11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Jesse

"I appreciate you giving me a ride to the airport. Normally, Andy would've done it, but he was on shift today." Victor put his bag in the back of my truck, and we both climbed in.

"It's no problem, man. I'm just glad you're actually taking some time off."

A few minutes later, I turned onto the road that led to our small regional airport. He would have a short flight from here to Austin and then from there to North Carolina where the driving school was.

I couldn't remember a time that Victor had ever taken an actual vacation. He'd taken time off, like when he went home to New Jersey to get Andy and bring him here to Texas, but never a just for him holiday.

"I'd heard about these driving experiences ages ago and always wanted to do one, but to get a chance to do it with a retired racing champion was too much to pass up."

"What surprises me is that you would be a speed junkie. Isn't that how your brother got in trouble?"

"It is, but I'm smart enough to do it supervised on an approved course, not on a public road where I can get myself arrested."

"Well, I think you're going to have a great time. Just don't get dead."

"I don't plan to. Besides, who would keep your ass in line if I weren't around?"

We both laughed, but then he sobered. "But seriously, while I'm excited to be doing this, I don't feel great about the timing."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know. I just feel like things with Andy are really precarious right now."

"You think so? I thought he was doing good."

"He is. I'm just worried. It's probably just the big brother in me, but there was that mess with the arsonist last week, and now this thing with him and Sebastian last night." He let out a weary sigh.

"Well, there's not much that we can do about the arsonist except to have faith that Andy and his crew know what they're doing and that they catch him soon. As far as the stuff with Sebastian goes, I banned his sorry ass, so I don't think we'll be seeing him around anytime soon."

"I hope you're right, but he doesn't strike me as being smart."

"You'll get no argument from me."

"Just promise you'll keep an eye on Andy for me."

"Trust me." I grinned. "I plan on keeping an eye on your brother."

I turned right at the sign that read Vesper Regional Airport and went to the right so I could drop him off.

He lifted one eyebrow and looked at me. "That sounded just a bit too eager to me," he said. "Is there something you need to tell me? Is there something going on with my brother?"

I used the need to navigate the maze at the airport to buy myself some time to decide what I wanted to say, but when I pulled under the overhang where you could drop people off, I was out of time.

In the end, I decided my best option was to go with the truth. "There isn't. At least not yet, but I admit that I'm interested."

"In my kid brother?"

"That's just the thing, Victor. He's not a kid. He's a grown-ass man. Believe me, I've noticed."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Why? Your brother is smart, he's funny, and he's sexy as hell. Why wouldn't I be interested?" I realized it could be hard to see your little brother as an adult, but Victor had to see what a catch Andy was. I sure did.

"Maybe because he's my brother."

"Exactly. He's your brother. Not mine. And that boy needs a Daddy."

"And you think you're the man for the job?"

I looked in my rearview mirror to make sure no one was waiting for me to move. Technically, I wasn't supposed to park here. There were even signs that said no loitering, but this was too important a conversation for us not to finish.

"I don't know, Victor. But I would sure like to find out. And I'd like to know that you're okay with it."

He spun in his seat and looked at me. "And what if I'm not?"

What if he's not? What the hell? Did Victor think I wasn't good enough for his brother? I was about to say just that when he burst out laughing.

"I'm just messing with you, man. You should have seen your face. I've known for a long time that Andy was a boy, and if you're ready to settle down and aren't just playing with him, I can't think of a better Daddy for him than you. As a matter of fact, being with you might be the first thing my brother's done in a long time that actually makes sense to me."

"Hold on there. Don't put the cart before the horse. I don't know if he's even interested. I just know that I am."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he's interested. I caught him sneaking peeks at you when we were camping, and it seemed to me that he liked what he saw."

"Really?" I asked. From what I'd seen, I wasn't positive Andy was even interested in finding a Daddy, and while I hadn't even considered finding a boy of my own since Marcus left, I couldn't see being satisfied with anything less than everything with Andy. Hell, I hadn't even kissed him and he was already all I could think about.

"Yes, really. But you won't know until you ask him now, will you?"

I put my hands together in front of my chest and made an exaggerated bowing motion. "Yes, oh, wise and single one. Thank you so much for the relationship advice."

"Fuck you, asshole. I'm single by choice." He pushed open the door and got out, slamming it shut behind him.

I watched as he lifted his bag out of the back and then gave me a wave. Okay, well, that was done. Now I just had to convince Andy to give us a shot.

Andy

Caleb picked up the ball and threw it to the dogs. They both took off after it. Seph beat Nix to the ball, which was no surprise since the puppy was still tripping and falling over his own four legs.

"It's unbelievable how well they get along." He took the ball from Seph and threw it for them again.

"Before I moved to Vesper, Seph and I spent a lot of time at the local animal park so she's used to being around other dogs."

"That makes sense," Caleb said.

"Or it might just be that Seph is the very best dog." Mika reached down and scratched her behind the ears.

That sounded just like Mika. I liked to tease him that he was only friends with me for my dog, and when I said it, I was only halfway joking. He really did love Seph. We went back inside, and I grabbed two bottles of wine and three glasses before all three of us flopped down on my couch.

"We should do this every week," Mika said. "Maybe on Sundays instead of Tuesdays, though, so we don't have to get up the next morning. Like most people have game day, we could have wine day." Mika grinned at us as he poured us all glasses of wine.

"We could," I agreed. "Caleb, you could even ask your book club friends if they wanted to join us."

"They might want to. At least Ezra and Cole? I'm pretty sure Jude and Livvy are as football-crazy as my dad, so Sundays wouldn't work for them. Personally, I don't get it, but Keith and my dad both love it."

"I have to work next Sunday, but after that, it will be weeks before I work on a Sunday again, so I'm game."

"Well, when you have to work, we'll just go to my house. It's not like Keith will be there if you're on shift. He'll be on shift, too, since he only has a few more weeks before he can return to full duty."

I gave him a reassuring smile. "I know that sucks for you, Caleb, but we're all really glad. We've missed him."

"Trust me, y'all aren't any happier about it than he is. He's so ready to get back to work."

"So what will we do on wine day? Just sit around and drink?" I asked.

"And eat. Wine and food. Add food, and I'm totally in," Mika said.

"Speaking of food, what do you guys want to eat?" Caleb finished off his glass of wine and poured himself another. "I can't keep drinking without eating something."

"I want to say Italian." I shrugged. "But I've yet to find a place here that has good Italian food."

"Really?" Caleb asked. "Have you tried Little Italy?"

"I have." I sighed. "Trust me, that is not good Italian food."

"Really? I like it," Mika said.

"That's because you've never had authentic Italian food, my friend. If you had, you'd know that's not it. They don't even have some of my favorites on their menu."

"Like what? They have all the normal Italian stuff," Mika said.

I chuckled and shook my head. "Oh, you poor summer child. One of these days, I'll take you with me to visit the northeast, and you'll see what real Italian food tastes like."

"You know what I've been wondering?" Caleb asked.

"Tell me, what have you been wondering?"

"Not that we're not glad you came, we are, but why are you here? How does someone from New Jersey end up in Vesper, Texas?"

"My brother's here." I shrugged. "He's all the family I have left."

"Okay, but a lot of people don't live in the same place as their siblings, and it sounds like you miss it."

"I grew up there, so I think it's natural to miss the place where you spent your childhood, even if you don't necessarily want to live there."

"What was it like?"

"What, New Jersey?"

"Yeah, we don't really know anything about you before you came to Vesper."

I looked at Caleb and Mika. I had a decision to make. I didn't just like the guys at the station, I looked up to them, but these two had become my friends. I wanted them to know the real me, and I felt like it was time I told them.

"Mine and Victor's parents were killed in a car accident we were in right before my senior year of college."

"Oh, Andy, that's horrible."

"It was. Victor and I buried both of our parents that day. Then shortly after that, Victor moved to Texas and used a portion of his part of our inheritance to finance the remodel and rebrand of Kirby's."

"That couldn't have been cheap," Caleb said.

"It wasn't. The investment has paid off, though. Victor's made most of the money back."

"And your part?"

"I blew a good amount of it being young and dumb. If Victor hadn't been in charge of my trust, I probably would've gone through all of it. I didn't finish school. Instead, I dropped out and lived off the monthly allowance he gave me. I spent way too much time either drunk, high, or being reckless."

"That doesn't sound like you at all," Mika insisted.

"It wasn't like me. I was just so sad and so lost. I'm lucky I didn't get hurt or hurt someone else. I fell in with a group of adrenaline junkies. We did the craziest things. Extreme snowboarding, skydiving, paraskiing, surfing. You name it, we tried it." I let out a breath before sharing the part I was most embarrassed about. "And all of it on my dime. My so-called friends weren't my friends at all. They'd just found a sucker who was willing to pay their way so he wouldn't be lonely."

"People suck purple ostrich eggs," Caleb grumbled.

"That they do. I'll admit that, for the most part, what we did was fun, but occasionally it was dangerous. I managed to keep Victor out of it, and he was so busy working with Jesse to get the club up and running he took me at my word that things were okay. At least until I almost got arrested."

They both gasped. "No way, what for?"

"Drag racing on a public road. One of Victor's old high school buddies was the one who caught us. He didn't arrest us, but he did call my brother."

"He didn't." Mika gasped.

"Oh, but he did. Next thing I knew, Victor started looking into how much I was spending and where it was all going. He showed up one day and told me to pack my shit. I was coming with him to Texas. And here I am."

"That surprises me. You guys seem close," Mika said, and Caleb nodded.

"We are. He was just looking out for me. I really think he felt guilty for not being there, even though it wasn't his fault. I did a good job making sure no one knew I was spiraling out of control, especially Victor."

"I'm glad he went and got you," Caleb said. "If he hadn't, we wouldn't have met you. And you wouldn't have met Jesse."

"There's nothing between me and Jesse," I insisted.

"Not yet, but I've seen the way you two look at each other. It's inevitable."

"You read too much romance." I didn't tell him about the gentle way Jesse had taken care of my hand the other night, or that I could still feel his thumb running across my lower lip. It gave me shivers just to think about it.

"There's no such thing as too much romance."

"Maybe not, but in this case, you're seeing it where it just doesn't exist."

Caleb gave me a knowing grin, like he knew something I didn't. "We'll see. But it ain't happening tonight. Tonight, you need to feed me so I can have another glass of wine."

"How about pizza? That's almost Italian," I suggested.

"I'm always up for pizza," Mika said. "How about you, Caleb?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay, I'll order it." I picked up my phone to call in our order when everything went to hell. There was a loud crack from out front, then an engine gunning and tires spinning, just as Seph hopped up from the spot on the floor where she'd been lying and started barking ferociously. She took off running towards the back, through the house, and out the doggie door with Nix on her heels.

"Was that a gunshot?" Caleb stood, went to the back door, and looked out. "They're going nuts at the back gate."

I moved cautiously to the front window and pushed the curtain to the side a tiny bit so I could see out. "Holy shit, my car's on fire!" I exclaimed as I dialed 911.

"Should you go out there?" Mika asked.

"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?" the dispatcher answered.

"Yeah, this is Andrew Ward. I'm a firefighter at Station Sixty-nine. I need to report a car fire at Sixteen-oh-one South Pioneer Street."

"Is anyone in the car?"

"No, it's my car. My friends and I are in the house. We heard something that sounded like a gunshot, then a car speeding off. I looked out the window and saw the car on fire."

"Okay, I'm dispatching police and fire. Stay inside until they arrive."

"I'm confident they're gone, but we'll all stay inside to be safe."

"They're on their way. Would you like me to stay on the line with you until they arrive?" That was the normal procedure, but I didn't think it was necessary. Unlike in the movies, cars didn't actually blow up, and there wasn't anything around the car to catch fire.

"That's not necessary. Thanks, though."

I hung up and turned to look at Mika and Caleb. Caleb was on the phone to Keith, I was sure, and Mika was standing there chewing on his bottom lip, watching me nervously.

"Do you think it was Sebastian? He was really pissed when Jesse kicked him out of the club."

"I don't know, but I'm sure whoever did it is in that car that sped away, and I'm willing to bet at least one of my neighbor's security cameras caught it. So if it was him, they'll catch him."

Mika wasn't wrong. Sebastian had been really pissed, and setting fire to my car was just like something a coward like him would do.

Fuck . My poor car. I'd sold my BMW and my condo back in Jersey when Victor came to get me, so it wasn't like I loved the Altima that was burning out in my driveway, but still, it was mine. How on earth did the bastard even find out where I lived?

"Keith is on his way. He said for us to stay inside. That whoever set the fire might have been trying to draw us out of the house." Caleb shoved his phone back in his pocket.

"I had that thought. Besides, there's nothing we can do. My kitchen fire extinguisher isn't going to do the trick. Best we wait for the firetruck to arrive. I don't live far from Station Thirty-four, so they won't take long."

A few minutes later, we heard the sirens in the distance. I looked out the window and saw the firetruck and a police car coming up the road. "That'll be the guys from the station."

Carmine, a local police officer I recognized from scenes we'd worked, came up to the door, and I pulled it open. "Hey, Andy, dispatch said that was your car?" He motioned over to where the men from the Thirty-four were already at work putting out the fire.

"It is."

"So what happened here?" he asked as Terrance, one of the firefighters, walked over, waiting for us to finish talking.

"I don't know. My friends and I were inside. The dogs alerted us that something was up. I looked out, and my car was on fire."

"Did you see anything?"

"No, I heard a loud pop and a car speeding off, though."

Carmine nodded. "We'll talk to the neighbors and see if anyone has any security cameras that caught anything. You wouldn't happen to have any idea who it was, would you?"

"Not for sure. I did get into an altercation at my brother's club last Friday night. But I didn't see anything for sure."

Carmine pulled out a notebook from his pocket. "Well, that's a place to start anyway. Do you know his name or where he lives?"

"His name is Sebastian Demarco, but I have no idea where he lives."

"Okay, thanks for the information. I'll let you know what we find out."

"Hey, Terrance," I said as Carmine walked off.

"Andy. This sucks. I just wanted to come over and… well, I don't know what. Tell you we're sorry about your car, I guess." I didn't really know Terrance, but I'd seen him at The Spotted Dog, and he'd always seemed like a stand-up guy.

While we stood there talking, Keith hurried up the walk. Caleb must have been watching for him because the front door flew open, and Caleb rushed out. He flew straight into Keith's waiting arms before turning and staring at what was left of my Altima .

"Oh, Andy, your car. Keith, you can take me home, and I can leave mine here so he can use mine tomorrow, right?"

"Or Andy could just come home with us. Then I can take him to work tomorrow," Keith said.

"It's good to see you up and about Keith. That was some nasty business," Terrance said. We might work at different stations, but most of the firefighters in town knew each other, so I wasn't surprised at all that Terrance knew about Keith's injury. "We'll be here for a while, Andy, so if you need anything, just let us know." He turned and jogged back down the walk.

"So what should we do now?" Mika asked.

"Y'all can go back inside if you want, but I want to hang around and watch." I knew it was pointless, but I also knew they would've called for the arson investigator, and whoever got that call would need to talk to me. They would have to take what was left of my car into evidence, as well, so no one was going anywhere until a tow truck came for it.

"We'll stay out here with you." Mika plopped down on the porch steps, and Caleb nodded sitting down beside him.

"Even if you come with us, you can use my car. It's no problem. Keith and I can share. As a matter of fact, you could borrow it until you can buy a new one. It'll take a while for the insurance to pay out on yours, I'm sure."

"Thanks, Caleb, but that won't be necessary. Victor's out of town on vacation for a week, so I'll just use his car."

"Are you sure he'll let you borrow the Porche ?" Mika asked. "He loves that car."

"He does, but he loves me more." At least, I hoped he did. Mika was right, though. Victor did love that stupid car, so it would be wise for me to check before I turned down all my ride offers.

I pulled out my phone and typed out a text. I didn't want to worry him, so I kept it simple.

Me: Having some car trouble. Gonna be without wheels for a few days. Is it okay with you if I borrow your car?

The man was on vacation, so I didn't expect a fast reply, and I sure didn't expect an immediate callback, but I didn't even get the phone in my pocket before it rang.