Ch 10
Plans for finding the right place in Cambridge began in earnest the next day. All the Cahill network came together to find the right house. By the end of the week everyone in the network knew their job and by the end of the second week they had located a potential home. It was in West Cambridge, very large, and remote enough on a dead in street that they could have some privacy for Cahill business.
That was the best they could hope for in the very crowded West Cambridge area.
With a few strings pulled by the Cahill network at Harvard, Amy was granted provisional acceptance on a semester by semester basis until graduation. She started taking her first course that fall. The house had been purchased and serious reconstruction began to turn it into the new Cahill headquarters for the coming decade. It had been proposed that after Amy's tenure as head of the family, it made sense for Dan to take over. The discussion to move headquarters had been met with understanding and enthusiasm by Jonah, Hamilton, Ian, Sinead and Fiske. Fiske even agreed to live at Grace's mansion for the foreseeable future and run things from there if it ever was needed.
Dan continued his lessons with their private tutor at Attleboro and Amy was making the bi-weekly commute to Cambridge every Tuesday and Thursday for her first ever college course; Art History 101. The rest of the week she was cramming for her final year of school jam-packed into a semester.
The Rosenbloom brothers had started classes and were living at home with their father who had surprised them all by introducing them to his new girlfriend (in actuality, not a girl as Atticus had pointed out, but a woman) LaCher Siffrite. Everyone had been floored.
Apparently after her injury at the restaurant, the hospital was trying to reach a next of kin and they reached out to her emergency contacts at Brown. The University pointed them to Astrid Rosenbloom. When they couldn't reach Astrid by cell, they tried other numbers for her and eventually reached Mark. He flew down to Brazil to try and figure out what had happened. LaCher's injuries were severe, but she eventually recovered. However, her ability to speak took much longer as her vocal cords had been damaged. She and Mark had communicated by note for weeks before she had been cleared to go home. It was enough. They had a lot in common it seemed and their shared love of Astrid helped both of them heal. Jake and Atticus said it was the happiest they had seen their father in years. LaCher was at Brown so Mark had decided to return home to lecture at Harvard and spend more time with his entire family, including her.
Jake was waiting for the right time to introduce Amy to his father. He knew the beginning of the semester was a hectic one and it wasn't a good idea just yet. Plus, he wanted to do a bit of 'front loading' on him before he introduced Amy. Now that she had been admitted to Harvard and was moving to Cambridge soon, it made his job a lot easier. He wouldn't have to explain hour-long car rides to see her every weekend anymore. Mark knew Jake loved Amy, but he had deliberately stayed out of Jake's love life so far.
One brisk October Tuesday, Amy left the mansion in Attleboro early to make the drive to Cambridge. She wanted to stop by the house before class to see the progress. They had been working in earnest for three weeks on the house now. The physical moving of walls, doors, replacing windows and painting had been done and now came the technical upgrades. It was to be state-of-the-art just like Grace's mansion. There were even some new advances in video surveillance and communications since Grace's house had been rebuilt that Cara was overseeing. She had promised to give Amy a tour once she returned from her vacation with Ian.
Amy parked the Mercedes along the street and locked it. It was barely 7 am and she was alone on the dead-end street. She opened the quaint iron gate across the entry sidewalk and made to enter the front yard. Something bothered her. She stopped and turned around scanning the street. Nothing. She made a mental note of the cars parked along the street. Nothing out of the ordinary, no drivers lingering behind the wheel. She shrugged it off and went into the house. It was a mess, but looked like it was on schedule. The doors and windows had all been replaced with steel framed bullet proof panels and glass. The air system had been completely replaced and specialized filters had been positioned at each vent to detect odorless gases and a whole-house filtration system had been put on the water at each tap; they couldn't have their air or water being tampered with. The exterior walls had all been retrofitted with steel mesh infused sheetrock to prevent someone from cutting right through the exterior and gaining entry. Amy stopped off in the kitchen and had to smile, Nellie would love this kitchen. Amy had specifically asked the kitchen not to be touched as the previous owner had been a professional chef. It was amazing, gleaming white marble and white woodwork, large professional grade cooktop and oven with industrial hood. Recessed lighting and a big screen along one wall. A wine cellar was attached at one end. It was magnificent.
Satisfied with the progress, Amy made to leave the house. That same eerie feeling came over her as she made her way back to the Mercedes. She was being watched, she just knew it.