The O’Connells Books 10 - 12

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

He knew Iris was angry—no, furious, as she sat out back. That she’d gone out of her way all day to avoid him in a house far too small for them to avoid each other was a feat that had not gone unnoticed. Also out back was Brady, sitting in a lawn chair, sulking, with Alison across from him, as well as little Eva, Charlotte, Jenny, and Tessa.

Raymond was standing in the living room in a circle with his grown sons, Owen, Ryan, and Marcus, with Luke lingering in the background, everyone staring at him. This was where he needed to come clean, except he was still missing Karen and Suzanne and their respective partners, whom he wanted to look in the eye, face to face, to be sure they were who he’d seen on paper.

“How is this okay?” Ryan finally said. “I don’t even know where to begin, considering you basically ruined mine and my wife’s wedding by showing up yesterday, of all days…”

Owen responded on cue by making a rude noise. Yeah, he evidently had way more of a chip on his shoulder than anyone else.

“Ryan, I’m sorry,” Raymond said. “Yesterday was unavoidable. If I could go back…”

“Seriously, you’re doing this now?” Owen said, cutting him off and lifting his hands as if ready to fight. In fact, it was as if he wanted a fight.

“No, in all fairness, if I could go back in time, that’s not what I’d change. But again, Ryan, I’m sorry about yesterday. Today, as I said to your mother, I wanted to talk to you, all of you. It’s only fair.”

“Fair!” Owen cut in again, pulling his hands back out from where he’d jammed them in his pockets. His firstborn had evidently already made up his mind, and Raymond wondered how much he’d actually listen to.

He could see that Marcus was having a lot of trouble, too. He hadn’t said anything to him since walking into the house with Charlotte and Eva and heading right for his mother. Right, hadn’t Marcus always been his mother’s son?

“Okay, poor choice of words,” Raymond said. “I’ve already talked with Luke this morning. Brady, as you know, is outside. I’d like to wait until Karen and Suzanne get here. They are coming, right?”

He didn’t know why he found himself looking to Luke, but just then, he heard a car door and then another. He stepped over to the window and pulled the sheers back to see his little Karen, all grown up, holding the hand of her husband, Jack. Then there was Suzanne, and that had to be the deputy boyfriend—what was his name…Harold?

He stepped back. No one had said anything, but Owen and Ryan still appeared puzzled, and Luke had crossed his arms and was leaning against the wall, and he jutted his chin toward the door just as it opened.

“Hey, everyone,” Karen started, all smiles. She wore heels and a dress, her vibrant red hair pulled up in a messy bun. She stopped as her gaze fell totally and completely on him, her expression much like it had been the day before.

“What’s going on?” Suzanne said as she appeared behind her. She was tall and slim, kind of a tomboy, he thought. She really did look just like his mother, her grandmother.

“Dad…” Karen said, her voice soft and filled with emotion. Suzanne didn’t say a word.

“Hey, darlin’.” He took a step toward the two, but Jack stepped around Karen, toward him.

“I’m Jack Curtis, Karen’s husband,” he said, not holding out his hand. He had blue eyes and was shorter than Raymond, but he didn’t seem to hesitate. Maybe there was something about him that he could like.

“Raymond,” was all he said in reply.

Still by the door, Harold had his hand on Suzanne, who was staring at him, no smile, no amusement, no curiosity. It took him a second to get past the tightness in his chest at being in the same room as his grown children, something he’d never expected to happen, even though he knew not everyone was happy he was there.

“So you’re probably all wondering why I’m here,” he said. “Suzanne, Karen, come on down here.” He gestured to the living room before pinching the bridge of his nose to get his thoughts together, something he couldn’t remember ever having had such trouble with.

“Well, let’s hear it,” Owen said. “Karen and Suzanne are here, so spit it out, and then you can get the hell out of here.”

Ryan was pissed off, too, based on his expression, but Raymond could see he was likely more thrown than anything. Marcus, meanwhile, was working a piece of gum, dressed in all navy blue, a faded T-shirt, blue jeans, nothing to resemble the cop he was.

“Owen, I get it. You’re pissed off. You have every right to be.”

“s**t…” was all Owen muttered under his breath.

He took in how close Suzanne was standing to Karen, shell-shocked, confused. She was the baby and had been so much younger than the others when he left. He didn’t have a clue what she was thinking, by the way she was staring at him.

“Why don’t you just cut to it?” Marcus said. “Why are you here? I think we’d all like to know. I get that you stayed here last night because of Brady, but why are you still here? I mean, can you even imagine how Mom is feeling right now? Actually, she wants you gone.” He uncrossed one of his arms and gestured out back before crossing them again.

“Oh, I’m sure she does,” Raymond said. “What I want to say is that keeping the secret about who I am and why I had to leave eighteen years ago is kind of pointless now.”

Then there was silence. Luke stared at him long and hard, his brows raised, because he knew exactly what Raymond had been a part of.

“Let me ask you this,” Jack said. “You being back, does it put a target on my wife, on Iris, on anyone here?”

It took Raymond a second to realize Jack likely knew way more than he was comfortable with. “That’s why I’m here with Brady,” Raymond explained. “I wanted to move us back to the shadows, where we’ve lived, where I’ve raised him, but after coming forward for your mom, I’m afraid the spotlight is now shining on this family, on everyone. The DA has made it worse. I spent some time considering a lot of things today. You already know, I’m pretty sure, that Raymond O’Connell didn’t exist until thirty-five years ago. He met a gorgeous woman and married her. I worked for another government, was planted here, and made a deal with a US government official, a woman named Nancy Baker, who was Brady’s mother…”

Ryan swore, and Suzanne and Karen gasped. He took in the shock on their faces. Luke lingering in the background, saying nothing.

“Who the hell are you, then?” Owen snapped, appearing confused, angry. “I mean, if you’re not Raymond O’Connell, then what does that make us?”

He couldn’t help but glance at Jack, who was standing with his arms crossed. From his expression, he was positive the man understood without him having to elaborate. He looked down and shook his head, then lifted it and gave him everything. “Which government?” was all he asked.

“Israel, but we parted ways,” Raymond said, then stopped before he said anything more. What he’d shared with Luke that morning was something he didn’t want in anyone else’s head.

“What the hell does ‘parted ways’ mean? Was there a disagreement?” Ryan asked. Karen and Suzanne were still just staring at him, and he could see they didn’t have a clue what to say.

“It means he wouldn’t do someone’s dirty work,” Luke said, and everyone turned to him. “It means he developed a conscience and walked away. There are some things you don’t need to know, but basically, he pissed off the wrong people and made a deal to stay here. It’s just that once you’re on a hit list, you always have to watch over your shoulder. The man Mom killed, you all know, was here to bring our father back to Israel because he posed a problem for national security. He left to protect us, all of us—so dial back some of your outrage, Owen. At the same time, walking in here like you’ve done, Pops, do you have any idea who’s watching?”

What could he say? He was operating on next to no sleep, but he’d gone days without before. “Oh, someone definitely is. This quiet scares the hell out of me.” He took in eight pairs of eyes, all giving him everything now, likely because he’d said the one thing he hadn’t wanted to admit to himself. “When I left eighteen years ago, it was to keep you all safe, yes. I stayed away, made a deal with the CIA. I gave them information about my country, but one of the smartest things I did was to keep copies of everything I had been ordered to do, with a list of names of all the sleeper agents still in this country, to be sent to my contact in the CIA. What you don’t know, Luke, is that my contact is the boss of someone you work with.”

“God damn!” Luke snapped. “I knew there was something there. I knew I was being played, looking for you, when all that was there was a big black hole. I never found out from you this morning, but the Raymond O’Connell who was living in Wisconsin…”

He could see the confusion on his other children’s faces. Apparently, they weren’t in the loop with Luke, but then, he couldn’t see his son sharing anything of his national security business. That was knowledge he would take to his grave.

“That was a coincidence,” Raymond said. “I took Nancy’s last name, Baker. I did know you were looking, though. I knew what each of you was doing. I may have left eighteen years ago, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t watching over you. Suzanne, you never would’ve gotten anywhere with the shitheads who’ve controlled that fire department since before I was here. They screwed you, but you’ll find something else. Until there’s a change at the top, with the family that has controlled it, you won’t be welcome. Karen, you’ve done well, my darling. You should know that the full scholarship for law school, from the Gilchrest Foundation, that was me. Ryan, I already mentioned to Marcus that I was responsible for his vandalism charges being dropped. What I didn’t mention is that you were also involved in those unsolved robberies, weren’t you?”

Ryan slowly turned to Marcus, who only shrugged. Apparently, by the shocked looks on their siblings’ faces, they hadn’t shared their escapades.

“Owen, I’m sorry you had to step up and fill my shoes,” Raymond continued. “And, Luke, I never expected you to follow in my footsteps. The military isn’t a path I’d have chosen for any of you.”

Then Alison was standing there with Brady, and he spotted Iris behind them, her hands resting on both their shoulders. Everyone turned.

“Okay, so, Owen, are you barbecuing?” Iris said. “Charlotte’s hungry, Marcus, and says she wants something of substance, not crackers.”

Owen said nothing for a second, just gave everything to Iris before dragging his gaze back to Raymond. “I have one question,” he said. “If you’re not Raymond O’Connell, and that name is on our birth certificates, who, exactly, does that make us, and who are you, really? I think we all want to know.”

He could see this was the one question everyone shared. “It makes you Owen O’Connell, my son,” he said. “I may not have existed until thirty-five years ago, but today, Raymond O’Connell does exist, on paper. I may have been put here, assigned here, and assumed an identity, but who I was before isn’t who I am now. I’ve been Raymond O’Connell for thirty-five years.” He stopped, but he could see they weren’t going to let it drop, so he continued: “My name was David. I was born in Tel Aviv. I was pulled into Mossad as an informant when I was sixteen. I had gone sideways, mixing with the wrong crowd. I was a little s**t, but I was quick at picking everything up, especially with people, learning everything that makes them laugh and smile, what bothers them. I could study and know people better than they knew themselves. It came naturally to me, and I was too good at it. I was the perfect recruit, and I was groomed well. I had a mother. Suzanne, you look like her.”

His youngest touched her chest.

“She died when I was seventeen,” he explained, “and so did David. I became Raymond O’Connell, and that’s who I am. Brady, Baker was your mom’s name. I assumed it for us to stay under the radar, but I’m afraid that’s where we no longer are.”

No one said anything. Jack was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, and Harold was also standing off to the side, but he lifted his hand and said, “So let me understand this: Because you’re here, everyone could be in danger.”

He nodded.

Harold didn’t pull his gaze. “Then what are you planning on doing?” he asked.

Raymond could see how unsettled everyone was. “Well, first, it seems this town has its sights set on screwing your mother around, as they’ve convicted her in the court of public opinion. They’re basically waiting in the wings for all of you to do something wrong. So let’s start with that Jolene Harris, who took your money, Iris, for the catering. We’re getting it back. Marcus, schedule a press conference tomorrow with all the media, the DA, the mayor…”

Okay, now he had their attention.

“And why would I do that?” Marcus said, uncrossing his arms, with no surprise or alarm on his face. His son wasn’t about to do his bidding or anything he asked.

He took in the shock on Iris’s face and the way the kids were trying to figure out what was going on. “Because it’s time to go public, to set the record straight,” Raymond said. “Staying in the shadows is no longer an option. I can’t hide anymore. We also need to talk about some rules for everyone’s safety. No one is alone, everyone checks in, and for now, Brady and I will be staying here.”

He hadn’t expected silence. Owen dragged his gaze over to Iris, who he could see was ready to kill him.

“And Alison, Brady…” He took a step and then hesitated, taking in his kids and then his granddaughter, who was staring at him in a way he wasn’t sure what to make of. “All I can say is that I’m sorry.”