"Welcome to the jolly little town of Joliet," Liam declared as the trio stepped down the car.
Having Liam with them proved to be really useful, albeit Harry was annoyed for the most part. For one, they didn't need to drive all the way through because Liam had his own private jet.
"It's all part of the mafia money, Selena."
"What?"
Liam laughed at her bewildered expression. He folded the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt and showed her a skull tattoo that is surrounded by roses. There was an inscription above it that said, "we are the quiet ones."
"That's...?"
"No Payne, no gain, baby." Liam winked. "It's all family business."
Selena glanced at Harry. He saw her look and rolled his eyes at her as he shook his head. Selena still wondered how Harry had the money to buy all the properties he had.
She breathed a sigh of relief knowing Harry didn't join a gang or mafia.
Liam telling her that he was part of a mafia family explained a lot about him though, such as his attitude and recklessness. But she didn't say anything because it came in handy right now. She was kind of thankful Liam showed up when he did.
They landed on the nearest airport to Joliet and Liam had arranged for a car for them from there. They headed to a small inn in town where they planned to stay.
Selena didn't get her own room. She was rooming with Harry, upon his insistence. Liam offered to room with her but Harry shot that thought down fast.
"So where to?" Liam asked after they regrouped in the closest fast food for lunch.
He and Selena both turned to Harry expectantly.
"We find the Gallagher family."
"And you think they're the Keyper family?" Liam asked then he took a big bite of the burger he had on his hand.
"They're the oldest family in town," Harry answered.
"Huh. That doesn't mean the Keyper is a Gallagher. You're not exactly part of the Addingtons. Made it hard for them. For me too."
Harry shot a look at Liam.
"What, she doesn't know?"
"Shut up," Harry snarled.
"Know what?" Selena asked.
"Harry's the illegitimate kid of Robin Addington," Liam shrugged.
Selena's jaw dropped. Her eyes immediately darted towards Harry who abruptly stood up and left the table.
Selena's eyes followed after him until he disappeared on a corner.
"Did you two know each other or something?" Liam asked, an eyebrow raised.
"I... yeah... he- we went to the same high school," she said after picking up her slacked jaw.
"Huh. So he's known you for a while now. How come you two only searched for other Keypers now?"
"No. I... I only became like... this a week ago. The other...one - Rosie - she passed it to me when she was killed by The Family."
"Well, shit. Best try hard not to let that happen to you then," Liam shrugged.
Selena looked over to where Harry disappeared to. "You shouldn't have told me that about Harry."
"He'll get over it."
Selena frowned at Liam.
"He can't keep sulking about it like a fucking baby."
Her frown deepened. She knew Harry was very close to his father. And he loved his mother deeply. It must've crushed him knowing that her Mom cheated on his Dad. It must've hurt him knowing that the man he looked up wasn't his real Dad.
He must've been so lonely when he found out. Selena's heart ached when she realized she left him at a time he might've needed her the most.
"There are worse things to happen," Liam muttered. She was still looking away that she didn't notice the flash of loneliness that crossed Liam's eyes. But it wasn't like he was saying it to her in particular - an old memory just resurfaced, that's all.
"We should head to the town library," she said after a long bout of silence between them. "I'm sure there's info about the Gallaghers there. And we won't look suspicious asking about them."
Liam nodded. "We should look for Harry and go."
They both stood up and threw their trash before heading to the direction Harry disappeared to. There were three doors at the back - two being restrooms.
"I'll go check inside."
Selena leaned back on the wall to wait for Liam to come back. She hoped Harry was there.
She hoped he was okay.
Her eyes landed on the other door and thought maybe it led outside.
"Maybe it's a backdoor or something," she thought. "Wouldn't hurt to check if he went there."
She clasped the knob and opened it to take a peek. "Oh! I'm sorry!"
She immediately closed the door and her cheeks turned bright red. It was a locker room - probably for the employees. And she just opened it and saw one of them changing.
She didn't saw a face - just that whoever it was had blond hair.
Wait. I think-
"You're as red as a tomato," Liam grinned from next to her. He had gone out of the restroom with Harry in tow.
"Let's just go," she huffed as her cheeks reddened even more.
"Did you see something you shouldn't have? Was someone having a blast in that room?" Liam turned to open the door she just did but she caught his arm before he even touched the knob.
"Please let's go," she pleaded.
Liam laughed. Harry's frown deepened. He grabbed Selena's other arm and pulled her outside.
Liam continued laughing at Selena's embarrassment until they all got in the car. She finally gave in and told him what she saw to stop Liam from making it sound worse. Harry's outburst earlier was seemingly forgotten as Liam kept teasing Selena.
With the help of the GPS, they found the library in no time.
"Look at yearbooks. Or old articles," Selena instructed.
"And don't look at naked boys, okay?" Liam chuckled one last time before he sauntered off.
Selena rolled her eyes at him but her cheeks were still tinged with pink. She just shook her head and went straight to the microfiche catalogs to look for the oldest newspapers she could find.
She wasn't sure where Harry went but she knew he was keeping an eye on her. Besides, the library wasn't that big anyway. And there weren't a lot of people hanging around.
Selena kept herself busy until she finally found a clue. In the early 1700s, one of the early settlers in the area was the Gallaghers.
They opened and owned the first bar in the little town. She read numerous articles after that, about who wedded who and what happened to different members of the family and such.
She was reading about the sudden disappearance of a Samuel Gallagher in 1957 when she felt a presence next to her. She met Harry's green eyes when she looked up.
He stared at her without saying a word and she did the same. It was like a silent conversation between them - telling each other what they'd been dying to say ever since they met again.
Her heart swelled with loneliness. She wasn't sure how long she could take this anymore.
"You better put new contacts on," he finally said.
She glanced at her reflection on a nearby dark screen. Sure enough, the contacts she put earlier had already dissolved.
"Thanks," she murmured. She grabbed a fresh pair from her small purse and put them on. Harry read the article she found as she did so.
"There. Better?" she asked.
Harry glanced at her eyes. "The original color still suited you better."
She was taken aback. Then she gave him a sad smile. "Well, that's gone now."
"We'll get it back."
"What?"
Harry took a small step closer to her. "If that's what you want."
Selena wasn't sure what they were really talking about anymore.
"Hey, Selena!" Liam excitedly called as she grabbed her hand. He pulled her away from Harry, who sighed and followed after them.
Liam took her to a table that's spread with a couple of books. "Look at this."
He pointed at an open high school yearbook. There was a picture of a brown-haired boy named Lewis Gallagher.
"This is a pretty recent yearbook. Just four years ago so they're most likely still around."
"That's good news."
"And that's not all," Liam grinned. He whipped out his phone and showed me a social media page - Lewis'. "That dumb stick basically told us where they lived. His address is pinned on some of his old posts."
"Really?" Selena grinned back then hugged Liam. "That's great work, Liam!"
Liam hugged her back, much to Harry's annoyance. "Let's go and get this third Keyper onboard this show."