Chapter 19
Caitlyn pulled up alongside another vehicle at Grace Meadows.
She left as soon as Thomas returned with coffee.
Daniel’s pleas to hear him out and explain sent a jolt of anxiety coursing through her.
After what she said, she couldn’t stay another minute.
The aftertaste of her confession lingered on her tongue and stung.
Besides, he needed to rest, and she needed space. At least she told herself as much on the drive.
She cast a hesitant glance at the house.
Seeing Sammy’s truck parked out front complicated things further.
Spotting Owen inside the barn, Caitlyn stepped out of the Jeep.
A wave of tenderness loosened some knots twisting inside her.
He disappeared then came back a minute later, a broad smile on his face at the sight of her, oblivious to the dangerous web Silas tangled around them.
“Hey there, mijo.” She forced a smile, the guilt souring in the pit of her stomach. He raced towards her, enveloping her in a big hug.
“Ready to go?” She brushed her hand across Owen’s dark curls, so much like Silas’s hair, before he started cutting his curls off. They were the one thing that made Silas approachable when he joined the Ghost Riders. Her heart twisted.
“Where did you go last night?” he asked as they walked back to her Jeep.
“Nowhere.” Her smile became strained. “I thought you liked it at Grace Meadows.”
“You scared me,” Owen said, looking at her with bangs falling across his eyes. “I thought something happened.”
Something had happened all right. Sebastian Daniels happened, and she feared there was no going back.
“Yo, Owen!”
Caitlyn turned as Cole came jogging up. “You forgot your hat.”
Owen reached for it, but Cole was faster. He landed the ball cap down on Owen’s head. It had Grace Meadow’s logo across the front. “Be careful getting home. There’s a storm coming from the south.”
“Thank you. Please tell Sammy I’m sorry I missed her.
” Guilt and relief filled her. It wasn’t her truth to tell.
Her stomach knotted. Caitlyn wouldn’t be the one to tell Sammy her brother got shot.
Sammy came into Caitlyn’s life when she needed a friend the most. The Daniels family never treated her differently, even when she needed a place to hide an injured police officer until she could get help.
Sammy was the only one she trusted. And what would Sammy think of her knowing what Caitlyn knew?
Keeping information from her would appear like a betrayal.
“She rode out to the back forty to check on the horses before the storm. I’m heading out to join her. I don’t like her out there alone, but Owen and I had to fix a stall door. I guess it was good we stayed behind.” Cole grinned.
“I appreciate you being here for Sammy and helping to look out for Owen.”
“Everything okay? Sammy said something about an emergency?” Cole asked, looking genuinely concerned.
“Fine. Closing took longer last night, and then a friend of mine was involved in an accident.” Caitlyn avoided Cole’s gaze, unable to meet his sincere concern with her fabricated story.
“It wasn’t Dan, was it?” Owen gripped her arm.
“D-Dan’s fine,” she stammered, tears threatening to well up in her eyes.
“We should go. Cole needs to help Sammy, and it doesn’t look like it will be long before the storm catches us.
” Caitlyn wished she could swallow back her earlier words.
She blamed it on the lack of sleep, caffeine, and her brain trying to process the truth about the man she came to care about. Her chest burned with the knowledge.
“Stay safe,” Cole said, pulling out his phone. He seemed distracted, and Caitlyn could relate. She was holding him up from riding out to help Sammy.
“Thanks, you too,” Caitlyn murmured.
Leave it to God to put her in another mess. She shouldn’t have gotten involved. Yet, she couldn’t help herself. Sebastian Daniels nudged at a dormant part of her as she locked away the day she locked Silas away.
Owen slid into his seat inside the Jeep and slumped the entire ride home. As soon as she parked in the driveway, Owen raced off toward the garage. She saw men gathered there, and Pops standing by his old Harley. “Owen, wait!”
“I want to help Pops,” he whined.
“Let the boy be,” Pops shouted. “Come now, we’ve got a ride to fix.”
Owen bounced between them. Caitlyn swallowed hard. If Pops’ motorcycle was here, did that mean Silas was nearby? She walked over enough to peer inside the garage. Pete, one of her brother’s friends, emerged with a wrench in hand.
“Okay, but don’t go anywhere with anyone.” Caitlyn glared at her son. “Understand?”
Owen took off toward Pops.
Needing a shower and a few hours of sleep, Caitlyn relented.
Normally, she didn’t start until late afternoon, but Regina asked her to cover for Alison, who claimed to have asked to have the day off weeks ago.
It didn’t escape Caitlyn’s eye the way Alison waited on Thomas.
The girl had a crush on the Soldiers of Christ Christian Motorcycle Club’s Treasurer and Regional Director of the Motorcycle Safety Program.
It’s a good thing Thomas did both, or Caitlyn might not have the extra income she needed working the weekends coaching on the range.
Inside the house, she climbed the stairs, determined to take a shower. A dark shadow greeted her in the hall. Leaning against her bedroom door, her breath caught in the throat. “Silas.”
“Kitty Cat.” He uncrossed his arms and stepped closer.
She stumbled back, her heart racing at the sound of his voice.
Deep shadows curved under his eyes, and the unkempt, disheveled hair sent alarms in her head.
She took a deep breath, appalled by his spicy body wash and a metallic scent that made her nose scrunch.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed sharply. “You have no business in this house.”
He lowered his chin, the light from a hallway window casting his shadow longer past her bedroom doorway. His gaze was intense and steady, boring into her like he could glimpse inside her soul and read its secrets.
“I just wanted to see you,” he said, each word coming out slowly as if it were too heavy for him to speak to them all at once. “You didn’t come home last night.”
She shut her eyes to close out the pain that rose within her chest, but it was no use. It still burned with every breath she took.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know why,” she tried to keep the quiver from her voice. “I want you to leave now.”
Silas smirked. “You forgot whose house this is.”
“It belongs to my father.”
“Who paid the place off?” With money from his illegal parts smuggling operation.
She shook her head. Pops kept them in debt. Without a treasurer, the Ghost Riders would have run in the red under her father’s leadership.
“You did what you set out to do,” she said, her voice shaking more with fury than fear. “Leave us be, like you said, and don’t come back.”
“Oh, I know you don’t want me here, babe.
” Silas sauntered toward her. Caitlyn locked her legs, unable to move.
His knuckles brushed across her cheek. His thumb pressed against her lips, pulling down on the bottom one.
“I came to tell you that you did good, muneca. I was starting to doubt you would, but then I knew you would do whatever you needed for the good of our family.”
He patted her cheek and walked away.
“What d-do you mean?” Her voice pitched. Of course, he came to brag. She played along, hoping Silas hadn’t discovered his hit attempt failed—a headache formed in her temples. Last night, she slept a little on the chair in Daniel’s room at the clinic.
Silas pressed his fingers to her lips. “Did you cry for him? Is that why you didn’t bring our son and come home last night?”
“What I do is none of your business,” she said, leaning back away from him. “You said you would leave Pops and Owen alone. You need to leave.”
Slowly, he smiled. “You’re right, babe. When I get back, we’ll renegotiate.” He leaned in, sniffed her, and she jerked back from him.
“What do you mean?”
“I promise nothing will happen to my son or your father. You and I? We’re not over.” He turned and strolled down the stairs.
“Silas!” she hissed, and he chuckled, a dark rumble in his chest. Caitlyn followed him down the steps, her pulse quickening with each step. Before she could protest further, his large hand clamped down on her upper arm, stopping her in her tracks.
“Don’t worry, mi amor,” he breathed, his voice barely above a whisper. “You proved yourself. Now, you be a good momma to our son. I don’t want you working at that place or on motorcycles anymore, understand? What you need, I will provide.”
He released her, his dark eyes still locked with her gaze. She wanted to scream at him. Or laugh. Definitely laugh. It bubbled deep in her gut, but the sounds wouldn’t escape. Daniel’s life depended on it. She stood there in silence, watching as he opened the front door.
When he was gone, Caitlyn collapsed against the door and sighed a long sigh of relief. With shaky fingers, she fetched her phone from her pocket. Pressing her finger to the screen, she unlocked it. Scrolling through the contacts, she called Thomas.
“Pick up. Pick up,” she muttered, listening to the phone ring.
Afraid Silas might hear her, Caitlyn tried hard to leave a cryptic message in Thomas’s voicemail.
Half in tears, she cried into the phone.
“Thomas, I’m sorry. Daniel didn’t make it.
Silas is here, and I think it’s best we all grieve separately.
” She hoped he understood the warning. Daniel was gone, and in his place, a stranger lay in that hospital bed.
There was no telling what Silas would do if he discovered Daniel... Sebastian was alive.
She had to find a way out of this. Owen deserved a better life. Nor could she let her ex catch up with Sebastian Daniels to finish the job. Not Daniel, please Lord, not her friend’s brother. Not the one who bought her son ice cream and followed her home. Not the man…
Not the man she loved.
She told him not to follow her. Did he even have a chance there in the parking lot? Grabbing clothes, she locked herself in the bathroom for a quick shower. Keeping her cell phone on the top of the toilet, she hoped Thomas got her message. If she texted him, would Silas find out?
She couldn’t take the chance he wouldn’t take her phone and read her messages. Fear from the past reared its ugly head as she turned on the water to the shower.
Inside the shower, she shivered and scrubbed her body quickly.
Silas wouldn’t harm her. It wouldn’t bode well with the Ghost Riders.
She hadn’t betrayed the club. Once a Ghost Rider, always a Ghost Rider.
Under Butch’s leadership, she was safe. Ever since Silas’s dealings and her father’s struggle with staying sober, Butch had kept the club on the good side of the law.
An enforcer for the club, he challenged those loyal to Silas.
Many left, except Blue and Grover. They always seemed to go with the flow.
Had they been the ones to shoot at Daniels?
Had they been keeping Silas up to date all this time?
The Ghost Riders no longer tolerated illegal activity within the club, but deep down, she knew it wasn’t true. Had Butch let Silas return? Had her brother?
Silas may have wanted Daniels dead for the bounty, but someone else made the call.
A horrifying truth clawed its way to the surface.
Questions flooded her mind: What happened to him?
Why did someone want him dead? Regret wrung her inside out.
She should have given him the chance to explain.
But the revelation of his true identity left her reeling and unable to bear his presence a moment longer.
“You’re a pain in my butt, Daniels, you know that?” she said to herself and no one at the same time. Scrubbing her hair with a bar of honey-and-cinnamon-scented soup, she said, “You better be worth it.”