Claddagh and Chaos by Cayce Poponea Read Free Book Online

again, I found my sister walking down the aisle, her dress matching Maggie’s. Maggie wasn’t far behind her as soft gasps were murmured around the crowd.
    When Sharon began to walk toward Sherman, it was as if no one else existed. Sherman was smiling so brightly I feared he would have cracks in his face.
    Watching the pair as the priest read to them, I remembered how I felt when I stood in Sherman’s shoes. Christi was right; everyone deserved to be loved and happy. I thanked God above that she chose me to love for the rest of our lives. I squeezed her hand, conveying silently that I loved her so very much.
    When the ceremony was over, dinner was served and drinks flowed. Sherman made a toast to his new wife and explained to their guests that he and Sharon had agreed they didn’t want anyone to feel the need to give a gift. They thought about going to Vegas, but Maggie told her ma she would never forgive her. So with the help of their children, they came up with this idea.
    I held my wife tightly in my arms as I danced with her to the soft music that caressed us from the speakers around the yard. I smiled to myself and decided that life couldn’t get much better than having my most treasured gift safely resting in my arms. The song was nearly over when my cell phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I didn’t want to ruin the mood, but I knew Christi would get irritated if I didn’t silence it. As I looked at my phone, I felt my anger begin to rise. The text was from Tonto.
    Boss, security breach in the computer system. Shamus is working on it. Get here as soon as you can.

MY PARENTS INSISTED THAT CHRISTI go home with Ma. She kissed me soundly, promising me things she would gladly do to me if I hurried home. With a quick congratulations to Sherman and Sharon and a promise to have dinner later in the week, I waved goodbye to my wife. Once in the car, I phoned Matthew and had him head over to my parents’ house. I didn’t like where things were headed.
    Da was sitting in the passenger seat, typing away on his phone, not a single word uttered by either of us. This security breach was just one more nail in my coffin. What kind of leader would I be if I couldn’t protect myself and my family?
    The trip downtown was a blur as I drove as fast as possible to the office. Da didn’t even allow me to pull all the way into my parking spot before he dashed from the passenger seat. Inside the elevator, the only noise was the hum of the motor taking us to the top and the illumination of the lights as the floors passed. I felt sick to my stomach as I waited for the familiar tone of the floor being reached. This time I was the one to jump out first. I removed the tie and jacket I had worn to the wedding as I walked, then tossed the items inside the door of my office. I briskly made my way to the back of the condo where Shamus was waiting, his fingers flying across his keyboard.
    Da was the first to speak as we came through the wooden door.
    “Shamus, what do you have for us?”
    His voice was even and devoid of emotion, his face, however, held fear and agitation.
    “About an hour ago I was doing a routine clean up when I noticed something odd.” Shamus’s eyes never left the screen and his fingers never stopped typing.
    Da moved around the desk and placed his hand on Shamus’s shoulder, while pulling out his reading glasses, placing them on his face. “Define odd for me, Shamus,” he instructed, his tone worried, yet calm. Even with the abundance of light in the room, the glare of the screen camouflaged Da’s eyes from my view.
    “Well, I started noticing little blips in certain files. The average IT person would’ve missed them because it acted as if the power went out and the battery backup came on. However, I did some research and found that no electrical outage was reported on those days. Furthermore, the last major storm was last spring.”
    I remembered that storm, but not for the same reason Shamus did. Christi and I