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This isn’t good. Hendrick is a master hacker. Computers are his life. He was a total fucking nerd when he was a kid, and Dad saw this as a boon. He harvested his love for computers, numbers, and all things electronic by hiring masters at their crafts to teach him everything they knew.
For all the shit we give Hendrick, he is, without a doubt, smarter than anyone else in the family. Which is likely why he has a hard time connecting with women and bought them, doing that kinky-ass shit with them.
Before I can ask any more questions, the door opens, and Dad walks into the room. I shift my gaze around him, wondering if I’m going to find Mom trailing him, but she isn’t. I open my mouth to ask him when he shakes his head once.
“She’s had enough for the night. She’s exhausted and took a sleeping pill, drank some wine, and passed the fuck out with her book in her hand.”
I almost laugh because that’s my mom. She always has her book and wine beside her in the evenings. There’s a simplicity in it that I think is beautiful. Dad always makes sure that she has what she wants, catering to her with a smile on his lips. Their marriage is something I aspire to have.
“Do you have any ideas of who this could be?” I ask, shifting my attention to Dad. He sucks in a breath and holds it for a moment before he lets it out slowly.
“It’s not your cousins?” he asks.
Shaking his head, Hendrick clears his throat. “They were with you when she went missing. I’ve checked all their shit. They and the Simons were all with you, and we know where three of the five of them are now.”
“What about the other Simon kids?” I ask, making sure to keep my voice barely above a whisper so Claire doesn’t hear the question.
“I’ve had them watched since we brought the parents to the family meeting,” Dad announces.
Fuck.
“Who the fuck would have taken Allison and not Parker, Mom, or Claire?” I ask.
The three of them stare at me, then shift their eyes toward one another until they come back to me.
“There have been no new threats to the family that I know of. Nothing has come in. The notes were from Keen and Aaron Simon. That has been the only threat we’ve been aware of,” Wells murmurs.
I watch as Wells’s gaze shifts over to the women, and he watches his soon-to-be bride for a long moment. I know he’s thinking of the wedding, which is just in a few weeks. He no doubt is worried that something is going to happen to her before that day. After they’re officially married, she’ll have more protection in her name, but now she is an easy target.
There is a sense of protection that comes with the Hamilton last name. No person in their right mind would touch a woman of the family. But that doesn’t mean it’s never happened or that someone won’t be stupid enough to try. It just provides a little extra shield around them.
But Parker isn’t there yet. She isn’t protected yet, and neither is Allison.
“How many public events did you attend with the girl?” Dad asks.
“Too many,” Hendrick rasps. “One is too fucking many. I may as well have painted a target on her back. And it worked, too. She’s obviously been taken because of me.”
“That’s not true,” Wells says. “She’s part of our lives, too. Me and Parker, we’ve taken her places. She’s clearly important to us.”
Hendrick runs his fingers through his hair and tugs on the ends before he turns his back to us and walks over to the window. I watch him for a moment, keeping my gaze on his back, before I turn toward Wells and my father.
“We must find out what the fuck happened. We have to know who the fuck took her.”
“We do,” my father agrees. “She isn’t family, but she is important, and that’s why she was taken. Which means they have been watching us, whoever they are, and they will come for others soon.”
He’s right. They will. It’s been a long time since the family has been under attack, and now it seems almost inevitable. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I shift my attention to my feet, then slowly lift my gaze to meet my father’s.
“Do we need the women under guard?” Wells asks.
I watch as my father’s face shifts into an expression that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. He clears his throat, rocks back on his heels, then jerks his chin in a single move.
“I think right now, that would be a good idea, but let’s keep it hush-hush. I don’t want to scare them.”
Wells snorts, shaking his head a couple of times. “You think Mom won’t figure that out in about two seconds?”
Dad shrugs a shoulder, then chuckles. “Probably, but she’ll pretend she doesn’t. This won’t be the first time for her. It’s mainly for those two.”
As I take in the room, I can’t help but wonder what the fuck we’re going to do. We have no leads, no information at all, not even a threat to investigate. We have fucking nothing at this point.
