Storm

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  But I was too late, because he was already pulling another gun with his left hand. I flipped the gun around and felt my heart thundering in my chest as I knew I was just a second too slow. His gun was already aimed at me and the trigger was being pulled.

  I fired the gun, hoping and praying that at least I would save Jessica from being killed after I was. But the strange thing was, he was already falling to the ground before my bullet left the chamber. I watched in slow motion as he fell to the ground and his body bounced off the gravel. He was bleeding out the right side of his skull, or what was left of it. I looked to Jessica, thinking that she had somehow gotten a gun and killed him.

  She stared at him with wide eyes, her face even paler than normal. And then she looked at me and she threw herself into my arms. I hissed at the pain in my shoulder, but didn’t push her away. That was way too fucking close for comfort.

  “What happened?” She pulled back and looked at me in confusion. “How…I don’t…”

  “It must have been the guys. Someone must have followed us and-”

  I shoved her behind me when I saw movement over her shoulder. I aimed my weapon at a man that looked to be in his eighties or nineties, but walked like he was fucking thirty years old. Jessica spun around and watched the old man as he approached.

  “Who are you?” I demanded.

  “My name’s Wallace.” He looked to Jessica and smiled. “But you can call me Grandpa.”

  I thought Jessica was going to collapse in my arms. She looked like she had seen a ghost and I almost laughed to myself, but then thought about how she would kick my ass, and decided to keep my mouth shut.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Jessica

  “You’re…” I stammered and shut my mouth before I could go sobbing all over the place and make a fool of myself. It was like staring at a ghost that I had only ever heard about. I always wondered what he would look like. I wondered how much my mother resembled him, but I never saw any pictures of him, so I really didn’t know. As I stared at him, I came to the conclusion that I really didn’t look like him at all, but my mother looked very much like him.

  I felt Storm grip my hand tightly and I cleared those thoughts from my head, trying to stop the runaway train of thoughts. I had to focus on the fact that he was here and I had so many unanswered questions. I looked to Storm for help and that’s when I saw the pain in his eyes. I had completely forgotten that he was hurt.

  “We need to get you to a hospital.”

  “I’m fine,” he brushed me off, but the blood seeping from his shoulder proved him wrong. Plus, he was starting to get that glazed over look and that was really freaking me out.

  “Come on, son,” my grandpa said. “Let’s get you to the hospital before you keel over on my girl. Wouldn’t do you any good to die of stubbornness.”

  “Like I said-” Storm started, but Wallace interrupted.

  “Son,” he leaned in so I couldn’t hear, but he didn’t realize that I had cat ears. “Don’t pass out in front of the lady. I don’t really want her freaking out right now.”

  Storm nodded and I internally smirked at my grandfather’s handling of him. I knew Storm probably didn’t need my help, but I shoved my way under his good arm so he could lean on me for support. After getting him in the passenger side of the truck, I ran around to the driver’s side and panicked when I realized it was a stick.

  “I don’t know how to drive a stick. Oh my God, you’re gonna bleed out all because I can’t get you to the hospital.”

  “Move over, darling.”

  Breaking through my panic, Wallace stood by the door, motioning for me to step out.

  “I’ll drive. You sit in back.”

  I nodded and moved without thinking about it, but then it hit me when I got in the back that there was a dead body laying on the ground.

  “Shouldn’t we do something about him?”

  “I texted Cap,” Storm mumbled. “He’ll take care of it.”

  “Like, dispose of the body or call the police?”

  “Does it matter? The man tried to kill us.”

  “He had it coming,” Wallace agreed.

  “What is with you two? The man is lying dead in the driveway. Don’t we have to report it or something?”

  “Now, that’s a man that deserved to end up in the psych ward,” Wallace said as he pulled out onto the road. “I did some reading up on him. That man has had a few screws loose since your father died.”

  “You know about him too? Is there anyone that didn’t know who my father was?”

  “In all fairness,” Storm said, “I only just found out about him.”

  “Still, he’s my father. You would think that I would know about him before somebody.”

  “There could be someone at Reed Security that doesn’t know yet. Maybe the wives?” I glared at Storm and he shrugged. “Yeah, probably not. Maybe your friend, Elsie.”

  “Nope,” Wallace said. “She’s the one that warned me.”

  “Wait.” I leaned forward against the front seat so I could feel more like I was part of the conversation. “How does Elsie know who he is? And what do you mean she warned you?”

  “Her husband, Samuel, joined the police department after I was arrested. I guess from there he moved on to the FBI. Of course, he retired some years ago and then he died. But Elsie still keeps in touch with all the friends that they made while he worked there. Samuel had worked tirelessly to try and bring down that asylum, but there were higher-ups that didn’t think there was anything to what was going on. That case was Sam’s life. So, when the results came back on the DNA test, Elsie was immediately contacted.”

  “I don’t understand, how would anyone connect me to Agent Schneider and then think to tell Elsie.”

  “So, Elsie called me and told me that Schneider was going crazy and I’d better get my ass on protecting you. Of course, I was already watching you, but when Elsie called, I hauled ass to find you. Made it just in time, too.”

  “But how did they all connect us?” I asked again.

  “It’s a good thing that you met this guy. You would have been stuck in that asylum just like your mother and your grandmother.”

  “Are you going to answer any of my questions?”

  “He can’t,” Storm said. “It’s best if you don’t know why Elsie knew or why anyone was digging into this. At least until the case is closed.”

  I huffed and sank back in my seat. I was tired of not getting answers, but I could see that they both had a point. For all I knew, someone was leaking information or going behind Agent Schneider’s back. Maybe they would feel responsible for getting him shot. And then the FBI would be after me too. I would end up in a maximum security prison, never having contact with anyone for fear that I would blab all of my secrets to anyone that would listen.

  “Relax, little rabbit. No one’s coming for you.”

  Storm was staring at me over his shoulder and I relaxed. It was like he always could always tell when I was getting worked up. We pulled up to the hospital and the nurse took Storm back immediately. I sat down in the waiting area, needing answers from Wallace, but also terrified because he was the one living relative that I actually wanted to get to know. What if I didn’t like him? What if he didn’t like me? I just didn’t want to screw this up.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Cap

  “The construction crew is thinking they’ll be done with the new building in just a few more weeks,” Ryan said, sitting across from me.

  I blew out a breath and sighed in relief. “That’s great. I need my office back.”

  “The training building isn’t cutting it?” Ryan grinned.

  “There are kids running around all the time, people constantly coming and going…It’s just crazy.”

  “Have you figured out who you want to lead the project?”

  “I like all of your designers. They had good ideas and…”

  “And what?”

  “It’s just not right.�
�

  Ryan nodded and looked through his papers. “Didn’t you say that this woman that you’re getting the property from is a designer?”

  “Yeah.” I eyed him skeptically. Was he suggesting that I hire her?

  “Why don’t you send her over to the office? I can have her look at the plans and see what she says. If she doesn’t have anything you’re interested in, we find someone else.”

  “Yeah, but if she fucks it up, she’s dating one of our guys. Then it’s just uncomfortable.”

  “Yeah, but she also is dating one of your guys. Have her talk with everyone and get a feel for what they like.”

  “We can just go with one of yours.”

  “Don’t be stupid. We’re not going to design the interior in something that’s just okay. Talk with her and then send her over. If she’s any good, we might have a job for her.”

  He stood and packed up. I wasn’t all that thrilled about hiring someone that was dating one of the guys. Especially when I hadn’t seen her work. It was just asking for trouble. On the other hand, she was pretty willing to sign over her property to us, so that was a huge plus.

  My phone buzzed and I pulled it out.

  “Maggie calling?” Ryan asked.

  “No, it’s Storm.”

  At the asylum. Dead body out front. Fresh kill.

  “Shit.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  I sighed and tossed the phone on the desk. “Dead body on the asylum property.”

  “Sean’s gonna be pissed at you,” he laughed. “You just gave him a shit ton of paperwork.”

  I rubbed a hand across my face. “We weren’t supposed to be there. It’s a crime scene. They were just grabbing clothes.”

  “You are so fucked,” he laughed.

  Oh yeah, he’s FBI. And I have a bullet to the shoulder. On the way to the hospital.

  “Fuck!”

  “Not good I take it?”

  “I was ready to go home. We were all done here for the day. Is it so wrong that I want just one night to not have to deal with dead bodies?”

  “Is that a rhetorical question?”

  I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “I swear, I don’t know how much longer I can do this shit. I need to hand over the reins.”

  “Bullshit,” Ryan said. “The day you hand over the reins is the day you need a fucking hip replacement. Go deal with this shit and go home. Or better yet, put it off on someone else. That’s what you have employees for.”

  I grinned, liking that idea. “I think I’ll give Cazzo a call.”

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Jessica

  I sat awkwardly in the waiting room with Wallace. My grandfather. Geez, that was the weirdest thing in the world to say. I just couldn’t believe he was here, and even though I had so many questions, I had no clue where to begin.

  “Just ask me.”

  I jerked my head up. “What?”

  “I can see the wheels turning. Just ask me whatever you want to know.”

  I thought about it, wondering what to start with. There was so much, but one thing in particular stood out.

  “You contacted me a year ago. Why didn’t you show up when we agreed to meet?”

  “Heart problems. I was on my way out the door to go see you when I had a heart attack.”

  I gasped in shock. I wouldn’t have guessed it to look at him.

  “I’m fine now. The doctors fixed me up and I spent the last year recovering. I wanted to contact you again, but I…I kind of thought maybe it was a sign I wasn’t supposed to meet you. But then Elsie called me when you came to town and I decided that fate had been wrong the first time.”

  “Why did you think you weren’t supposed to see me?”

  “I was accused of raping your grandmother. I had no idea if you believed it or not. It was hard enough to convince your mother that I wasn’t the man they said I was.”

  He seemed sincere, and since Elsie vouched for him, I just couldn’t see that he was who my great-grandparents said. There was a whole other side to this story that I was missing.

  “Did you love my grandmother?”

  “With all my heart.” His face softened as he said it. “She was my whole world. You know, when she told me she was pregnant, I wasn’t even scared. I tried to convince her to run away with me. I was pretty sure that no parent would be okay with their eighteen year old daughter being pregnant. But she refused. She said that they would understand once we told them we were getting married.”

  “Wasn’t that enough? I mean, getting pregnant isn’t the worst thing in the world.”

  “Not now, but you’re talking sixty-five years ago. Things were different then. Sex was never talked about openly and your image was one of the most important things you had in your favor. It would have ruined his reputation. But your grandma thought that her father loved her enough to understand.”

  “What happened the night she was taken?”

  “The police showed up on my doorstep and took me into custody. My parents were obviously upset, but we didn’t have the money to fight the charges. Besides, your great-grandfather’s word meant more in that town than all the money in the world. I was a nobody accused of rape. It didn’t matter what I said. I never did hear from her ever again, but I knew she loved me. I just wish that I could have saved her.”

  His eyes filled with tears and I had to look away as my own eyes filled with tears. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a stack of old envelopes that looked like they had been handled a lot over the years. He held them out to me, his hand shaking slightly. I took them from him and looked at the top envelope. All it said was Wallace in feminine print.

  “These were letters that your grandma wrote to me. When I got out of prison, my mother gave me a shoebox filled with them. I didn’t think she would save anything of mine after I was accused of rape, but she knew how much I loved Ruth. I’ve carried them around with me ever since the eighties. I want you to have them now.”

  “You don’t want to keep them?”

  “I’ve thought of nothing else but seeking retribution for the people that tore us apart ever since I was thrown in prison. These letters have kept me going all this time, but it’s time to let the past go. I only have a short bit of life left and I won’t spend it being angry. Not when I have you in my life. Ruth will always be in my heart, so no, I don’t need these anymore.”

  I took them from him and ran my hands over his most treasured possession. I wanted to dig into them, but there was so much more I needed to know.

  “Do you know why my mother was committed?”

  He nodded. “I got out of prison about a year before you were born. I went and found your mother immediately. She was beautiful and everything I could have wanted for my child. But she hated me when I introduced myself. And truth be told, it took me years to convince her that I hadn’t raped her mother.”

  “Did my great-grandparents know that you were talking to her?”

  “No. I knew what they were capable of. I didn’t want to take the chance. We only talked a few times a year. I wanted to be closer to her, but she just wasn’t ready. I would say that you were about eight years old when she finally started to believe me. Things had happened with her family that made her suspicious. She finally started to trust in me. And then we only had a few years where we were speaking on a regular basis before she was taken too. She had found some documents about her mother and she wanted to confront your great-grandfather. I begged her not to do it, but she was just as stubborn as her mother.”

  He stared down at the ground, lost in thought. I couldn’t imagine what it had been like for him. To have found a woman he wanted to marry, only to have her taken from him while he rotted in prison. Then to find his daughter, but to lose her too. It was so sad. I couldn’t imagine living my life like that. But one thing became really clear while talking to him. The past was done, and I needed to leave it there and move on with my own life. I didn’t want to end up like him, in his eighties and having
nothing to show for his life but heartache.

  “I’m sorry that you lost them.”

  He placed his hand on mine and smiled. “I hope that I still have you.”

  “Of course. You’re the only family I have left.”

  “What about the relatives you were living with?”

  “They were never really my family. Not in the way that counts. I just wish that I had known all along who my great-grandparents were. I didn’t know them that well, but I never thought that they were capable of something like this. It’s terrible what they did to you.”

  “I got my revenge.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He contemplated this for a moment and then looked at me intently. “This may make you hate me, but when your mother was taken away, there was no way I could go see her. I confronted your great-grandparents and tried to get her out of there. I told them they would never hear from us again if they would only let her go. But they wouldn’t give in. I had a prison record. Nobody would have believed me. I reached out to Elsie and Samuel, but Samuel was sick. He tried to help me, but most days he could barely get out of bed. He referred me to some colleagues of his, but in the end…it was just like what happened to Ruth. So, when she died in that clinic and they told me it was suicide, I went to your great-grandparents and confronted them. They said some terrible things to me, so I went back that night and I burned their house down with them inside.”

  I knew he was waiting for my reaction, for me to yell or hit him, but I didn’t feel a thing. There was no pity for them or outrage that they had been murdered. I slipped my hand into his and squeezed. He did what he had to, to get justice for the love of his life and their daughter. And I could see now what Storm was talking about regarding Chance. A man could only be pushed so far before he would lose it and break.