Chapter 9 – Billy
“There is something that I have to tell you all. Billy, I am sorry you have been dragged into this, but you are like family, so here we are.”
“It’s no problem Elna.” I wanted to know what was going on just as much as everyone else there. Gemma’s apartment had been completely ransacked, but nothing was really taken. By the message on the wall, it was clear that it was meant as a sign, not an actual robbery. I wanted to know why someone had done it and I was afraid that she was not going to be safe.
“What is it mom?” I looked over at Gemma and though she was trying to hide it, I knew she was upset over what had happened. It was her house that was destroyed, her personal belongings sifted through and it was her that had been threatened.
“Braxton wants us to sell the ranch. And if I don’t sell the ranch, he is going to do worse than what he did today. He had already done so much worse.”
Everyone was silent and no one knew what to say. I only knew that Braxton was one of the founders that had started the company years before with Marcus’ dad. He had talked about him a few times, wondering if he and his mother got together after his father died.
Elna seemed to be having trouble finding the words and she took a drink of the glass in front of her. Her hand was visibly shaking on the glass and my heart went out to her. There was something that she had to say that I didn’t think anyone was going to like and I wanted to comfort Gemma who was still as upset as her mother. The boys were more stoic, waiting for the news so they could figure out a way to fix it.
“Braxton is the reason your father died. I didn’t know that for a long time, but I found out a few days ago when he came to me with a sale proposal. He has said that if we don’t sell him the ranch and the business for a very small amount, he is going to start picking all of you off. And all I can tell you guys with certainty is that I know he will do it. Braxton will do far worse than he did to dad.”
I sat back as I think everyone in the room took a collective intake of breath. I looked over at Gemma and her eyes were watering. “I knew that it all was wrong what happened to dad. Why don’t we call the cops and get him thrown in jail? He deserves to rot.”
Elna nodded her head, but I could tell that it was just not that simple. Life never was that simple. “Because I can’t prove it Gemma and even if he did go inside, there would still be people out here that would carry out his orders. You can’t stop Braxton from getting what he wants.”
Marcus stood up and he was as angry as the rest of the Callahan men.
“The hell he will. It seems pretty clear to me. We kill the bastard and then we don’t have to worry about any of it.”
Elna just shook her head. “And then you go to jail? No. That is not the way. Really guys, how much more do we need?”
“It’s not the money mom. It’s the principle, the fact that he killed dad! That is reason enough right there. I don’t care what you say he will do. I will end him and end this all in a few minutes.”
The older woman stood up and her face was scowled. “You will do no such thing Marcus!”
“I have a son to worry about and no one is going to threaten my sister, your daughter and get what he wants. This is father’s company and I am not going to have a man like him in it any longer.”
I watched my best friend walk out of the room and while I sympathized with the rest of them, I agreed with Marcus. Some things couldn’t be handled with the law and peace, some things had to be handled the hard way and Braxton sounded like one of those things.
“Gemma, we are going to stay at Marcus’ for the next few nights, so why don’t you get anything you need…”
I stopped, everything that she owned was gone now and I saw the look in her eyes. “Why I don’t I drive you over there? You have had enough for the day.”
I stood up and almost expected her to tell me to piss off, but she didn’t. Instead she got up with me and we started to leave. I didn’t want her to hear any more of it, but I knew that Marcus needed some time to plan and talk to his brothers. There would be a plan in place by the time he made it back to his house and I just wanted to make sure his sister and the rest of his family was safe. That was my job now. I had seen it in the look and nod he had given me before he stormed out. It wouldn’t be the first time that the two of us had to take care of something that was a little unpleasant.
***
The plan was not so much of a plan, as more a readiness. Paul and Scott were covering the houses at the ranch with Marcel and Elna, while Marcus and his family were at his house with Gemma. They didn’t sleep that night, the two men waiting up for the problems that were to come. The deadline had been by that evening, so as Elna had said, he was going to strike one place. We just had to be ready for them when they did.
I was nervous for what was to come. There was a fear that someone would get hurt but the Callahans were not going to leave or be pushed out. I would always stand by them as they were the only family that I had ever really had. Now that I had fallen for Gemma, a notion I had come to as I read the message on the wall. I couldn’t lose her and as she slept on the couch beside me, I knew that whatever happened, we would have to take care of them.
“I am going to go upstairs to check on Leanna. Keep an out while I am gone.”
I nodded my head and then looked down at his sister as he left the room. Some of her hair had fallen into her face and as I pushed it back, she whispered my name softly in her sleep. My heart clenched with the sound of my name on her lips and there was nothing I could do to stop the yearning I felt from that one sound.
“Go back to sleep Gemma. Everything is fine.”
As soon as I said the words, there was a loud crashing sound as fire broke through the window. My body went into action. I yelled out to Marcus, but he was already coming down the stairs with Leanna fast on his heels.
“Now, Billy.”
Everything happened so fast after that. Everything was a blur, but the plan was in motion as Marcus’ house burned to the ground as more cocktails smashed through the windows. The women stayed behind one of the vehicles as me and Marcus took off towards the figures trying to escape. They couldn’t though. Things were put in place to stop that from happening.
***
“Officers, I don’t know what else to tell you. That is the truth. All we were doing was protecting our loved ones.”
The sheriff’s deputy looked skeptical, unable to get the aftermath out of his head. But there were laws of property in Texas and it looked like something for the ‘stand your ground’ policy. He wanted to ask more, some answers in the back of his mind didn’t mesh, but not tonight.
“You folks have been through enough tonight. Come back tomorrow around ten and we will take down your official version of what happened. Mr. Sanders was an upstanding citizen and there will be a lot of people scrutinizing these proceedings. I have to make sure everything is wrapped up.”
The deputy pushed them to leave the scene of the crime. There was a burnt house and several bodies around his small town and to say that it was a mess was an understatement.