Page 74 of Soaring Free
We discover two other cameras in the air vents of the house. One was in the kitchen and the other, unfortunately, was in the primary bathroom. Liam confirmed the recording devices can be remotely turned off and on, so it’s unknown if they even have any footage of anyone in the bathroom, but the fact that it was there is enough to make me see red.
“I’m not saying we lie to Savannah,” Liam quietly explains to me and her brothers as we stand in her bedroom after searching the house. Savannah is in the theater room in the basement with Murphy, Vivian, and the girls, hopefully fully distracted from what’s going on, but knowing my girl, she is still freaking out about the email. “I think we just summarize it. We tell her we located the device and searched each room to make sure there are no recording devices in her house. I’m also going to call a favor and have a friend fly in that can do a more thorough search of her entire house, because this fucker, whoever it is, is not getting away with this. Everyone on the same page?” he asks us and we all nod.
“Where are the devices now?” I ask, unsure of what Liam’s plan is.
“I put them in a military-grade faraday bag,” Liam replies like any of us know what the hell that means.
“Gippity glop gloop. Can you translate for us non-spy guys in the room?” Finn asks.
“A faraday bag blocks all electronic communication for devices placed inside, both outgoing and incoming communication or surveillance. Think of it like a portable dead zone. While whoever planted these devices could in theory also have trackers on them, they won’t get anything from them when they are in the bag,” Liam explains.
“And when you open the bag for your tech guy to check them out?” Ryan asks.
“When my tech contact, who’s a woman by the way, opens them, she will do so in a room that’s been equipped to basicallybe a large-scale version of a faraday bag.” Liam looks around as we all stare back with skeptical looks. He shakes his head and looks up at the ceiling. “If Walker were here, he’d know what I was talking about.” He is in DC for work but is well aware of the recording device and threats. I get that he’s a federal agent, but he also views Savannah as his own sister and is livid like the rest of us.
“Does anyone else think it sounds like Liam made that word up?” Finn asks.
“I assume half of what Liam says could be made up but how the hell would we know?” Jack chimes in.
“I mean, you’re not wrong, it could be, but unfortunately, the shit I know is not made up,” Liam tells his brother with a grim look on his face as he claps him on the back. I still don’t know what Liam does, but I don’t know that I want to know all the details anyway. “My friend Sophia is the best at what she does, and if there are any other electronics planted in this house, she will find them.”
“It mostly goes over my head, but I can loop in my brother if we need another tech expert,” I offer.
“Who’s your brother?” Ryan asks.
“Most people refer to him as Sullivan Smith-Harrington but he’s just Van to our family. I would’ve assumed the last name would have made the connection obvious.” The men in the room look surprised—except for Liam. I suspect he knows everything about my family and possibly even more about my own brother than I do.
“Why am I just now making that connection? His company has some really unique and impressive capabilities. I was planning on meeting with one of their developers next time I’m in London,” Jack says. That makes sense for Jack’s streaming company and Van’s tech company to overlap in some capacity.
Van may be considered the black sheep in our family because he didn’t pursue law, but our parents only ever encouraged us to chase our passions. Since he was a child, Van has been exceptionally curious about how things work and how to makethem work better. It also means he broke almost every piece of electronic equipment in our house growing up, but eventually, he found his groove and he hasn’t stopped. He filed his first technology patent at sixteen—well, our parent’s firm filed it—and sold his first company before he turned twenty-one.
“So, can we tell Savannah she’s allowed to leave the theater room yet?” I ask her brothers.
“Yeah, she can leave, she was never a prisoner there. I just thought it was better to keep the girls and kids all out of the way to avoid explaining what we were searching for,” Jack explains. “Liam, do I need to like throw more money at this or what? How do we figure out who the fuck is messing with our little sister? And if it turns out to be Shane, we are going to have a conversation that Walker is not allowed to be present for, and maybe not you either, Theo.”
My head shakes in a firm refusal of that suggestion. “Yeah, that’s not an option. If it involves my girl, it involves me.”
“You’re really all in with her, aren’t you?” Jack asks with an assessing eye.
“Absolutely. What is that y’all say … I’m all in without question or hesitation.” I look each of her brothers in the eyes to express my sincerity and they each nod in response to me using their motto for The Cavalry.
“I’m good with that,” Jack says, extending his hand for me to shake as Liam hums and nods in agreement.
“For sure,” Ryan adds.
“Same,” Finn chimes in.
“Glad to hear it because I’m not going anywhere.” Unless it’s to pay a visit to whomever is behind these threats to my girl, then I’m going after them and will not stop until they’re completely ruined.
Chapter forty-five
“And here is an iced decaf Americano with sugar-free hazelnut and cream, and an iced vanilla latte, ladies. I’ll drop those muffins off as soon as they’re out of the oven,” Kim says as she delivers our drink order to our table. She’s been a barista here for years and somehow remembers people’s very specific preferred drink orders.
“Thanks, Kim!” Vivian snatches her coffee up like it’s actually going to help her sleep deprivation at all. She takes a big drink and smiles with her eyes closed. “Mmmm, so good.”
I laugh at her reaction. “You know decaf means there isn’t any caffeine in there, right honey?” I pick up my own drink and allow the sweet and creamy chilled beverage to dance across my tongue. The espresso at Java Jive is always perfect with the espresso beans they roast right here in the store, and it’s never burnt, which it only takes having burnt espresso once to know how terrible that can taste.
“I know, but it’s all a mental game at this point. I might logically know there isn’t any caffeine in here to help wake me up, but my body is going to fall for the fib that it’s just as good as one with regular espresso. Don’t rain on my parade, I take the wins when I can.” She rubs her expanding belly with an affectionate smile. “And they are worth it, although I sincerely appreciate not puking my guts out multiple times a day anymore.” Vivian finally felt better once she was a few weeks into her second trimester, and I am thrilled to see her feeling and looking more like herself.
