Claddagh and Chaos (6 page)

Saturday was a perfectly sunny day, totally abnormal for this time of year in Chicago. Sherman had sold everything he owned back in Mississippi and purchased a modest home here. Christi rang the doorbell and I wasn’t surprised when Angus answered the door.

“Mrs. Christi,” Angus greeted as he stepped aside, letting us pass.

“Angus, so good to see you. I hear congratulations are in order.” Christi stood on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on Angus’s cheek. I watched the big man blush like an innocent virgin; I would tease him about it later.

“I’m just really lucky, is all,” he responded honestly with a shrug. Maggie was an amazing girl and she did right by Angus. They would be wonderful together; bringing the best out in each other.

“Good evening, Boss.” The formality and respect was clear in his voice; he knew his place with me and respected my position.

“Angus.”

Sherman and Sharon’s house was what Christi referred to as ‘classic Victorian.’ Sharon had definitely done all of the decorating. It was tasteful and quite lavish. The tan walls and white trim allowed her to display her collection of antiques, which in my opinion were far too many. Christi kept our home simple and comfortable, not overly stuffed and unused.

The swaying of my beautiful wife’s hips caused me to stop looking at the crystal chandelier and at her scrumptious ass. No matter how many times I had that woman in my bed, it would never be enough. If I had it my way, we would sneak off to one of the bathrooms and get in a quick fuck. The likelihood of that happening was slim as Christi wasn’t that type of person; she would make me wait until we got home.

The sound of laughter, Muscles’s laughter to be specific, sounded from the back of the house. I followed the swaying hips as the laughter became louder. Once we entered the kitchen, I found it to be standing room only as nearly thirty people were gathered around the oversized kitchen island. My ma sat on a high barstool with my father standing behind her, while Ammo and Smiles stood on either side of her.

“Boss, Mrs. Christi,” someone spoke.

I watched as Ma’s eyes lit up as she saw Christi walk toward her. Since we had gotten together, Ma had made it a point to take Christi under her wing, treating her as if she had been her daughter from birth. The situation benefited both woman and made my life easier.

I was surprised so many people were standing around. I honestly thought it would only be the four of us. I would ask Christi later if she’d known everyone would be here.

I looked around the room, but I couldn’t find Sherman or Sharon, which I found to be very odd.

Food was laid out on the kitchen island and Muscles had made certain to taste test everything there. Christi quickly found the fruit tray and already began to enjoy the offerings there. Before I could ask why so many people were invited, Maggie appeared dressed in a beautiful teal evening gown and asked everyone to follow her. Taking Christi’s hand in mine, we made our way in the direction Maggie was headed.

Sherman had built a sunroom after he purchased this house. Beyond that he had added a very large deck. He also had plans to add a swimming pool when the weather allowed. The sunroom was quite nice. Christi said she could just curl up in a chair and read for hours. Honestly, my wife could curl up in a bed of glass if she had a good book in her hand.

“Oh, my, Patrick! What do you suppose this means?”

The backyard had been transformed into a garden oasis. Directly in the middle was a white arch covered with yellow roses and teal ribbon. Lined in front of the arch were rows and rows of white chairs, teal ribbons adorning each one.

“Please take a seat and I’ll let you in on our little surprise for tonight,” Maggie’s sweet voice directed, her angelic smile brighter than the sun.

As we all made our way to the chairs, my hand grasped in Christi’s, I watched as Maggie stood in the middle of the arch.

“When I was a little girl living in Ireland, my ma always said there was someone for everyone. I never believed her, as I had watched too many people deliberately hurt one another. Nearly a year ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Christi Malloy. She inadvertently introduced me to my future husband. Thanks to her, I believe my mother.”

I squeezed Christi’s hand and she turned her attention to me, giving me her heart-racing smile in return.

“So today we have the honor of witnessing the union of two more hearts that have found one another; my mother, Sharon, and my soon-to-be father, Sherman Montgomery.”

Harp music began to play as the French doors, which we had just moments ago walked through, slowly opened and Sherman’s two Irish setters began to walk down the aisle. I had to chuckle as his male dog was dressed in a black bowtie and the female had a teal ribbon around her neck. My attention was again drawn to the front, where Sherman now stood under the arch. Caleb was standing with Angus beside him and the priest stood behind the lot.

The look on Sherman’s face was of contentment and peace; exactly how I felt when I was with my Christi. Caleb’s face was covered in a huge smile, and as I turned again, I found my sister walking down the aisle, her dress matching Maggie’s. Maggie wasn’t far behind her as soft gasps were murmured around the crowd.

When Sharon began to walk toward Sherman, it was as if no one else existed. Sherman was smiling so brightly I feared he would have cracks in his face.

Watching the pair as the priest read to them, I remembered how I felt when I stood in Sherman’s shoes. Christi was right; everyone deserved to be loved and happy. I thanked God above that she chose me to love for the rest of our lives. I squeezed her hand, conveying silently that I loved her so very much.

When the ceremony was over, dinner was served and drinks flowed. Sherman made a toast to his new wife and explained to their guests that he and Sharon had agreed they didn’t want anyone to feel the need to give a gift. They thought about going to Vegas, but Maggie told her ma she would never forgive her. So with the help of their children, they came up with this idea.

I held my wife tightly in my arms as I danced with her to the soft music that caressed us from the speakers around the yard. I smiled to myself and decided that life couldn’t get much better than having my most treasured gift safely resting in my arms. The song was nearly over when my cell phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I didn’t want to ruin the mood, but I knew Christi would get irritated if I didn’t silence it. As I looked at my phone, I felt my anger begin to rise. The text was from Tonto.

Boss, security breach in the computer system. Shamus is working on it. Get here as soon as you can.

MY PARENTS INSISTED THAT CHRISTI go home with Ma. She kissed me soundly, promising me things she would gladly do to me if I hurried home. With a quick congratulations to Sherman and Sharon and a promise to have dinner later in the week, I waved goodbye to my wife. Once in the car, I phoned Matthew and had him head over to my parents’ house. I didn’t like where things were headed.

Da was sitting in the passenger seat, typing away on his phone, not a single word uttered by either of us. This security breach was just one more nail in my coffin. What kind of leader would I be if I couldn’t protect myself and my family?

The trip downtown was a blur as I drove as fast as possible to the office. Da didn’t even allow me to pull all the way into my parking spot before he dashed from the passenger seat. Inside the elevator, the only noise was the hum of the motor taking us to the top and the illumination of the lights as the floors passed. I felt sick to my stomach as I waited for the familiar tone of the floor being reached. This time I was the one to jump out first. I removed the tie and jacket I had worn to the wedding as I walked, then tossed the items inside the door of my office. I briskly made my way to the back of the condo where Shamus was waiting, his fingers flying across his keyboard.

Da was the first to speak as we came through the wooden door.

“Shamus, what do you have for us?”

His voice was even and devoid of emotion, his face, however, held fear and agitation.

“About an hour ago I was doing a routine clean up when I noticed something odd.” Shamus’s eyes never left the screen and his fingers never stopped typing.

Da moved around the desk and placed his hand on Shamus’s shoulder, while pulling out his reading glasses, placing them on his face. “Define odd for me, Shamus,” he instructed, his tone worried, yet calm. Even with the abundance of light in the room, the glare of the screen camouflaged Da’s eyes from my view.

“Well, I started noticing little blips in certain files. The average IT person would’ve missed them because it acted as if the power went out and the battery backup came on. However, I did some research and found that no electrical outage was reported on those days. Furthermore, the last major storm was last spring.”

I remembered that storm, but not for the same reason Shamus did. Christi and I had made good use of the lack of electricity, having had sex on every surface of this condo.

“I had to replace several batteries after that particular storm,” Da added as he continued to face the screen, while Shamus typed away on his keyboard.

“I did a trace back to the IP address of the blips, and whoever did this knew what they were doing and how to hide it.”

This got my attention. “Shamus, what did they take?”

Shamus stopped typing and turned his attention to me.

“That’s the thing; the last three IP addresses were from public areas—the city library, a Starbucks, and the train station. They used the public WiFi as a cover, yet they took nothing; not one file was touched. I mean, if they’d wanted to they could’ve easily gotten into one of the bank accounts and drained it dry, but they didn’t. It’s as if they only wanted to have a quick look and then left.”

Muscles was standing in the corner, his arms crossed and he was running his fingertips along his chin. “Shamus, do you think this is some basement hacker? Someone trying to impress his girlfriend?”

Da chuckled as he removed his glasses and moved slightly away, shaking his head as he lowered his gaze. How things had changed since he was the leader of this family.

“No, this is too advanced for computer geeks. My first thought was the Feds, but then I found the IP addresses and decided against it.”

“Why?” I questioned.

“Well, they used public WiFi. The Feds have their own built into their computers,” Shamus stated dismissively.

“True, but if they just needed a peek at something, maybe they had to use the public WiFi. As everyone knows, the government is cutting back on its spending,” Caleb added. “Could it have been a case of the Feds being cheap bastards?”

Shamus began to run his hands through his hair. He was clearly puzzled. “It’s not the Feds, guys! They have so many server protectors that keep out all public WiFi so their employees stay away from websites they shouldn’t visit, such as porn,” Shamus spoke from behind his hands that were still holding his face.

The room was silent as everyone absorbed this new information. Who would come in only to have a quick look around? What purpose would that serve?

“So, Shamus, what does all of this mean for us?” I questioned, my anxiety rising by the second.

Shamus sat back in his chair and looked me in the eye. “It means I’ll be increasing the firewall and installing a new encrypting system; like the ones you see on the ticketmaster webpage where you have to unscramble the word to get access. Except for ours, it’ll be a code that’s unique to each of us; just in case this is someone on the inside.”

I hadn’t wanted to think of any of my men betraying me like that, but there it was.

“You said they only looked at certain files; do we know what files they looked into?” Da questioned. That particular thought had clearly eluded me.

“It’ll take some time to follow the trail, but I’ve had a tracer on it since I discovered it.”

Shamus began to type again as Books entered the room.

“I thought I heard voices.”He looked surprised as he headed to the fax machine.

I looked at him questioningly. Could Books be the mole? If we even had a mole? This whole thing had me doubting my most trusted men. Books was family, yet, at this point, I needed to keep my eyes and ears open. I looked at Da, who appeared to have the same idea.

“Books, what are you doing here at this time?” Da questioned. The tone in his voice I had only experience a few time in my life. He, too, was questioning our men’s loyalty.

“Remember, Boss? My sister is graduating from UCLA and I wanted to get all the bills paid before I left in a few weeks.”

That was right; his sister was graduating with honors, a family trait I was told. He and Abby were flying out since Smiles was so close to her due date and the doctors refused to let her fly. She would be staying at our house.

“Oh, yeah, I did forget. Please give your sister our congratulations and have a great time.”

“I will, Thomas, thank you.”

I watched as the room began to empty. Shamus was lost in his computer, while my da was handing a white envelope to Books. I was about to head to my parents’ house when my cell began to vibrate in my pocket.