Stranded with My Stepbrother Chapter 151

Jacey

Caleb and I sat in the back of another nondescript black sedan. It reminded me of the old days, and not in a good way.

“I’m so glad we found you,” Attorney General Joy Packard said, looking back at us from the front seat. “If we hadn’t, William Masterson Sr. would have been released from prison next month. How awful would that have been?”

“Pretty awful,” Caleb replied, barely hiding his sarcasm.

What we’d learned over the years was that there was no end to evil like Masterson’s, and the best we could hope for was to shield our daughter from it as best we could.

Mission failed, I thought to myself, sighing in despair.

“So much has happened since you were last in the game. The sheik died, but then so did Ibrahim Abadi, who had taken over the sheik’s empire. That was very recent, though. Luckily, your daughter wasn’t hurt in the accident,” she prattled on.

I sat up in my seat. “What?”

“I’m just—oh! But of course you wouldn’t know!” She shook her head. “How silly of me. It’s just that so much has happened. I mean, now that Ibrahim Abadi is dead, Interpol doesn’t even need you anymore, which means we don’t have to try to ship you safely to Europe. It’s very problematic. Masterson is kind of a bugger.”

Caleb stopped her. “I’m going to need you to rewind to where our daughter was in an accident.”

“Well, the two men in front were killed. But Will Masterson and your daughter walked away without a scratch. One of the men just happened to be Abadi. Talk about divine providence.  He was just starting to become a real thorn in Interpol’s side—” she chatted.

“Ma’am, I don’t give a flying fuck about Abadi, Interpol, or William Masterson Sr. What I want to know is where my daughter is, and if she’s okay?” Caleb said sharply.

I nodded my agreement, wishing this near-tween of a woman would just stay on point.

“You haven’t seen the news?” she sounded confused.

“Does it look like we’ve seen the news? Since your minion Val picked us up at our cabin, we’ve been cooped up with no media access.” Caleb was angry.

So was I.

“Oh. Right. Well, you probably wouldn’t have seen it anyway unless you followed gossip rags and society pages.” She shrugged. “But it’s been all over social media.”

“What has?” he asked.

“They’re home. They’re just fine—living at the Masterson estate. You see, Will and McKenzie are engaged,” she said, sounding like a complete fangirl.

“WHAT?!!!” my husband bellowed.

It was so loud that the driver swerved then glared at us in the rearview mirror.

“Jeez! Take a pill. It’s really sweet. They’re such a cute couple. And, this way, they’ll both be well-placed to spy on Masterson’s operation,” she went on eagerly. “Just think what a coup that will be.”

I gripped Caleb’s hand, feeling sick. “Our poor girl,” I whispered.

“They’re practically siblings!” His eyes narrowed on her.

Joy laughed. She actually laughed! “That’s rich, coming from you two.”

“He’s eleven years older than she is!” he continued as though she hadn’t spoken.

“All right, a bigger age gap than you two, but are you really throwing stones right now?” She arched an eyebrow at him.

Caleb looked at me. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking it’s unusual, but as long as she’s happy, I won’t say anything about it. But I do want to be assured that she’s happy. I’m much more worried about her being used as another pawn. Like us,” I said quietly.

After a few moments’ thought, he nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly right, baby. Exactly what you said.” He turned to Joy. “We want to see our daughter.”

“That’s not possible, I’m afraid.” She didn’t even sound regretful about it. “We can’t ever have you all in one place. Masterson would surely do something awful. No, it’s better this way. But I will let you watch the livestream of the wedding.”

He scowled. “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. We will not testify, not one word, until we’ve seen our daughter and Will. Not. One. Word.”

Her lips turned down in displeasure. “I assure you, you will testify.”

“I assure you, we won’t,” he replied.

“Do you want to go to jail? Be held in contempt of court?” she threatened.

Caleb shrugged. “At least the kids will know where to find us.”

“So will Masterson,” she said nastily.

“That sounds like a you problem,” he responded, folding his arms over his chest. “What are you going to do if Masterson kills us?”

Joy looked thoughtful. “Will is going to have better, more current information anyway. What I’m trying to say is that your safety could very easily go from a me problem to a you problem.”

“That’s not fair,” I blurted, horrified.

“It’s the truth. Maybe if your testimony is still enough to keep Masterson in prison, I won’t have to use Will or McKenzie. They can go have their fairytale wedding and happy life together without ever being touched by any of this,” she said.

“What the fuck are you even talking about?!” Caleb snapped. “Will and McKenzie have already been touched by all of this! Wanted for murdering cops?! Captured by Ibrahim?! Chased by assassins?!”

She waved a hand. “That’s all been cleared up. I wouldn’t worry about it anymore.”

“You wouldn’t worry about it anymore,” he echoed, incredulous.

“I think she might be insane,” I whispered to my husband.

“I think you’re right,” he murmured back. He slipped an arm around me, and we cuddled as close together as our seat belts would allow.

Joy pulled out a tablet and began scrolling through it. “All right, so you’ll be giving testimony next Wednesday—”

“If we see our daughter,” Caleb reiterated.

She smacked the tablet down in her lap and glowered at us both. “I thought we went over that.”

“I thought you knew we’re too old and too tired of this bullshit to give a fuck about your threats,” he said.

I smiled. “We’re kind of over the whole being dragged from pillar to post thing.”

Joy stared at us, her jaw dropping wide open. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Did I not properly explain the dangers? Hell, you’ve been in his hands before; you know what Masterson can do!”

“And now our daughter is in his hands. And Will. And we want to be assured they’re going to be okay. All you keep doing is talking about how they’re going to be so useful to you. Respectfully? Go fuck yourself,” Caleb said.

“We want assurances that Will and McKenzie will be taken care of. That you will ensure their safety—and if they want to get out, you will make that happen,” I added.

She spluttered. “I most certainly will not! They are invaluable assets! They need to stay right where they are to gather the information we need to really nail Masterson to the wall. Him and his whole operation!”

“For which you will offer Will immunity for whatever crime he may commit under his grandfather’s direction. Yes, we’ve heard the story before.” I looked at Caleb. “We’re not testifying until our demands are met. That’s final.”

“You heard my wife,” he said.

Joy turned several shades of red, from embarrassment to rage. “You don’t have the right to make such demands!”

“Suck it up, buttercup,” my husband responded. “You’re lucky this is all we’re asking after the hell we went through and that you’re now allowing our children to go through.”

“Will’s not your child,” she scoffed.

“We can debate the semantics of that all day.” He raised that stubborn chin of his that I loved so dearly. “You know our demands. This is a take it or leave it situation.”

She threw up her hands, the tablet sliding onto the floor. “Fine! I’ll make some calls. I won’t promise you anything—”

“I’d rather you didn’t. So far, you disgust me, and I wouldn’t trust a promise of yours even if it came on a silver platter,” Caleb said.

I looked down at the tablet while Joy and my husband had their verbal sparring match. Frowning, I moved away from Caleb so I could scoop the tablet up.

“Who is Bran Lockwood the Fifth?” I asked.

Joy stopped. “What?”

Caleb leaned over me and swiped the screen. “John Anders? Morgan Franz? Joel—”

“Give me that!” She snatched it from me. “You’re not supposed to see that! It will taint your testimony.”

“Who are those people?” I asked again.

“None of your business. You concentrate on Masterson.” She turned to face front and closed whatever we’d been looking at on her tablet, opening a chat. “I’ll run your request up the flagpole, but like I said, no promises.”

Caleb and I both eyed her with suspicion. “I can promise you we won’t be testifying if we don’t get what we want,” he finally stated.

“Yes, yes, I understood that part.” She was practically pouting.

We continued in silence for a while then the driver pulled off the main highway and navigated us to a quaint little neighborhood in Oakdale, Minnesota. It appeared to be an association with townhomes, each as nondescript as the next.

They were attached side-by-side, so there was only one roofmate. I glanced at the home attached to the one we parked in front of and saw a blinking red light reflecting off the glass.

“You might want to let surveillance know we can see them,” I said.

“Surveillance?” she replied. “You can see them from across the street?”

“No, our roofmate.” I pointed.

Just as Joy and the driver looked at the window, Caleb grabbed me and pinned me down to the seat.

Then the world exploded.