“When your mother and I pass, which I hope won't be for a very long time so don't get your hopes up, everything gets split between you boys with a trust for Sammy that one of you will manage. Now I’m not even close to being in the same tax bracket as your friend, but there will be a nice bit of money. Obviously, someone's got to take care of Sammy and Grace, if they outlive us. But I trust you both will figure it out.”
Carson’s eyes were wide. I could tell this was something he had never even given one second’s thought to. “But I’m not your kid,” he protested weakly.
Bob pinned him with a stare. “Are you kidding me? Bitty would come back from the grave and haunt me if I didn't take care of you boys. I’ve known you your entire lives.”
“I get taking care of Sammy, but you never liked me. Even when I was a kid.”
Now it was Bob’s turn to be shocked. “What? I liked you just fine. You were a cute little kid. Pain in the ass sometimes, and that phase with the tight jeans and the hair, not my favorite. And yeah, I overreacted when I caught you and Eric. And said some things I deeply regret. But I never hated you or anything. Besides, I don’t have to like you to love you and to watch out for you. That’s not how family works.”
“I guess I have a lot to learn about that,” Carson said.
A blare of the horn from my car interrupted whatever Bob had been going to say in reply. “Dad,” Sammy yelled. “Come on. I want to go!”
Bob gave Carson a last look. “We’ll talk more later. Don’t need to get everything figured out in one day.”
I waited until he was in the car, then took Caron’s hands. “You okay?”
He nodded. “I think so. Bob really knocked me for a loop there at the end.”
“Well think of what you did to him,” I said.
“Good point. Can I come to your place later?” he asked.
“Always.” I pulled him in and gave him a solid goodnight kiss. He was smiling when I let him go. “See you soon.”
He watched until we drove away.
28 Eric
Two days later we were gathered at the house watching Wesley set up a command center in the family room. Aunt Maureen was finishing up in the kitchen. Sammy was at Grace’s house. Leo had said the raids would be loud and confusing, especially with the multiple feeds, so Aunt Momo had decided it would be better if he wasn’t around when it happened.
“How much longer?” Bob asked.
“About forty-five minutes,” Wesley answered, plugging his laptop into the television.
He’d practically snarled at my father for asking if he needed the Wi-Fi password. While Danny had apologized for his boyfriend’s attitude, Wesley whipped out his cell phone. After silently tapping on it for a minute, maybe ninety seconds, he made a disgusted noise. He tapped a bit more and lights around the house flicked off. A few more furious pokes and the television came on. “Ok Google, alarm door.” The door alarm went on. He stabbed a few more times and the alarm went off. Frowning some more, he poked at the screen while we watched silently. “Jesus,” he said finally.
“What?” my father asked.
Wesley turned the phone screen out so we all could see a video camera feed of my father’s office. “You leave your computer and camera on and connected to the network? In a house that has this crap level of security?”
“The security company said it was top of the line,” Bob said defensively.
Wesley shrugged. “The hardware is fine, but your software and security is for shit.” He scratched at the screen, whistling under his breath as he did. Again, he turned the screen to my dad. “Look familiar?”
His face paled. “What?” He reached for the phone and Wesley let him take it.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a list of every file on his hard drive,” Wesley said. “And I did this with my phone.”
“What do I do?” Bob said.
Wesley smiled. “I’m glad you asked. Give me some time after all this nonsense, and I’ll get you all set up. The Russians and the Chinese working together won't be able to hack into your computers. Or your video cameras or unlock your goddamn doors, disable the security and walk right in. And for God’s sake cover your camera when you’re not using