Previously...

“I don't know what you're planning," Haley warns Alan Gray. "But we have to get out of here and save the girls,”

“I know. I've been trying to get us all out for days but it's been complicated. Where are Luce and Sara ? How did they get you ?”

“No, you first. What the hell happened in the house that night ?”

-1-

Haley

“Minnow and I were spending the night in the en suite apartment at the Mojave property. It was the dead of night, we were both asleep and these armed masked men just rushed in. It caught us both off guard because they had a key and came in so quietly. We couldn't get to our weapons fast enough. Four of them handcuffed me while the others started beating Minnow...they made her take her clothes off at gunpoint. I didn't want to leave her but they dragged me out of the room and into a van. The girls were already inside. They were freaked out because El wasn't there.

“He was in the van too. He told me I was lucky. That the original plan was to kill me but he liked what I could do. He showed his hand and said he needed a ripper doc. I told him I'd help him but if he let anyone in that house die I was going to take the cyanide tablet embedded in my tooth.

“I was bluffing but he let Minnow live. Charlotte and Rias had already been killed. He wanted to fake everyone's death for the public and I told him how to do it on the quick. It was sloppy, if the Federation did any deep digging they'd know the scene was staged. I had to rip out my own identity patch to leave behind since my DNA wouldn’t match to anything on record."

He touched the thick bandage wrapped around his head.

“I've been in here ever since. Minnow's hurt pretty bad...she goes in and out. The two way glass separating us has shitty soundproofing--we've been communicating in Morse code so she knows I'm here. She won't tell me what he's done to the girls but...I can only guess. He's a fucking psycopath but I've been trying to get him to trust me." Alan continues. "I convinced him let me go out to the medical supply store with guards twice. I know we're on Catalina Island of the coast of the Sprawl. I tried to contact someone by  sending innocuous packages from the med store with my DNA to Virtue, Arkham, Luxor and other places you guys might have been--"

"I think they got them at Arkham...but nobody knew what they were," Haley fills in. "What is his final plan ?"

“He wants it all. MBC. The Shy Cartel. He plans to reveal himself  and stake his claim to it publicly. He apparently sent one of his allies to poison Kenji and Hotako a few months ago so they would be too ill to be considered next of kin. You can't tell him where El is. It's too much of a risk she'll get killed. We have to find another way."

“But  how does any of that work ? One court mandated DNA test would prove he's not actually Kenji Washington.”

“ He presented himself as  Kenji to get access to Rias' house. He’s something better than Rias’s cousin," Alan explains. “He’s Rias' older brother. Rayne’s first born son.”

***

-2-

Twyla

When Colette and I  pull up to the Hydra apartment complex I still can't make any sense of what Della Jacobs, the Furious Sound president, had written in her message to Colette. It was insanity.

My credentials at the Hydra are still good. I could barge into any condo in the complex but  I knock on her door because I know she will always let me in. When I hear the door camera ping I wave into it with a forced smile. Then I unhook my gun and hold it down at my side. Colette reaches into her holster to do the same.

“You good ?,” Colette whispers as she steps in front of me so she can enter first.

I nod as I hear the locks disengaging.

The moment Ivy's doors whir open Colette launches forward and tackles her. Ivy falls to the floor with a hoarse scream and Colette jerks her back up, barking at her not to fight back. I look away as Colette forces Ivy into one of her kitchen chairs and starts tying her up with reinforced wire. Ivy looks confused and frazzled. Judging by the pillows and blankets on the couch she'd probably been taking a nap.

“Anyone else here ?,” Colette shouts but Ivy is too busy fighting her captivity

I was supposed to be clearing the apartment to make sure we were alone but it broke me to see Ivy treated like this.. I do the sweep quickly. I knew all the hiding places, I'd spent countless weekends hanging out here.

 “TWYLA! TWY---WHAT THE FUCK!” Ivy screams as I come back into the room.

She’s wearing a plum silk jogging suit and her hair is in a lopsided  ponytail. She’d always been thin in a delicate birdlike way but all tied up  she just looked absolutely frail. I want to put an end to this but then I remember. I remember why Colette has Ivy tied to a chair with a Beretta pressed to her skull.

I pull out the other kitchen chair and sit across from Ivy so we're eye to eye. My elbows rest on the inside of my thighs and I try to look confident but I doubt I'm succeeding. I don't want to believe any of this is true.

I display my syn and show her the image Luce had given us of the man at Rias’s birthday party and Ivy's brow furrows in confusion and then deep realization.

“One of Colette's Furies recognized this man because he  assaulted her at party on Catalina Island when she was a teenager. Said he recorded the whole thing but her family was threatened with death if they tried to prosecute. She said his name is Kian Donnelly. ” I explain and the rest of my sentence comes out tight. “He's your son. And he fucking killed my family. Did you know ?”

A light goes out in Ivy's eyes, she starts blinking away tears.

“How come no one knew you had a son--”

The gathering tears free fall down her face and I want to wipe them away but I control myself.

“When...when was that taken ?,” she asks, staring at the image.

“Two weeks ago," I tell her firmly. "He posed as Kenji Washington. He lived at Rias house and then...he killed them. He arranged to have the house blown up along with some rogue guards. Did you know about his plans ?”

“God, no!,” she exclaims. “I haven’t seen him in years,"

"Does Mother know about him ?," I ask.

She shakes her head.

“Nobody knew. When Rayne and I were married we had an impossible time conceiving. We tried for 7 years. It wasn't a love match and I was more than happy to dissolve our marriage when he realized he was having his heir with Sara. But I...well it turned out I was already several months pregnant. I wasn't showing and hardly had any symptoms so I had no idea. But I wanted out of Rayne’s life and I figured since everyone already assumed he  was having his first born with Sara I could just quietly leave and raise my son with my family on Catalina Island.

Only, being a mother wasn’t what I wanted. I hated being Rayne’s wife but I loved being in his world. You girls don't remember but the Donnelly Clan used to be powerful. Me working with MBC and the Shy Cartel was good for my family. It gave me  money and some influence. My mother and aunts agreed to raise him on the Catalina  as long as I sent them money back."

“I had a falling out with my family decades ago. I sent money up until my mother and aunt's deaths butI hardly talked to them. I wasn't the daughter they wanted me to be. I told my mother who his father was  on her death bed a few years ago...she swore she wouldn't tell but she could have told him"

"Do you know where Kian is now?," I ask.

Ivy shakes her head.

"Even if I did ,you can't go to him."

"Ivy, I know he's your son but you can't protect him from what he did to my fami--"

"You don't understand Twyla. My mother and her sisters ruthlessness and cruelty was notorious on the Island. . . They'd always been bitter about the collapse of the family and me having to marry Rayne. My youngest aunt died 6 months ago. If this whole thing is fueled by their legacy of their hate and vengeance...he'll be too dangerous."

"El  got out. She is still alive," I tell her. "He can't just steal everything you and I watched Rias and Rayne build. We've got to put an end to this."

Ivy blinks slowly

"He might still be on Catalina," she says. "My family owns a a lot of property on the island and it's the place he would know best--

"Perfect. I know the Island," Colette adds.

Catalina Island was a small island city that most people forgot was even apart of the Sprawl. Most of it's residents were remnants of the small cartel families that had been exiled. The beautiful old world looking cobblestone streets were full of petty gang in-fighting and crime. A small portion of the Santoro Family was located there and they had a base where the Covalcotti Riders trained.

Colette unties Ivy and gives her specific instructions not to leave the condo. I wanted to trust Ivy and have her help us. I need to  believe she was truly loyal to us. I try to connect my syn to Luce and Mother to give them the update but I can't get a connection. I try El and Haley's next but then I remember they don't have their syns. I connect to Arkham Academy and the message I get must make me frown because Colette asks:

"Fuck.What's going on now?,"

I press the syn to my ear to hear more of the message

"Shit," I curse. "It's Arkham...the school's in lockdown...the entire power grid is down."

End of Part II

A/N

I know this is the shortest of short chapters but I wanted to put my "break" right after revealing the actual identity of the attacker so...I had to dance with the timelines a little bit. I have the rest of Sunshine all  plotted out  drafted waiting for revision!

In the mean time I am going to do a TDOSH of a particular chapter of Veritas (yes, Veritas!) and I'm going to share this Luely prequel story which...I have a name, cover and some info for....*clicky*