CHAPTER 25
Liam watched as Carter and Declan went one way, Wylie and Dace the other, and he stayed with Luke who’d always had his back more than anyone else had.
A loud crash came from the cabin, followed by a guttural scream – a man’s scream. Liam’s stomach sunk. Was she in there? Was she the reason he was screaming? Had she not cooperated and now he didn’t have a way out or a way to get what he thought she could get her hands on? Push it down, Liam told himself. Don’t go there.
With their weapons drawn, fire ready, Luke and Liam moved in, aiming for the front entrance. The curtains were drawn; only shadows could be seen moving about, perhaps those of the same person but it was hard to tell. The light from inside flushed through a gap around the door. It was open.
When Luke took the first wooden step to the door, it creaked beneath his foot. He paused, standing statue still, waiting to see if whoever was inside had been alerted to their presence. The movement within matched that of Luke’s – stone quiet. Luke looked over his engaged weapon and nodded at Liam. He knew where this was going.
When the movement inside merged to a full speed bolt out the backdoor, Luke and Liam engaged in a chase. Through the cabin, then the backdoor, he was only a handful of yards ahead of them when Wylie stepped out of the shadows and clotheslined the guy, knocking him to the ground with a mighty force. So mighty, the guy couldn’t breathe.
“Get up, asshole,” Wylie said, weapon aimed on him.
The man gasped for air and didn’t move, so the brothers each grabbed an arm and dragged his ass inside the cabin where Wylie kicked a sideways chair to upright and tossed him in it. Dunham. Beat to hell, Dunham.
“Where is she?” Liam asked.
“I-I don’t know,” he said, still gasping. “It’s… It’s not what you think.”
“Oh, it’s exactly what we think. Kidnapping – it’s on camera and eye witness testimony. Care to rephrase your piss poor answer?”
Dunham put his hands up in surrender, his eyes widened in panic as the barrel of Liam’s gun fell inches from his face. “Please. Listen. I was there, okay? I took Felicity and the girl, but it isn’t what you think. I can explain – swear it.”
Liam looked at his watch then grabbed a nearby wooden chair, turning it so he could straddle it in front of Dunham. His arms were crossed over the back, his weapon still in hand, resting sideways, aimed at Dunham. “It’s getting late, and I want to tuck my little girl in tonight, but I’m not leaving without my lady. Start talking, and you better fucking impress me because I’m in a really pissed off mood, and I get a little trigger twitchy when I’m in a mood.”
The brothers looked at each other with ornery smirks, impressed with Liam’s intimidating interrogation tactics. They’d never seen him this way. It was funny but also had them concerned. They nodded to each other in understanding. They needed to keep a close eye on twitchy fingers; he was losing his shit.
“Felicity is Wells,” Dunham said. “She’s always been Wells.”
Liam’s head tilted quickly. “What did you say?” He stood, kicking his chair away. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
When Liam raised his gun to Dunham again, Luke stepped in, placing a hand on his brothers extended arm. “Let me do this, brother. Take a breather.”
Liam stared at Dunham, his expression full of hate and menace. He’d been triggered; somehow, this took him to an ugly place where his emotions were controlling his every action. He bit his bottom lip, nostrils flaring he was breathing so hard, and his eyes glazed over with a venomous look.
Looking at Luke out of the corner of his eye, the standoff broke, and he stepped back, his body slumping in defeat. Carter placed a hand on Liam’s shoulder and squeezed, a silent message of support. Liam nodded, and turned to lean against the cabin wall, watching his brothers take the lead.
He was a mess. It was all catching up with him. Felicity was still missing, and this asshole said she was the villain in this game? He’d lost enough in his life and only began to live again. This wasn’t where it all ended for them, not today. He wouldn’t believe that.
“Care to elaborate on that?” Luke stepped in. “You better talk fast, or I’ll let ol’twitchy fingers over there take the reins again.”
“You…he… He didn’t let me finish.” Dunham was frazzled, and clearly intimidated. “She’s always been Wells, to me. Don’t you get it? It was part of the game, we were pit against each other.”
He went on, “When everything went down all those years ago, I took off. I was always moving, never in the same place more than a handful of weeks, doing odd jobs just to keep moving.”
“Hacking…” Luke clarified.
“When I didn’t have a choice – plane tickets, train tickets, rental cars. Then she found me – Lainey – and told me everything. The missing money, that Felicity was Wells, everything. She needed my help because the Feds were after her too. We needed to find the money then find Felicity because she wasn’t dead. We were supposed to turn her over so our names would be cleared.”
“So, Lainey was a part of this?” Liam stepped forward, trying to piece it all together.
“Yes and no. She doesn’t know the first thing about computers, but she knew all the right people through Felicity. We’ve been looking for her the last year.”
“You and Lainey, you’re a couple?” Liam asked.
“It didn’t start that way, but yes. We finally found Wells, here in Portland, and when she knew we were here, all hell broke loose on the city. We were running from her again but never too far because we were determined to take her down.”
“But you’re Wells,” Liam said.
“I’m no more Wells than Felicity is. I know that now. We were all played. While you were hunting me, I was hunting her, and Wells was getting what he wanted.”
“Felicity,” Liam deadpanned. “You were after her for justice but really just delivering her to the real Wells. Wells needed her to get the money that she funneled out of his accounts all those years ago, thought she’d know how to get it.”
Dunham nodded, relief washing over him. “I only figured out after we grabbed her and the kid and brought them back to your, place. When I brought up the money and faking her death, she had no idea what I was talking about. I knew she wasn’t lying. She’d been fed the same story about me as I was fed about her.”
“Son of a bitch. Why didn’t you just try and get the money back? Why Felicity?” Liam asked.
“Because I can’t hack like that. I can empty an account and get into people’s shit, but I can’t break through the kind of shit she can – never could. I didn’t think there was anyone as good until we came across you,” he said to Liam.
“So, you didn’t do all that shit around town? The bridge, the hijacked cars?” Liam paced, anxious to get the piece of the puzzle he was missing so he could get what he needed. Felicity.
“No, I thought it was her doing it – coming for us.”
“You shot me.” Liam stood arms semi-crossed, weapon relaxed across his chest. “You were aiming at her.”
“With all due respect, there were a dozen of you chasing after us. I thought you were her goons, and we were done.”
“There were only seven of us,” Liam corrected.
Dunham cocked his head with furrowed brow. “I’d run from one of you, especially that one.” He pointed to Wylie. “You guys aren’t exactly…small and inviting.”
Each of the brothers shrugged; they’d give him that.
“Carter Landry, U.S. Attorney.”
“Oh shit.” Dunham tossed his head back in defeat.
“Chill out. I want Wells, not you,” Carter went on. “You help us grab Wells, right now, and put all this in writing, and I can help you out of the mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“I’d help you even without a deal. Wells needs to go down. I can’t get back what’s been taken from me – all those years…running. But I can make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. I owe Felicity that much.”
“Where?” Liam interrupted, looking around the sparse cabin. “There’s obviously no hacking going on around here. So where, where is she?”
“Wells knew you were coming. They’re taking off. Felicity couldn’t get into whatever she was supposed to, so now, Wells is holding her until…” Dunham hesitated. The fury in Liam’s had him recoiling.
Liam grabbed the guy by the throat, and through gritted teeth questioned. “Until what, Dunham?”
Dunham’s face turned crimson and he was choking on his words, gasping between them. “Until… Until you get the money back. Wells is taking off. The money is her ransom.”
Liam ran his hands through his hair, trying to wrap his mind around the bomb Dunham just dropped while Luke asked, “Who did that to your face?”
Dunham snorted, “Felicity. She never used to do that. Guessing I have you to thank.”
The brothers smiled with pride and nodded. At least she’d fought.
“Taking off?” Liam began to pace, smacking the palm of his hand to his forehead while those words danced around in his head, nagging for his attention. “Taking off?” It was all coming back to him. Wells had been right under their noses, probably laughing the entire time they were there. “Taking off! The plane! The signal wasn’t coming from here. The hacking didn’t happen here. It happened from the fucking plane! That was Wells’ plane! Let’s go!”