Byron

by KJ Dahlen

  “Kelly brought up something last night,” Byron told his brothers. “Candy’s marriage to Dominick wasn’t legal because at the time they got married she was already married to Ted. Candy left them when she was five and Caden was a baby, then after Dom and Joe got big in the racing world, she came back to be Dom’s wife again. Ted went to Mexico and got a quickie divorce, so Candy could take her place as Dom’s wife. Only problem was Dom didn’t want her anymore. He showed her the door but kept the kids with him. He died a few days later.”

  Wes nodded. “Everyone thought Ted set her up to take the fall but no one could figure out how. As the only distraction in the pits that morning was Candy, she took the fall. Then fifteen years later, she comes up with the fact that there was evidence missing from the trial that would point the finger at someone else? Convenience? I think not. There’s something more going on here.”

  Byron thought for a moment then told everyone, “You know Jack McGee has been trying to get me to sell him one of the cars. He’s tried bribery and he insists that everyone has their price. This thing with Caden is new though. He must know by now that I’d never sell him a car after all of this.”

  Wes snorted, “Well, if old Ted taught his son anything, he taught him how to back someone into a corner to get what he wanted. If I remember correctly, he paid Dom and Joe to build him an engine, then he cheated them out of the patent on that engine.”

  Byron nodded. “Yeah, Joe told us that already.”

  “But what he didn’t tell you was that everyone at the track was watching as he played his game. Some of the pit crew were betting on what Ted had up his sleeve. But it surprised everyone when he filed the patent even before the engine was finished. How did he get the specs? How was he able to file the patent before the engine was even finished?”

  “He had a fucking inside man,” Mountain surmised.

  “It would have had to be someone Dom and Joe were comfortable enough to have around while they were working on a project,” Wes offered. “And there was only one man that I knew of that would have been that close.”

  “Who was that?” Dante asked.

  “Dom’s best friend since grade school, Henry Loker.” He grimaced. “And if I remember right, Henry was in the pits that day.”

  “Fucking hell.” Mountain swore.

  Byron looked toward the place he called home. His woman was in there waiting for him. Her grandfather was there as well. If this were true the news would crush them both.

  Byron began walking toward the door when Mountain called out to him, “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to ask Joe about who was in the pits that day,” Byron said as he continued to walk toward the house.

  “Where does this news leave us?” Dante asked.

  “How the hell am I supposed to know that?” Mountain growled.

  ~*~

  Byron walked into the kitchen to find Kelly and Joe sitting there.

  Kelly had tears running down her face and Joe was sitting there looking like he’d just been kicked in the teeth.

  He hated to bring the subject up but he had to know. He sat down next to Kelly but he looked at Joe. “I just heard something and I need to know if it’s true.”

  Joe studied him for a moment then nodded. “Ok, what did you just hear?”

  “When you and Dominick built that engine for Ted McGee how did he gets the specs before you even finished it?”

  Joe just shrugged. “That a good question. One we never had an answer for.”

  “Did you know a man named Henry Loker?”

  Joe frowned and looked at him. “Yeah, Henry was a good friend of Don’s, why?”

  “Could he have given the specs to McGee without your knowledge?” Byron wanted to know.

  Joe didn’t scoff at the idea outright. In fact, he took the time to think about what Byron suggested. “Now that’s a real possibility. If I remember rightly, he did seem a little off around that time. I do remember Dom was worried about him. Said something about Henry not being himself. Almost like he was hiding something.”

  Kelly sniffled as she interjected, “Henry was in the pits the day dad died too. He didn’t look very good that day either. Then mom came down and everyone was distracted, then the race started and everything went to hell in a hurry.”

  “It was Henry wasn’t it?” Joe asked. “Henry, not Candy all these years. Well, I’ll be damned.”

  “I wonder what Ted McGee had to do with this from the beginning?” Byron asked.

  “Ted McGee is an old son of a bitch.” Joe swore. “A man with more money then he’d ever spend, always wanting what he couldn’t buy. A man who was never told no until he met my Dom. Dom didn’t want to build that engine, but I told him it would be something the world had never seen before. I told him it would be the beginning of a legacy he could leave for his children.” Shaking his head he said, “I can see Ted behind this whole thing. Ted would use any means possible to get what he wanted and he really wanted that engine. Henry had problems back then, problems he thought I didn’t know about. He liked to gamble but he the worst at betting. He’d lose big time and then Dom would always bail him out.” Joe shrugged. “I told Dom he couldn’t keep doing that but Dom would tell me time and time again, Henry was his friend, through hell or high water and he would always have his back no matter what. Then Dom was gone. Henry looked so lost. I thought all this time it was because he lost Dom, but now I see it could be because he cost his best friend his life.”

  Kelly reached over and took his hand. “Gramps, you can’t think that way. What happened, happened. We have to let it go. It doesn’t matter who did the deed that day, it happened and we all lost a good man. We can’t bring him back. Mom doesn’t matter, she never did. She let us go long before we let her go. We didn’t matter to her at all and she doesn’t matter to me either. I don’t know nor do I care what she’s been telling Caden. She might have carried me and given me life but she was never my mom.”

  Joe turned to Byron. “You watch your back young man. Ted McGee is not above fucking with you or your brothers to get back at you for the mess Jack has found himself in. If Caden is his son, he will also use him to get what he wants. He knows he can use the boy to hurt Kelly or me. He’ll try to blackmail us to get to you. He’s a bastard like that. If he or Jack decided he wants one of your cars, he’ll damn well find a way to get it.”

  “He can’t hurt me or my brothers and you and Kelly have the protection of the MC, so I doubt there’s a way to get to us,” Byron assured the older man.

  But Joe shook his head. “I’m not worried about me. I’m an old man.” Then he looked over at Kelly. “Ted will come after her. He’s known all these years that Kelly has a gift very few people have. He was there that day too. He was on the track but he had someone watching Kelly. In fact, they were filming her. I’d forgotten about that until you mentioned Henry’s name. Ted knew the moment she heard the engine racing that something was wrong. His man told him and that’s when Ted hit Dom’s car. I was watching both of them through binoculars. Dom was coming around that last curve when I found myself looking at Ted. Ted was getting a message from someone and he looked pissed. He sped up and rammed into Dom’s car and that’s when the lugs let lose and his lost control. I tried to grab Kelly and get her out of the way but she was dragging the fire extinguisher toward the entrance of the pit and I couldn’t get to her in time.” Tears ran down his face as he spoke of that fateful day. “Dom saw her at the last minute and he made the only choice he could. He swerved and hit the wall rather than hit his child.”

  “Oh grandpa,” Kelly cried out. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that before? Why did you keep that a secret all this time?”

  “Because you didn’t need to know.” Joe told her with a heavy sigh. “That day was hard enough on all of us. You were only a kid at the time. You didn’t need that guilt on top of everything else.”

  “Go back a minute.” Byron leaned forward in his chair. “You said somethi
ng about Kelly having a gift? What kind of gift?”

  “She’s a master mechanic. She can tell by sound if there’s something wrong with an engine and she can out build any man when it comes to high performance motors. I think that’s why Ted had her watched that day. Dom and I were good but Kelly had both of us beat hands down and she was only nine years old. When we lost the engine to Ted, she showed us how to build something better than we ever thought we could build. And we did.”

  “Why has it taken fifteen years for Ted to come looking for you then?” Mountain asked as he and the other brothers joined the group.

  “Well now, that might be because we came here and changed our name. He didn’t know where we went. We kept a low profile and for the longest time I didn’t work on any engines. Then as Kelly and Caden grew up, I got back into it. I think he found us when Kelly sold her Mach two engine about two years ago. I don’t know if that’s how he found us or not but I’m pretty sure it had something to do with it.” He looked over at Kelly. “I’ll bet old Ted still wants her to build for him.”

  “The Mach 2 was your creation?” Mountain exclaimed, looking at her like he couldn’t believe it.

  Kelly nodded. “We put the patent through in grandpa’s name.”

  “Very few people knew my late wife, Emijean Gibbons, as she died when Dom was just a boy. When we left Florida, I used her name to start over up here. It just seemed the right thing to do to protect the kids. From the press and from Ted McGee. He still thinks we owe him something.”

  “Do you really think so after all these years?” Dante asked. “I mean what the hell does he think you owe him?”

  “He knows now that she can build him engines, engines for racing that will no doubt outlive him and he wants his name on those engines.” Joe nodded. “He was racing Dom that day for pink slips on the engines they were using. Ted thought his new engine could beat anything we threw together in a couple of weeks, but he didn’t know Kelly designed it. He wanted to crush Dom with that race but he never got close enough to him until that last turn. Ted knew the only way he could win is if Dom lost, so he bumped the car and Dom lost control.”

  “I remember that,” Wes told them. “He was spouting off in front of the press that you and Dom cheated him. He asked you to build him a racing engine and while the engine he got from you was good, he claimed you had an even better one and that engine should have been his as well.” He snorted, “Hell, that man claimed the engine even after it was wrecked in the crash. He thought he could put it together again but it was just too damaged to work anymore. No one has been able to even come close to the power that engine had. And that just pissed ole Ted off to the ninth degree.”

  Joe nodded. “When I explained we built the second engine after we built the one he stole from us, no one could believe it. It only took us three weeks to design and built the Mach 1, so yeah I think it’s safe to say he’ll come after Kelly now that he knows where we are.”

  “Well, he can’t have her.” Byron growled. “She belongs to me now and I’ll never let her go.”

  His brothers all stared at him then they all grinned.

  Byron swung his gaze over at them. “Oh, shut the fuck up!” he yelled even though they hadn’t said a word.

  Male chuckles echoed in the garage.

  Chapter Nine

  When Ted McGee walked into the Troy police department later that day, he scowled at the officer behind the counter. “I’m here to bail out my son and a friend of his.”

  “Names?”

  “Jack McGee and Caden Gibbons.”

  The officer checked his records and nodded at Ted. “Those two have just been escorted to court to have their bail set.”

  “What took so long?” Ted asked while looking disgusted. “I was advised they were arrested about six this morning?”

  “Mr. Gibbons needed medical attention for a dog bite.”

  “He got bit by a dog?” Ted’s scowl deepened. “What exactly are the charges against them?”

  “Breaking and entering with the intention of grand thief auto.”

  Ted was stunned by the charges. “Grand Thief Auto?” he sputtered. “They were going to steal a car?”

  “That, sir, has yet to be determined. But those are the charges.”

  Ted growled. “I think you’re crazy, my son is a race driver, why would he jeopardize his living by stealing a damn car? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Sir, I have no control what the charges are or why. I’m telling you the charges. It will be up to the DA what they actually go to court for.”

  “Well, I’m here to bail them both out,” Ted insisted. “All I need to know is how much? My attorney will deal with the charges being reduced.”

  Four hours later, the three men left the police department.

  Caden was limping and all three of them were pissed.

  Ted got behind the wheel and started the car, revving the engine.

  Jack got in beside his father and Caden got into the back seat.

  Almost before either of the boys were settled, Ted took off squealing the tires and almost hit a parked car in the lot.

  They got three blocks away when Ted exploded, “What the hell were you thinking?”

  “Dad—” Jack began to explain.

  Ted held up his hand to stop him from talking. “Don’t you understand something here boy? IF you get convicted of B&E with the intent of Grand Thief Auto, you’ll never race again!” Ted yelled at both of them.

  “I wasn’t going to steal anything Dad,” Jack whined.

  “Then what the hell were you doing inside the shop?” Ted growled.

  “How did you know we were inside?” Jack asked.

  “I was in that fucking courtroom when the charges against you were read, you little fool.” His father growled. Ted glanced in his rear-view mirror and glared at Caden. “Isn’t that where you were bit?”

  “Yes sir, we were inside but we weren’t there to steal anything,” Caden admitted. “We were there to find out if my sister was building an engine.”

  “And what about it?” Ted asked gruffly. “What did you find out?”

  “Yeah, she’s building one. We found one that had just been started and I know her work.” Caden nodded.

  “So is it true that the Morgan Brothers kicked you off the property just yesterday?” Ted demanded.

  Caden nodded sulkily. “Yeah, she tossed money at me and had us escorted off the property by the fucking cops. My own grandfather wouldn’t even talk to me.”

  Ted looked over at his son as he could care less about that. “What’s the engine like?”

  Jack tightened his lips. “It’s going to be another Mach 2 or better.”

  “We have to get our hands on it, then don’t we?” Ted nodded.

  Jack shook his head. “I’ve been asking for one of the Morgan hot rods but they won’t sell to me.”

  Ted glanced at his backseat passenger and said under his breath, “Well we’ll just see about that won’t we?”

  When he parked at Ted’s temporary home, all three went inside. Caden’s mother Candy was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when they joined her. She looked at each of them before she asked, “Well, what’s the damage?”

  “Jack and Caden got arrested on charges of B&E with the intention of grand thief auto,” Ted told her.

  Candy shrugged. “Ok, what can we do to get the charges dropped?”

  “I got my attorney on it,” Ted assured her.

  “So where do we go from here then?” she asked.

  “I want the engine she’s building,” Ted announced.

  Candy made a face of disgust. “How do you know she’s building it?”

  “Because, mother, I know Kelly’s work,” Caden stated. “Grandpa might be helping her but the specs are all hers.”

  Candy shuddered. “How that child came out of me is beyond me.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing she did my dear.” Ted nodded. “That tie is all we’ve got rig
ht now.”

  “What about me?” Caden whined. “I’m her blood too.”

  Candy looked over at Ted.

  Ted glared back at her.

  She then turned to her son. “Well that isn’t necessarily true. You were raised right along beside her but you aren’t related to her by blood except mine maybe.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Caden growled.

  “You are my son but Dominick wasn’t your dad,” Candy admitted

  “What?” Caden exclaimed while looking stunned. He looked between his mother and Ted McGee. “Don’t tell me this asshole is my real father.”

  “Hey watch what you call my dad, fucker.” Jack growled.

  Caden turned his head. “He’s my dad too, asshole.” Then he turned back to his mother and asked, “Why didn’t you ever take me with you when you left Dominick then? Why did you leave me with him?”

  “No one was supposed to know you were Ted’s kid.”

  “Again... why?”

  “Because I was his kid and no one takes my place,” Jack stated. “I don’t share with others very well. I was his heir apparent to the world, supposedly his only child.”

  “How did no one ever know about you being his mother?” Caden asked his mom.

  Ted answered this one, “Because I made it a point not to mention Jack’s mother to anyone. Especially the press. They would ask about her all the time and I would just glare until they asked the next question. Who Jack’s mother was became the question of the year.” He shrugged. “I was seen with multiple women over the years, but never long enough to count for anything but what it was. An affair.”

  “So you and mom were off again on again for years huh?”

  “I guess you could say that.” Ted agreed. “But your mother and I shared one thing that no other woman ever got from me.”

  Caden stared at Ted. “What did my sister mean when she said to ask you about a quickie divorce?”

  Ted glanced over at Candy and saw that she looked pale. “She knew about that?”