Page 4 of Knight's Journey

Bridget glanced over at Sydney, a knowing smile curving her lips. “Just wait.”

The sound of the car firing to life deepened her smile. Bridget beamed as she watched Mathias fist bump his sister before moving to put the toolbox back in their car’s trunk. Marlowe walked over to Sydney with a maturity well beyond her years.

“There were some loose connectors, and they’re showing signs of corrosion. I was able to clean them up a little, but you’re going to need to replace them. It’ll happen again if you don’t get it fixed.”

To Sydney’s credit, she talked with Marlowe with the same respect afforded any adult. “Thank you, Marlowe. I’m going to have Cole follow me to the garage first thing tomorrow to get it fixed. I appreciate you telling me what to have them check out. I’m always afraid they’ll take advantage of me because I don’t know anything about cars.”

Sydney smiled as Cole and Mathias joined them. “I want to say thank you to all of you for stopping to help and for being so nice. I would love to invite all of you over to have dinner with me and Cole. Just to show our appreciation.”

Bridget blinked in surprise. “I appreciate the offer, but it isn’t necessary. We’re happy to help.”

Cole wrapped an arm around Sydney’s shoulders and pulled her close to his side. “It may not be necessary, but it’s something we want to do. I’m glad you stopped to help Sydney. I didn’t like the idea of her being stranded on the side of the road alone.”

Sydney playfully punched him in the stomach. “I can take care of myself.”

His grin broadened. Bridget felt her heart clenched as she noted the obvious affection the couple held for each other. She cleared the sudden lump in her throat and motioned for Marlowe and Mathias to move on to the car.

“We should be going. We were on our way to get some dinner when we saw you.”

“Listen.” Cole reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed her a white card. “I hope you consider taking Sydney up on the offer to come to dinner, but either way, here’s my contact info. If you guys ever need anything, don’t hesitate to call. It would give me a chance to return the good deed.”

Even though she knew she’d never call on him and would probably never see either of them again, she smiled and pocketed the card. “I appreciate it. Enjoy your evening.”

Bridget ushered her kids back to their car and climbed inside. One eye on the rearview mirror as she pulled out onto the road, she saw the couple watching them.

“They seemed nice.”

Her eyes shifted to glance in Mathias’ direction and then back to the road. “Yes, they did. I’m glad we stopped to help. You did a good job with the car, you two.”

“Thanks, Aunt Bridge. Do you think they meant it? Inviting us to dinner?”

“I don’t know, Lowe. Even if they didn’t, it was nice for them to offer.”

Mathias sighed. “I think they meant it. Do you think they meant it when they said we could call on them for anything?”

“I don’t know. Why do you ask?”

“No reason. Thought it’d be nice to have somebody to call if we needed them. Just in case. No big deal.”

Bridget let the matter drop. She was feeling bemused herself at what happened. A stop she didn’t want to make resulted in a dinner invitation with two strangers. Something about Sydney and Cole, though, told her they were genuine. Bridget suspected they were good people to know.

The small family finished the ride to the diner in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

Chapter Two

He sat in the shadows of the beat-up pickup truck, his hard stare trained on the warehouse across the street. The neighborhood was sketchy at best, and he’d already witnessed a drug buy and a hook-up between a john and a prostitute in the short time he’d been here. He didn’t care about any of that, but he would be foolish if he didn’t take note of what was going on.

And if there was one thing Cane Black was not, it was a fool.

Though his truck didn’t stand out in the low-class neighborhood, Black wasn’t dumb enough to believe his presence went unnoticed. After a year of working with the De la Peña crime family, he learned nothing he did went unnoticed. The family trusted no one outside of their inner circle, and despite the number of times he proved he was one of them, he was still watched like a hawk.

Even now, though he was invited to this meet, he’d already spotted lookouts positioned all around him. He’d seen the glints of gun metal in windows and on rooftops of buildings surrounding him. They were lower-level members of the crime family, watchdogs who probably didn’t know what was going down but was doing what they were told. They weren’t very good at being lookouts unless staying out of sight was not part of their orders.

He did figure the lookouts alerted the people he was here to meet to his early arrival. He wanted them to. He wanted them to be curious about why he arrived early only to sit in his truck and wait. For once, he wanted Armando and Elian De la Peña to be on edge.

There was a reason the father and son had built a criminal empire in their home country of the Dominican Republic but also in the states. Armando had been forced to flee the Dominican when one of his enforcers led a revolt bent on taking over the De la Peña enterprise. His wife was killed during the uprising, and he brought his family to America to escape the danger. His mistrust of anyone outside of his immediate family was well-earned, and it was likely why he was able to build a bigger empire in the states which reached from larger areas like New Jersey to small town locations like Grayson Cove, South Carolina. Here he made his mark in gun-running and drugs with his sons, Elian and Oscar, by his side.

Of course, their distrust didn’t make Black’s job any easier. He wasn’t used to his every action being questioned under a cloud of suspicion, not after a year of working for them and proving he was good at his job. He suspected their distrust worsened after Armando lost his younger son Oscar last year. He couldn’t risk outsiders creating more problems for his plan to return to his home to reclaim his position in the Dominican.

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