Page 4 of Vengeful Reign

When I arrive, there are medics and police along with fire trucks blaring toward the blazing trees. The houses aren’t burning, but my front gate is. The massive compound holds four mansions: one for each of us, and several smaller homes for some of our staff members. The grounds are extensive, but the security is tight.

The cops are at the front, stopping the vehicles. I jump out and immediately present my ID. “Whoa, whoa. No entry yet.”

“I’m the fucking owner of this entire estate. Where are my father and brother?”

“You father and brother?”

“Yes, Jack and John MacNamara.”

“Jack has been taken to the hospital in serious condition with a gunshot wound and several injuries, and we haven’t located John. How old is John?”

“He’s five. He should be with his nanny. Her name is Joanne.”

“There’s no female on the premises.” What the fuck? Did she get John to safety? Where are they?

I look around and see several dead bodies covered by tarps. Rushing past the police, I lift up the first one and find the remains of my guards in pieces. It must have been from the explosion. One by one, I look for them. My chest burns with rage. There are so many buildings to search, but I don’t want the police on my property.

“I’ll pull up the surveillance footage and see if they can be found.” The only house that seems to have been attacked is my father’s. His is the closest to the entrance. Had this been deliberate, or was it because of the distance to the entrance?

“Maybe they fled because they didn’t make it that far,” a man in a suit with a police badge says, answering my unspoken question.

“Jack,” Connor shouts from the entrance.

“Connor, come here. John’s missing,” I snarl, wanting to tear this place apart.

“What the fuck are they doing here if they aren’t finding our brother? Fucking useless fucks,” he snaps, glaring at the cops.

“We just arrived. We need permission to search the premises.”

“You can search the grounds, but we’ll check the house. Our security shows they didn’t get farther than the main house here.”

“Mr. MacNamara, it wouldn’t be wise to hinder our investigation when it comes to your brother’s location.”

“Do you know something, Detective?” I snarl, getting in his face. He backs up a step.

“No, but you aren’t being fully cooperative.”

“I just had my home invaded. Forgive me if I don’t trust anyone to look for my brother. Anyone. We will look for him. You can look for him outside of our estate. Clean up this mess, and we’ll check out the surveillance to the gate that was demolished on my damn property.”

“Don’t scrub the footage.”

“I won’t.” I want these assholes off my property now. The first thing I need to do is go into my father’s house and look for John. “Connor. We need to search the old man’s home first. According to the logs, it’s the only one where the sensors were accessed. The rest of the homes have been locked down.” When there is a break-in, the houses go into full lockdown unless we use special exits. Our men used them, but I fucking see them lying dead on the ground. Whoever these pricks were, they waited until we had the least amount of security on the estate and the least of us here. This was a setup and a half, but to what motherfucking end?

We search the entirety of my father’s mansion with all of our men, and not a trace of our brother is found and it looks like they ransacked the place and left. “Where is John?” I mutter to myself.

Just as I exit his front door, my phone rings. “Mr. MacNamara?”

“Yes, this is him. Is my father dead?” I ask, wondering if he didn’t survive his injuries.

“No, we’re calling to let you know your father is out of surgery.”

“Thank you. What were the extent of his injuries?”

“A bullet wound to his arm and one to his calf. Several bruised ribs and a black eye.”

“When will he be released?”

“We can release him tomorrow.”

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