What Now

31. Family Reunion

"Okay, Lydia, you remember the plan?"

I let out a deep breath as I stood beside Maria in the surveillance van. My arms were outstretched as Caffrey secured my bulletproof vest. "Yes. The plan is for me and Maria to mingle and act like everything is normal. Any suspicious looks or statements can blow the whole thing. We need to make sure to engage him in conversation. Keep him talking until you guys can move in." 

"What else?" Caffrey asked as he slipped an ear piece in my ear. 

"Don't bring up Ryan Sweeny. I need to play dumb unless he brings it up. Then I have to react naturally to it. Most importantly, I need to make sure my reaction to seeing him is natural. Or else, he'll know and he can retaliate."

"Good," Caffrey answered as he stepped back while Maria helped me put on my jacket. "We'll be listening the entire time. There will also be some undercovers in there. If anything seems off, what do you say?" 

"If I feel like something is wrong I make sure to say 'It's hot in here', then you guys come in."

He nodded before offering me a comforting smile. "It's going to be okay, Lydia. We got your back on this."

"I know." I looked out of the surveillance van window and saw Sean talking to Michael. "Give me a second," I said to Caffrey before I stepped out of the van and walked over to the two most important men in my life. 

Michael had a serious expression on his face. Clearly whatever Sean was saying to him was important. When Michael saw me coming, he nudged Sean and cleared his throat. "Lydia. Hey. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Caffrey just went over everything again." I looked between the two of them. "What were you guys talking about?" 

Michael looked at Sean, who looked at me. "Same as you. Just going over everything." 

I didn't believe them for a second. "I hope you two aren't planning something stupid." 

Sean rolled his eyes. "Baby, I would never do anything to jeopardize your safety or Maria's."

My eyes narrowed. "I know that you would do anything to guarantee our safety." 

Caffrey stumbled upon us. "We need to get this started. You ready?" 

"Give us a second," I said loudly to Caffrey; never taking my eyes off of Sean. "Sean, please trust me on this, okay?"

He shared a look with Michael. My brother nodded and Sean pulled me in for a hug. He gave me a kiss and turned me away from Caffrey. I felt something cold press against my back and Sean pulled away from me a little.

He smiled as he leaned forward and whispered, "Trust me. Remember everything I told you this morning." 

"Sean--" 

"Trust. Me. Okay?" He pulled back and cupped the side of my face. "I love you. Just remember everything I told you."

I placed my hand on his and nodded. "Okay, I will. I love you, too." 

"We need to get going," Caffrey said again. I understood his hurry, but this was starting to become all too real. 

"Yeah." I turned to Caffrey and saw Maria was now standing next to him. "How about you? You ready?" 

Maria walked over to me and took my hand. "Let's do this." 

Caffrey parked the surveillance van a few blocks down the road. We didn't want anything to be obvious, so Maria and I walked the distance to my professor's gallery. We pretended to talk about random things. We laughed, made hand gestures, all while we were freaking out inside.