cash was outside playing wildly, and now there was nothing. Not a sound.” Ivy took a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing.
“His toys were left in the yard where he’d been playing. I thought maybe he’d gone in for a snack, then my stomach had that hollow feeling – you know, the kind when you worry. I wondered if he’d been hurt. I stood at the edge of the woods and watched the house. I’d been trained to know my surroundings, to be safe and never walk into an ambush, so I waited, listened, even smelled the air. Not a sound. That tingle at the back of my neck that made the finest hairs stand tall had me wanting to run toward the house, but I fought off that feeling because of that thing going on in my stomach. Wait. Observe. Evaluate. All the words Eli had taught me rang loud in my head, and it was like I was frozen in place.”
“My father was in town. He’d come to visit us every so often, but he never stayed for long. He brought a small army with him, and they’d search the house and grounds every time they were there. It was odd – like round-the-clock guards who would rotate shifts every so many hours.”
“You didn’t ask your father what they were there for?” Wylie asked.
“Of course. He’d say, you can never be too cautious, Ivy Bean. I knew he was important, had a big job – government or something. I figured it was par for the course.”
Carter became curious at this point. “Did he ever tell you what he did?”
“No. He’d tell me the less we knew, the safer we’d be. That he had an important job that dealt with bad people, and it put us at risk. That’s why we were under protection and would move frequently. He didn’t stay with us because it was safer, he said. I assumed it was some sort of witness protection or something, and he worked for the government. The cars they’d all arrive in gave it away – or maybe I just watch too many movies. Either way, I assumed that’s what it was, and I have no reason to doubt him.”
“I can attest to that,” Eli said. “I’m on his payroll, but it goes to an offshore account his team set up. The bank is one the US Government uses for international dealings – many nations have holdings there, in fact.”
“Go on,” Dace said, nodding at Ivy.
She bit her bottom lip to stop the quivering as she mentally went over the next chapter of that horrid day. She let out a deep, cleansing breath and closed her eyes. “The cars were still parked where they had been when I left. Black SUVs – that’s what they always traveled in. Nothing had moved while I stood there, and that was the problem. I wondered where the guards were that had been circling the grounds. The men who stood at the end of the driveway weren’t there. I didn’t see the guard on the front or back porch. I couldn’t see anything inside, so I couldn’t tell if the men in there were still marching their little circle.”
“That’s when I noticed the dormer window in the attic. The man who stands there and watches wasn’t there, but something was different. Something on the window maybe. A glare from the setting sun made it hard to see what it was, but I knew it wasn’t there before. That sinking feeling in my gut became more recognizable. It was fear. Something was wrong.”
“Where was Eli during all of this? Wasn’t he with you?” Wylie asked.
“I remained
at the house. Her father called a meeting and wanted me to attend. That usually meant we were moving.”
“You’re her bodyguard – because she needs a bodyguard – and you let her go to town alone?” Dace questioned with disgust.
“We’d been in this place the longest. It felt safe, and her father said he had men in town doing exactly what they were doing here. When I say it was a small army, I’m being quite literal,” Eli defended. “It wasn’t like this hadn’t happened before. If it wasn’t safe, we were ordered to move immediately, and this was just a visit.”
Dace shook his head. “And we’re supposed to trust your judgment? Your integrity through all this now?”
Eli was seated just on the other side of Ivy and stood to look around her right in Dace’s face. “I wasn’t in charge. He was. I told him it wasn’t a good idea, and the man who signs my paycheck and outranks me here said stay. I didn’t have much choice. Remember the small army?”
“You had to have known something wasn’t right.”
“Of course I did. I knew something wasn’t right every time he came to town. My job wasn’t to figure that out, though – it was to protect Ivy and Cash, so that’s what I did. The more I could find out, the better.”
“Fighting over this helps no one at this point,” Ivy interrupted. “Please, stop. We can’t make enemies out of each other right now because there is a little boy out there who needs us – needs you – both of you.”
“Fuck.” Dace tossed his pencil at the table and leaned back in his chair. The swollen veins in his arms and neck revealed the seething anger he was carrying.
“It was like they suddenly appeared,” Ivy said.
The men each looked around the table at one another with confusion until Wylie finally asked for clarification. “Who? Who suddenly appeared?”
“The bodies?” Her voice became pitchy, and words landed as questions like she was in disbelief herself. “It was like a dream; I couldn’t wrap my mind around what I was looking at. It was as if my mind was playing tricks on me. I shook my head, sat on a nearby stump, and tried to catch my breath. I didn’t know I was breathing so hard. They had to have been there all along, but it was like…like my mind was trying to protect my heart – protect me, really – and give me the chance to pace myself instead of panicking and running right into the line of fire.”
Brother's Keeper V: Wylie (the complete series BOX SET): NEW RELEASE + Series Box SET included! Page 103