by KJ Dahlen
Kelly leaned up and touched her lips to his. “Thank you again,” she whispered.
He shook his head as he smiled. “You are going to be saying this a lot in the future I think as I just got stared with you. But sleep now, okay?” Byron tucked her head into his shoulder and watched as she closed here eyes and after a moment or so, he felt it when she relaxed enough to slip into sleep.
He didn’t fall asleep quite as fast as she did. He knew this girl would be trouble the first minute he laid eyes on her months ago. That he would fall hard if he ever let her in. Well, she was definitely in now and he was highly aware that his brothers knew he had claimed her in the shop today. He needed to protect her and her Gramps. His brothers would keep a look out, too. But he couldn’t keep the pain that may come her away from hurting her. He vowed to be a better man for her. He never had to take care of anyone but himself before this. In a way, it was a scary thing and nothing ever scared him that he remembered. He held this small ball of fire who was Kelly, his woman tightly, as he listened to her breathing and nuzzled her hair with his nose.
It took a long time for his mind to clear enough for sleep to take him.
Chapter Eight
It wasn’t quite dawn yet when Kelly began reliving the worst moment in her young life. Her thrashing woke Byron who tried to hold her safely in his arms but she was remembering another place and time and fought to get herself free.
She began yelling and screaming, something about the engine not sounding right and for her dad to get off the track. She kept screaming for him to pit. Then suddenly she sat straight up and screamed out for her father. Byron wrapped is arms around her and pulled her back down on the bed. She was still locked in her nightmare and kept screaming for her daddy, then begging him not to leave her.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her head to his chest trying to comfort her until she finally dragged herself from the nightmare of the past.
Finally, she opened her eyes and was still. Tears had wet his chest but Byron didn’t care. He’d heard the heartbreak in her voice as she relived the accident on the track. But he frowned as he remembered some of things she said in her dreams.
Like why did she keep saying she should have double checked the cylinders and why did she say she missed checking the tires. Crying out that she’d been distracted by a last minute visit by her mom. She kept saying her mom had no right to be in the pits.
Byron looked down at her tears filled eyes. His heart broke at the devastation he saw there. “Are you all right?” he finally asked her.
Kelly closed her eyes and silently shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Bout what, sweetness?” He looked down at her.
“Disrupting your sleep?” She offered almost asking a question.
“I wasn’t worried about my sleep,” Byron insisted. “How often do you have that nightmare?”
She shrugged. “Not as often as I used to.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” he offered.
“No I don’t,’ she told him in no uncertain terms.
“Have you ever talked about it, to anyone?” he wanted to know.
“What is there to talk about?” she argued fiercely. “McGee challenged my dad to a race, my dad agreed. Then the day of the race McGee played his fucking games. He came close to wrecking several times that day. McGee would come at him, bumping him, threatening to run him into the wall on the turns, pulling every dirty trick he knew on the track. He even pulled several things that he knew would get him thrown out on his ass but he didn’t fucking care. He was there to rattle my dad so much he lost the race.”
“Why would he do that?” Byron frowned.
“Ted McGee wanted the new engine my dad and grandpa built. He’d already got one engine away from them and cheated them both.”
“How the hell did he do that?”
“He used someone inside my dad’s garage to get the plans and when he got them, he turned them in days before my dad could. The patent office told my dad the engine he built was already patented. That engine was gone and would never be called an Abalone engine. Dad and grandpa were so pissed. That was their livelihood after all.”
Byron had a feeling he knew what happened next but he wanted to hear her version of the events that lead to her father’s death.
“As you know, I’d convinced them that they could build a better engine. The three of us began working on it and within three weeks, we finished it. They put it in a car and took it for a test drive.” She shook her head. “Oh, my God, you should have seen that car fly. The power of it as my dad took it through its paces was unbelievably beautiful. That first ride took my breath away. But he needed it to pass regulations for the racing boards so he had it on the track where the officials and bystanders could see it go through the paces. The test drive was awesome. It handled better than before and the racing commissions couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Neither could Ted McGee. He accused my dad of cheating. He told the commissioners that he’d hired my dad to build him an engine and he had but Ted went on to claim that he patented the engine before my dad could and while that’s a low blow it isn’t exactly illegal in the racing world. Then he claimed that Dad had to turn the specs for his new engine over to the commission. It wasn’t even a true claim. It was a lie. We built that for Dad’s team.” She looked up at him and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man transformed by hate before that day.”
“What happened?”
“Dad handed over the plans to the commission but he also handed over a full patent as well. The patent was three weeks old by the time the commission passed the engine on specs alone, for track use. That was doing things backward as the specs have to be approved first but dad explained he didn’t want this engine taken by fair means or foul. The commission passed the engine, knowing full well just how Ted worked.” She finished her story with a haunted look in her eyes. “That was the day McGee challenged him to a race. The commissioner didn’t want to let it happen but Dad was so confident in his engine that he accepted.” Then Kelly went quiet for a few minutes.
“What is it sweetness?” Byron finally asked.
“I remember now that the day it happened my mom came down to the pits for the first time ever. She was dressed like a slut and distracted the pit crew just long enough for someone else to slip in and mess with dad’s car. He damaged the cylinder just enough to lock it open when he was driving at a speed, so he wouldn’t be able to stop. Then they loosened the lugs on his front tire. Knowing the vibration would cause the nuts to loosen with each round, then finally they wouldn’t do their job and dad would lose control.”
Byron could almost imagine the nightmare of the day. Her dad wasn’t expected to survive that race. Like she had said, Ted McGee cheated and cost the man his life, by fair means or foul, he’d been just as guilty as her mother had been. “You said something about Ted paying for a quickie divorce for you mother, what was that all about?”
Kelly shook her head. “When I was fifteen I found a file my father kept locked away. Inside the file was his wedding certificate and an envelope that was never opened. I opened it and it was a Mexican divorce. Along with paperwork from a private investigator that claimed the date on the divorce showed my mom had been married when she met and married my dad. According to the first marriage certificate, she was still married when she married my dad. Her marriage to my dad was illegal.”
“Who was she married to?” he asked but knowing the dreaded answer.
“Theodore McGee.”
Byron didn’t say anything but he was stunned, she’d married Dom knowing she was already married? Before he could comment on this puzzle, he heard a scream and a dog snarling outside. Then he heard doors slamming and men yelling. He quickly got out of bed and pulled his pants on.
Kelly did the same and together, they rushed out to the patio.
They watched the scene below as Jack and Caden were down on the ground. Wes’s dog old Blue had his mouth clamped dow
n on Caden’s leg while Caden was screaming and kicking at the dog to let him go.
Wes was standing at the back door of the shop glaring at the men and his dog, while Byron’s brothers were running across the lot.
Byron grabbed her by the hand and led her over to the outside stairs. When they reached the ground, they could hear the yelling from the men standing there.
Mountain glared down at the two men. No one was completely dressed, as they had been rousted from their beds. The sun was barely up and the shadows of night were still clearly visible.
“Call of the fucking dog!” Caden screamed at them. His arms were holding his leg at the point where the dog was latched on to him.
Wes was causally leaning on the door with his rifle cradled in his arms.
“What the hell?” Kelly called out.
Everyone turned to look at her as she stared at the men on the ground.
Caden turned his head and glared at her. “This is all your fault you bloody bitch! Call off the fucking dog.”
Kelly crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. She looked over at Wes and nodded. Wes gave a short whistle and Blue let Caden go. He didn’t go far and remained alert but he did let Caden loose.
“Why did you come back?” she asked her brother. “If I remember correctly, you were told not to come back here or risk... what was it? Oh yeah, getting a cap in your ass.” She looked up at the patio and saw her grandfather standing there looking down at them. She could see the pain in his stance and she turned back to the two men. “Why did you come back here?”
“I wanted to check on grandpa.” Caden looked away from her.
A habit she knew he did when he lied to her.
“Yeah right,” she scoffed. “That’s why you come here before dawn and you go to the shop instead of the house where he’s at. Wanna try again?”
“I don’t have to tell you anything!” Caden snarled.
“No but you do have to tell me.” Mountain growled.
Caden looked over to the much bigger man. “Fuck you.”
Mountain shrugged as if he didn’t give a fuck what the kid said. He looked over at Wes and asked, “What happened here?”
Wes nodded at the two younger men. “They jimmied the lock and got into the shop, then they ran into Blue. Blue ran them both out then that one...” He pointed at Caden. “Pulled a gun and Blue went a little crazy.”
“You had a gun?” Kelly whispered. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I carry a gun for protection, not that you’d care nor is it any of your business.” Caden sneered. “You told me I was no longer your brother yesterday. Remember?”
Kelly flinched in pain as her own words came back to bite her. “That doesn’t explain what you’re doing here breaking into a place of business before dawn. You don’t give a damn about Grandpa and you know it. If you did, you never would have hit him.”
Caden was about to say something but Jack grabbed his arm and shook his head. He looked over at the other building while motioning and Caden turned his head to see Joe standing there. “I need to talk to you, old man!” Caden yelled out.
Kelly moved to stand where she knew Caden couldn’t see her grandfather anymore. Then she looked over at Mountain. “Call the police. These two are trespassing and breaking and entering. Have them arrested.”
“He’s my grandfather too, you lousy bitch!” Caden swore.
“He might have been right up until the first day you hit him,” Kelly’s words were spoken low. “Now, he is nothing to you.”
“You never answered Mountain’s question,” Byron reminded everyone. “What are you doing sneaking around her before dawn?”
“I don’t have to tell you a fucking thing.” Caden growled.
Mountain stomped over and grabbed the back of his collar then dragged Caden to his feet. Caden screamed when he was forced to stand on his leg. Blood was gushing from the dog bite but Mountain didn’t care. “Want to try that again?” the older man growled in Caden’s ear.
Caden shook his head but was wise enough not to say anything. Mountain finally threw the smaller man to the ground again. He looked over at his brother Dante. “Call the fucking badges and get this trash out of the yard.”
“You bastards!” Caden screamed out. “Kelly, are you gonna let them put your brother in a fucking cage?”
Kelly glanced at her brother, “I told you yesterday, you are no longer my brother and you said it back to me this morning. You can’t have it both ways.” She turned and walked away. She headed toward the bottom of the outside stairs leading to the upstairs patio.
Each step was slow and deliberate. She never even looked back at Caden.
“You lousy bitch!” he screamed out. “I’ll kill you when I get out. I will hunt you down and kill you!”
~*~
Byron turned and watched until she got to the top of the stairway.
Joe was there waiting for her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her inside.
Then Byron turned to Caden.
For a moment, Caden couldn’t turn away. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t seem to. The cold hate in the other man’s eyes froze him in place.
Byron took three steps toward the other man, bumping into his brother Bowie.
Bowie had been recording the encounter the whole time but at Byron’s bump, he shut the recorder off.
When Byron squatted down beside Caden, Caden scooted as far away from the other man as he could.
When he got away, Byron reached out and grabbed his leg.
Caden screamed as the pain he felt threatened to overwhelm him. He felt Byron’s fingers dig deep into his leg where the dog had bitten him.
“You listen to me, you little shithead.” Byron growled. “When and if you get out of jail, you are gonna walk away from your sister, from your grandfather and from this fucking town, do you hear what I’m saying?”
“And if I don’t?” Caden asked nervously.
“Then they will never find your body I can assure you of that,” Byron whispered. “Do you understand what I’m saying?” He grumbled as he repeated his question a second time.
“Yeah, I fucking understand.” Caden scowled. “Although how you expect to get away with threatening me like that, I have no idea.”
“It’s your word against mine and you are the dumbass trespasser, so who do you think the cops are gonna believe?” Byron mocked him. “I’m a good citizen in town and you were told not to come back here only yesterday.”
“You’re nothing more than a fucking no good biker.” Caden growled. “Even if you do build hot rods, you’re still a biker.”
Byron shook his head. “Well, you got me there. I build hot rods and I’m a biker. At least you know that much. You ain’t as stupid as I thought you were. But let me tell you something else you may not know about me, your sister belongs to me and I will take a bullet for her, I will also knock out any threat to her. Even if that threat is you. You don’t mean jack shit to me and I don’t think you mean a whole lot to her or your grandfather anymore either. And that my friend, is your own damn fault. You burned those bridges your own damn self.”
“Fuck you and fuck her too.” Caden groaned as he felt Byron’s fingers dig deep into his injured leg.
Byron stood up and looked down at the kid.” Your too stupid to see what is really going on and how you are being taken for a ride by this...” he nodded at Jack. “...Filth.”
Caden looked confused by this but he finally decided to keep his mouth shut.
A few minutes later, a black and white pulled into the parking lot. The same two officers from yesterday stepped out. When they saw who was there, they shook their heads. One of them pointed to Caden’s leg then asked, “What happened to him?”
“Well, officer...” Mountain stepped up. “It seems these two idiots thought we locked the doors to the garage for shits and giggles. They broke in and were looking around when they met ole Blue.”
&nbs
p; “Who the heck is old Blue?” the officer asked.
“Well, that would be our guard dog, Blue.” Mountain motioned toward the dog. “When we think there’s trouble coming, we put Blue in the shop to watch over things. Just before dawn, Blue ran into these two. Inside the shop. They were just coming out when we found them. We decided to detain them until you got here.”
“So they were inside a locked shop, before dawn when old Blue chased them outside?” the other officer asked.
“Yup.” Mountain nodded as he popped the p on the last word.
When the cop dragged Jack to his feet he insisted, “Call my father Ted McGee, he’ll be there before we get there to bail me out.” He jerked out the officer’s grasp and walked over to the patrol car.
The other officer assisted Caden to his feet and over to the patrol car. A few minutes later, the cops pulled out of the parking lot and the Morgan brothers stood there watching it go.
Mountain turned to Byron and asked, “Is Kelly ok?”
“Why do you ask?” Byron frowned.
“Because I heard her screaming during the night,” Mountain told him. “What was that all about?”
Byron hung his head for a moment. “She was reliving the night her father died.”
“Well fuck.” Mountain shook his head.
“Tell me about it.” Byron acknowledged. “I couldn’t wake her from the nightmare either. I could just hold her while she remembered it. Every fucking second of the moment that changed her life and not for the better.”
“You know something,” Wes interrupted the brothers. “There was always something about that race that nobody understood.”
Mountain turned to the older man. “What do you mean, something no one understood? What the fuck does that mean?”
“Candy was one dumb bitch.” Wes shook his head. “She wouldn’t know one end of a wrench from the other. And there’s no way she would ever get her hands dirty or risk cracking a nail. And no one would let Ted McGee anywhere near Dom’s pit. The commission determined someone sabotaged his engine and loosened his lugs. The police also argued that the only one who could have done it was Candy. She was convicted and very surprised when Ted McGee didn’t do anything to stop it.”
