Sean aka Diesel (Cocker Brothers Book 14) Read online

  “We tied her up and called the son.”

  I nod, “Then we waited until he arrived. Poor guy was a wreck. Rage, regret. It was pretty bad. He called the cops—they’ve gotta be there by now. He’s going to say that he was the one who found the licenses, that he took her keys last time he confronted her in his dad’s house. He swiped them, made a copy, returned them while she wasn’t looking. Even if she claims it was us, he’s going to deny it, call her a liar. With the evidence on her phone, all the Life Insurance claims she took out on her victims, the police will listen to him, not her.”

  Jett’s eyebrows pierce his weathered skin. “Cops will find her bank accounts extra flush. They’ll take it from here. Good work. How’s the man?”

  “Good…now.”

  “Something happen?”

  “He went into cardiac arrest while we were there.” Jogging my chin back to Sean I confess his good deed for him, “Sean performed CPR and brought him back for a reunion with his son.”

  Grey eyes narrow. “I didn’t see you train him in that yet.”

  “Haven’t gotten that far. That was all him.”

  Blank as before, Sean says, “Worked as a lifeguard one summer in high school. Saved two kids that year.”

  “Interesting. Put the bikes away and come eat. You guys did good.” Jett heads up our creaky steps as Sean starts his engine and takes off like he can’t wait to put the bike away. Atlas and I exchange a look.

  Inside the house is a riotous war zone. We Ciphers love it when a problem in the real world gets solved by us. And when it’s a slam-dunk like today and everyone comes home safely, even better. The only wish is that people would call us sooner. But we can’t help that.

  We can however help ourselves to large helpings of delicious jambalaya and extra crispy tater tots. And these beers won’t drink themselves.

  Atlas grins at the spread, “Wow, I guess you guys knew we’d nail it, huh?”

  Honey Badger throws an arm around Jett’s shoulder and announces in a booming voice, “Luke proposed to Sofia Sol!”

  It takes a second to let this sink in before I scream, “What?! How is that even possible?!”

  I’m grinning from ear to ear as we are attacked by multiple voices shouting over each other. As I piece the story together, my hand flies out to smack Atlas’s chest, “Isn’t that great!”

  He offers a forced smile, “Yeah…great.”

  Sage grabs me, jumping up and down in place. “Can you believe it? Can you believe it?”

  “No, I can’t! I have to call her!” I’m already dialing on my dash upstairs. Running into our room I leap onto her bed and not mine, since I miss her so much. She answers with a normal hello and I scream, “What the fuck, Soph! What is happening?!”

  Laughing, her voice changes to relief and utter happiness as she finally gets to tell me everything she’s wanted to, but couldn’t. I listen to the whole story, freaking out, rapt, in awe. “Tell Luke I’m furious I wasn’t there to witness the look on your face, Sofia!”

  “Hang on, I’ll put you on speaker. Say it again!”

  I repeat it to our long lost Martinez brother and he leans into the phone, says in a sexy voice I don’t even recognize, “Some things you can’t watch, Ceels.”

  “Who are you?!!” I demand on a peal of laughter. “And when are you guys coming home?!”

  “We’re taking another week. With the travel it’ll be about nine days.”

  “Get your asses back here!”

  “Things are different, Ceels. We’re in love.”

  Collapsing onto the bed I cover my face with my hands, laughing, “You are killing me! I’m so happy for you!”

  Sofia’s voice gets serious as she asks, “How is everyone over there?”

  “Your dads are acting like their old selves! It’s a miracle!”

  “Um…have to go now. Luke just unzipped my pants. Again. I’ll call you again this week!”

  “You better!” I grin and hang up, staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything she said, their story, how all this time I never knew it was happening.

  Glancing to our sweet nightlight that Sofia Sol and I got when we were little girls, I reach to switch it on and off, smiling to myself.

  The festivities downstairs are too much fun. Bets over pool games are totally normal for us, but this night our celebration is a release of tension among a family that sorely needed it.

  “We were divided,” Jett announces, holding up a shot. “We are one again!”

  The cheering is cacophonous, southern food piled Mount-Everest-high, and we’ve broken into the booze—the beer can wait!

  But the party has one guest I can’t take my eyes off of for long. Despite the tornado of activity around Sean, he hasn’t snapped out of his walking coma. It’s as though when he saved Mr. Russo’s life he joined him on the road to the great upstairs.

  While I sip from my second tequila over ice with lime, I watch our newbie slowly rise from the couch to take his uneaten plate outside.

  Snatching corn bread from the basket, Atlas passes me for the game room. “Might make me some money tonight.”

  I grab his arm before he vanishes, whispering, “What do you think about Sean’s reaction to the mission?”

  He shrugs, “Maybe he can’t handle it.”

  “I don’t think that’s it.”

  “You don’t want him to leave, but he might.”

  My head swings back a little. “What? I don’t care if he stays or goes.”

  Atlas heads for the game room, “Yeah, sure, Ceels.”

  “That’s not it at all!” I call after his smirk. “I hope you lose money!”

  His laughter fades with distance, and I glance around the Cipher family, eyes quickly locked onto the backdoor. Squishing my mouth to the side I consider what to do, decide, “Fuck it,” and hurry to join Sean and see if he’s okay.

  “Celia, where are you going?” My mom calls after me.

  “Outside.”

  “Who’s out there?”

  “Tons of people.”

  “Anyone specific?”

  Pausing I cock my head. “Yes. Sean is out there.”

  She motions for me to join her at the sink. Gritting my teeth I make my way back around and listen to her hushed warning, “Be careful! We don’t know this boy!”

  “He’s a man not a boy.”

  Giving me a look she rolls her eyes, “And that’s better?”

  “What do you have against him?”

  She grabs the counter, hands starting to tremble. “He’s an outsider!”

  Touching her back I keep my voice quiet, “Mom, remember when you said that Tonk Jr. feels like an outsider? Remember how upset you got at Dad for making him feel worse? Where’s your compassion now?”

  “He’s my son.”

  “Sean is somebody’s son, too. He doesn’t know anyone but me and Atlas. We’ve become friends. Everyone’s partying, but he’s outside by himself.”

  Stubborn fire lights her up, and I’ve never seen her like this. “I trust the people here. Our family! We know them. There are bad people in the world! Very bad people!”

  “Okay, now you’re making me smile. Do you realize who you’re talking to? The things I’ve seen? I know the evil that’s out there, Mom! Sean’s a good person. Trust my judgment!”

  “You’ve never lived with a bad person, Celia!”

  “He’s not bad! Wait…” I pause. “Have you?”

  She wrings her hands. “I just want you to be careful.”

  “You’re being ridiculous. I’m sorry, but this is nuts.” Swinging the refrigerator open I snatch a can of beer for Sean and avoid my mother’s hawklike gaze as I make my way outside.

  CHAPTER 18

  SEAN

  N ot until I hear her voice standing right beside me do I know I’m not alone. “Sean?” A beer is placed in my hand.

  From habit alone my fingers close around the aluminum as Celia takes an old wooden chair to my right, watching me un
til I finally mumble, “Thanks.”

  “It’s spilling.”

  My gaze flicks to my lap. Didn’t feel the cold liquid drenching my thigh until I see it happening. I’m in no hurry to straighten the can, bring it to my lips and sip.

  “Sean, talk to me. I’m worried.” No clue how much time passes before she tries again, her voice gentler, “Please talk to me. Are you horrified?”

  “I’ve seen some dark things. Not like you have…but I’m not naïve.”

  “Then what is it? Let me help you. I really don’t want this to be the end of the line with you and the Ciphers.”

  A deep frown slices my forehead. “I don’t want that!”

  “Then you better snap out of it. They’re going to think you’re too soft for this. You can talk to me. I won’t tell anyone what you say. You’re in shock. If you talk it out we can work through it.”

  Setting the beer on the table I rake my hair back, don’t even feel the goose-egg. There’s no light illuminating the yard tonight. The moon is shrouded by clouds, so I’m staring into darkness but seeing instead me begging his heart to beat again.

  Unable to believe it wasn’t a nightmare I rasp, “I saved that man’s life.”

  “It was amazing!”

  “No,” I choke, “I saved his life!”

  “I know!” She reaches for my knee. “You did a great thing!”

  “That man I saved, Mr. Russo you called him. His first name is Carlo. He used to beat me when I was a teenager. And today I saved his fuckin’ life.”

  Stunned she retrieves her hand, whispers a pained, “That’s why you were staring at him like that?”

  “My whole life I’ve promised myself that if I ever came up on him again, I’d kick the shit out of him. I was just a kid. This tall.” I hold my arm out to the height. “And he left bruises on all the places clothes could hide.”

  “Sean!” She falls against the back of her chair at the horror of it, then like an angel who knows what I need, flies up, hugs me, kneeling by my chair. Pulling back she holds my eyes with beautiful empathy in hers. “I’m so sorry!”

  “Why didn’t I let him die?”

  “You saw how he’d ended up, how terrible his life had become.”

  “Yeah,” I rasp at the memory of his frail body hovering near the edge. “And his son, he didn’t know what Carlo did to me. Maybe he was a good father to his kid! I lost my dad. It damaged me. I would be robbing this guy who called us, of his father! But that bastard! That fucking bastard who scared the shit out of me when I was just a kid—couldn’t defend myself—there he was being sucked dry by someone worse. He became the victim, Ceels! He was the victim! I can’t get my head around it! It’s a lot of years of hatred to let go of, you know?”

  Celia whispers, “It’s okay, I’m here.”

  “The alarm went off. I realized instantly what that meant—that he was dying—and I didn’t think twice! That’s what gets me, you know? There was only one option, like it was a reflex! Even as I was breathing my air into his fucked up lungs I thought, let him die! Let him die!”

  “Oh God, Sean.”

  “But I couldn’t. He was the victim, and that’s who we save! You said we save those who can’t save themselves. And that man couldn’t fight back. That bitch was bleeding him dry and taking him away from his family, and he couldn’t do anything about it. I had to help.”

  We’re startled by Jett’s deep and somber voice. “Fuckin’ hell.” He appears from around the side of the house’s foundation where he was spying on us. Celia grips her armrests as we watch him, his frown more visible in the broken patches of mesh walls as he makes his way to the entrance of the enclosed porch. Stepping inside, wood creaks under his boots as sharp grey eyes stay locked on me. “Sean, not going to apologize for listening in. You’re on trial, that’s just how it is. I saw there was something off with you tonight. Can’t have a loose cannon in the house, but I had to wait for the right person to get it out of you, and that’s Celia.”

  Our eyes fly to each other, mine furious, hers imploring as she reaches for my hand. “No, he didn’t send me out here! I had no idea he was listening, I swear! All of this was real! I wasn’t faking anything!”

  Jett squats between our chairs. “Calm down, kid. I didn’t send her.” He pauses. “We’re having a party in there but you looked like someone died. Now I know why. I’m a tough nut to crack, but you just hit it with a pretty good sized hammer. That sense of humanity and empathy you showed today, I want that on my side.” He pauses, dragging his fingers through his white hair. “Fuck, I can’t imagine what you’re going through with that.” Locking eyes with me he holds a second to really connect with me. “This is the way I figure it—you may not have been able to get the vengeance you thought you wanted, but you found forgiveness, and that’s a hell of a lot more powerful. There’s this old saying—resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. You set the poison down today. Find some peace in that.” He rises, exhales and shakes his head. “You’re still not in…but keep it up. Celia, give him something stronger than that beer, would yah? I know I need a drink after that.” He walks away.

  Ceels is staring at me, and as soon as Jett disappears inside the house, she urgently whispers, “I swear he didn’t send me out here.”

  “I know. I believed him. And you.” Standing up I frown, “Forget that drink he mentioned. I’m gonna take a walk. Alone.”

  “Sure, okay,” she quietly says as I head out.

  CHAPTER 19

  C ELIA

  A tlas and I trained Sean the following five days after the mission as hard as we did when he got here. He’s getting better. Less bruises now, and not because I went soft on him at first, which I did. He saw through it, tried silently to tell me to cut it out. When I didn’t listen, still trained him at a weak throttle, he punched me hard and I kicked it up twenty notches, back to normal.

  He continues to earn my respect each day.

  I hope he’ll be accepted into the Ciphers so much that it’s giving me anxiety thinking he might not be. After all this work, it’d be...

  Well, it’d just be weird not to have him around anymore.

  I want Sofia back home so she can vouch for him in person. They’ll listen to her. Soph’s been out with the elders on missions when I’ve only been on one with them. They know wherever she goes bodies fall and people listen. Her opinion is more respected than mine.

  I’ve been keeping busy to deal with my nerves, and cleaning my motorcycle on a warm afternoon, I hear footsteps.

  “There you are,” Atlas calls out to me as he and Sean stroll up, the sun dancing on their skin and outlining Atlas’s long dark hair, lightening Sean’s ash-brown waves. I blink at the two sets of piercing blue eyes directed right at me, sink my rag into the sudsy bucket and wring it out just for something to do.

  “You showered,” I lamely say, because of course they did. I’ve just lost the ability to think coherently. “What’s up?”

  Sean bends to pick up a rock and throws it so far we don’t hear it land. “Atlas wants to see the new superhero film in town.”

  Atlas jogs his chin. “You down?”

  “Uh, sure, but I need to shower. I’m still in my training clothes. Figured I’d clean my bike before I cleaned up me.”

  Atlas shrugs, “Well let me help.” He snatches my bucket from the ground and turns it upside down over my head. I scream, instantly drenched, hair matting, clothes suddenly painted on. Lunging for the hose I grab it as Sean leaps to turn it on for me. Atlas tries to run. But I’d already unraveled the thing when I came out here so I’ve got plenty of slack to chase him with.

  Drenching the jerk as he dashes around, we’re both laughing as I shout, “How does it feel, Atlas? Huh? Feel good, you fucker?!”

  I turn it on Sean and he throws up his hands, “Hey! I just helped you!”

  “So?”

  He sprints a jagged path, laughing his ass off. Atlas grabs him, holds his shouting body while
I soak the two of them together. Then they change the game again.

  As one unit they stalk me, lunge, wrangle the hose from my resistant fingers. I can’t fight them off, not as a team. Sean lifts me off the ground and I kick the air, screaming my head off as they drench me to the point where nothing is dry.

  Atlas laughs, “Hold her tighter than that!” He grabs the top of my t-shirt and plunges the hose down inside it.

  Oh my God, am I ever wet.

  Ahem.

  But a swift kick to Atlas’s gut sends him reeling. He grunts, grabbing his stomach, croaking to catch his lost breath.

  Sean sets me down and I eye him like a caged animal. “I won’t forget this!”

  “Okay, Tigress, lemme just get this, okay?” His smirk is sexy as hell as he slowly slides the gushing hose up and out of my sopping wet shirt. The metal end tickles my skin, bumps over the center of my bra and when it’s gone he winks. “There. All gone. But do you miss it?”

  I blink at him as the sun plays tricks on me, glinting those sapphires into kaleidoscopes, all shades of blue I’ve never seen. His smile falters, fades as we stand here.

  Atlas’s voice snaps through my haze, “That was one hell of a kick, Ceels, fuck!”

  Glancing from Sean I ask, “Are you hurt?”

  “Don’t insult me!” he laughs, trudging over to shut the outdoor faucet off. “We’ve gotta get dry if we’re gonna catch the movie. I want to be home for dinner. Unless you guys wanna grab a bite in town?”

  “Nah, don’t wanna miss a night of Melodi’s cooking, just in case I don’t end up staying here.”

  Atlas and I exchange a frown, “Right.”

  Sean walks the hose back to its home and rolls it up, bending over to do it, the lines of his body showcased to perfection now that his clothes are plastered on. His body is changing, muscles becoming defined from all the hours we’ve put into him.

  “Oh wait, I need to rinse the soap off my bike.”

  He jerks his head to the house. “Go get ready, Ceels. I’ll take care of it.” At my hesitation he teases me, “I don’t take as long as you do.”