“You can’t go back.” Lisa grabbed his arm again. “They’ll kill you. They’ll kill me.” Her voice rose, verging on hysteria.
“No they won’t,” I said, as gently as I could. “They’re not out for revenge. Felis don’t kill Felis.”
“They killed my grandmother,” Lisa said quietly.
I resisted the urge to reach over and slap her. This wasn’t helping the situation.
“They they they,” Red repeated in a loud voice, startling all of us. “Your grandmother was your grandmother. She chose her own road.” He leaned in, the light from the campfire giving him an eerie appearance. “What if she hadn’t challenged Laura Chandler for that spot on the Board? What if she had just given up, let her have the position and gone home?”
Lisa sniffled. “She would have lived.”
“And been miserable for the rest of her days wondering if she had the stuff in her to make good.” Red scowled. “Don’t go thinking you know what she felt, what she wanted. People do things and you never know what’s behind it until you wear their skin, walk their tracks.”
He turned and looked at Evan. “And your grandma Laura. She never walked good again. Lots of pain. You think she would have traded it all to have taken that day back, have Maureen alive again?”
“Maybe,” Evan answered. He looked into the flames for a minute. “I don’t know. I don’t know if she would have.” He gave Lisa a sideways glance. “We don’t know. We can’t know.”
“Exactly. You don’t. Neither do your mothers or your fathers, they don’t know what really happened there in that field.” He reached out and tapped Evan on the nose. “You gotta be yourself. Not Chandler, not Middleton. Be Felis. Be yourself.”
Red sat back with a wide grin, obviously pleased with himself.
Evan let out a huff and stared at the ground.
Lisa said nothing, keeping her death grip on Evan’s arm.
Bran reached for my hand and squeezed it.
The firewood crackled and popped, sending sparks into the air.
“What would you do?” This was from Evan to Bran.
Bran shifted on the log, not letting me go. “Why ask me?”
“I’m doing a survey,” Evan said. The dry tone had me smiling despite the circumstances.
“Do you love her?” Bran asked.
Evan looked at Lisa and smiled. “Yes.”
“Then you fight for her.” Bran let go of my hand and pulled up his T-shirt. Carson’s claw marks were faded but still visible.
I winced. I’d seen them numerous times since Penscotta and every time it scared me, remembering how close I’d come to losing him.
“I got these fighting for her,” he said with a nod in my direction. “I almost died making sure she was safe and out of danger.” Bran locked eyes with the young man. “How far would you go for your woman?”
“Far enough,” Evan replied.
“No.” Bran shook his head. “You have to go farther. Go where you’re afraid to go, go the distance. Go all the way, not for you but for her.”
We sat quietly for a minute.
Evan stood up.
We all followed, including Lisa, who released his arm.
“I’m going back.” Evan turned to Red. “Will you come along and stand as my second?”
I almost fell backwards over the log in shock at his phrasing. Bran grabbed my arm and steadied me as Red rubbed his chin again, his thick fingers brushing over the thin beard.
“Been a while since I was with family.” He looked at Lisa. “If you’ll have me along for this I’d be honored.”
Lisa nodded, giving him a weak but honest smile.
Evan looked at me. “Now we go home.”
The first cab sped by us without slowing down, spooked by Red’s appearance. The Felis had taken a few minutes to clean himself up, using a bottle of water to wash his face and a dingy yellowing towel to dry. His salt-and-pepper beard became whiter, accentuating his dark shaggy hair. He pulled on a clean red T-shirt and smiled when we asked if he needed to bring anything along. He still looked pretty ragged, which is why the first driver didn’t give us a chance.
The second took his foot off the gas long enough to study our little group and slowed to a stop, primarily due to Bran stepping out in front of the vehicle and waving a twenty-dollar bill.
Red jammed himself in the back with the two kids while Bran and I crushed ourselves into the front seat. Something was jabbing me in the ass but I said nothing, afraid of what I’d find if I started digging under me.
As we crept toward Parkdale Bran leaned in. “So what’s this ‘second’ business all about?”
I glanced behind me at the trio. Lisa sat on Evan’s lap and Red was chortling at some joke Evan must have just told.
“A second is a ceremonial position used when you issue a challenge, much like in dueling.”
Bran frowned. “Never heard you mention it. Never seen it, obviously.”
“Never seen it myself.” I shifted from side to side with no relief. “It was part of our history class. I’d guess it evolved at the same time as formal dueling, the idea of having a second.”
“Ah.”
“It dropped out of favor decades ago because there’s usually plenty of people around for a challenge. The goal is to have someone stand by to take care of you or your affairs if things go wrong, same as if you were using pistols in a duel.” I frowned. “There were seconds at the fight with Middleston and Chandler out in the field. Each supported their faction’s story, as if that’s a big surprise. So it’s still used but I have no idea how often.”
He grunted. “So how does Red fit in here?”
“I think he wants Red to take care of Lisa, or in other words if something goes badly with his challenge, to take her away.”
“I don’t know if he can take Jake Middleton,” Bran said.
I gasped as we hit a particularly nasty bump. “I’m not sure if he’s going to get to try. Jake’ll probably get Eddie to fight for him if it comes down to a challenge.” I wrinkled my nose. “I’d put money on it.”
“I don’t know if he can take Eddie,” Bran said as the cab turned down our street. “He’s a big fellow. Not to mention he’s sort of on our side helping out, right?”
“Can’t think about that right now.” I shook my head. “It’s been a long time since I worried about this sort of stuff. If Evan beats Middleton or his proxy that doesn’t mean anything if his mother keeps Angie as a hostage. She wants him to come home, period. This business with Lisa is secondary to her.”
“Not to him.” Bran jabbed a thumb at the back seat.
My phone vibrated against my hip. Bran chuckled as I maneuvered my hand between us to extract the phone.
“A little more to the left,” he murmured.
I answered him with a light elbow to the ribs. “Oh, sorry.”
He sighed as I looked at the small screen. “Tease.”
“It’s Eddie.” I put the phone up to my ear. “Yes?”
“She’s being held at the Stepford farm. The old man kicked off a few months ago and it’s been used for storage while up for sale by the surviving daughter.”
I racked my memory trying to pull the name. “Who are they?”
Eddie chuckled. “You wouldn’t know them. Family business is running a shuttle down to the airport, makes good money. Stepford’s daughter went to school with Mary Chandler and let her use the barn, probably without asking too many questions.”
“Of course. How far is it from the Pride’s farm?”
The cab came to a stop as he rattled off instructions.
I slid out with a new set of aches and pains. “Text them to me, Eddie. I’m not sure I got all that.”
“On the way. What do you want me to do?”
“Keep an eye on them until we get there. Don’t get caught. I figure you know how to lie low.”