Once we deplaned, we taxied over to where our helicopters waited. They took us close to where we’d be staying. After we landed there, several white, nondescript vans waited for us. I chuckled to myself as they were a far cry from Drex’s usual fancy black SUV’s. We piled into the vans and off we went to our rentals. He’d rented two houses close to each other. We arrived at the one I was staying in, along with Gemini and Drex, and when we walked inside, I was pleasantly surprised.
Since we were out in the middle of nowhere, I didn’t expect much. But this house had everything one needed and was very cozy. It would be a nice few days before we cranked up the heat. And then, who knew what would happen. I prayed everything went well because getting caught committing a crime in a foreign country was not something I wanted on my record, not to mention doing prison time abroad.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Raiden
Not seeing Scottie was brutal. I knew it would be hard but never thought it would be this bad. She’d called when they’d landed in Glasgow, and then in Ireland. We had a laugh over the vans Drex had rented.
“I feel like we’re headed to church camp in these,” she said.
“Some kind of church camp, huh?”
A few jokes were being told in the background and it was hard to hear, so we ended the call. She said she’d call later when she got to the house.
I was on the way home from work when her call came.
“I miss you.”
Her soft laugh rained over me, making me more aware of her absence. “Raiden, I just left this morning.”
“I know. I still miss you.”
“Hopefully we’ll be home soon. At least the rental house is super nice. Drex did a marvelous job of finding this place.”
“Scottie, did you honestly think he’d put you and Gemini in some shithole?”
Chuckling, she answered, “I didn’t give it a thought. I only knew we’d be out in the middle of nowhere, so I just figured it would be a simple, barren place.”
“I’m glad it’s not.”
“So am I.” She yawned into the phone.
“Hey, you need to crash. It’s late over there.”
“Yeah, I’m super sleepy. I’ll call you when I can tomorrow.”
I’d never thought of my house as being an empty shell before. It was always comforting to come home. But tonight? Not so much. Had Scottie put her imprint on it already? Was that why I was feeling this way? Or was it only because of her absence, and would I grow used to it after a while? I hoped it was the latter because if it wasn’t, that signified something I wasn’t ready for. Yes, I enjoyed our times together. She was brilliant, witty, sexy as fuck, beautiful, and everything a man, especially this one, could desire in a woman. But she also had a dangerous job, and I wasn’t sure I could handle that part of her. It wouldn’t be fair for me to ask her to give it up.
The other thing… our relationship was too new for me to have these intense feelings for her. Maybe I should talk to Acer. He and Isla went through something similar. Perhaps he could advise me, particularly on the job part.
As if he’d read my mind, the phone buzzed, and it was him calling.
“Hey Little Guy.”
“Big bro, what’s up? Thought I’d check in since you were an empty nester.”
He was referring to the fact that the house was empty with Scottie, Drex, and Gemini being gone. “Right. It’s weird, I have to say. I’d gotten used to all the chatter going on.”
“I’m sure. Isla tells me they landed and are in the houses.”
“I heard from Scottie and she said the same.”
“That was good news.”
“Hmm. Ace, can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“How do you deal with the danger of Isla’s job?”
“To be honest, I have a lot of trust in her abilities. That stems from when I saw her in action. If you recall, I was in the field with her. She was very impressive.”
“What about now?”
“Raiden, why are you asking me this?”
“Because I can’t stop worrying about Scottie, damn it.” My little brother had the audacity to laugh. He fucking laughed at me. “Can I ask what is so damn funny?”
“The mighty Raiden has fallen.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” His statement genuinely puzzled me.
“Seriously?”
“Yes!”
“You are in love, my man.”
A hand flew up in the air in protest. “Wait, a minute. I’m not. It’s just that—”
“Tell it to yourself, but it’s all lies. You’re preaching, man. I’ve been there. I tried to hide from it too. But then I figured what the hell.”
“No! It’s not that way with us.”
He laughed again. “Whatever you say, bro. It’s your world, not mine. Just don’t make the same mistake I did.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
A hiss blew out of me. “This is not the time for you to throw cryptic comments at me, Ace.”
“You’re the one who set us up. I sent Isla away, remember? You and Cruze set it up, so we’d get back together.”
I wanted to punch myself in the head. How could I have forgotten that little tidbit of info? “Jesus.”
“You really have it bad, man, and I’m not kidding.”
I guess I did. Was I that blind? “Can I ask you something else?”
“Anything.”
“Were you as much of an idiot as I am?”
Now he let out a belly laugh that nearly burst my eardrum.
“I was the absolute worst. So my advice to you is not to be as much of a dumbass as I was.”
“Point taken.”
“Raiden, if your feelings are genuine, don’t waste time. Our lives on this earth are short. We never know when our time is up. Make the most of each day.”
“You’re right.” He’d been through hell and back and had emerged a changed man. His outlook on life was more meaningful than any of us could understand, but I got it. “When Scottie gets home, I’ll have a talk with her.”
“A talk? You sound like you’re getting ready to tell her about the birds and the bees.”
“I’ll show that part of the discussion.” I imagined him shaking his head.
“So, back to the other reason I called. Mom and Dad want you to come and stay here at Cruze’s. They’re worried about you over there, alone.”
Being immersed in Scottie’s absence and my misery, I hadn’t thought about it. The safety aspect itself was reason enough to go there.
“Does Cruze have enough room?”
“He does. You could have Olivia’s room and we could move her into one of the hall closets.”
“You’d put your daughter in a closet?” The idea was appalling.
“Shut up. I’m talking about the huge walk-ins he has upstairs that are empty.”
“Oh. I thought… never mind.” I saw poor little Olivia being shut away like Harry Potter. Then a chuckle burst out of me.
“Yeah, I figured your brain was going there. You know damn well I’d never do that to my kid. Anyway, she doesn’t need a bathroom and those closets are huge. They can hold a crib and all her other things. They even have windows in them.”
“I know which ones. If you don’t mind, then I’m game.”
“Get your ass over here then and I’ll tell the others.”
“Gotta pack and I will.”
I threw a bunch of clothes in a duffle, grabbed a few suits, shirts, and ties, and then my toiletries. The bodyguards loaded them up and off we went.
Cruze’s house was inviting when I entered. Mom and Isla’s mom, Liv, were at the stove cooking. It smelled great.
“A home-cooked meal?” I asked.
“What else did you think?” Mom answered.
“Do you do this every night?”
“Raiden, what do you think? We both love to cook and it gives us something to do.”
“I didn’t know I was missing out on this. If I had, I would’ve moved in sooner.” I hugged my mom and then Liv. But when I went to lift off the lid of one pot, Mom slapped my hand.
“Get out of there.”
“I was only peeking.”
“No, you weren’t. You were going to dig a spoon in and get your germs on everything, weren’t you, Raiden Kent?”
“But, Mom…”
“But, Mom, nothing. Now scram.”
Her scolding made me laugh. It was like living at home again. Cruze walked in and asked, “Are you already in trouble?”
“Appears so.”
“Then come up and help us move the crib. The baby is ready to go down and we need to get this done, pronto.”
I jogged up the stairs behind my brother to the so-called closet. Acer was there with the crib mattress in hand, and Isla behind him.
“Raiden,” she said, “we’re so glad you’re here.” She hugged me.
“I am too. Thanks for offering to move my niece into a closet.”
“Some closet, huh?” she asked.
“Hey, bro, come help me a sec,” Acer said.
He’d already dismantled the crib, so we each carried parts of it from the room I was to occupy to the closet. Olivia was lying in one of those baby carriers. She was smiling and half asleep. Damn, she was cute.
We quickly put the crib together and set the mattress in. Then Isla put the sheet on while Acer went to get the baby. They’d already set up the video monitor, and she didn’t fuss at all when they set her in the crib. We shut the door behind us and that was it.
“That’s all you have to do?”
Isla held the video monitor in her hand. “Look.” I did, and Olivia lay there with her eyes closed.
“She’s sleeping already?”
“Yeah. She’s a fast one. And she sleeps all night. We’ve been lucky with her.”
“I thought babies cried when you put them down.”
Isla said, “Some do, I suppose. Olivia is just happy and never really did. If she gets overly tired, she might. Let me do a sweep through the room to make sure everything is out of there. We never used the bed, so you should be good there.”
We both went in and she checked the drawers, but they’d moved everything out. “It’s all yours.”
“Hey, thank you for doing this. I know it was a pain.”
“Not at all. You’ll love it here. The food is amazing.” She patted her stomach.
“Yeah, I am already in trouble with Mom for trying to pilfer from the pot.”
“I’ll leave you to unpack. Come down and join us when you’re finished.”
It didn’t take long before I was hanging out with the guys and drinking a beer. “I feel like I’m on vacation,” I told everyone.
“Only tonight. Tomorrow, we talk business,” Cruze said. “We have a couple new things on the plate the three of us need to discuss.”
“And why can’t we do it at work in the morning?”
“You know how work is. Meetings with the crew and appointments impede this. We can do it after dinner to save time.”
I glanced at Acer only to see him shrug. “All right then.”
Mom called us to eat.
Dinner was fabulous. Homemade biscuits, a huge pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, cauliflower soufflé and green beans were on the menu. For dessert we had lemon pies.
“If I eat like this every night, I’ll weigh three hundred pounds in no time.” I patted my belly and groaned. “I’m stuffed. This was amazing. Thank you for cooking.”
Mom’s smile was enormous. “Raiden, darling, what we didn’t tell you is the men do the dishes every night.”
Eager to help, I replied, “I’d love to.”
“Great!” Cruze, Dad, and Acer got up and walked outside. “Where’d they go?”
“Yeah, they figured this is your orientation since it’s your first night. Good luck in there,” Mom answered.
I walked into the kitchen and gasped. It resembled nothing like it did when I came in. They must’ve gotten every pot out and dirtied it on purpose. Dirty pots, pans, and dishes covered every inch of counter space and they left it to me to clean up. Those rats. I would figure out how to pay them back, one way or another.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Scottie
Two weeks’ worth of surveillance gave us the information we needed to make our move. Sinead Flynn rode to school every day in an armored car with another as an escort. In her car, a dark-haired woman accompanied her whom we had yet to identify. She didn’t come up in any of our photo searches, so for now, we were assuming she was the nanny.
The drones we’d used showed us how securely O’Brien kept the place. Security dotted the grounds, and all the entrances. We couldn’t get a look at the interior, but Huff had hacked into their computer and discovered the security system was complex.
After several briefings, we determined the best way to approach the subject was on the way to her school. We’d use both vans, along with two more cars and an RPG, taking out the car she didn’t occupy.
We set the op for the day after tomorrow. “We take the nanny too. No harm is to come to that child,” Drex emphasized as he stared at each of us. “Am I clear?”
He waited for all of us to answer. Then I asked, “What about the nanny?”
After a long moment, he answered, “My preference is to take her alive, if possible.”
“And the guards?” someone else asked.
Drex’s head slowly shook. “Collateral damage, unless they can be subdued. The RPG will take most or all of the one car out.”
My gut twisted as my conscience reared its righteous head. “And there’s no other way?”
“Scottie, you know if there were, we’d be going that route,” Gemini said. “We’ve exhausted every other avenue, and this is the only workable option.”
She was right, and I knew it. It still gnawed at me that men would die. They weren’t good men, though, and did terrible things. That should ease my mind, but it didn’t.
Drex added, “We have the plan set for our rider to plant the GPS on her car.” What he meant was the next day, he was sending out three motorcycles and one of them would intervene with the cars on the route they took. The driver would crash into them in a practiced manner so he would roll to the side and plant the GPS device before anyone could get out and see him. The three motorcycle riders were former dirt bike competitors and trained at manipulating their bikes in falls and crashes. They assured us of their competence and wouldn’t get hurt. In fact, their expressions told me they were excited about this part of the op.
“You three are out of the box crazy,” I said.
“Nah, we’re good at this stuff. You’ll see. We may end up with some road rash, but that’s about it,” one of them answered.
“Whatever you say.” I shrugged. In my book, they were nuts.
“Hey worry wart,” Drex said, “you’re forgetting that we’ll come along in a car to check on them right after.”
“I’m not. I’m worried that the crash will kill them.”
The three musketeers laughed at me. Jerks. Here I was, a concerned citizen, and they were laughing at me. I flipped them off. They laughed harder. I gave them a double flip off. Then they came and hugged me. Assholes.
“We love you, Scottie. Are you dating anyone?”
I swatted them like flies. “Get away from me, you asses.”
Everyone in the room was chuckling. It was nice to have some comic relief.
We went through the plans a few more times, to ensure everyone knew their roles for the next morning. At the end, Drex said, “Scottie, you get to stay here.”
“Me? Why?”
“You’re too scared for these three.”
“No way. I’m coming too.” I crossed my arms, ready for a fight.
“Only if you promise to keep your worries to yourself.”
“Okay, I promise.”
“Atta girl.�
��
My forehead creased in the deepest frown. “Atta girl?”
“Uh oh, Drex. Apologize now,” Gem said.
He rubbed his chin, then looked up. “Right. Sorry.”
I punched him in the chest. “You’d better be.” I walked away, finished with this conversation. I’d show up in the morning with my serious face on.
And that’s exactly what I did, after several cups of coffee. I rode with Drex and Gem, and he knew it still pissed me off. Gemini nudged me and smiled. I wanted to laugh but didn’t because it would take away my pissed-off face.
We had several vehicles stationed at different locations. When the two cars left the estate, one picked them up and followed at a safe distance. Once we determined which route they were taking, another car intercepted, and the first one dropped off. We did this until it was time for our crash. The three bikers were riding in the opposite direction when the one supposedly crossed over the line and lost control. He brought the bike down into a skid and landed under the stopped car. I glued my eyes to him and never saw him attach the GPS, though I know he did. He rolled over, moaning, while his two companions jumped off their rides, running to check on him.
The occupants of the rear car got out to check too. When our guy sat up and rubbed his leg and arm, we saw him moving his limbs. Then some conversation took place about him going to get checked out. Our man decided he was okay, only shaken up. He pulled his bike up to check for damages, which there were dents and scrapes, but he determined it was ridable. The guys wore wires, so we heard everything that they said.
Everyone drove away, and Huff pulled up the GPS locator on his computer. After he checked it, ensuring it worked fine, we all returned to the house.
When the riders arrived, they talked and laughed up a storm. The one who took the crash barely had a scratch. He’d been wearing protective gear and leather to prevent it.
“See? I told you I’d be fine,” he said. I flipped him off again to hear them all roaring.
“I’m glad it worked out. It looked bad from our positions.”
Huff joined us and said, “Tomorrow just got easier. Once they make the second turn after they leave, we’ll make the interception.”
Raiden: A Stand Alone, Irish Mob Crime Romance (The Kent Brothers Book 2) Page 13