“Understood, Sir. Notify me immediately with the destination. I’ll have everything in order.”
Hugh disconnected and called his mother. She’d only moved back to her apartment two days ago. He knew she and Tina were prepared for calls no matter the time. She answered on the first ring.
“Hugh,” Mom answered breathlessly.
“They arrested the person behind all of this. Everyone is on their way to the police station. They’re going to work on getting Rowan and Katy’s location. I’ll call you when I know something. Bobby’s on standby.” He heard his mother choke off a cry before yelling to Tina to grab her purse.
“I’m not waiting. I’ll meet you there. Diana is calling me now. I love you, Son. We’re getting our precious girl back.”
Mom didn’t sign off, just hung up, as determined as everyone in their family to see Rowan returned.
Lucy Pérez.A forty-five-year-old MIT graduate and disgruntled Stanton Industries employee was behind everything. The hacking, the kidnapping, and attempted extortion. MacGregor’s team found one text, made eight months ago, sent from her phone to a person called Guilermo. Guilermo Pérez was her brother. Ex-military. He had gone on three missions with Shane Reynolds.
That single text was the nail in her coffin.
After six hours of interrogation, where the Stanton and O’Faolain families sat in tense silence in the police conference room, the woman finally confessed to her fury at being excluded from the team picked to work on the newest Government military project. Mrs. Stanton was supposed to be the only target, but then pictures of Stanton and Miss Byrne began circulating. She decided to hedge her bets and take them both.
The technology was so classified, William did not receive clearance to divulge any specifics to the police. The case did nothinge on the disclosure of the project. It was neither here nor there.
Hugh understood the secrecy of Stanton’s project, and because that intel wouldn’t help them find Rowan, he brushed it off. MacGregor, being a special forces vet, had no problem with the omission.
Lucy had hacked Stanton’s system on three separate occasions with help from her Chinese conspirators.
Pérez used her vacation days right after she hacked into the system the final time to clean out her apartment. She sold or trashed her belongings, planning to take only what would fit in two checked bags and a carry-on.
Her deal with a Stanton Chinese competitor promised them the new tech in exchange for ten million dollars. She had overseas accounts set up to receive the tech files, a new bank account to route in her millions, and fake identities for herself and her brother. She planned on never stepping foot on American soil again.
She admitted that she’d planned on messaging Stanton Friday morning, this morning, with her demands. Her brother and Reynolds had driven cross country. They were supposed to have rented a house in Alabama and await instructions.
She hadn’t been able to contact her brother for four days.
MacGregor cautioned patience. He was handling it with faster results than the police force could produce. His people went after the brother’s IP address and found an address in Alabama that it had pinged at several times four days ago.
The day he went radio silent.
They were in the air an hour and a half later. Bre and Daniel were already onboard when, he, Bran, Patrick, Raven, River, Mom, Tina, and Detective Jeffreys boarded the O’Faolain jet headed to Huntsville, Alabama. Jeffreys was working with the Huntsville SWAT team who were currently moving peopleinto the area surrounding the block and the house where they believed Rowan and Katy were being held.
The team would monitor the area and look for movement in the house and anyone coming or going before moving in. Pérez and Reynolds were dangerous and assumed armed. Hugh sat in his seat, looking at nothing. Not speaking, barely breathing. Rowan could easily be hurt if there was a standoff. If she wasn’t already….
Rowan. Rowan. Rowan.
26
Rowan existed in daydreams and dread. She and Katy did their best to distract one another. They each drank their water and ate the protein bar. Slowly.
It felt like hours had passed since the men left. She used the pole to lean against. Her body was sore from lying flat on the concrete. She told Katy about her sisters and Nan and even Jo and Thomas. The Honey Bunny stories made them both laugh. She told her about Triskelion, about Dublin, and about her parents.
She explained that her sisters were married to Bran and Patrick O’Faolain and how they bought a four-story building next to their shop.
Katy snorted, a smile in her voice when she said, “And you’re dating Hugh. Wow, you six must get some looks when you all go out together,” she laughed. “Those boys were precious towheads with the sweetest smiles when they were little. I would see Hugh and the boys at the Club on occasion. He was a very proud father.”
“He still is. My sisters and I are very lucky to have them in our lives.”
Katy told Rowan about her children. What an amazing blessing being a mother was. That being a grandma was even better. “My granddaughter, Samantha, is a wonder. My son and his wife were only sophomores in college when they found out they were going to be parents.
“Good thing Ben takes after his father. He wrote out a life plan, from buying a ring to investigating the best high yield savings accounts for the baby. My daughter works for her dad too, but she’s a gamer at heart,” Katy chuckled. “World of Warcraft. WoW. Evelyn’s team did well during the finals, and they’ll be competing at the Arena World Championship. It’s televised,” Katy added proudly.
“Oh my God, Patrick will die when I tell him. He games once in a while with friends. I imagine when River has the baby, his gaming will diminish.” Rowan shifted her back against the pole. Silence descended. Sharing fun stories and talking about their families had helped to lift some of the terrifying shroud.
