Chapter 2

Gavin watched his brother’s family pass. First Garrett himself, leading his wife by the arm. Cassidy looked… well there was nothing else to say for it, she looked horrible. She wouldn’t look at anything besides her feet, and the dark shadows made it clear she hadn’t slept since that day. As for Garrett, he seemed for once at a loss, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. Ivy looked simply weary, but more collected than her parents – Gavin imagined she’d cry later. Ella seemed as if someone had simply enchanted her to keep going; her actions were hollow. Kayla, the youngest of the girls, was openly sobbing and looked as distressed as her mother. Garrett, the only boy left in the family, seemed determined not to cry, but he had his work cut out for him as tears welled in the twelve-year-old’s eyes once more. And of course, there was the youngest child: the one in the dark wooden casket. When it came time to move the casket, Garrett let go of Cassidy, picking up the front corner himself.

Gavin felt a twinge of… something… certainly it couldn’t be guilt… as he watched his brother carry the boy out of the church.

Grace somehow managed to get herself over to where Cassidy stood against the wall. She touched her sister’s shoulder gently, not knowing what to say.

“Don’t touch me… don’t… you don’t even want to be here.” Cassidy pulled away, trying to choke back her tears.

“Cassidy…” Grace said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re not. You aren’t sorry…” She looked toward the now vacant doorway. “He used to be scared of the dark… I don’t want to watch… if he gets scared…” The tears fell.

“He’s not scared anymore.” Grace told her. “And I am…I never wanted you to have to go through this.”

“He’s my little boy… he was our baby…”

“I know, Cassidy…” Grace said, suddenly finding herself afraid of what was happening… Cassidy was always the strong sister…the one who fought back…

“You don’t know. You lost yours but it was different, he was four, you cried for what he might have been… Michael was ten… he was so smart… he was light and laughter and I can’t stand it, Grace, I feel hopeless.”

Grace was ready to snap at her sister but held her tongue. “Then you’re just letting Dylan win. You still have a family that needs you. And if you give up, then it’s as good as over. Dylan stole his life…he stole your son’s honor.”

“Don’t talk about shit you can never understand! You fucking took off!” Cassidy screamed.

“Mom, Dad’s waiting for us.” Ivy took her mother’s arm and led her towards the door, not wanting a scene to erupt.

Cassidy continued to sob, not much caring who saw her. “You left…” She managed before Ivy led her away down the stairs.

Garrett came into the church to help Ivy with Cassidy. “Come on, baby…”

“Garrett I don’t want to watch, please don’t make me…”

“I know…you don’t have to watch…do you want to stay in the car?”

She swallowed. “No… I can do this for him… I want to know he’s safe…”

“He’s safe…He’d want us to be strong…wouldn’t he?”

She nodded, not trusting her voice, and threw her arms around him.

Garrett helped her into the car.

As people started to leave the cemetery, Gavin walked over his brother. “Garrett… I’m sorry.”

“I’m sure.” Garrett replied coldly.

“I am. I know you’re going to blame me or whatever… but I didn’t want your kids dead either, even if I was more worried about mine…”

“No, you were too fucking selfish to come when I needed you. I asked you for help and you…I don’t know what happened to you, but my little brother would’ve done anything to help his family.” Garrett spat.

“Until his family decided he was somehow a second class citizen.” Gavin knew he was going to get angry in a minute but decided that it would do no good. “What do you need?”

“If you really feel it necessary to help me, I will be in contact. I refuse to talk business today.” Garrett walked off to join Cassidy by the car.

Gavin hoped against hope that the next funeral wasn’t his own son’s.

~*~*~*~

“If you’re wondering why I’ve called the three of you here, sit tight.” Garrett paused and looked at the three agents. “I need one of you for a mission. This mission is a voluntary one. I’m going to tell you right now that who ever volunteers will not be coming back.”

Two of the agents exchanged anxious looks; the third did not react at all.

“Well?” Garrett asked. “I’ve made it clear that this is a suicide mission. All I need is one of you to come forward and agree to it.”

“I’ll do it, sir,” the third spoke up after a moment.

Garrett looked closely at this man for a minute. “You have a family, agent.”

“I know I do, sir. We just had a baby…” He smiled a little bit, but quickly focused once more.

“I can’t ask you to give that up.” Garrett told him.

“You didn’t ask me to, sir. I volunteered.”

“Very well. Tell your wife. I will make sure they’re taken care of.” He told the agent, as he dismissed the other two.

The agent nodded. “I’ll tell her, sir.”

“Thank you, agent. You are a truly admirable man.” Garrett shook his hand.

“Just doing my job. I remember when your father was running things… people didn’t join up just because it was something to do. There’s a lot of loyalty… I’m the one who volunteered, but there’s plenty who would have, sir.”

“Not as many as you think.” Garrett told the man. “You should…go and tell your wife. Be back by nine tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.” And the agent left the office.

~*~*~*~

Gavin sighed. “I can’t just leave this to happen, Grace. Besides… I know we can figure something out… no one has to die.”

“I don’t want us to even have to take that chance.”

“It won’t happen,” he said firmly. “I promise you, it won’t. I’m going to help him fix his problem; I’m not getting roped into this again.”

She snorted. “You say that, but you know once you help him, we won’t be able to leave.”

“We’ll be done within a week, Grace, and back home. I promise.”

“We’re not going to be done, not in a week, not ever.” She stood up, struggling to keep her voice down. “We’ve tried. Six years, we thought we’d finally gotten out, and we’re back right where we started.”

“I can’t let them all die any more than I could let you and our kids die. And she’s your sister, Grace… you saw how she’s hurt. We have to do *something.*”

“I’ve also felt exactly how she is feeling. And I don’t want to go through that ever again. I…she’s my sister, but she’s also always been the strong one. And what about Chelsea and Zack? What are we supposed to tell them? *How* are we supposed to explain this?”

“I’ll worry about that. I haven’t even talked to him yet, I don’t know what he wants.”

“What if he wants you to act as his human shield?”

“Then I’ll tell him to fuck off and we catch the next plane home.”

Grace smiled sadly. “We’re not going home.”

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