Chapter 23
The rhythmic drumming of fists against the door shattered the fragile peace Caitlyn had rebuilt within their home. Her heart lurched, cold dread slithering down her spine as her brother Antonio stormed inside the house. “It’s good to see you, too,” she muttered, closing the door.
“What the hell, Caitlyn?” her brother roared.
“Keep it down,” she hissed. “What is your problem?”
“Owen is here?” His hardened gaze, as sharp as a shard of ice, zeroed in on Pops slumped on the couch. Pops, still half-asleep, lifted his head slightly, bleary-eyed and confused, his face etched with the lines of a life spent mostly at the bottom of a glass. He blinked at Antonio.
“He’s with a friend.” Caitlyn flinched as their father mumbled slurred words and waved his hand for Antonio to leave, the remnants of sleep clinging to his voice.
Her father went on a bender right after the news of Silas’s death.
For the first time in days, peace and quiet filled the walls until Antonio came to disrupt it.
Antonio nodded. “Then I should be able to speak as I wish.”
“And what is it you have to say?” she asked.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Cat.” He spat the words out, each one laced with venom.
“Daralyn told me you brought that la chota to the clinic. You expected my old lady to put her job on the line for another one of your cop friends?” His voice dripped with contempt, the word bolillo stinging in her ears.
“Another wounded savior trying to play hero for you? Did you not learn anything the first time?”
Caitlyn’s already frayed nerves snapped. “What would you have done?” she shot back “He was bleeding out in the parking lot. He would have died.”
“I would have learned from the first time. What were you thinking? If I would have known this scheme of yours to bring another poli into our midst, I would have shot him myself.”
“Is that what is bothering you? That you didn’t know he was a cop?” Caitlyn laughed, a nervous tick that slipped from between her lips. “Well, neither did I. He fooled me, too. I didn’t know who he was.” And she should have. Deep down, all the signs were there in front of her face.
“You should have come to me and told me what was happening, then all this”—he threw up his hands—“could have been avoided.”
“You say this as if I had a choice,” Caitlyn said. “I am not like you, Toni. I don’t let men to die because I’m too afraid to do what is right.”
“No. You’re right. I blame this one, him,” Antonio jerked his chin in Pops’ direction. “You are a weak fool, old man. It wasn’t enough to lose your position amongst the Ghosts, lose your honor. You had to take mine!”
“You lost your position?” Caitlyn gasped.
Their father grunted, the old man staring, his eyes troubled.
“Sí, sister. Grover told Butch that you let Silas come back, and Silas told them Pops invited him home.”
“Lies,” Caitlyn cried. “Grover is a wanted man, and Blue is dead. He’s trying to cover up his actions, which causes more trouble because Silas is dead.”
“Sí, but I have been stripped of my cut and shamed because the past has tarnished my place in the club, and Butch warned against any trouble. If it wasn’t for our padre inviting the devil amongst us, I would have been president of the club, not Butch!”
And Caitlyn might have lost the little freedom Butch gave her away from the club. Antonio held a strong code of loyalty to the club, more so than to their family, but his leadership would have fostered far worse results than their father.
“Bah! You are weak. You would never be the man Silas is. I married him to your sister to bring strength to this family,” Pops declared.
Antonio’s neck and face turned red with fury. Caitlyn jumped in front of him. “Silas threatened us. You see, Pops, he’s not strong enough to defend us. If you would have been here, then maybe, but you disowned us.” Caitlyn’s chest tightened. “You brought this on yourself, brother.”
Antonio raised his hand, and Caitlyn lifted her chin, daring him to follow through.
“Casper,” Pops growled, “I am the man of this house. Leave. Get out!”
Antonio shook his head. “You’re drunk, old man. Always drunk.” His eyes glinted, and Caitlyn swallowed, bracing for the smack that didn’t come. Antonio spit on the floor beside her.
“?Detener! ?Te atreves a entrar a mi casa y amenazar a tu hermana?” His gaze went to their father as Pops shouted in Spanish at Antonio.
Antonio’s eyes widened, his body leaning away just as one of Caitlyn’s mother’s vases sailed through the air and shattered against the wall to the right of her. He stalked toward their father. Caitlyn grabbed him by the arm, and he tried to shake her off. He pointed his finger toward Pops.
“You’re lucky he’s dead. You have no honor. You would let him tear down this family again.” Antonio stalked toward Pops, the old man not having enough time to react as the door flung open for a second time. Antonio reached for the sky, whirling around to face the poli.
Sebastian rapped on the front door. He held a small container of marigolds.
Cat’s Jeep sat in the driveway, and so did another motorcycle he didn’t recognize.
Raised voices came out muffled through the door.
Something smashed against the wall with a shattering sound.
Sebastian put down the flowers and reached for the gun in the back of his waistband.
With one hand on the knob and the other holding his gun, Sebastian flung open the door and pointed the gun.
“Stop! Pol…” He stumbled over the last word. It slipped off his tongue, but no matter for Caitlyn’s father, Pops looked shocked and stumbled back. Pops’ hands froze in the air from throwing what looked like a vase. Casper, Caitlyn’s brother, stood across from Pops and lifted his hands.
“I told you, old man, all you do is bring trouble to this family.” Casper glared at Sebastian.
He wore jeans with threads hanging from cut knees and a pair of black boots laced past the ankle.
“He’s got no business here. Get rid of him.
” Casper said to Caitlyn, standing close to the stairs where glass spread across the scratched wood floors near her feet.
She looked pale, her eyes large, but instead of relief at the sight of Sebastian, those amber eyes turned darker with fury.
She went off like a lit rocket, speaking rapidly in Spanish.
He made a mental note to learn Spanish for the future.
Casper answered her back, and Welder picked something else up, forgetting Sebastian held a gun on all of them.
“That’s enough!” Sebastian yelled. Caitlyn stepped back as he stepped alongside her.
“Did you call him?” Casper asked, switching to English.
“No.” Caitlyn shook her head.
“What are you going to do?” Casper nodded toward the gun. “You are not family. You have no right coming into this house.”
Sebastian lowered his gun and placed his hand against Caitlyn’s back. “The way I see it, neither do you.”
Caitlyn stiffened under his touch. He leaned closer and whispered, “You okay?”
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and nodded, her lips pressed thin. He knew she wanted to say something but held her tongue in check as Casper glared at them both.
“This is my son. And this is my house,” Pops said, his hand shaking with what looked like the television remote in hand. Sebastian wouldn’t tell the older man it would take more than a television remote to scare him away. He tucked his gun back where he kept it in his waistband.
“And I’m the man who intends to marry your daughter and raise her son like my own.” It came tumbling out before he could think about what he said. Caitlyn gasped and turned her head to stare at him.
“Your kind isn’t welcome here,” Casper informed him, ignoring the mutterings of the older man beside him.
Welder’s hair was sticking out in tufts, and the old man sported several days’ worth, if not a week’s, of beard.
The creases around the old biker’s eyes had deepened since the last time Sebastian saw him.
“And what kind is that?” Sebastian asked as Caitlyn regained her composure, about to say something. Uncertain of her reaction to his next move, a touch of nervous energy filled his hands as he gave her back a rub. She relaxed under his touch.
“Because the way I look at it, family are the people who look out for each other, take care of one another,” Sebastian said.
“I take care of my family,” Casper said, then turned to Welder, “I should have known you are nothing but a weak old fool. You let trouble right back into our lives. Did you think of that? Did you think of what it would cost us this time?”
Pops’ eyes, rimmed with red and bloodshot, avoided looking at Casper.
He muttered something low in Spanish. Caitlyn leaned against Sebastian, enough for him to feel the brush of her blouse against his arm.
“Casper was cast out of the Ghost Riders. Grover told Butch that we let Silas come back, as if we invited him.”
“He’s back?” Sebastian asked, needing the man alive as a witness.
“He’s in police custody, but you’re the cop. You should know,” Casper sneered.
Pops growled. “I did what I had to do for this family.”
“You are no better than him. You didn’t learn the first time!” Casper flung his arms and then strode past the old man.
As he tried to walk past Sebastian, he caught Casper by the arm. “You’re one quick to judge.” Sebastian looked at Pops. “I believe you.”
“Says the man who is the target.” Casper yanked his arm away.
“Coming from a man who understands what it’s like to do things to protect others and fail.” Sebastian looked Casper in the eyes. “Your father’s drowning in a bottle, and what have you done to keep him from going under?”
“I’m not his keeper. Caitlyn wanted to stay here. She deals with the old man.” Casper lifted his chin.