CHAPTER NINETEEN #2
“How old were you when you did that?” I asked.
“I was four, Austin was six. Now we can’t go past that post.” He pointed to a telephone pole in the center of the field we were in.
It had a light on top, but it wasn’t currently on.
“And we’re not allowed to go near the Riesling grapes, since they’re delicate.
Same for the merlot. We have to stick to the Moscato and pinot noir.
” His arms pointed in various directions when he spoke of the different grapes.
Because of course he knew where each variety was located. He was definitely a bright kid.
“Where did you and Austin hide?” Clint asked.
Marco chuckled. “In the Riesling grapes.” He spun around to face us, continuing to walk, just backward. “But we found a snake—just a little garter snake—and were playing with him. We kept trying to feed him grasshoppers. Didn’t exactly hear everyone calling our names.”
“Riiiiight.” I laughed, glancing behind me at the house and out-buildings looming in the background. “So, how are you feeling about everything that happened tonight?”
Marco shrugged. “I mean, I’ve always been curious about my dad’s side of the family. Mom won’t talk about them. So it was kind of cool to see my uncle. But I know he’s not a good person. And the fact that he hit my mom makes me really angry at him.”
“Yeah, you should never hit a woman. You should never hit anybody, but definitely not a woman. That’s a sign of a weak man,” Clint said.
“I guess I’m just confused about why he came here now and not years before,” Marco added. “He did mention something about a funeral and Elias dying.”
I nodded. “Your uncle Soloman had a son named Elias, and he just died.”
“How?” Marco asked.
Pursing my lips together so the kid knew I wasn’t a totally insensitive jackass, and had respect for the dead and all that shit, I threw in a half-hearted shrug too.
“I don’t know. But I guess Elias was the last man on the Aaronson side of the family.
So now your uncle Soloman wants you to join the family.
” Marco didn’t need to know that I was glad Elias was dead, along with Josiah, and wished Soloman would follow them six feet under too.
The kid wrinkled his nose in confusion. “I have a family. Right here. Doesn’t he have daughters? Aren’t they his family?”
“You’d think he’d see it that way,” Clint said, pulling his collar higher up around his neck as we continued to traipse through the rows, our warm breath visible in front of us. “But some men view women as less. They view their daughters as less and only place value on having sons.”
Marco made a face of disgust. “Well, that’s stupid. Girls can do all the same things boys can. Even more. My cousins Laurel, Honor, and Sam can all do cartwheels, and I can’t. None of us boys can. And also, girls can have babies, boys can’t.”
I bent down and picked up a rock. It was round and cool to the touch.
“You keep that mindset about girls. They are just as important and smart, capable, and in many ways, better than men—than boys. Did you know that having women in a boardroom can lead to better company performance, improved decision-making, and more ethical and inclusive corporate culture?”
“And countries led by women statistically have better social and economic conditions,” my brother added.
Marco shrugged again. “Makes sense. My mom and her cousins are running a great business here. We can’t hire everyone that applies to work here. There are just too many.”
“We should head back,” I said.
We all turned around, but Marco skipped ahead so he was in front of us again. “I don’t understand what would happen if Uncle Soloman had me go live with him. Would my mom go too?”
“I can’t answer that, bud. But I don’t think she’ll let that happen,” I said, a sickly feeling forming in my gut. “You guys have a great life here. She doesn’t want to pull you away from that.”
“It’s weird to think that I might have all these other cousins out there though. Cousins I’ve never met. Do you think they know about me? Do you think they wonder about me?”
“If their parents have told them about you, I’m sure they have,” Clint chimed in.
“Hey, I want to show you something over here.” He jerked his head to the side, and once we reached the end of the row, we crossed over and headed toward a grouping of trees.
“Do you guys climb these?” Some of the trees were alders, others evergreens, but there were a few gnarly and twisted madronas as well with their peeling red bark.
“We’re not really allowed,” Marco said. “The moms are all worried we’ll fall and break a bone or something.”
“Fair enough,” I said, sliding my hand along the slippery trunk of the closet madrona to me.
“I get that,” Clint said. “But I also think climbing trees is an important skill to have. I’m going to show you how to climb this one, just in case you ever need to get away from someone.”
“Like my uncle?”
All Clint did was nod before he found a notch in the trunk of the madrona nearest me and shoved the toe of his Blundstone into it.
Then he looped his hands around the trunk, clasping his fingers together at the back, and he leaned backward to create tension so he could scale the tree like a logger.
Before we knew it, he was twenty feet in the air, straddling a branch. “Your uncle old?” Clint asked.
“Yeah, like ninety, or eighty, or something.”
I snorted. “I’m gonna say late sixties, early seventies at best.”
Marco did his token shrug.
“I doubt he’s going to know how to or want to climb after you. So if you can’t hide among the grapes, because the leaves haven’t come in yet, climb a tree. Just be careful, because they’re slippery.”
“Can I try?” Marco asked, glancing at me for permission.
“If you fall and break something, your mother will never forgive me.” I grinned, and he took my lack of a “no” as permission. He was a quick learner and did exactly what Clint showed him, joining my brother on the branch in no time.
“I can see Seattle from up here,” he joked. “Hi, Seattle!” He waved enthusiastically—too enthusiastically—and nearly bailed if Clint hadn’t been there to catch him.
“Christ, kid, you’re gonna give me a heart attack.” I positioned myself beneath him, so if he did fall, at least I’d break it.
“How do we get down?” Marco asked.
“Same way we got up,” Clint replied, showing him how to descend.
They landed with boots on the ground half as fast as they went up, but nobody broke a bone, so I considered that a win. We made our way back to the house. Myla’s patrol car was still parked out front. When we re-entered the house, Raina’s cousins were in the living room as well.
“Come on, Marco,” Gabrielle said, looping her arm around his shoulder. “Let’s go back upstairs for a bit. Give your mom, Jagger, and Officer Bruce a chance to chat.”
Marco glanced back at me. “I’m glad you’re staying, Jagger.”
I shot him a wink. “Me too, bud.”
“You McEvoys sure get up to trouble,” Myla said, after Gabrielle and Marco left.
“Hey,” Clint said. “It’s not us, this time. We’re just not strangers to danger, so we’re offering our expertise.”
Danica and Naomi both chortled from their spots on the couch.
“I’ve heard Raina and Gabrielle’s rendition of things,” Myla went on. “Can you tell me yours?”
I filled her in on what I walked up on, and how I handled things.
Clint’s phone buzzed just as we were finishing up with Myla, and we all sat with bated breath as he answered the call.
“’Kay, thanks, Hawke. We’re on our way. Appreciate it, man.”
Raina swallowed, and her green eyes widened. “He’s at the hostel?”
Clint hung up his phone and nodded. “Yeah. Wyatt, Dom, Bennett, and Burke are headed there now. I’m going to go meet them.”
“I suppose saying, ‘Leave this to the professionals with badges and guns,’ is a moot point?” Myla asked with a sigh.
Clint merely scoffed as he opened the front door. “You’re a smart woman, Officer Bruce.”
“At least wait for me,” Myla said, chasing after him. She spun around as she reached the door. “I’ll be in touch, Raina.”
“Thanks, Myla,” Raina said, her eyes moving to mine.
Danica and Naomi were on either side of her on the couch, so there was no need for me to comfort her, even though I desperately wanted to. We sat with her until we heard word from Clint.
Soloman was being escorted in the back of Myla’s cruiser to the police station where he would be held overnight, before taken back to the mainland.
Raina exhaled in relief. But I could tell by the uncertainty in her eyes and the way her shoulders remained stiff, even as her cousins rubbed her back, that she wasn’t as reassured or relieved as we hoped.
She knew Soloman better than we did. What exactly was the man capable of?
How far would he go to get his hands on Marco?
“You guys can go,” Raina said to her cousins. “Thank you for staying with me.”
“You’re sure?” Danica asked, rubbing Raina’s back.
Raina nodded. “I am. It’s getting late. You have kiddos to get home to. It’s the first day back to school after the winter break. I’m sure it’ll be a slog getting them out of bed. It always is.”
“I really wish Santa brought me that airhorn I asked for,” Naomi said with a mock pout as she stood up. She squeezed my shoulder when she walked past. “Thanks for offering to stay with her, Jagger.”
“Happy to help,” I replied.
Danica gave me a tight, friendly smile before they both disappeared out the front door. I knew Gabrielle lived upstairs, but I wasn’t sure where the other two lived. There were so many outbuildings on the property it was hard to tell what was part of the business and what was a residence.
Marco rejoined us shortly, a serious case of the yawns adding to his tired eyes. “I’m gonna shower, then head to bed,” he said, rubbing his hand through his coppery-brown hair.
Raina pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Good idea, kiddo.”
She watched him walk to the bathroom with fear in her eyes.