Family Ties

Chapter 4

Chapter 4Evan stood, dumbfounded. This couldn’t be happening. Everything was finally going his way, and now this tsunami of s**t rolls in. His career, his credit, his mother’s care, the office, Lacey’s job—everything hinged on the community center project going through. And this bizarre scheme the lawyers had cooked up threatened it all.

Moments later, Lacey was in the conference room demanding to know what was going on. “Well, give! What did they want with you?”

Evan sat down. He shook his head, and looked up helplessly at Lacey, unable to process what had just happened. “I’m not sure I can even get my head around it. But I think I’m in a lot of trouble.”

Suddenly bristling with protectiveness, Lacey demanded, “Are they suing you?” When Evan didn’t reply, her voice got louder. “Did they threaten you? Do you want me to call the police?”

Evan shook his head. “No. At least not now. I don’t think they’ve actually done anything illegal. And besides, everybody knows the Carmodys own the police and city hall and half the county. Lacey, I think I’m screwed.”

“So what do they want from you?” At Evan’s continued silence, Lacey stamped her foot. “If you don’t tell me right now, I’m going to explode!”

Evan pushed the prenuptial agreement towards her. “They want me to enter into an arranged marriage with the local crown prince, Danny Carmody.”

Lacey’s eyes grew wide, and she made odd, sputtering sounds. Finally regaining speech, she burst out, “Marriage? That’s crazy!” She dropped into the chair. “Marriage? Unbelievable. And to Danny Carmody?” Her expression turned thoughtful for a moment. “Although I have to admit, he is quite a prize.”

“Lacey!”

“Sorry. I’m just saying. Have you ever met him?”

Evan’s voice dropped. “Once. A long time ago when we were kids. I was only nine years old, and he must have been about sixteen.” Evan shuddered, his thoughts quickly skittering away from the memory of that day.

“So, you don’t even really know the guy. Why does he want to marry you?”

He shook his head. “I doubt he does. No, the two families are trying to extort my cooperation to create some happy little bond between them. They’re holding up funding for the community center until I agree to this. And they’re well aware of how stretched my finances are. They even mentioned my mother’s bills coming due at the assisted living facility.” Evan clenched his fists. “I’m trapped, Lace.”

She looked worried as she grasped his right hand and uncurled his fingers to wind them around hers. “So what are you going to do? I’ve already used up the money you gave me furnishing the office and buying supplies. And like it or not, they’re right about your mom’s rent coming due.”

He rubbed his forehead with his free hand. “I know. I really should never have tried to stay in this town. I should have taken my mother and found some place for her in another state.”

Lacey patted Evan’s hand. “You couldn’t take her from here. If it wasn’t for Dr. Duchamp’s friendship with her and the discount he gives you, you’d have to house her in a county home, not a private facility. Someone as sweet and fragile as Simone couldn’t survive in a place like that.”

Evan stood and started pacing the length of the small room. “I know that. Damn it, Lacey, these people have no right to interfere with our lives again. Those bastards treated us like dirt even when my father was still alive. I can’t let them use me for their own purposes like…like I was just some merchandise for sale. But how do I fight them? When the almighty Carmodys decide they want something, it would take a federal decree to hold them back.” Evan froze. A federal decree? How about a federal law enforcement agency? Suddenly he turned to face her, a wicked smile forming on his lips. “Lacey, your old roommate—Barb, was it?—didn’t you tell me her brother was in the FBI?”

“Uh, yeah. And I heard he had some kind of run-in with the Carmodys. And lost.”

“Yeah, well that could be a plus. Maybe he’d like to have another chance at them.” Evan’s thoughts were racing, weaving plans and examining possibilities. “Can you try to find him for me? At the very least I’m going to need some discreet advice from someone outside the circle of the Carmodys’ influence. And a federal agency might be my only hope. While you track him down, I’m going to call Jack Denton and get his version of events. I’m not going down without a fight.”

Lacey grinned at her boss. “I’m on it. She grabbed the plate of cookies and plunked it down in front of him. “I used the really good quality chocolate—it works miracles. Now eat.”

Evan managed a weak smile. “And a miracle is just what I need right now.”

“So let’s find one.” She jumped up and headed out of the conference room.

Evan was already dialing. When the receptionist answered, he said, “Jack Denton, please. Evan Dwyer calling.” After a very long wait, Denton finally answered the phone.

“Hello, Evan. I know what you’re going to say, but there’s nothing I can do.”

“You could honor the agreement we had,” he retorted, not bothering to disguise his anger.

Denton sighed. “I’d like to. But our agreement was dependent upon receiving the bulk of the funding from the city. And the city was getting the money from the Carmodys. As I understand it, that’s stalled now for the foreseeable future. I’m sorry, Evan, but none of us can go forward until this is resolved.”

“Can’t your attorneys do anything to fight this? You want that community center as much as I want to design it. And the city desperately needs it.”

“Even if I could find funding elsewhere, I don’t have the influence to go up against the combined forces of the Carmodys and the Dwyers. I have to live in this town and do business here. I’m sorry, Evan. But right now, everything is on hold until they say it isn’t. I don’t want to start looking for another architect, so settle this as quickly as you can. I’m counting on you—and so are the residents of the city. Good luck.” The call disconnected.

Evan slammed the phone down so hard the plate of cookies flipped off the table. He buried his face in his hands. Damn. This day had started filled with such hope. How had things gotten so bad, so quick? Looking up, he was embarrassed at the mess he’d made. He crawled around and picked up the cookies, dusting them off and arranging them neatly back on the plate. It wouldn’t do to piss off the one person who was on his side.

Lacey called from the front office. “Evan, I found a number for Barb’s brother. His name is Agent Rick Jablonski. He’s on line two for you.”

He picked up the phone. “Hello, Agent Jablonski. I’m hoping you can help me.” He explained his situation and tried to answer the agent’s questions as best he could. With a surge of bitterness, Evan admitted the lawyers hadn’t given him the courtesy of an explanation—they’d just conscripted his life and told him not to be tardy to his own hanging.

Evan hadn’t really expected the FBI to be too concerned with his dilemma. So the ill-concealed excitement in the agent’s voice surprised him. Jablonski concluded their conversation by saying he would consult with his superiors in the Organized Crime division and get back to him soon.

Spending the next three hours alternating between fits of temper and helpless frustration, Evan tried to think his way to a solution. Not expecting it to be of any use, he nonetheless studied the prenuptial agreement. After plowing through it, he felt sorry for whatever poor slob actually ended up marrying Danny Carmody—the prenup read like a set of rules for prisoners of war.

Lacey spent the time on the internet pulling up every bit of information she could find on both the Carmodys and the Dwyers. Over sandwiches she’d had delivered from the sub shop down the street, they pooled their information and tried to come up with escape plans. It was a depressingly unproductive session.

* * * *

Shortly after two o’clock the FBI agent called back. Evan put the call on the speaker phone in the conference room so Lacey could hear as well. To Evan’s disgust, Jablonski seemed gleefully delighted by the whole situation.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Are you sure they didn’t give you any clues on why this union is so important to them?” the agent asked yet again, probing for any nuance Evan might have unknowingly gleaned.

“No. I’ve told you everything they said—which was not much. You’re the one with all the resources. Don’t you have any information on what they’re doing?” Evan was losing what little patience he had left.

“Well, I can’t discuss the details, but we are aware that there has been contact between the Dwyers and the Sokolovs, a Russian crime family. But this is the first we’ve heard that the Carmodys are also involved. It’s my personal opinion they hope to create a triad of families to control the whole city and maybe the state as well. Nessa Carmody is a power-hungry, heartless woman. And I’m not going to allow her to birth a new criminal empire.”

“So why don’t you just arrest them and stop them from destroying my life?” Evan complained.

“Mr. Dwyer, we sympathize with your situation, but until they do something illegal, we can’t move against them. And from our perspective, the fact you’re being brought into the families is a heaven-sent opportunity to get inside information. You’ll have access we couldn’t dream of getting.” Jablonski sounded positively giddy at the prospect.

Alarm bells were going off in Evan’s mind. He needed more reassurance than what Jablonski was providing. “I don’t know. This sounds dangerous. Why don’t I come to your office and discuss this further?”

“Oh, no. That’s not necessary,” the agent said airily.

That didn’t sound right at all. Evan asked slowly, “So you don’t want me to make a formal statement, sign a complaint, meet with your division agents?”

“No, we need to keep a very low profile here. We shouldn’t be seen together—for security reasons. The Carmodys have too many friends, too many informants. Can’t risk revealing your part in the plan until it’s successful.”

Evan’s budding uneasiness burst into full bloom at that last statement. “My part in the plan? Exactly what is my part supposed to be? ‘Cause I’m not an undercover spy, you know.”

Jablonski chuckled. “Relax, Evan. Just go ahead and sign the prenuptial agreement. You don’t have to worry—it goes into effect only if the marriage actually takes place, and that’s the last thing we would want to happen.”

“Okay, that’s good, but why?”

“Spousal privilege. We’re going to need your testimony when we bring charges against the Dwyers and the Carmodys. We don’t want their lawyers limiting your testimony because one spouse can’t reveal information about the other. So there can be no legal marriage between the two of you.”

“Well, that suits me just fine.”

“So, all you have to do right now is keep your appointment with Mrs. Carmody on Monday.”

“Am I going to be wearing a wire or something?” Evan hoped not—he’d never be able to pull that off.

“No, nothing like that at this point. I’m hoping to get authorization for you to plant a bug for us, but we don’t have enough to get a warrant yet for that. For now, keep your eyes open, find out everything you can about what’s prompting this family merger. We will contact you when we’re ready for the next step.” And with that, the conversation was apparently over.

Evan and Lacey stared at each other in the sudden silence.

“Well, that was odd,” she said.

“What part?” Everything about this was odd. And it was quite clear Evan’s well-being came in a distant second to the FBI’s dreams of a headline-grabbing arrest.

“The part where he doesn’t want you at his office. And the part where he seems a little too eager to implicate the Carmodys in this massive criminal empire he’s envisioning.”

“Yeah. I thought that was very weird. I have no love for the Carmodys, but I think he’s got a blind spot about them. He’s obsessed.”

“So do you think you can trust this guy?” She looked worried.

Evan dragged up a rueful smile for her. “I don’t think I have a choice. I’m fresh out of other options.”

Lacey sighed. “Well, I guess we work with what we have. But I’m not giving up.” She reached out and plucked a cookie from the plate.

Evan blushed and grabbed her hand before she could take a bite. “Um, Lacey, I kind of dropped those on the floor.”

She eyed the cookie critically for a moment and blew on it. Then she shrugged and sank her teeth into it, humming in appreciation. “You don’t turn down really good chocolate just because you have to pick through some dirt to get to it.”

Laughing for the first time since the morning meeting, Evan said, “Okay. If that was meant as a life lesson, it’s a bit vague.”

Lacey grinned. “All I mean is, you should keep an open mind when you meet Danny Carmody. Since they so kindly offered him to you on a platinum platter, go see whether he’s worth having.” She stood. “Now I have to run or I’ll be late for class. Call me if you need moral support before Monday.”

Evan absently waved a goodbye as he thought about her words. Despite being involved in this whole mess, Danny was an unknown. Perhaps Lacey was right—maybe he should withhold judgment. He picked up a cookie and bit into it. The rich, dark flavor flooded his mouth with pleasure.

Lacey might have a point.