Welcome to the Family

by Nancy S. Reece

  Chapter Fifteen

  Midnight after Christmas—Medina, WA

  The hole in Cassie’s heart ached. The feeling was strange given that its cause was Martin’s death, an event she’d always thought she would have little emotion about. Perhaps it was due to the manner of his death but she felt the bottom had fallen out of her world. She’d heard the conversation between Sean and the police, but nothing registered. Her father was dead, killed by her own brother, and there was a possibility the strangeness she always attributed to her mother’s family might, might, mean her father wasn’t dead but currently holed up in downtown Seattle.

  It was all a little too much, and it hurt to breathe against the knot in her throat and the iron bands around her chest. Of all the betrayals Greg dealt her over the years, all the hell she survived, to think it could have been different, that her mother might still be whole was more than her mind could comprehend and she took the only option available to her at that moment and fainted.

  She was vaguely aware of being in an ambulance and a hospital with nurses and doctors. Then she heard Sean and Detective Traynor speaking in low tones. She focused in her attention on their words while still pretending to be out.

  Traynor spoke first. “What a strange world the two of you live in. Where will you go?”

  “Wherever Greg doesn’t think to look, far from here. If Kwan Tsi has put the hit out, Greg is a dead man on every continent in the world. That will make it easier for us to find a hole to hide in.”

  Kwan Tsi. She thought back to the first time she heard the name. She’d been young, young enough to still remember the trips with her mother to see the gentle, quiet Japanese businessman she’d been instructed to call “Mr. Kwan”. Kwan Tsi was Obi Tano’s bodyguard and present every time she’d seen her grandfather. To know there was a possibility he was her true father seemed to fit the relationship she’d had with the man as a child, when he’d showered her with attention as he’d taught her Japanese history, writing, art, and deportment. Once Ryn had gone away, she’d never seen him again.

  The urge to see Kwan Tsi suddenly overwhelmed Cassie, and she opened her eyes to an empty room. Sean and Detective Traynor were gone and there was no one on guard outside her door. Seeing her clothes in a bag by the door, she dressed and was out in a flash. Down the hall she took the staircase down to the ground floor and got her bearings.

  They were at the University of Washington Medical Center. Walking briskly, she found a taxi and waved him down. “The Nishamora Global building near the Market please,” she asked, pulling her jacket tight against the damp chill in the air. The radio quietly blasted them with Christmas music. Mistletoe hung from his rearview mirror, and the eco-friendly Leaf was running on battery power at the moment.

  He drove in silence, which suited Cassie fine. There was no spare room in her mind for banal conversation. Martin was dead and Greg was looking for her. She was crazy for leaving Sean behind at the hospital but this was a conversation she needed to have without him around. However, she knew he would worry, so she grabbed her cell phone and texted him.

  “Gone to see Kwan Tsi.”

  What else was there to say?

  ****

  Greg Devlyn sat in Pioneer Square Park staring intently down the street toward the Nishamora Global headquarters. He knew better than to attempt direct entry again. Kwan had fracking ninjas hidden everywhere. They’d kicked his ass once already when he’d attempted to storm the elevators to his quarry’s penthouse suite.

  No, this time he was going to watch and wait for her to arrive. He knew she would come, once she knew the truth. She’d have to confront Kwan herself; that was Cassie’s way. That’d give him the opportunity he needed to walk up and slide the knife right between her ribs. Of course, he needed to have her looking at him. He wanted to see the light in her eyes fade to black.

  For not the first time he cursed Martin for dying without opening the safe. If he had given Greg the damn file, he might still be alive. That file was all Greg needed to be completely free of the shadow of Cassie and the past. If it were to get out, he would be ruined. As it was, he had enough in off shore accounts to live well, but it would be far from the comforts he enjoyed as CEO of MM Air.

  Niko’s murder was already a dim memory in Greg’s addled mind. Nothing else existed except for destroying Cassie. He huddled deeper into his down filled jacket and watched and waited.

  ****

  Sean and Detective Traynor sat in the private hospital office discussing Greg Devlyn and their theories about his location. Neither was sure what direction the unstable killer would turn in his pursuit of Cassie. For all they knew he could be in the crowd outside or waiting around the corner for another shot at his sister.

  He felt the text message come in, but didn’t pull his phone right away. When he did get around to answering, more than ten minutes had elapsed. When he read the text he swore under his breath and raced toward her room, Traynor running behind him.

  “What’s wrong?” she panted, catching him at the door.

  Sean burst in, cursing in several languages all at once as he realized Cassie was missing.

  “She left,” he told the police detective. “She’s gone to confront Kwan Tsi about his relationship with Katheryn and the fact he might be her biological father. Damn her! Greg is out there, looking to kill her and my wife just made it easier for him.”

  “Don’t get mad at Cassie. I’d probably do the same thing if I were in her place. There’s a special relationship girls have with their fathers. Since she missed that with Martin, it stands to reason she’d want to know if Kwan might be willing to take the role. Question is—how committed is Kwan to the truth? Is this just for revenge against Katheryn’s husband or does he truly want to be there for his daughter?”

  Sean shook his head as he raced down the hall to the staircase. “I have no idea, but I’m not about to leave her out there alone.”

  The two took Traynor’s Prius and raced for downtown Seattle.

  ****

  A heavy snow was falling over the city by the time she arrived at Nishamora Global headquarters near Pioneer Square and the docks. The building wasn’t overly secure and depended upon a mix of human and electronic monitors. However, there was always a guard seated in the lobby with eyes on the doors. As the taxi drew near the front, Cassie pulled her scarf a little higher over her ears, preparing herself for the bitter cold wind blowing in from the Sound. After swiping a card for the fee, she opened the door and made for the well-lit entrance.

  The guard on duty obviously recognized her, and a wide smile split his face. Just as he unlocked the door, when Cassie reached for the handle, a tall, hooded man dressed in black with a scarf wound around his head grabbed her arm, propelling the startled woman into the guard and all of them back into the reception area as the door clicked and alarmed behind them.

  The strange newcomer kept his vise like grip on Cassie as he nailed the guard on the top of his head with the butt of the handgrip of his revolver. Taking the now unconscious man’s keys and identity card, he marched briskly toward the elevators, pulling her along in his wake.

  Inside the car, he pushed the “23” button at the top of the panel and she got her first good look at her assailant. For a moment she thought she might faint again, but decided against it to keep him from knowing how much his presence upset her. She would never let Greg know she was scared. It only served to make him smile. Right now, she just wanted to make him go away. So she slipped on the façade she’d used in the games to keep the others from knowing her fears.

  “Aren’t you going to say anything?” Greg demanded. “I have you right where I want you, and you just stand there like you know something I don’t. But you’re wrong. Everything is going my way for a change.”

  She studied her brother with a sense of detachment from their family connection. He was seriously losing touch with reality, his eyes burned too bright and with a strangeness inside.

  “What do I need to
be afraid of Greg? You? You can’t hurt me any more than you already have throughout the years of our childhood. There’s nothing anymore you can hold over me to make me do what you say. If you’re going to kill me, begging won’t change anything. Your mind is already made up.” Cassie leaned back against the hand rail and studied her brother’s eyes. They were too bright, too quick to jump from thing to thing.

  He jabbed furiously at the red ‘STOP’ on the panel. The car jolted then hung suspended in the shaft. The overhead readout told her they were stopped between the sixteenth and seventeenth floors. “You should be afraid of me. You should respect me. If you live or die, that’s in my hands right now.”

  Greg as she knew him was gone. This Greg had no qualms about killing her. That realization changed everything. Taking a deep breath to center upon, Cassie knew the next few minutes depended on keeping her brother calm and focused on anything other than his hatred of her.

  “Greg,” she murmured, “what are we doing? The elevator is on stop and I think that might bring the police or fire department to investigate. Shouldn’t we go on up to see Kwan Tsi, together? We can solve this with one push of the button.” Her finger inched slowly toward the control panel.

  “Stop!” Her fingers snapped away at the hatred in his voice. Greg grabbed her hair and wound his fingers tight enough to bring tears to her eyes. “I know what you’re trying to do, I’m the one who taught you how to beg. Remember? Try something else sweetheart, that one won’t work on me now.”

  Mute, she nodded her head in understanding. His fingers loosened as his eyes bored into hers.

  “The only reason you’re still breathing, is because I want Sean and Kevin both here to watch you die. Of course, they will join you immediately thereafter. Sure hope your sacred ‘afterlife’ theory is right, because otherwise you’ve got about twenty-four hours before the last time you see Ferguson.” Greg smiled and the effect brought chills up her spine and twisted her guts in nausea.

  ****

  The traffic lights were cursed, or at least that’s how it seemed to Sean as he and Detective Traynor headed into downtown Seattle following Cassandra. They caught the red light at every traffic light between the hospital and the expressway. Then once on the interstate, there was an accident closing two lanes, slowing all traffic. Only the lateness of the hours on a holiday kept the road from complete gridlock. Traynor, sensing this building frustration finally made her way to the closest exit and began winding through the side roads to reach the Nishamora building.

  Once the car began to move, Ferguson found his stress building with each revolution of the wheels. He’d been in battle situations for most of his life, but this time it was different. Now, Cassie was there, right in the crosshairs of ground zero, and he thought he might explode from the pressure of needing her to be safe. All he wanted was to grab her, mow down anyone or anything in his way, and run like hell.

  He looked down at his left hand. The platinum wedding band, wound with Celtic knots, seemed to burn into his skin, and into his soul. No matter what, keeping her safe outweighed personal feelings. For her sake, to keep them both alive, Sean needed to be the soldier he’d spent most of his life being, not the husband he was learning to play. Flexing both hands, he took a deep breath and stared out the window at the city passing by, an entire city of sleeping people who had no idea his world was falling apart piece by piece.

  Tsichevna stayed behind, attempting to contact Kwan for any news but so far all the lines were down, compliments of the Christmas snow storm coming in from the Pacific. Either Cassie hadn’t arrived yet, or something was very wrong. Ferguson prayed no news meant good news, but until he heard her voice, knew she was safe, he had to function as if she were dead. He needed that fire; that extra push to keep his senses on the taut razor edge. He needed to be whom he was created to be. A ruthless mercenary, death on legs, a shadow in the night, all this and much more was his calling card. So why did it all seem pointless now?

  Soon he could see the entrance to Nishamora Global and at once that sixth sense alerted him to danger. From the street, he could see the crumpled form of the security guard. Dialing Tsichevna, he asked the moment he picked up the line, “Devlyn beat us here. Did you get Kwan?”

  At that moment Ferguson’s other line buzzed. “That should be him calling you right now.” Pieter replied smoothly.

  He clicked over. “Kwan Tsi, hell of a way to make your acquaintance, but I think my wife is a captive in your building and I want her back.”

  The voice that answered held the same distraught undertone of pain that Sean understood too well. “Greg Devlyn has her in one of our express elevators. Right now, the STOP button was pushed between the middle floors. We have them on a video feed but it is one way only and no sound.”

  “Has he asked for anything, or asked to speak with anyone?” The police detective in Traynor kept her focused on the investigation. Sean was grateful one of them was in control.

  Kwan Tsi answered, “No, all he’s done is threaten her with a gun, shove her around a bit, and scream a lot. I’ve got a team outside the doors on both floors, waiting for permission to enter. We would have done so already, but knowing the police have an A.P.B. out for Greg, I told my security team to hold back until the police arrived.”

  “Did you know she would come to find you,” Sean asked quietly.

  There was a long pause on the other end. At last Kwan replied with a strange tightness in his throat. “I thought she would be with you when she learned the truth and you would keep her from me…”

  “I tried,” Sean interrupted.

  “You did indeed, but we both underestimated Cassie. Worst of all, everyone discounted Greg. Now we have to make a decision about how to deal with him and his illness. Detective Traynor, this is your jurisdiction but my private property. Do you have any problems to my men handling an internal security threat?”

  Allison laughed. “Not at all, just please don’t injure Mrs. Ferguson. She’s had a rough day.”

  “So I am given to understand.” The smile in his voice almost eased the stress inside Ferguson.

  Sean spoke up urgently, “Kwan please, take care of Cassie. She’s…” His voice choked up with unfamiliar emotions. This was the first time he allowed himself to speak the words that haunted his nightmares. “She’s got a fear of dying alone. If anything happens, and I can’t be there, don’t let her be alone.”

  Now that the words were spoken, Sean felt the elephant on his chest ease up. Taking deep breaths, he wrestled with the rest of the sentence. “If anything happens, tell her I’ll be with her soon, ’cause once I know she’s gone, I’ll die too.”

  Kwan Tsi spoke reverently, “I’ll make sure. But it would be best for you to not keep your wife waiting. She’s a little crabby when she deals with her family.”

  Looking at the building above him, looking for possible signs of life in a darkened office complex, Ferguson laughed and admitted, “Kwan, you have no idea.”

  ****

  Cassie wondered if Greg could smell her fear as well as she could. It rolled off her in waves, each one threatening to bring her to her knees, once again the babbling little girl afraid of being locked in the closet. Her heart pounded loudly, it seemed a bass drum sounding out her doom. It was only sheer stubbornness that kept her standing, or rather leaning against the elevator wall. Inside, in a far corner of her mind, she was once again the child curled up in the corner afraid of her own skin. Greg always had that effect on her.

  The elevator car was still between floors, and Greg stared at her with undisguised madness. The only question in Cassie’s mind was how that madness would affect the physical torment she knew was coming. Though she was a black belt in mixed martial arts, Greg outweighed her by more than fifty pounds and several inches in height. Since they were children the won/loss column for them in head to head combat was just about even.

  Greg still had his fingers in her hair, and he used them to pull her closer to him. She could feel t
he heat of his madness through his clothes. Reflexively she pulled away, to keep more space between them. The more she struggled the more he seemed to laugh at her.

  As she tired, Greg hissed into her ear, “I’ve always loved it when you fight against the inevitable. It’s nice to know I can still make you upset.”

  That soaked through her fear, and stopped Cassie short. Unbeknownst to him, Greg had found the one thing capable of rallying her. Fear meant letting him win, something Cassie refused to allow. Looking straight into Greg’s eyes, she spat back at him. “You aren’t making me upset. I knew you’d try to stop me somewhere along the road. I’m just surprised it happened inside the Nishamora Global building. You must have someone on the inside to let you get this far in, probably that poor old man you just brained down in the lobby.”

  Greg pushed her roughly away. “Until your kidnapping I worked for Kwan Tsi, swapping secrets for cash. It was a wonderful system then, but when Kwan saw a picture of you on television during the initial coverage of the kidnapping, he changed. Suddenly, everything changed. It all became about destroying Martin while saving you. But I don’t want you saved, not for him not for anyone. That’s torment of a worse kind than seeing you with Ferguson.”

  “That’s disgusting Greg. Get your mind out of the gutter.” Irritation swept across her features. Not this same old song and dance, not when Martin was dead and everything was crumbling around the family. “There are more important things to look at, such as your murder of cousin Niko.”

  Greg glared at her out of the corner of his eye. “What makes you think I killed Niko?”

  She glared at him harder, until Greg broke out into peals of laughter, bringing new fear to feed her nausea as he struggled to reply again. “Cassie, you are so stupidly innocent about things.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Niko died because he thought it was time to make amends with you, get back into Martin’s good graces. Martin’s graces!? What about my graces? What about how many times I begged Martin to let me come back home, back to the Atlanta headquarters? But no, I couldn’t be trusted around Cassandra. I wasn’t stable enough to be alone around Cassandra. Every action was about protecting Cassandra. But what about me? Nobody ever cared about me.”