“Hands up, now! You are under arrest for attempting to steal artifacts from the islands of Micronesia.”
They spun Ham around, zip tying his wrists together and then searching his pockets. The first customs agent tossed the bag to the other man, who stared at the artifacts inside.
“Listen to me,” said Ham. “I’m not leaving your islands. I’m coming in to return the items that were stolen by someone else. I’m bringing them back.”
“Shut up!” yelled the customs agent. Ham glanced up to see Patrick and Christopher on the other side of the customs line. He gave a small shake of his head, then watched as they pulled out their phones. Patrick was filming the entire thing while Christopher called home.
They were going to need help.
“Everything looks so beautiful,” smiled Sadie, hugging her mother’s side. “I’ve missed these big holiday events at home.”
“We’ve missed you,” said Virginia, kissing her daughter’s temple. “It’s just nice to have you all back where you belong. Now we just have to convince those brothers of yours that it’s time to retire.”
“Now you know how I felt,” smiled Mary. “I not only had Wes and Marc to worry about, but Georgie gave us quite a scare there for a while as well.”
“But she’s happy now with Carl, right, Grandma?” asked Sadie.
“She’s extremely happy, honey. They love one another as deeply as your grandfather and I do. That’s all a mother or grandmother can hope for their children and grandchildren. We just want you to be happy.”
“I don’t know what would have become of me if Ham hadn’t been out at the mansion,” she said, shaking her head. “I was wandering around that big house, mumbling, trying to control those erratic impulses, and he just let me wander. He seemed to know when I needed him, even when I didn’t think I did.”
“That’s the sign of a good man,” smiled Mary. “Angel always knew when I needed him. He was always there for me. In fact, all of these men were there for me when I needed them.”
As they continued to make bows for the wreaths, they could smell Dylan cooking the evening meal, cookies included. Sadie felt her phone vibrate and wondered if it was Ham already calling to say they were returning. She stared at the screen and practically tossed the phone to the table.
“What’s wrong?” asked Angel.
“Sadie? Sadie, who is that?” asked Wes.
“It’s Myer. What do I do?”
“Put it on speaker and answer it,” said Wes, waving over Luke and Cam. She nodded, then hit the button.
“What do you want?” she said flatly.
“You took everything from me. Everything. All because you couldn’t keep a leash on your boyfriend and your family.”
“You’re responsible for that, not me,” she said calmly.
“And you’re responsible for losing everything important to you,” he said in a low growl.
“What are you talking about?” Sadie began to shake, and Angel gripped her hand, slowly shaking his head. He signed for her to remain calm.
“I would imagine your boyfriend is about to be sentenced for stealing historical artifacts and antiquities that are sacred to the Micronesian people. They’ll hang him. And if they don’t, he’ll spend his life in prison. Good thing an anonymous caller notified them of the evil American who had stolen the goods.”
“You bastard! You son-of-a-bitch! I’ll kill you myself, Myer. Once I have him home, I will come for you and kill you myself, and believe me, I can.”
“Oh, I have no doubt. The blonde bitch with the viper tongue is capable of killing everyone around her.”
“No. I’m just capable of killing those that hurt my family, and you’re going to die for this. You won’t have anywhere to hide. A word of advice. Pray. Because when I unleash hell on you, you’re going to beg for your life.” The call ended, and Sadie looked at the others.
“What do we know?” She’d no sooner finished the sentence when Georgie, Mattie, and Kat came running through the door.
“Let me guess,” said Cam. “You got a call from Patrick, Christopher, and Ham?”
“Close. Not Ham. They’ve arrested him and set trial for tomorrow. We have to get there before they sentence him. Stealing antiquities can result in a death sentence.”
“We’ll send a crew with you,” said Luke. “Where are Patrick and Christopher.”
