Page 20 of Gideon

“Here I am, Uncle Sean.”

Sean turned and scooped up Haley, hugging her tightly. Then his expression hardened as he looked back at Laney.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to get hold of you for two years.”

“We’ll talk later,” Laney replied calmly. “Did you bring the family?”

“Yeah, they are at the hotel.”

“You have to bring them here.”

“You can return to the hotel with me when this is over.”

“We’ll talk later, Laney said, brushing him off. “Let me introduce you to everyone. This is River Channing and his wife, Kat. She’s been running the Golden Team, but I’ll let her tell you more. Kat can introduce you to the rest of the team. Everyone, this is Sean.”

At first, I wasn’t sure I’d like Sean initially. But he quickly impressed me with his intelligence and humility. His expertise with computers was unmatched. When I explained what was going on with Laney, he immediately pulled out his laptop and began working.

Within seconds, Sean brought up a full profile on Jonah Reeves, dating back to when Jonah was seventeen. Looking up from the screen, Sean’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“You don’t want Jonah going to prison. He’ll be running that place in months. Worse, he’ll put a hit on Laney and use it to get to Haley. This man is pure evil. He has to be taken out.”

I nodded, a grim determination settling over me. “I’ve always known that. The problem has been finding him.”

“I can help with that,” Sean said confidently. “I can find anything you need to know—where he is, who he’s working with, you name it. Now, tell me about your business. I want to ensure you have the right technology for everything you need.”

We spent hours talking to Sean, covering everything from our operations to future needs. Laney had already left with Kat by the time we finished discussing details. I made it clear to Sean that Laney couldn’t leave my sight—not with Jonah still out there.

By the third hour, it was clear Sean would be a significant asset to our team.

“When can you start?” I asked.

“I need to find a place to live and then move our stuff here. Give me a week—how’s that?”

“That works. We’ll have movers meet you at your home and take care of everything. Plus, we have a house that comes with the job,” I said, cutting off anyone else who might’ve objected. River nodded, thinking the same thing I did.

“Since we bought Kat’s house, I thought it would be perfect for your family,” River said. “We’ll get you the keys and the address so you can check it out. Let us know if there’s anything in the house you want removed. I’ll also get you the keys to your office. You might want to consider setting up an alarm system—we just moved into this office complex and don’t have a good one yet.”

River led Sean to a glass-walled office. “This is your space. You can close the curtains if you need privacy.”

Sean nodded. “Looks good.”

“There’s also a garden in the backyard at the house,” River added. “We all pitch in to care for it and grow vegetables.”

“That sounds great,” Sean said. “We’re big on canning, so we’ll keep it up. I’ll take Shelly to see it later if that’s okay.”

“As soon as you have the keys, the place is yours,” River said. “By the way, is your sister with you?”

“No, she’s in the service.”

“That’s great—or is it?” Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s good,” Sean replied, glancing at Raven. His expression shifted slightly as he studied him. He noticed his dark hair; even though Laney had blonde hair, there was something about this guy. He focused on Raven’s eyes.

“Are you related to Laney?” he asked, quickly adding, “Sorry, forget I said that.”

“No, it’s a fair question,” River interjected. “Laney mentioned she had a DNA test done, but nothing came up. I’ve been thinking the test wasn’t thorough. After we deal with Jonah Reeves, we’ll redo it.”

Sean nodded thoughtfully. “I think I should start here sooner than planned. Give me three days to wrap things up at home since you’re sending movers. I have to admit—we’ve never used movers before.”

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