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“Evelyn…”
“Liam and I aren’t close. It’s my fault. I left him alone for years, and when I finally woke up, he wasn’t a baby anymore and he avoided me. Not once has he come to me for advice. I know he loves me, but it’s always been you. His anger, his pain, his loneliness, are all because I wasn’t there.” She trembled in my arms as her tears soaked my shirt.
“Liam loves you, and this is completely different. Mel didn’t…Mel was taken, but she’ll be back. We’re talking about the first woman to take over the Italian Mafia. The moment she can, she will get back to us and leave nothing but a wake of blood behind her. This will be over soon.” I hoped my words would be true. Every moment she wasn’t here, Liam would spiral. I knew this about my son; he couldn’t handle being abandoned again.
DECLAN
Nothing but a sea of blue was flooding the walls, drowning out the white coats that normally infested the hallways. Cops made me sick. They were nothing but self-persevering, opportunistic leeches hiding behind shiny badges. The nurse had set us back and now the hospital was on its own lockdown, forcing us to stay in a private wing instead of searching for Mel. Liam hadn’t said a word since we took out the doctor. He sat like a man made out of marble, his head permanently attached to his hands.
“Mr. Callahan,” a short balding man said. He was dripping in medals, which he undoubtedly wore for the cameras outside.
“May I ask who you are?” I asked. “My brother is both tired and devastated, as you can imagine.” I stepped beside my brother. He looked up at me, eyebrow raised.
“Mr. Callahan, I am Superintendent Wendell Homer. I wanted to personally come down and tell you that we will do everything in our power—”
“Let me stop you here. We’re Callahans, we are used to people kissing our asses for personal benefit. So, save your words for the press hounds outside and find my sister-in-law.” As if they could. The Chicago PD were a running joke across the country.
His back straightened from his ass-kissing position before he placed his hat on.
“Has anyone received any ransom demands?” he asked and I had to fight my initial reaction to roll my eyes.
“No. We haven’t.”
“Okay, but expect one. These types of low lives always hunt for a fast paycheck. We’re going to need a list of anyone who may have a grudge against you…” He stopped as Liam laughed.
He laughed hysterically, leaning in his chair and running his hands through his hair. “Do you know how much we are worth?” he asked him. “32.7 billion dollars. That puts us between Wal-Mart and Michael Bloomberg on Forbes’ richest people list. You want a list of people who have grudges against us? Start with the whole fucking state and work outward!”
“Mr. Callahan, I know this is difficult, but please trust us. We will not stop until we find her. Until we find who did this. We know that your guard was murdered only a day ago. This is obviously connected. Give us time. We will do everything,” he said, almost begged, but Liam was done with them. Instead, his green eyes glazed over as he stared emptily at the wall. Neither of us had anything more to say.
“Would you like to make a statement? Plead to the kidnappers to return your wife?” he questioned, making me want to punch his tiny Teletubby self in the face.
“In all your time as an officer, has that shit ever worked? Do you really think they give a shit?” I really couldn’t comprehend why he thought that that was even an option.
“It doesn’t hurt to try. Please excuse me,” he said, waddling down the hall, as more police officers arrived on the scene.
Sighing, I took a seat next to my brother.
“We’ve got a list of twelve properties,” I said. “Five are out of the country. I’ve called Anna and told her to call in every favor she had in Interpol for flight records.”
He took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Good. I can’t move, not with these fuckers crawling up my ass. Get all the men we have on the outside to start searching. I want Neal to go with them. He’s been in the public eye, traveling the country.”
“Neal? I’ll go, Liam.”
“No, Declan. I need you here. I need you going through every fucking camera in the damn state. These fuckers have red tape to go through, you don’t. I’m not wasting another bloody second just because they want a photo-op. If Aviela wanted her dead, she could have killed her months ago. She wants Mel alive. And I know my wife, as long as she’s alive she will be trying to contact us.” What if she couldn’t? What if…
“Liam?”
“Do not motherfucking ‘Liam’ me, Declan. She’s my wife. She’s a fucking fighter, a leader. I have full faith that she’s going to beat the shit out of her mother and come home with her head on a stake. She didn’t become who she is by being weak. She’s strong. I’m going to be strong. And our son will know that. So don’t you dare ‘Liam’ me, and do your fucking job.”
With that, he got up and walked away. I wasn’t even sure if he knew where he was going. I couldn’t even begin to understand his pain. The only person on the face of the earth that he could be honest with was gone.
“Declan.” Coraline wheeled up out of fucking nowhere with her hands pulling at the rubber band on her wrist—something she had taken to doing during her treatment.
“A…”
“What can I do? What should I be doing? I need to do something. Evelyn told me and I—”
“Coraline.” I dropped to my knees, taking her hand in mine. “Just watch Ethan, I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“But Jas…”
“No! I need to concrete on Liam. This family and I cannot do that if you’re in the middle of this. I’m begging you. Just watch Ethan, avoid the police, and focus on your health, okay?”
She sighed and nodded, but she didn’t meet my gaze. Kissing her forehead, I held her to me for a long second. “I love you, baby. Just keep your head above this and we will get through it.”
“We always do,” she whispered. “I’m going to see Ethan, and before you ask, don’t worry about me. I can push myself.”
“Of course you can.” I looked up to see Adriana; she was standing in the middle of the hospital wing, taking in the chaos around her. Her hair was drenched, sticking to her face. It seemed as if she was trying to hold it together, wrapping her arms around herself. She looked like a wet, dying puppy without a home.
She was Mel’s right hand. There had to be more properties that Mel hid from us. I wouldn’t put it past her to have tricks and funds up her sleeve that no one knew of.
“Be safe,” I told Coraline before leaving her and walking over to Adriana. The halls were crawling with badges but I wasn’t sure where else to take her.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered, her hands shaking. “She was with me hours ago. I don’t…No…She doesn’t get kidnapped. She’s not the type. She’s Melody.”
Great, she’s losing her shit too.
“Adriana, I know this is hard, but I need you to think. Okay? I need you to tell me all the properties Mel has, everything.”
