Silas Comes Calling

Silas Vane came in with snow on his shoulders and two men at his back, like the storm had just carried him there and he meant to own the place for it. He stopped just inside the kitchen, taking in the stove, the table, the six mugs, the wet coats hanging from pegs by the door.

His eyes landed on Evelyn.

“Didn’t think you were still standing,” he said.

Evelyn kept one hand on the back of a chair. “And I didn’t think you still had the nerve to come to my door.”

One of his men shifted. The floorboards gave a small crack under his boot. He looked down like he’d been told not to touch a thing.

Silas’s mouth twitched. “You got company, Mrs. Carter.”

“Not your concern.”

Jonah stayed by the counter, still as a post, but his eyes moved from Silas to the two men and back again. Russell leaned against the wall with his arms folded. Cole stood near Danny, who had one hand wrapped around a cup and the other around his own wrist, trying to keep it from shaking.

Silas’s gaze went to the old patch on Jonah’s vest, then back to Jonah’s face.

“Disciples,” he said. “Thought I’d seen that scrap before.”

Evelyn pulled her burgundy coat open and let it slide off one shoulder. The black leather beneath it caught the light from the stove. Old stitching, faded emblem, the same road star and wheel.

Silas went very still.

Jonah’s eyes fixed on the patch. Then on her face. “No way,” he said, low.

Evelyn shut the coat back with two fingers. “You remember the motto, or you need help with that too?”

For a second nobody spoke. The stove ticked. Danny looked from one face to the next like he’d walked into a room where everyone knew the answer and he didn’t.

Silas gave a short laugh that didn’t hold. “That was a long time ago.”

“Not long enough,” Evelyn said.

She pointed at the table. “Sit if you want. Boots stay by the door.”

Silas didn’t sit. He took one step forward, then stopped when Jonah shifted his weight and the room tightened around that movement.

Evelyn looked at Silas and said, “You stole from the club in 1988 and begged me not to say your name out loud.”

The color drained from his face so fast it was almost a visible thing.

Jonah turned his head a little, not taking his eyes off Silas. “You know her?”

Silas swallowed once. His hand moved toward his coat, then stopped.

Outside, a truck engine growled through the snow, close and getting closer.