Sins of the Father (California Dreaming Book 2)

by Stacey Johnston

  Fucker! He will only embarrass Sheri more if she hears him laughing.

  Turning to him, he smirks at me, whilst rubbing his side, muttering “Asshole.”

  My girl’s other concern for going back is Sean. From what we have heard from Sophie, he is being forced to attend the ceremony as well. I know Sherlyn isn’t scared of seeing him because she is too angry for that. I love that she has been completely honest with me, even though her openness surprised me at first. That openness saw her admit during one of our late-night conversations, that she did feel some attraction to Sean, but it wasn’t enough to pursue. I initially felt a small pang of jealousy, but only until I looked into those eyes of hers. There was no way I could miss the love that she had reflecting in them for me, it was like she was seeing straight through me. Straight into a part of me I never believed existed……… my soul. Her eyes are mesmerizing, they grab a hold of you and drag you in, never letting you go. You get lost in them, but it’s willingly; they give you a sense of calm you don’t want to lose. I mentioned this to her, which she found funny. She told me her father had said something similar about her mother.

  It wasn’t just Sherlyn that Sean cut off, he alienated all of us, and the boys aren’t too happy about it. We grew close to that fucker against our own better judgement, and now he treats us as though we don’t exist. I’d hate to be in his shoes when Ben and Luke are finished with him. I know why he has disappeared, but so do the others and to them, it’s just a fucking excuse. I agree with that, but then again I’m the one with the girl. Grabbing Sherlyn’s hand once more, I entwine my hand in with hers, resting it on my thigh. Leaning toward her, I rest my head on her shoulder and close my eyes. The feeling of her fingers running through my hair is soothing, at this rate, I will be asleep in no time.

  Sean

  “Why do I need to be there?” I hiss, my tone a lot harsher than I had actually intended.

  My mother’s head snaps around so god damned quickly I thought she had given herself whiplash.

  “I beg your pardon?” she scowls at me.

  Watching as her eyes narrow at me, I can do no more than let out a frustrated sigh…. I deserved that. It’s not her fault I’m pissed, hell it’s not even her I am pissed at. It’s myself, for stressing over having to go to Sophie and Sherlyn’s graduation tomorrow.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you,” I appease, running my hand through my hair, slowly raising my head until I am looking at her once more.

  “I just don’t understand why I can’t stay here and work. I don’t need to be there.”

  Her expression softens in front of me, as does her tone, as she approaches me.

  “Oh my son, I know you are hurting.”

  What the…

  “I know how much you care for our Sherlyn, it is written all over your face, but she is not your destiny. Your forever is still waiting for you to discover her. If you stay hidden, you will lose your opportunity.”

  How the hell does she do that? The only one I have ever spoken to is Sophie and I will kill her if she has blabbed. I have tried to keep my emotions under control, but maybe I haven’t tried hard enough.

  “I know you are wondering how, but I know my children Sean and I am observant. I see things that both you and Sophie don’t think I do. You will be joining us you have no choice. Your sister wants you there.”

  Her hand on my face reminds me of when we were younger, when she always used to stroke her hand down our faces, and sing us to sleep. Having her hand moving up and down my cheek was the most comforting thing in the world. It was like no one else existed, just the two of us. It also reminds me of how much I love her. Leaning into her touch, I allow her to pull me closer ……. and hug me.

  “Don’t forget to live Sean,” she gently whispers, whilst her hand soothes the hair on the back of my head.

  “Don’t get so caught up in your work that nothing else matters. You will find another love, just don’t close off your heart.”

  Releasing me, she kisses my forehead and turns to walk away.

  As she heads toward the door I could have sworn I heard her say …. Like Hawke has.

  I have no idea what she means by that, but thinking about it, I don’t recall every seeing him with a woman in his life. With the exception of mom, Sophie, and Sherlyn that is. I’ve never thought to ask him either, I always assumed that when he wasn’t with us, he was with his family. Even when we moved here, it never occurred to me. Now she has me curious, although I will have to look into that more, later. Right now I have to pack to leave for the mainland. Hawke will be here by boat tonight to pick us up. I know that my mother’s intentions are good, I just need more time to sort through the shit going on in my head. Being around Sherlyn and Stephen back in Brooklyn is only going to make that harder and deaden my heart more. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for that sister of mine, so I guess I am just going to have to fake my way through it.

  Even I can manage that…………

  My bag is packed ready to go, but as I leave my room, my nerves are on edge. Even though I know I need to do this for Soph, I don’t want to. There is so much more I can be doing from here to find our target, instead of hanging out in a gymnasium back in Brooklyn.

  “Sean, a word before we go please,” I hear my father call out, as I make my way toward Hawke’s control room.

  How did he know I was here? Dumping my packed bag on the ground, I enter the room to find not only my father but Hawke as well, seated in front of the computer monitors.

  “Hawke,” I greet, confusion masking my face.

  “I wasn’t expecting you until tonight.” Avoiding my question, he gestures toward the seat next to him.

  “Ah, there’s our boy, take a seat I think we may have found something.”

  Sitting down next to him, both he and my father turn back to the screen they were looking at before I walked in.

  Pointing at the screen he continues “That trace we’ve had you running has picked up on something.”

  This piques my interest.

  Because Silo was old fashioned, all his evidence came in the form of hidden notebooks stuffed into the ceiling space of his apartment. In them, he names the Alexandria family in Brooklyn. Until we found these books, this family had been relatively low key and not worthy of our attention……… or so we thought.

  In Silo’s ramblings, we found dates going back nearly forty years with victim names, and other vital information. There wasn’t much that Silo did, that wasn’t linked to the Alexandria’s and it appears Sherlyn’s father documented everything.

  Which for us is a good thing….

  Through the scribblings in his notebooks, I discovered that Jonathon Alexandria – who is now the family head, discovered him when he was in his late twenties. There isn’t much to go by, only that Silo saved Jonathon from being beaten to death in a backward alleyway. He continues to write that it was also on that day, that he was introduced to William Alexandria, Jonathon’s father. After that, there are only brief passages scattered over the pages that really don’t make much sense at all. Times, dates, and occasionally names to link to those times and dates. A diary of events, Hawke called it.

  It appears that his unique services, as described by himself, were aligned with the Alexandria family for many years. Eventually, he chose to become a freelance hitman, contracting out his services to other criminal families in the area. As you delved deeper into his maddening writings, it highlighted that his loyalty had always been to the Alexandria’s. He even wrote that he was the one who performed the hit on William, noting that the contract was issued by none other than Jonathon himself. All of this was at the time speculated, but the C.B.I could never actually determine the identity of who silenced him. Silo was that damned good.

  The information I was seeking, though, was how he received his payments. Which is what my trace was about. I knew that neither party would be stupid enough to leave anything openly lying around for us to find. That’s why I got c
reative and designed a program to track, and highlight any monetary movement from all of the Alexandria Family accounts. There was plenty of evidence in those notebooks to put Jonathon and the rest of the family away for a lifetime, but I was after something that would concrete the link between them.

  Thankfully, it looks like I have found it.

  “Okay, now it appears that over the last seventeen years they have been transferring large sums to an offshore bank account in Switzerland. Work your magic boy and find me what I need.”

  My father’s voice was louder than I anticipated, or maybe I was daydreaming a little too hard. Either way, he scared the living daylights out of me.

  My movement alerts both dad and Hawke, “You all right boy?” my father’s concerned voice asks.

  “Yes, sorry I was in another place,” I reassure them both.

  “Okay, let’s concentrate, your mother is adamant you are coming with us, so let’s see what we can find before we leave.”

  “Anthony Valentine, are you trying to make me late for my daughter’s graduation?”

  Shit………… is it that time already? Looking up I see my mother standing in the doorway, with one of those no-nonsense looks on her face.

  “No Sarah my dear, we are coming now,” my father replies, standing to embrace her.

  As she makes her way into his open arms I hear him say, “There is no way I would miss our girl’s graduation. Okay, let’s wrap this up for now. Great work, Sean.”

  And just like that, both him, my mother and Hawke are up and walking out of the room. I wish I could talk them into letting me stay and continue with the progress we have made today. Progress that I can expand on if no one else is here to harass me.

  In just the short space of a couple of hours, I managed to unravel some of the riddle placed before us. By hacking into the banking system, I found that although the Alexandria’s did transfer money offshore, it never stayed in the one account for long. If they bounce money from one account to another in a short space of time, I assumed that it would have triggered some sort of alarm within the banking system. Obviously not, but then again, my knowledge of offshore accounts was minimal, so maybe that’s not the case. The impression I get from my father, is that the people who have these types of bank accounts are usually looking for a tax dodge. This initially looked like the case with our Brooklyn crime family, but as I dove deeper, I found that every six days the money bounced again. Eventually, it always ended up in a bank account under the name of Phillip Shillenry. I have no idea who that may be, but it’s never been drawn on. Money always goes in, but nothing has ever come out. What is the purpose of it ending up here? That’s the question I need to answer next. I haven’t seen this name show up in anything that we found in Silo’s possession, so how is it all linked together?

  When we hopped off the plane in Brooklyn, Hawke pulled me aside, “We need to be vigilant Sean, this graduation is a perfect opportunity for them to strike at Sherlyn again.”

  Realizing he is right, I nod and continue following my parents ahead. I can’t imagine him targeting such an event, but then again it never stopped him attacking her last time in a public place. I need to draw on that strength everyone keeps telling me I possess because it’s going to take everything in me to get through the next twenty-four hours.

  “Do we have a strategy?” I ask in return as we edge closer to our luggage.

  “Your father and I have everything set in place. I made sure of that before I came out to the island.”

  The man next to me, this is the Hawke I have grown to know over the past couple of years. He is the one, who takes nothing to chance, the serious one, and it is a very rare occasion to ever see him smile. His position is normally one which sees him looming in the background, watching. A lot of Soph’s friends over the years have made comments about how creepy he is. I suppose, yes, when you look at him, he does come across like that, until you get to know him. Hawke is unreadable, a man of few words, but he is good at what he does. Although I am not privy to it, there is a history between him and my father that neither will elaborate on. Whatever it is binds them together fiercely. After my mother’s comment earlier, I am now more determined to find out what it is and how she is involved, if involved at all. Just another mystery to solve that’s all.

  “Oh Ant, there are our girls,” my mother squeals when she sees Sophie and Sherlyn approach.

  There is so much excited chatter going on around me, it’s making my head ache. Some days, I wish that my life was simpler, like it was before my father recruited me into the C.B.I, when we lived in Solana Beach. Back then, my life was carefree and fun, and we spent most of our time with our uncles and their families. If I’m honest, I haven’t heard much from them since everything went to crap, but a lot of that is my own doing. My mother maintains her daily contact, although I can’t fathom what the hell they have to talk about. It matters not to her, because she just loves to hear their voices.

  “Sean,” I hear Soph call.

  “Hey sis,” is all I can manage in return. She stares into my eyes, no doubt noting the sadness that has taken up residence behind them.

  Hugging me tightly she whispers in my ear, “Thank you for being here. I love you.”

  Hugging her tightly back, I say nothing, because I don’t trust myself. My heart is hammering in my chest, the emotions I have been fighting against, are now threatening to overpower me. When she finally releases me, from the corner of my eye I notice Sherlyn slowly approaching. I shouldn’t feel this scared to be around her, but the effect she has on me is stifling. Her beauty captures me, astounds me, freezing me in the moment. As she gets closer, the scent of her perfume floods my senses, stealing my breath away. I need to shut it off. I can’t let any of them see what she does to me. The sooner the girls graduate the better so that I can get back to what I do best……… hiding.

  “Sean,” she whispers, her arms wrapping around my neck.

  Sighing, I dip my head slightly, gently resting it on her shoulder, as I accept her touch. Wrapping my arms around her back, I allow her to pull me into her embrace. Pulling away just as quickly, she smiles at me before returning her attention back to my parents. Although brief, her touch has left my body reeling. All I can do is stare. My silence won’t go unnoticed, but it’s not something I can deal with right now.

  I wish they would hurry the fuck up, so I can get out of this goddamned airport.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sherlyn

  I’m nervous this morning, there’s no use hiding it. I have been awake for hours, just sitting in this armchair by the window, sleep has not been a friend of mine. All my fears of what could possibly go wrong have been haunting my dreams for days.

  I’m on edge and it’s nothing I feel I have any control over. To start, we are staying at the Sheraton, which is nowhere near where we need to be today. Secondly, they will be holding the graduation in the school gymnasium due to the size of it. I want to say it’s all going to be fine, but I have no idea if I can go back there. I haven’t stepped foot inside the gym since I was shot. I am guilt ridden because I’m stressing over things beyond my control, when in fact…I can’t complain about our accommodation at all. Our hotel suites here are spectacular, but it is no surprise that the Valentine’s didn’t spare any expense. It is the reason I am here, and the circumstances I have traveled under, that is putting pressure on my nerves.

  With my mug of tea against my lips and my feet on the window sill, I’m watching as the sun starts to rise outside. It’s a beautiful sight with all the morning rays beginning to filter through the window. A cluster of bugs has been flying around in circles on the other side of the window for a while now and it has had me mesmerized. I had to get up earlier because my tossing and turning throughout the night was causing Stephen to stir next to me. I didn’t have the heart to wake him, so I slipped out of the bed instead.

  I have always loved the serenity of sitting by the window watching the world wake up. Actually, I ju
st love watching the world go by on the best of days. This morning, though, it’s comforting to have those early morning rays shining in, warming my face. Closing my eyes, I take it all in, letting the warmth shower me. Breathing in and out heavily, I continue to try and calm myself, as I have been doing since I got out of bed. My fear of late is that I am becoming far too dependent on Stephen’s presence. He has been keeping me sane. With this guy still out there chasing me, I haven’t been able to relax for long. I’m always looking over my shoulder, conscious of every little shadow. I’m paranoid that the stranger walking past me in the street is going to harm me in some way. I don’t know how much longer I can survive like this? I’ve become that clingy girl. We’ve all seen them, we’ve all even criticized them, and now I am one of them. I’ve developed anxiety issues, which escalates when I am left alone for too long. I never envisioned I would be one of those girls.

  I’ve become pathetic….

  When Stephen has been forced to go home, I’ve resorted to hovering around Sophie or Hawke instead. All three of them have been reassuring me that it is perfectly normal to feel this way, and not to feel bad about needing them. How can I not feel bad? I don’t leave the house unless someone is with me, and that includes walking around the grounds surrounding our home. My favorite place in the world at the moment is either curled up in Stephen’s warm embrace, or the big comfy armchair in the library back home. Reading has become my solace…

  Home… Six months ago, that would have been in a tiny apartment building with my mother. It’s amazing how fast your life can change in a space of six months.

  Back to today, though, and in all honesty, I have been scared as hell since we got off the plane yesterday. What I wanted to know was how I could be expected to function normally, knowing that I have some psychotic killer after me? He has already proven that he isn’t afraid of attacking me in public. What will make today any different? Or maybe he knows we are going to be expecting it and will be waiting to target me somewhere else…. It will be a miracle if I make it through the day at all.