Chapter Seven

Ever

“H e would’ve killed me,” Luc replies blandly.

There is no hesitation in his tone, and it would make me feel sad for him, but there is also no sadness in his tone either. He has just accepted it for what it is.

“There’s more,” I say, a slight warning in my tone.

Luc studies my expression and then nods, “Play it.”

Pete nods and hits play.

“Fuck,” Atlas exclaims as we watch Luc’s mom get shot.

“Okay, that’s weird, she’s angry.” Cash mutters, “And where the fuck does that door go?"

“That’s why we took so long, that door leads to a stairwell, and then a tunnel that leads out into the woods. It is only accessible from this side, once the doors shut on the other side you can’t open them again, which is why we had to get Pete to pick us up, it’s a good couple of miles from the house.” I explain.

“Holy shit, seriously?” Rage asks.

“Yeah.It was pretty crazy, there were tire tracks that led out of the woods, so they had a car waiting,” Jensen adds.

We then go onto explain everything in more detail, making sure that they know everything that we do.

Once we are done, Trick says, “It would almost be worth it to check out her place on the island.”

“Maybe, but we’ve got our hands pretty full for the moment,” Cash replies. “Let’s give everything over to headquarters. Go through the footage and see what we can find first.”

“Yeah, I agree. Our main focus needs to be the port and Hunt’s link to it.” Trick replies. He looks around at us, “Is everyone in agreement?”

“Yeah,” I immediately reply. “The port needs to be our main priority. If Hunt is still using it, that is our best bet to catch him.”

“Agreed,” Atlas replies.

Everyone quickly voices their own agreement. As important as it may be to find out how Luc’s mom entered the country without anyone realizing she had even left the island, Hunt and the port are our main priorities, and we can always investigate Luc’s mom’s involvement at a later date.

Wincing, I ask, “I know this is really fucking bad of me, but what was your mom called? We hardly ever talk about her, and when we do, she is just referred to as your mom.”

Luc chuckles, “It’s Sandy.”

“Gotcha,from this point forward I vote we refer to her as Sandy and not Luc’s mom. It separates it a bit and keeps things a bit more clearer.” I suggest.

“Yeah, that sounds good to me,” Luc agrees.

“Alright, so we need to get home and go over the footage. We need to know when the guy entered the house and how much footage has been deleted. If we can get a look at his face, then we will be able to go through our database and see if we can link him with Hunt. Then we will know for certain that he sent them, which would mean that Sandy is definitely working with or at the very least known to Hunt and his men because of how she behaved when she got shot.” Trick replies.

“Yeah. Let’s get home and go through this footage while we wait for the file to be sent over to us.” Atlas agrees.

“Do you want to pop in and see Jenny again before we go?” I ask. “Who knows when we will be able to fit in seeing her again, and she would love it if she got a surprise visit.”

Trick looks at his watch, “She should be back from work by now; dad should be home too. I would like to see him since we didn’t get a chanceto the other day. We could do a flying visit before we head back to the house.”

“Don’t forget that we have got to drop the blood that Ever collected into headquarters.” Jensen reminds us.

“Yeah, so it’s going to have to be a flying visit.” Trick replies.

“Well, none of us unpacked. Let’s get rid of the trash and then get going, we are going to be pushing it pretty tight if we want to get home before midnight.” Cash replies.

“Good point.” Rage replies.

I hold my hand up, “Hang on a minute, I need a shower and a change of clothes before I go anywhere. We’ve got time for that.”

Jensen lifts his arm and sniffs his armpit making me wrinkle my nose, “Oh yeah, I definitely need a shower.”

“Okay, new plan,” Trick starts, “everyone, shower and change and then we will head over to Mom’s.”

The showering takes a little bit longer than we thought it would for the simple fact that we have only got two showers in the house. Still, everyone manages to shower reasonably quickly, and we have got the place back to looking exactly like it was when we found it. We make sure that the place is secured and the key hidden in the lock box so that someone else can use it if they need to. We then all pile into the truck and the car and then head to Rob and Jenny's.

“Mom’s here,” Cash says as he spots her car in the driveway.

“That is probably a good thing. Can you imagine how mad she would be if we stopped in to see Jenny and didn’t see her again?” Luc points out.

Cash winces, “I don’t think I ever would’ve heard the end of it.”

“You would’ve been making it up to her for a long time,” I add, with a smirk, as I hop out of the car, I love hanging out with the mom’s and I know it’s only a quick visit, but I would still rather them than not.

“Mom?” Trick yells as he lets himself in.

“Trick!” she calls back, coming around the corner. Her smile is huge as she hugs him tightly.

“Hey, kids, I didn’t realize you’d be back,” Rob says as he starts hugging everyone.

“Cash,” Kat says happily.

Once we have all been embraced and feel like kids again, we are ushered into the front room to sit down.

“I will put the coffee on, and I think I might have some cake. There should be enough for everyone,” Jenny offers as soon as we are all seated.

“We can’t stay long mom, we just thought we’d pop back in before we left town,” Trick warns her.

“I figured that would be the case; you’ve got time for coffee and cake, though,” Jenny says firmly, making me smile.

“I’ll come and help,” Rob says as he claps Trick on the shoulder and adds, “It’s good to see you.”

“You too, Dad.” Trick replies.

“How come you’re here, mom?” Cash asks somewhat bluntly.

Kat smiles, “I just needed a bit of advice, your father’s side of the family have tried to get in contact, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.”

Before I can ask any questions Cash explains, “We don’t speak to my father’s side of the family, and haven’t ever really spoken to any of them apart from my grandparents,” he looks at his mom, “actually now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t really know why?”

Kat smiles, “It is up to your dad to tell you there is some bad blood between him and them. He doesn’t like to talk about it, but I will bring it up and see if he is ready to fill you in, especially since they have tried to get in touch, but no promises.”

Cash shrugs, “Fair enough. Don’t push it; he can tell me if he wants to, but I'm not going to be put out if he doesn't. I was just curious.”

“I know.” Kat replies, “In my opinion, you should know about both sides of your family, but even I don’t know everything about your father’s side.”

“Wait, seriously?” I ask, “I thought you guys knew everything about each other?”

Kat nods, “Well, Marc was very young when he and his parents moved over to this country, before he met us, we all met at Blackbreak. I am not convinced that he knows the full story about what happened because even his parents will not talk about it much. I know that he has a brother who is quite a bit older than him, his parents had him very young.”

“Yeah, we’ve got a couple of old photos, haven’t we?” Cash asks, “And I remember Nona showing me some photographs of people that I have no idea who they are. I had completely forgotten about that.”

“It’s an interesting part of our history, but if your father wants to keep it hidden, then you’re going to have to respect that,” Kat says, a slight mom tone coming into her voice.

Cash smiles, “I know. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on pushing him for answers.” He then adds, “Let me know if something happens with them getting in contact though.”

“Of course,” Kat replies. She then smiles and changes the subject, “So, how long have we got you for?”

“Just long enough to have a coffee and some cake,” Peter replies with an apologetic smile.

Kat smiles, “I will take any time I can get with you kids. How is the planning going for your engagement party?”

Peter smiles, “We actually haven’t got much done. I managed to give my dad a color scheme which has kept him entertained for a few weeks but honestly, he is going to be bugging me for a date for it soon.”

Kat smiles, “I don’t blame him, it’s exciting, and you kids work so hard you deserve some decent time off.”

“I know,” Pete agrees, “we will set a date for the party soon, we have just got to wait for work to calm down and for us to both be on the same schedule. He is working at the moment, and we are not sure how long he is going to be gone for. I can’t plan anything without him.”

“Of course not,” Kat agrees, a frown on her face.

“What are we talking about?” Jenny asks as she comes back into the room. Both her and Rob carrying trays of drinks. “Trick sweet, can you go and get the cake?"

Trick hops up, “Of course mom.”

“Peter’s engagement party,” Kat tells her with a grin on her face and then goes on to quickly discuss what we have already talked about.

“Ah, it’s so exciting. After all of this time, none of us have been to one of your fathers’ parties, although we have heard plenty about them. I can’t wait to see what they are like.” Jenny replies excitedly, making me smile.

Rob nudges her and says gently, “You’re assuming that we’re invited.”

Before anyone can say anything, Peter interrupts and laughs, “Of course, you’re all invited; I consider you all family, you know that.”

Jenny hits Rob lightly in the stomach and then chastises him, “You had me worrying I’d overstepped the mark or some shit then.”

“Sorry, dear,” Rob replies with a twinkle in his eye.

I try to hide my smile as he immediately stops grinning when Jenny glances up at him. I have really missed them.

“If your parents need a hand with anything, please let us know.” Kat offers a hopeful glint in her eye, as Jenny nods excitedly from where she is sitting.

Peter smiles, “I will let them know. Can I give them your numbers?”

“Yes, of course. Although, I do feel like they should have had them a long time ago.” Jenny replies.

I have a feeling that Peter is going to be having a word with his dads and getting them to find something that Kat and Jenny can do. It would be a nice bonding experience for the parents, although I do kind of feel like the four of them together could cause some major damage especially if wine is involved.

It does make me wonder why we haven’t gotten them together before but then again so much happens so regularly for us, it just hasn’t occurred to us for them to get together for something that doesn’t involve us being there as well.

After that talk is casual, as we carry on talking about Pete’s engagement party and they manage to convince him to message his fathers then and there. I get a glance over his shoulder as he types out the message and smile when I realize that I was right, and he is asking them to include Kat and Jenny.

He gets a message back while the others are talking about something else, and he chuckles, turning his phone slightly so I can see.

Dad: Please, of course, we can find something for them to do. Hell, I would love to have them involved, we know how much they mean to you, and we have also seen how much wine they can put away. They are welcome at our party planning events any time, and before you question me, yes, they are now so epic that they are referred to as full events. Tell them that we will call them tonight when work is done. Love you, tell Ever and the guys we love them too.

“I love your dad,” I giggle.

“I should have known that they would want them involved,” Pete replies with a grin as he quickly types out a reply to his dad.

“Send our love,” I tell him.

“Of course,” Pete smiles. He then turns to Kat and Jenny, waiting for their conversation to stop before he says, “Dad says that he will call you in a couple of hours once work is done with. He will conference you all in on the same call if you aren’t together.”

Kat and Jenny share a massive smile, as Jenny says, “Oh I can’t wait, this is going to be so much fun.”

For a while, we eat cake, drink coffee, and forget about work and all things serious for a while before Trick clears his throat and reminds us that we really need to get going. Reluctantly, we all get up and head to the front door, saying our goodbyes.

“When are we going to get to see you again?” Rob asks as we are standing in the open doorway.

Trick shrugs, “I don’t know dad. We are in the middle of something with work at the moment and we don’t know how long it is going to take. But we will try and arrange something soon.”

“Got it. Just stay in contact,” Rob says, looking over all of us with worried eyes. “We start to worry when we don’t hear from you for a while.”

Trick instantly looks regretful, “Sorry, Dad. I didn’t even think, we will make sure that we check in more.”

“Thank you,” he smiles and then pulls Trick in for a hug.

“We better be going,” Atlas says, in a bid to stop Jenny and Kat from squeezing us, they will carry on for as long as we let them.

“Yes, yes, fine,” Kat replies, dismissively waving her hand and making me smile.

“Oh,” Cash says as we are walking out of the door. “Has Sandy got in contact with you recently?”

All three of them frown but it is Jenny who asks, “Luc’s mom? That Sandy?”

Cash nods, “Yeah.”

“No, she hasn’t,” Jenny replies, looking at Kat, who shakes her head as well.

“Good, could you let us know if she does get in contact with you? And don’t believe anything that she tells you.” Cash replies.

“Of course, we’re unlikely to believe anything that comes out of her mouth after we found out about your sister and everything that happened,” Kat practically hisses.

“Is there something we should know about?” Rob questions, crossing his arms over his chest.

Trick shakes his head, “No, nothing we can’t handle. Just let us know if she tries to contact you all and let the others know as well.”

Rob nods seriously, “You got it.”

We say one last round of goodbyes and then get back in the cars, heading to headquarters before we finally head home.

“I’m going to call Elena, it’s highly unlikely that Sandy will call her, but I’d rather give her a heads up,” Luc says as he pulls out his phone.

“Put her on speaker? It has been ages since I last spoke to them.” I say.

Luc smiles and shows me his screen, “Already on it.”

“Luc!” Elena picks up on the second ring, “Are you okay?”

“We’re good,” Luc replies, “how’re my nieces?”

“They are all good, driving their dads crazy,” Elena says, amusement in her voice, “is my favorite sister-in-law there.”

I chuckle, she still calls me that and I have got a bit more used to it, even though it still gives me butterflies. I can’t explain it, I just love hearing it.

“Of course, like I’m going to let him call you without me being involved,” I tease.

She laughs, “I would not expect anything less. When are you guys coming to see us? I have still got all your Christmas gifts.”

“Yeah, we have yours too,” I reply, frowning although she can’t see that, “we will try and get up soon. I miss you guys.”

“We miss you too. I know what it’s like, don’t worry.” She replies.

We talk for a bit longer, and all the other guys in the car with us chime in and talk, too. Blade, Dom, and Inferno all come on the phone at different points, and we spend a while chatting with them and the girls when they come on. I don’t know about the others, but I forget what we called them for and simply enjoy catching up with them all.

It really has been far too long since we have seen them but unfortunately, I don’t see how we are going to be able to see them any time soon. This case is a big one, and we are not going to be able to step away from it, especially since we’re going to want to only see them for a flying visit like we did the parents this time.

We are going to have to figure it out though, because I miss my nieces, and I know the guys are missing them all too.