Chapter 11

Nine days before Christmas...

Lawrence Jackson Johansen came home early because his wife texted him about a strange van parked near their house. He pulled into the garage just as another message came to their family group chat. He scowled at it then went into the kitchen through the pass door.

Dalia held their baby. "Jack, what's going on?"

He held out his phone. "The Hastings and their private army are looking for Lily and Ava. They had some private dick bug Rick and his dad at the dealership, but his dad told them fuk off."

Reading the messages from Kitty in Alaska, Julie in Vegas, and Leonard in Indianapolis, his fiery Irish wife suddenly looked like she was ready to explode. "Those bastards! What a load of tripe!" Then she went off in a tirade of her native tongue he couldn't hope to follow.

"Calm down, luv. They'll leave when they realize she isn't here," Jack assured her, then he took his son from her. "How's my boy?"

The laundry machine in the garage buzzed and she stomped out, still grumbling. A few minutes later, he heard her shouting in Gaelic and the sound of broken glass.

He laid their son in his playpen and sprinted out the door to save them. She had one on the ground next to a smashed taser, and the other was cowering behind the van holding his arm. While she shattered the windows and headlamps, Dalia ranted to their Irish neighbors of the sins committed against Lily. Her brother had just arrived home and ran to help Jack.

"Get her inside before she kills someone!" Jack yelled at Colin. As dozens watched, her burly brother carried her off by the waist while Dalia screamed and struggled, "Let me kill 'em and be done with 'em. For Lily!"

"I am gonna have that crazy biyatch arrested!" One of the P.I.s snarled as he limped from behind the van.

"Really now?" An older gentleman with a cane announced, "Ye come into our neighborhood, lurking around and scaring our children like those pedophiles that's always on the news. One of our young mothers took it upon herself to run ye off, that's all that happened. When ye got mouthy, she showed ye a mother's love."

"Look, we don't want trouble, we're just looking for Lilyana Hastings," the second coughed from the ground as he tried to get up. He clutched his side like his ribs were bruised.

"My sister's name is Johansen," Jack snarled, tempted to pick up his wife's bat.

"Our company made a mistake, we're just trying to find her so she can be made to understand, that's all."

"Made to understand what?" Jack growled.

The crowd around them murmured angrily as the old man tutted, "After all the things ye folks did to Jackie-boy's sweet, gentle sister? We wouldn't give Lily up to ya, no matter your reasons. Your lawyer called Lily a whore as she lay in the hospital after almost dying to bring wee Ava into the world. We're all from the old country, we know how aristocrats treat common people. Your boss's money and power mean nuthin' to us."

"We'll come back with a search warrant, old man?" The threat made the crowd laugh.

"And what be your ground for such a thing? Jackie-boy, is your sister here?"

"No, sir, Mr. Blarney," Jack answered truthfully.

"Do ye know where she's gone? Where she is or what she be doing at this moment?"

"No sir, I do not know where my sister is or what she is doing at this exact moment." Jack almost grinned at his mother's grandfather as he told an Irish truth.

Mr. Blarney smiled as the neighbors continued to chuckle. "The honest lad doesn't know where the lass be... Does anyone else?"

Calls of 'No' and 'Nay' answered.

"You lads need to leave, before ye fall down again or wreck your rental some more." Mr. Blarney hobbled back to his house and the crowd dispersed until only the largest and angriest-looking men stood with Jack.

"You heard him, get lost," Jack growled. "And tell the Hastings to fuk off."

As they drove away, Jack thanked his neighbors, then he went inside and texted his family after kissing his wife with all the passion in his soul.

<<@>>

"And now, gentlemen, it's time for your favorite temptress, Officer Jezebel."

Jess stood with her back to the crowd and her face in profile. She licked her lips as she ran her fingers along the brim of her fake cop hat. She turned and walked with every bit of moxie she had to the end of the stage and bent at the hips until her head was between her ankles to leave the upturned hat at the end of the stage. Rolling up slowly, she swung her breast from side to side. Ignoring the lude comments, catcalls, and encouragement of the DJ, she listened to the beats. She moved through the practice routine of seduction until she was hanging upside down and swinging around the pole in a circle in only a thong and star-shaped pasties with a pair of fluffy handcuffs around her wrists. Twisting her body, she held to the pole over her head as she dropped her legs wide apart in a V, while bills rained on the stage. That was when she noticed an older woman in a business suit glaring at her while she pumped her hips up and down. By the end of the music, she was free of the cuffs with her cash-filled hat on her head and strutting off the stage, leaving two frat boys cuffed together as their friends taunted them.

One of the waitresses brought her cuffs back and Mrs. Hastings.

They glared at each other as Jess re-dressed. "What do you want?"

"You to quit this job if you want Lily to be happy. I will not have my daughter-in-law linked to a stripper doppelganger, even if you are her half-sister." Hillary snarled as Jess laughed.

"She's not your daughter-in-law any longer. The day she almost died; your son divorced her." Jess stepped forward and poked Hillary's shoulder. "Leave Lily the hell alone. I've been to jail, I'm not afraid to go back for killing your biyatch arse because you ruined her lovely life."

"What is going on?" The club owner demanded.

"The old hag was just leaving." Jess announced as Hillary slapped her.

"You will not talk to me like that. You ruined my son's life!"

"I did no such thing! I have never even met Ian or whatever the other one's name is," Jess snarled, refusing to hold her cheek where it stung.

Hillary threw a printed image at her, and it fluttered to the floor, but Jess refused to bend and pick it up. It was a picture of her at a job she left because the boss expected a piece of arse off every one of his dancers.

"Our P.I. found this and told us it was Lily. Ian only divorced her because of it," Hillary revealed.

Holding the Hastings' matriarch's eyes, Jess towered over her. "Ian never loved Lily if he couldn't look at that picture of me and immediately know that wasn't her."

Hillary appraised the young woman before her, then threatened, "We'll see what your parole officer says when you can't get a new job."

Jess smirked, "My parole officer will know that you came to my place of employment and harassed me because I wouldn't tell you where to find my sister so you could harass her. No one fuks with my family. Now. Get. Out. Or I will start posting your sorry family's business and what they did to my sister on every social media site I can get access to."

"I'll sue you for slander," Hillary promised.

"It isn't slander, if it is the truth, and I can prove it all with witnesses if it goes to court... I am within my right to request the media be allowed in to document the proceedings and your family's precious reputation will never recover," Jess announced coldly. "You aren't the only one with a legal education, Hillary. I know the law too."

"This isn't over, Jessica." Hillary walked away, then she stopped by the owner, "If you know what is good for your business, you will fire her." Before she stormed out.

"Who the hell was that?" her boss demanded as he stomped toward her.

"That was my sister's ex-monster-in-law, Hillary Hastings," Jess said as she turned to check her makeup.

"Of the Hastings family?" He yelled at her, "You're going to get me shut down!"

"Relax, Ronnie. She wouldn't dare," Jess said with bravado but inside, she wasn't so sure. The Hastings family's money and power could buy a lot of favors. After he walked away, she glanced at her phone, then she read the messages from her siblings about people looking for Lily then texted to the family group what just happened before reaching out to Monica.

I need a favor. Every piece of dirt you can find on the Hastings family. They are after my sister and her baby. I won't let them hurt her again.

Putting her phone away, she went out to cruise the floor for lap dances before her third turn on the stage. The way Ronnie was watching her she knew she needed to make as much tonight as she could. He was a coward and would get rid of her as soon as he could.

<<@>>

When Evelynn received the email confirmation of a reservation hours earlier, she emailed back the denial, then she went up to the second floor and turned on all the lights and all the televisions. Messages from Kitty and the rest of the siblings came while she was working. The Hastings family was looking for Lily and her baby and harassing Lilly's siblings everywhere they lived.

"I have no vacancies until after the New Year. I am sorry the online booking service showed we had availability. You will get a full refund, of course. Have a good evening." Evelynn stared at the man coolly, resisting the urge to drag him out on the ice and stuff him through one of the fishing holes.

"Please, I'm looking for my wife and daughter." Ian Hastings was bundled like a polar bear in an expensive Swedish parka, ski pants, and snow boots as he stood in front of the reception desk.

"She's not here and I won't tell you where she went."

"Please, Ms. Rosen. There was a terrible misunderstanding."

Blinking at him over the rims of her glasses, Evelynn scowled. "Was that before or after my grandniece fell decorating your Christmas tree and almost died? Or was it before or after your family deliberately excluded her from your mother's Thanksgiving party? Or was it before or after your family hired a private investigator to disparage her so you could divorce her?" She stood as tall as she could and mocked his shocked look. "Don't look so surprised. Kitty called and told me exactly what kind of people your kin are. Jessica called and told me your mother came to her place of employment and almost got her fired. All of Lily's other sisters and brothers were harassed in the same way today. Therefore, the only misunderstanding is your rich family thinking you can harass Lily's poorer family and that we'd give her up."

Shaking his head, Ian tried to dispute her. "It isn't like that. I mean it was but, we made a mistake. I thought she was Jessica."

"And now that you know she isn't, you what? Want her back, no harm, no foul?" Her grey hazel eyes flashed with rage as she accused him, "My grandniece and great-grandniece almost died alone because you chose to believe the lies of a stranger rather than ask her the truth about her life or her baby. You missed your own daughter's birth and filed court paperwork to keep your name off her birth certificate. Well, congratulations, you get your wish, you are not Ava's father, and you never will be."

"Tell me where she is," he demanded hotly, then took a deep breath when the older woman's eyes hardened into silver coins glaring at him. He begged as humbly as he could, "Please, I just want to talk to her. I'm sorry for everything."

"Lily isn't here. I'll call you an Uber, please wait outside, or I will call the constable to arrest you for disturbing my guests and trespassing." Evelynn picked up the phone then raised an eyebrow at him.

Slumping, Ian went outside and stood on the porch. The lock on the door clicked loudly behind him.

Glancing over his shoulder, he watched Evelynn Rosen on the phone. She went into the dinning area and through a door. He shivered as he inhaled then zipped his coat up over his mouth and nose. After several minutes, she came out with a tray which she carried upstairs. A car horn beeped, so Ian turned away. He went down the steps, pausing to look at the old building, the decorated trees, and Lake Michigan beyond.

"Where to, Mister?" The driver asked as he got in.

"I need a hotel. What do you recommend?" Ian asked in defeat.

The driver laughed, "Well, there's only one in town besides the Tiger Lily Inn, so that's easy."

They stopped in front of a motor lodge that looked older than him but had been kept up well. He had never stayed in an Econo Lodge before. Doubtfully, he got out of the Uber and went in. Getting a room, he was pleasantly surprised about the cleanliness and comfort of the functional motel and the amenities. The indoor pool was a plus he looked forward to enjoying as he ordered dinner from a local steakhouse. When the desk rang him, he went down to pick up the bag with an Uber Eats sticker. He ate the meal as he read the text messages between his mother and brother. Lily wasn't with her sister in Alaska or her half-sister in Tampa, or at either of their apartments. She also wasn't with any of her half-siblings and according to Andrew, the Conklin investigators' encounters with the extended family had gone as poorly as Ms. Rosen said.

After Lily left Atlanta, they had no idea where she went. Ian was certain she was here in Oconto with her aunt. She might not be at the Inn, but she was here somewhere.