CHAPTER 23
It was wedding day. The family gathered at Pittock Mansion, which seemed to be a family trend, given Declan and Lydia had been married there too. The mansion sat at the top of the foothills overlooking the city and boasted grand views of the Pacific Cascade Mountains where McKenzie Ridge was. The Pittock grounds were stunning, blanketed in festive fall colors from the leaves turning for as far as the eye could see, the vibrant jewel toned foliage added extra charm and the stunning Mansion itself was a beautiful host to the occasion.
Liam and City married on the lawn as they were lucky to celebrate on a beautiful and warm fall day, sans rain. Their vows were exchanged amongst the Pittock’s most stunning views and held the garden of roses the city was nicknamed for. City of Roses. The ceremony was fairly quick, almost too quick for Luke because he enjoyed the stunning view of his future bride at the other side of the altar. She took his breath away. When she sang, during the ceremony, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place and Luke couldn’t be prouder. Then she sang again at the reception as an encore. Everyone loved Daisy.
As Best Man, Luke had called the guests together by tapping his Champagne flute with a piece of silverware. A man of more grunts than words, he managed to pull out all the stops and stun the crowd with an incredible speech, honoring his twin brother and his new bride. It would be hard for Liam to trump that speech when he stood up for Luke at his wedding. The day was perfect in every sense.
As the reception was winding down, the remaining guests mostly family, the Brother’s Keeper group gathered to toast the happy couple and their family growing by one more. They were short a few champagne flutes, as the event host was beginning to clean up. So, Daisy volunteered to grab some since the servers were busy cleaning up and getting ready to tear down.
City was able to book Daisy’s best friend and well-known event planner, Cally. Daisy used to work for Cally and knew the drill down to where the champagne flutes could be found so she took off to do just that. Wandering through the Mansion to the large kitchen, Daisy couldn’t help but get caught up in the magic of the place and how it emanated into every part of the day.
Watching two of her favorite people come together in marriage, to witness their happiness, made her look forward to her own wedding just that much more. This day was a great day, but the day she married Luke would be a grand day. She couldn’t wait to be Mrs. Luke O’Reilly.
Finally to the kitchen, the mansion was huge, the flutes were exactly where she thought they would be. If Cally was anything, it was consistent. Reaching to the top of the stacked racks of glassware, she was a tad too short to reach, despite her substantial heels.
“Need some help with that?” A man asked from behind her.
Startled at first, she turned to see one of the servers that been working the wedding all afternoon. Grasping her chest to catch her breath, she said, “Oh, thanks, appreciate it.”
“Actually I think those are going back through the washer, something about the grounds keeper spraying down the patio with cleaner and the door being open…overspray?” he informed her, trying to decide if they were safe to use, “There’s a batch already loaded up in the party rental truck, I know they’re clean because I did them myself. C’mon I’ll help you.”
“Perfect. Thank you so much. I almost just poisoned my…family.” Daisy thought about that word and what it meant, family.
They rounded the outside of the mansion to a small service path where all of the delivery trucks were staged. “We put them in the black one up here with the doors open.”
“I really appreciate the help. You guys have done a fantastic job, the event was amazing.”
Another man in the same uniform jumped out of the back of the small delivery box truck smiled and nodded.
Daisy remembered him from the reception, he tended mostly to the wedding party. “Oliver, right?”
“Good memory. What can I help you with?” he asked.
“I need some Champagne flutes, seems those in the kitchen need to run through the wash again.” She said as she approached the truck.
“Oh, I heard about that. But we could’ve brought these up to you guys.”
“It’s no bother. You guys have your hands full and it’s for an unplanned last-minute toast.”
“Sure thing, I just loaded them up.” He walked to back of truck, signaling her to follow.
Daisy approached the back of the vehicle and began to compliment the two gentlemen again, “You guys really out did…”
Before she knew what was happening, she was tossed in the back of the box truck and the rolling door pulled down and locked. She heard two truck doors open, then close just before the engine roared to life and the truck was on the move.
There was an automatic light in the back where she was that came on when the door was up. As they hit bumps in the road, the door would jiggle, turning the light on and off. Daisy looked around her, frightened, unsure what had happened, or why.
She noticed the black glassware crates, secured on either side, were empty – it was a ruse. She walked right into a trap, but why and who was behind this, was unclear. The general and director were dead, case closed. Or was it.
There was no way to call for help, she didn’t have anything with her. When they came to a stop, likely an intersection, she would yell, but that only alerted her captors who turned up the radio drowning out her cries. Her only hope was that Luke would come looking for her, and fast – she didn’t know how much time they had.
Sitting in the back of the truck, Daisy felt defeated and decided to save her strength for whatever was next. It had already been a long drive – easily a forty-five plus minutes – they could be anywhere. She had no sense of direction from the cargo box. Even after counting how many left and right turns they made and counting in between like she’d seen in a movie once, she had no clue if they were northbound, or westbound. She got turned around with all of her counting because according to her measure, they went in a large circle and were back at Pittock Mansion.
When the truck rolled to a stop and the engine died, it was only seconds before the rolling door went up and she was blinded by the sun as it was preparing to go down for the evening – west. We went west and maybe an hour until sunset, she thought. It was unclear how or this new information was going to help her, but at least it felt like she was doing something and perhaps an opportunity would arise, and she’d use it to get away somehow. Wishful thinking? Maybe. But she wasn’t throwing in the towel just yet. She was a fighter and had not only Luke to fight for, but her baby.
“Are you coming out or do we need to drag your ass out. Hurry up.” The man she referred to as Oliver said. So much for being kind and helpful.
She took to her feet and moved to the edge of the space where the men each grabbed an arm and yanked her to the ground. Burning pain shot up through her leg causing her to stall on the ground as she waited out the pain.
“Get up.” One of the men demanded.
She moved to her knees, palms on the ground trying to sturdy herself and prepare to stand – it was going to hurt like a bitch.
“Get…up!” With a foot to her back, a swift push thrust her forward, her face skidding on the asphalt before landing on her belly forcing the air from her lungs.
“The man, Oliver, grabbed her by her hair and with a firm grip, yanked her head back. “I said get up, bitch.”
“That’s enough.” Came a deep voice – a familiar voice that sent a terrified chill down her spine numbing even her new aches and pains from the fear it provoked.
She slowly rolled to her side, trying to see past the rays that cast a veil between her and that voice she so desperately wanted a face for - before he intervened once again.
“For God sake, help her up.”
With a man on each side, they lifted her from the ground. The man to her right blocked the beaming curtain of light revealing a clear view of just who had her life in their hands and was behind it all. “Oh my God…you.”
“Hello Daisy.”
She was gone. Luke had looked everywhere for Daisy when she hadn’t returned with the Champagne flutes. He returned to the group, his limbs tingling with that oh too familiar inkling that menace was in the air. What had they missed, who did they overlook, and where did they take his fiancé?
“Where could she have gone?” City questioned. “Are you sure she didn’t get caught up in a conversation with Cally – catching up, maybe?”
“No. Cally hasn’t seen her. We need to figure out who took her.” Luke was adamant, and as much as he didn’t want to ruin his brother’s wedding day, he also didn’t want to lose Daisy.
“Took her?” Liam questioned, with an uneasy look. “Whoa. Calm down, it’s a wedding, she’s probably just lost in conversation or something. She’s been trapped in that building a long time, brother.”
“I don’t want to be that guy, but…she’s ran before.” Dace added with a cringe
“She wouldn’t leave – not unless she was forced to.” Luke insisted. “I don’t care how long she was in that damn building, she wouldn’t just disappear or leave us waiting so long. She’s too…considerate.”
Liam let out a deep sigh. “Luke…”
“She loves you guys. She thinks of you as family already, she wouldn’t ruin your wedding. She loves me and our baby, she wouldn’t leave.” Luke no longer had to convince himself of her commitment, he knew where they each stood, and it was firmly together. Liam nodded in agreement, Luke had a point.
“The threat has been neutralized.” Dace began to whittle away at the possibilities. “Who would grab her and why?”
With one hand in his pocket, Wylie ran the other hand through his hair. “We have a lot of fucking enemies. That list you’re asking for is pretty damn long.”
Luke paused, his back to the group as he looked over the city view trying to piece together a rational scenario they could go after. “What if we didn’t?” He turned to the group. “What if we didn’t remove the threat? What if…it was only part of the picture?”
“There’s nothing else out there. We used that program and brought down the rest of the assholes involved, and it has been quiet ever since. Nobody is even using it yet. It’s like it died with the general and his prick of a sidekick, and the rest went to a super max prison. Who’s left?”
“Exactly. What if that was the point all along. Get the general and director to use that program under our noses. What if we’re dealing with a real mastermind here that knew we’d circle back around and figure out they were using our technology and in turn, use it against them to take them down.”
“That’s exactly what we did, Luke.” Dace wasn’t sure where his brother was going with this, it seemed to farfetched and more like a desperate guy who lost his girl.
“And while the general and Waterman were playing cops and robbers with us, we were looking the other way. Just like we left bread crumb clues as bait, what if they were just bread crumb clues for us?” Luke was insistent, he could feel it, he was on the right path.
“But there aren’t anymore of those clues.” Frustration was brewing for Dace. As much as he wanted to help Luke, if he was right, it meant they failed. “We cleaned up all the bread crumbs, brother.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. Remember what Waterman said – he said we didn’t know what we had just done, that we just signed everyone’s death warrants including his. What if that was the clue – a warning.”
Liam paused on that revelation, it could have been a warning, but it also could have been a psychopath justifying his own ending. “But we dug deep, there was nothing.”
With an exaggerated shrug, Luke went on with what was almost a sense of excitement. “Did there have to be? DC is falling apart right now because of what we uncovered. Every corrupt thing is coming to light and people are going down. Maybe that was the whole point. What if we just paved the way for the biggest conspiracy yet? Made it easier for someone? It wouldn’t be the first time we played this game.”
It was making sense, a lot of sense. Liam was in. “Where do we start, brother – let’s find her.”
“I uh, I gave her that locket. She wouldn’t wear the watch, so I gave the locket because I, uh…”
City’s hands went to her hips, she knew exactly where he was going with this. “Luke? You didn’t…”
“She’s pregnant and given everything I was worried, okay? I wanted to be able to…”
“Stalk her?” City was blunt, called it as she saw it.
“No…well, yes. This is why though… I will always live in the shadow of my past and there will always be potential for it to come for me…or who I love. So I gave her the damn locket.”
“Okay. If it’s the tracker from the watch, and you did it right – which will impress the shit out of me since you still can’t set the timer on your oven – I should be able to find her quickly.” Liam chimed in.
Dace whipped his heads Liam’s direction knowing there was only way he could track that device when they weren’t at Watermark. “Did you bring your…backpack.”
Felicity looked at him with a suspicion scowl. “Yeah, did you bring all your geek stuff to our wedding.”
If Liam had learned anything in his short few hours of marriage, it was that City didn’t fall for bullshit and she knew him like she knew the back of her hand. “Some of it. I never go anywhere without it. You just never know…that whole living in the shadow of my past shit like he said.”
After a moment of sizing him up, Felicity gave in, feeling relieved “Okay – I brought mine too.”
“Geez, you guys should get married or something.” Wylie said, prompting Liam and City to high five before leaning in for a newlywed kiss.
“Let’s get on it. I also need to see the guest list from the Senators fundraiser again. Did we ever turn up anything else from the Senator’s event like a donor list of those who couldn’t be there?” Luke said, tossing his suit jacked aside. “Who did we miss?”
“What about a valet list?” Eva chimed in, pointing to the valet podium at the edge of the Mansion grounds where the attendants were using an iPad to record cars and owners.
Luke kissed her forehead and turned to Wylie. “Don’t let this one get away, Wylie. Hey City, let’s look for a valet record from the night of the party. I bet Cally can tell you who to hack since it was her event that likely hired the service.”
Wylie was left speechless after Luke’s outburst, to which Eva gave a cocky smile and sassy wink.
“There are no cameras for you guys to hack up here, let’s go do some old fashion who done it work, Wylie. See how someone could have got her out unseen and unheard.” Dace said, rescuing his brother.
The team launched into a full investigation, right there from the Pittock Mansion. The guests that remained were close friends and family that knew them best and were used to impromptu missions pulling them away from anything and everything, including their own weddings now.
Luke scoured the guest list from the Senators fundraiser where he was assassinated. He missed something – somebody else was there, but who? Who had motive and potential gain.
With a list full of politicians or political persuaders there was motive all over the place – greed and growth within the most coveted roles of the most powerful government in the world. He started to reduce the list of potential suspects by those who had the least to gain like those that benefited more by the senator being alive than dead, but that still left a lengthy list.
When City produced a valet list, he had his game changer. It may not have the entire answer either, but he knew it was somewhere in the middle and started going through, comparing lists.
“How are you doing over there, Liam?” Luke asked, his eyes never leaving the laptop screen he was working on.
“I’m narrowing in,” Liam answered. “Looks like a moving target. West bound maybe? She’s kind of pinging all over the place. I think the program is trying to catch up with her.”
For that, Luke looked up. “Outside the city.”
With a quick nod, Liam said, “Looking that way, man.”
“Okay, proactive approach what’s out that way? Think potential rendezvous points, abandoned buildings, anything that makes sense in a hostage or kidnapping situation.” Luke tossed out to the team.
It wasn’t unusual for the team to use predictive measures. Part of what made them great was their ability to anticipate the next move of the low life they were after. They knew how the crooked mind worked far too well to miss a beat.
“There’s one missing truck.” Dace said, rejoining the group with Wylie. “A box truck from the caterer – gone. That’s how they got her out.”
“She went to get Champagne glasses and they tossed her in.” Luke surmised. “She walked right into a trap.”
City was scanning a map and began to recite potential locations as Luke had asked, “My query picked up fifteen possible locations within fifteen miles any direction from the last known point.”
Luke nodded, and crossed his arms, “Okay. Of the fifteen, which one stands out?”
“Uhh, let’s see. Barn…warehouse…new construction but too populated of an area. There’s…oh no.” City’s fingers were tapping away as she closed in on a potential location, one that made the most sense for the situation, “Oh no. I was right…. there’s an airport, Luke.”
“A plane. Quick easy in and a quick and easy out.” Luke agreed. “Just outside the city, so what capacity are we looking at – big birds or crop dusters.”
She looked down at her screen and tapped some more, “It’s a private airstrip, densely populated, mostly high-tech manufacturing plants out that way. Their clientele appears to be heavy on the corporate jets. They can handle almost anything.”
“Let’s go.” Luke said.
“Go? What if we’re wrong?” Dace offered, playing devil’s advocate because they didn’t have time to be wrong, and right now his brother was running on emotion. “What’s your plan B, Luke.”
“We know she’s moving west so even if we’re wrong we’re moving in the right direction until Liam nails down her location. City, while he’s doing that – I need you to look at flight plans filed in the last week for today.”
“That’s FAA…” She protested.
“Hack it.” Liam fired back.
City leaned in and kissed her new husband. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”
In full wedding attire the team made their way to the very drive where Daisy was kidnapped. Several of the catering and rental trucks had already departed and what remained left the team with yet another dilemma.
“Shit. The only one that drove was Wylie and we aren’t all fitting in his truck.” Dace said.
“Get in the limo – I’m driving.” Wylie hollered as he ran a few cars ahead and dropped the tailgate of his truck. “I’ll be right there.”
One at a time they piled in but not before they saw what their kid brother was doing. With a quick flip of a switch a faux floor in the bed of his truck lifted and he grabbed two black duffle bags, slung them over his shoulders, and grabbed two large, long, hard cases and met the group at the limo.
“Pass these around.” He said.
Luke opened the bag and his jaw dropped. “What the hell Wylie? You drive around with this shit…in the back of your truck?”
“They don’t leave home without their backpacks full of geek shit. I don’t leave home without my badass, let’s get the fucking bad guy stuff.”
“Touché, little brother, touché.” Liam said before his fingers stilled and his smile grew. “Bingo. She stopped moving. Airport in Hillsboro just outside of Portland. Good job baby, you were right.”
City, pleased by his praise, leaned in for a kiss. “Thanks, baby. We make a great team.”
While Wylie took the limo down the long winding road off the foothills the Pittock Mansion sat on with speed and surprising precision – the rest of them readied for whatever they were about to embark on.
“How’s that list coming, City?”
“It’s populating now, Luke. They have heavy traffic in and out, and it groups the incoming with departure. The system is pulling it apart for me, narrowing to departures logged for today…and…done. Let me see if I can match these up by owner or user so we can cross reference your party list Luke.”
Luke nodded. Sitting idle, craving the next clue so he would have somewhere to focus his thoughts. Daisy had quickly become his purpose, his will, his heart, his everything. He would get to her in time because there wasn’t another option.
“Oh shit.” City didn’t curse, so when she did, you knew it meant something. Her gaze slowly lifted to meet Luke’s, stunned didn’t begin to describe her demeanor. “Oh shit. Luke, I found it. This has to be it. This…this is big and it’s bad.”
Fear settled in Luke’s gut, as thoughts raced through his mind. How far up did this go? Who was their enemy today, what name would she mention? Who was he about to take down, or take out if he wasn’t cooperative?
“It’s a government plane. It’s the Speaker of the House’s plane and they are taking off…”
“Now.” Liam interrupted, looking up from his screen just as shocked. “They just took off, her tracker confirms it, she’s on the move and fast. Has to be a plane.”
“Five-minute ETA, guys.” Wylie shouted from the front.
Luke hit the car door with such force the window cracked. “How the hell do we get her out of the air?”
“We can have the jet fueled and wheels up in an hour.” Declan tossed back.
“We don’t have an hour, even if we are able to follow them. We’d never get there in time. Whoever has her – they know us, how we operate. We need to be smarter and work outside our usual, so our next move isn’t anticipated.”
Dace tossed his hands up. “Air national guard, we have connections. They work out of the Portland International Airport they’ll be on that jets wing in minutes.”
“Then what, shoot her out of the sky? Those fighter jets show up and they may take one for the team and land that plane on the face of a mountain – not risking it.” Luke stated.
“Toss out some options then, Luke. What else do you have?” Dace fired back.
“Liam?” Luke desperately hoped his brother read between the lines, and his own past didn’t come back to haunt him.
Liam looked around the small cabin of the limo, processing in his brothers unspoken request. He knew what was being asked of him and he knew why he was getting such sullen looks. When City’s life was on the line, not long ago, he had to ground a plane and nearly lost his shit instead. Luke saved his brother from his own fury and conscience and subdued the man behind it, permanently, for his brother. Now he was being asked to face that day, that fury, all over again and save his brother’s fiancé, which in turn would be saving his brother.
“I can do it. I-I can do it. I can get control of that plane.” Liam went to work on his laptop. “I can get into the jets computer…upload a virus…uh...I can shut it all down on their end, but…”
“But?”
“But I’ll have to land the plane. They’ll be completely blind up there.”
“From the ground?” Luke questioned. “You have to fly and land the plane…from the...”
“From…the ground. I can do it though. This is different technology, it’s a government plane, advanced tech. He’s third in line for the presidency. He’s nearly as secure as Airforce One or Airforce Two…just smaller. It’s like…a giant…drone. If the military can fly a drone halfway around the world and drop a bomb, I can land a plane I’m watching…from the ground.”
After a long quiet spell, Luke finally spoke. “Bring her back, Liam.”