Chapter 21
Caitlyn pulled up in front of the house.
Leaving Sebastian at the clinic and pretending everything was normal during her shift proved harder than she expected.
Owen spent the afternoon with Pops, but her nerves were on edge during her entire shift.
Thomas called Alison during her break, and she put him on speaker while she ate.
He sounded normal and promised to pick her up later that week.
Of course he sounded normal. He knew all along who Daniel.
.. Sebastian was, and the anger she carried was for both of them.
Poor Alison had it bad for the scruffy Motorcycle Safety Director, but Caitlyn hated to tell her that Thomas wasn’t the long-term commitment type. She gave their relationship a few more months, tops.
How long would it have lasted with Sebastian?
She wasn’t sure she would ever get over his identity.
But when Caitlyn thought of him and the kiss they shared.
.. No one ever kissed her like that, like she was everything.
Glancing over at her son, she smiled. His dark, wavy hair hung over his eyes.
He smelled like horses, grass, and sweat.
This last time, he brought his Xbox to Sam’s for the night.
Cole played with him, but Caitlyn could tell Daniel’s absence from their game time bothered him.
That kiss between them changed everything.
The truth changed everything. It broke her heart, knowing soon her son’s reality would shatter like hers had.
She was about to tell Owen, Daniel wouldn’t be coming around anymore when she noticed the state police car parked in the driveway.
Owen’s eyes widened as his body tensed. “Mom?” Her first thought went to her father.
Old habits were hard to let go. Or had they come for Silas?
Thomas’s police contact moved fast to gather evidence, even though Thomas warned it would take a while to investigate.
Despite the humidity in the air, Caitlyn got a chill.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the car and motioned for Owen to follow her.
He hesitantly did so, staying close to her side as they entered the living room.
Pops sat in an old recliner, his eyes glassy and his neck reddening with increasing agitation.
Since Silas returned, keeping Pops off the bottle became an impossible task.
At any moment, she suspected Pops would show the cops his mean side.
Two uniformed officers stood nearby, their presence looming heavily in the small room.
“Caitlyn,” her father said, his voice strained. “They’re looking for you. What did you do, girl?”
Her stomach churned as dread filled her.
“Are you Caitlyn Cortés Valesa?” one officer asked.
“Y-yes.”
Owen moved closer to her side and crossed his arms. She knew he was trying to look tough and protective. Caitlyn suppressed a smile. Owen’s attempt to be strong warmed her heart.
“Do you mind stepping outside and having a word with us?” the police officer asked, his gaze landing on Owen.
“What’s this about?” she asked. Had someone seen her helping Sebastian into her Jeep? Did the doctor turn them in?
“We need to ask you a few questions about your husband, Silas Valesa.”
“Ex-husband.” Caitlyn felt herself freeze up and her legs wobble beneath her. “What about him?” she asked, barely able to find her voice.
“Mom?”
“Go play your games and put your headphones on,” Caitlyn said.
Owen scowled.
“Go now, boy.” Pops’ voice boomed from his chair across the room.
Owen stomped away, but the sickening twist in her stomach kept her from commenting on his behavior.
Once Owen disappeared, headed toward his room, an officer—his tag read Hoffman—asked, “When was the last time you saw your husband?”
“Ex,” Caitlyn corrected them again. Her voice held a tight edge, laced with a bitter truth she couldn’t quite voice aloud. “And the day before yesterday. He left before I did when I took Owen to the sitter while I went to work.”
“About what time would you say that was?” Hoffman asked.
“Around one o’clock.”
“And you haven’t seen him since?” the other officer asked.
“Why would I?” Caitlyn forced a nonchalant shrug, her gaze flickering away. “He knew he wasn’t welcome here.” A sliver of hope pierced through the rising tide of anger.
“This is the address he gave his parole officer for residence,” Hoffman said.
If Silas discovered she ratted him out another time before Thomas’s police contact from the hospital found proof to put him away again, she and Owen might not escape.
But she was done with all the lies. “There’s an apartment above the garage,” Caitlyn added.
“I didn’t give him my permission to stay there. ”
“You can’t kick a man out of his home. I own this place.” Pops snapped at her. She bit her tongue from reminding him who paid the bills.
The other officer stepped forward, softer than his counterpart. “No one said you didn’t,” he said calmly, despite Pops‘ tirade. “But he was staying here?” Hoffman asked again, looking at Pops and back at Caitlyn.
Pops’ words were gruff and sharp. “I told you he was,” he said, gritting his teeth.
Caitlyn quietly said, “Pops,” as she anxiously glanced from him at the two police officers.
Lopez, the second officer, asked, “I just want to confirm. Do you know where he was going? Maybe he was going to see someone?”
She gave them a few names, not sure what this was all about. “He left with Blue, I think. Pete and Grover have visited him since he returned. I’m not sure of their full names, but Pete used to rent the apartment over the garage until last year, when he moved across town.”
“You don’t know where they might have gone? What were they doing?” Hoffman asked.
“No. I don’t want any part of anything my ex is involved in. He should never have gotten out of prison.”
The officers shifted uncomfortably, and Pops asked, “What is this about?”
Lopez spoke up. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Valesa...”
“Cortés.” There was no way she would let anyone associate her with Silas anymore.
“Cortés.” Hoffman frowned. “I apologize for informing you that Silas Valesa is dead.”
“Dead?” Had she heard him correctly? She glanced at Pops, and her father paled.
“His body was found by the river along Route 15 along with Earl Raynott.”
“Earl Raynott?” Her mind raced to come up with a name. At that very moment, Caitlyn’s heart dropped into her stomach. Blue too?
Shock filled her body. Silas was dead. Daniels lived. Whoever put out the hit on Daniels must have known Silas had failed. They had no proof Silas did it, so who did Silas have contact with? She shot a glare at Pops, his mouth opening, then shutting.
Caitlyn’s mind raced. Relief and sadness warred within her with every passing second. As Pops kept asking questions, she was suffocating, drowning in a sea of turbulent emotions. Caitlyn wrapped her arms around her waist and hugged herself.
The officers’ questions were like needles piercing through her heart, reopening wounds that had never really healed.
With each passing moment, Caitlyn became more torn inside.
Part of her wanted to confess everything to the officers, but another part knew that doing so would only make things worse.
Whoever put a hit on Daniels must have put a hit on Silas.
And they’d only do that if they knew Daniels was alive.
At last, the silence was broken by the one officer’s voice. “You drive a Suzuki C500?”
She nodded.
“Your motorcycle was found parked at an abandoned gas station along Route 15.”
“What?” Caitlyn tried to process it. “I-I keep it in the garage.”
“I gave him the key,” Pops said, then commanded in Spanish for her to keep her mouth shut. Not to say another word. About what? What happened to her father’s Harley?
Hoffman scribbled notes, and Lopez stood and listened until she finished. The officers thanked her for her time. As they left, Officer Hoffman spoke. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Caitlyn saw the officers out and turned to go to her room when she spotted Owen at the top of the stairs. “Oh, mijo.” She sighed, her heart sinking. How much did he overhear?
She rushed up the stairs, pulling her son in her arms, and sat beside him on the top stair.
Owen nestled into her embrace, his grip tightening on her back. “He told me I could call him Papa,” Owen mumbled, his voice muffled against her shirt. “Is Silas... is my father dead?
“You heard.” Tears streamed silently down her face. She choked out, pushing a stray curl from his eye, “You were to be playing your games.”
“I was,” Owen said, his voice small. “But then I thought Pops was in trouble, or Dan.”
“Pops is fine,” she reassured him. “And so is Dan. They wouldn’t...” Her voice trailed off, unable to spill the ugly truth to her innocent son.
Down below, the door slammed, and she flinched. Owen looked at her with such despair it almost made her tumble forward on the stairs. “He wouldn’t hurt Papa, right?”
“No, mijo, he wouldn’t. Dan... He’s a good man.
” Caitlyn took a deep breath and tried to focus on her son.
She prayed over him, asking God to help them get through the following days, to give her strength for both of them, and to help Owen process the loss of a father who he barely knew.
She allowed more tears to slip down her face, grieving along with her son.
The sterile scent of disinfectant assaulted Sebastian’s nostrils the moment the door creaked open. He lifted his head from the scratchy white pillow. Finally. It felt like an eternity trapped in this sterile cage. “Yeats.”
Yeats lumbered in, his usual swagger replaced by a deep furrow in his brow. A worn leather bag hung in his hand, a stark contrast to the pristine white bed sheets.
Sebastian’s gaze darted toward the bag. “Food?”