Celtic's Series
        Snapshots

 

  
Danny straightened his gray jacket and took a deep breath before opening the double doors to the study. He walked quickly in, running his hands through his still wet temples from the shower he had just breezed through. There was work to be done, and he wanted it over with.

Carmen sat behind the desk with her ear attached to the phone. "Alright. I know. He just came in. I'll get back to you." She put the receiver down and flashed a faux smile at her son as she rose. "Sleep well last night?" She stared at the dark circles underneath her sons' puffy eyes.

Danny smirked and poured himself a glass of water. "Oh, sure, Mother. Something tells me that you know exactly how well I slept last night. Who was on the phone?"

"No one you need to concern yourself with." She walked over and poured herself a glass as well. "I saw Michelle left early this morning. Everything alright?"

Danny cringed when he heard her name came from his mother's mouth. He couldn't quite stand the 'nails on the chalkboard' feeling he got when that happened. He spun around to face her. "You know, I think we have a lot bigger problems to worry about rather than how early my WIFE left this morning, Mother."

She caught the tone in his voice and smiled at her small victory of getting a rise out of her son. She could use that energy to push him in the direction he needed to go. "Well, I suppose you're right." She took a long sip and sat back down behind her desk. "Have you come up with any ideas of how to handle things?"

Danny sat down in the chair across from her. "Well, I figure I'll talk to Nino some more and figure out where they are exactly. See if anything else has come up and take it from there."

"That's all you've come up with, Danny?" She glared at him as she had when he came home with muddy pants in the third grade.

"What? Just what exactly do you think I should be doing?"

"And just what do you plan to do when you find out where the Rosierras' are, Danny? Do you think they'll just invite you over for dinner for a catch-up chat? This is not a game, need I remind you?"

Danny's teeth clenched. "I'm VERY aware that this is not a game, Mother. I remember vividly what happened, you don't need to remind me."

Carmen gently placed her hands on the desk in front of her to center herself. 'Yes, I'm sure you remember, Danny. I'm sorry, this thing just has everyone on edge. But if you ask me, we're not exactly in Nino's good graces right now, so I'm not sure it's a great idea to go to him, either. We should probably scope things out right now. I've got Dietz and some of the others on it right now." He nodded along.

"OK, do we know anything yet?"

"Well, Dietz has zeroed in on one guard that he thinks might be a weak link. I'm going to have Dietz handle him and find out if we're going to have any surprise visitors at our delivery tomorrow night. I don't think it's a good idea to have you involved yet in case the guy cracks and tells Sammy he saw you. No point in fueling the fire just yet. We need to be cautious, Danny."

"Yes, I know. Mother." Danny rubbed his eyebrows.

"Actually, I'm considering pulling you from being at that delivery tomorrow."

Danny face jerked up. "What? Are you crazy? No one else can handle that. Besides, if I'm not there and Sammy does show up, it's just going to show him that we're hiding and you know that's not a good idea."

Carmen smirked. He was reacting exactly as she had hoped, and her smirk turned into a full-fledged smile as she took a sip from her glass. "Well, I suppose we should just wait and see what Dietz turns up before we make any more decisions. Do you think you can hang low at least for one day and not stir things up, Danny?"

Danny returned the smirk to his mother. "Oh, I think I can handle that."

"Good. I have a few things that need to be taken care of, so I'm going to be gone for awhile. I've made a list of things that we've been neglecting that you can do from home. I trust that remember a lot of them, seeing as your mind has been elsewhere lately."

Danny frustration was growing and becoming unbearable. He raised a fist in front of his face trying to squelch the heated argument growing inside of him, and gently tapped his fist against his own forehead. "Yes, Mother, I'm sure I'll remember."

"Alright. I'll be back soon." She placed a small peck on her son's cheek as she walked by him and painfully felt the stiffening of his frame. Her lips parted to speak, but she continued walking. Danny turned around to face the empty doorway and felt his stomach burn.

By the time Danny got finished wading through the first pile of paperwork that his mother had left for him, the sun was halfway across the sky. He rolled his shoulders backwards and let out a slow, deep breath before rubbing his temples. His brain hurt and he couldn't get his eyes to focus on anything. "This is pointless." He looked at the plethora of other papers sitting before him and sent them flying to floor in one wisping sweep of his arm. He stood up and took hold of the mantle on the fireplace behind the desk. His head hung there for a few minutes before he raised it and stared at the pictures in front of him.

The first one he focused on was one of his wedding day. His eyes followed his own arms down to his hands and the hands they were holding. His gaze continued up the milky white arms and rested on the doe eyes of his wife. It was just a picture, but he could feel the pang of apprehension in her eyes…fear, uncertainty. He swallowed the lump down in his throat and forced himself to look away to a scene of Pilar horseback riding. It was taken during one of the summers Carmen had sent her away to yet another type of camp. Away from her friends, away from the family. The family. The family. Those words echoed and ricocheted off of his eardrums. He closed his eyes and tried to shake it off, but the echo was persistent. He wiped his upper lip, where a stream of sweat beads had started to collect. He held his hands in front of him and studied them for a minute. They were shaking uncontrollably and felt strange, like they weren't attached to his own body. He flexed his fingers out and curled them, trying to get the shaking under control. He looked back at the mantle and saw a different scene this time. It was a picture of all three of them, sweet unknowing Pilar, shielded by a much younger version of himself and of Mick. Mick's eyebrow was bandaged, and the white gauze put Danny in a hypnotic trance. He felt his face flush as he went back to that night.

"Danny? Come on, it's time to go, Son." Danny's legs lifted him out of the chair in his hotel room at the sound of his father's voice. He scratched the back of his neck before walking into the master room where the rest of his family was waiting for him. They were all dressed in their finest threads, and he couldn't help but smile as Pilar pivoted around the room in her light yellow dress. She caught him looking at her and flashed her teeth at him with a big smile. She ran over to him and took his hand.

"Come on, Danny. You should see the huge car we get to ride in!!" She couldn't hold back the excitement. No matter how many of these meetings they got dragged into, it always seemed like some big adventure to her. His eyes flashed to Mick, sitting there with the same nonchalant expression on his face as always. Danny had always wondered if he just let himself get to worked up and worried over these things, but he couldn't help it. He had watched his father's expressions and inside looks to his mother when they didn't know he was watching them. They had never talked to him about it, but he knew that whatever his family did, it had a sense of danger attached to it, and he couldn't get rid of the feeling of taking Pilar and running away from it.

"Let's go." Miguel's voice rang out again as he ushered his family through the door. "We don't want to be late."

Mick yelled out to his sister. "Hey, Pilar, I bet you can't beat me to the car!"

"Oh, I bet I can!! I'm really fast!" She took off in her shiny shoes as fast as her little legs could carry her and Mick trotted along after her, allowing her to get a good distance in front of him. Danny smiled as he witnessed the event. It was always nice to see the humanity come out in his big brother, especially towards their little sister. He looked up at his mother, and she had the same smile on her face.

"Hey Mama?"

She looked down at her son. "Yes, Danny?"

"How do we know these people that we're visiting for dinner?" He watched as her neck stiffened in only the way he had come to recognize.

"They're just some business associates of ours, Baby. Your father has done a lot of work for, or with them actually, and we're just going to catch up on some stuff. It should be fun. Just keep an eye on your siblings for me? I don't want them getting into trouble. Can you do that for me? They both seem to listen to you."

Danny felt his stance straighten. "Sure, Mama, I always watch after them, you know that."

"Yes I do. You're a good boy, Danny. And you're going to do great things in the future, I can feel it." She smiled sweetly at him, but the words struck him with a sour taste in his mouth. There was that feeling again, that feeling of something else going on.

The car ride over to their 'business associates' home was fuzzy in memory, but Danny remembered the gate they had to drive through before they reached the huge gray-stoned building. It looked so cold, and a shiver ran through Danny as they walked towards the double front wooden doors. The doors swung open as the approached, and his family disappeared into the cave's mouth, but Danny hung back a bit, taking in the chilly bite of the New York wind that night.

He entered when he heard his sister gasp. "Danny, look at that!" pilar was standing there, pointing to a sculpture greeting them. It was of a naked male. Pilar slapped her hands over her eyes. "Danny? Where are his arms and legs? He has no head! What happened to his head, Danny?"

A smile emerged on his lips at his sister's questioning. "Pilar, it's just a statue, like we saw in the museum yesterday, remember? He doesn't hurt, he's not real, it's only a statue. I promise." He walked over to her and took one of her hands. She kept her eyes closed, and let Danny lead her into the sitting room, where the rest of the family was waiting for them.

The room was dark, and he didn't recall ever seeing so much glass and crystal in one place before, not even the museum. He was scared to breathe for fear of knocking something over. He glanced at his parents who seemed to be sharing his thoughts, but they had that intent and serious look of which he had grown so familiar to. His father's shoulders were broader, and he moved much more stiffly, almost like a robot.

"Glad to see that you could make it, my wife is very anxious to meet you." The voice spun Danny around like a top to see who had walked in behind him. It was the chubby man from the other day. A petite woman followed him into the room, eyes black like coal. She reached out a skinny and hard hand to Carmen, which was received as coldly as it was offered.

"Sergio has told us so much about your family, Sra. Santos. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Carmen matched the fake smile staring at her. "Well, You have a beautiful home here. Very luxurious." She smiled at her husband. He nodded in agreement.

"Dinner will be ready shortly. Can we offer you something to drink?"

"Oh, that would be very nice, whatever you have."

The room attendant took the hint from Sergio's wife and exited the room. The foursome remained still, waiting for someone to break the silence. Pilar looked down at her shiny shoes and frowned at the scratch on her left toe she had received racing Mick to the car.

Sergio surveyed the adolescents and smiled at Danny. Without saying anything, he walked to the doorway and bellowed out from deep within. "Sammy! Come in here, I want you to meet our guests."

Sergio walked back and examined Miguel. "Why don't we go ahead and get some details ironed out while so our wives can get acquainted. " He looked at Carmen's inquisitive eyes. "Sammy is my young cousin. He has lived with us ever since my sister was killed in her car accident." He crossed himself and looked away, obviously pained by the memory of his statement. He looked back up. "I'm sure he can show your children around the place and keep them entertained until dinner."

Danny's scalp tightened and he felt his hair stand up from his forehead to his the bottom of his neck. The feeling became more intense when he heard the footsteps nearing the doorway. There was a certainty with each step, and the sounds pulsated in Danny's head.

He recognized the face as it came into view, and it wore the same smirk as he had seen it wear yesterday in the car. He stood a few inches taller than Danny; he was more Mick's size. His hair was thick and brown, and it accented his olive skin. His eyes were charcoal gray with foggy pupils, and they locked in with Danny's as he entered the room.

Sergio took him by the shoulder and faced him towards their guest. His eyes never left Danny. "This is my cousin, Sammy. Sammy, this is Sr. and Sra. Santos, and their children Mick, Danny, and Pilar." Everyone exchanged smiles and nods. "We have some business to discuss, so do you think you could show our guests the rest of the house and answer any questions they have? Dinner won't be too long."

Sammy nodded obediently and left the room slowly, giving his tourists a chance to follow him. Mick was the first in line, and Pilar quickly chased after him, but Danny held her back. He took her hand and held it tightly. "Why don't you stay close to me? We can look at stuff together." Pilar smiled and nodded. The softness in his face vanished when he looked up and saw Sammy staring at them. He turned and continued on.

The tour was a silent one. Every now and then, Mick would ask about something, and Sammy would smile and shake his head, but would not speak. Every door and every room was a different carbon copy of the previous in a relentlessly long hallway pattern. Pilar grew heavy from walking and leaned on Danny. Their footsteps had become shuffles, and Mick had started to let out audible yawns. The break of silence went off like an alarm clock and jolted the Santos children.

"Are you guys ready to really see something now?" The voice that departed from that demonic smirk was low and hoarse, and it initiated the gag reflex in Pilar. She stood there wide-eyed and gripped Danny's hand until her bronze knuckles turned white.

Sammy turned and looked at them. They had reached the end of a hallway and were standing in front of a heavy black door. Mick looked intrigued and motioned towards the door. "What's in there?"

Sammy smiled, obviously pleased with the curiousness he had aroused. He turned, opened the door, and slid inside. Mick ran in after him, leaving Danny and Pilar in the hallway looking at each other.

"Oh, wow, Danny, get in here, you gotta see all this!" Mick's voice echoed with a boisterous glee and pulled his siblings into the room. This room was another dark one, but the walls were adorned with shelves and cases of dated weaponry. Sammy stood along the side, playfully petting one of the many curved and polished swords. Pilar's eyes grew even bigger, and she clung to the back of Danny's right leg. Mick looked around the room in awe, and his teeth glistened from the light reflection in the metal around him.

Sammy puffed out his chest, and for the first time since they had seen each other, he approached Danny. "What's the matter? You don't like medieval and ancient warfare?"

Danny looked into those foggy pupils and wondered what color the blood was of his tour guide. "Oh, I guess everyone collects something." His lips were pursed and he continued to block Pilar behind him.

Sammy went on, feeding on the uneasiness in front of him. "Oh, that's true. But all of these weapons are special. A lot of them have been in our family for generations, and most were used to actually kill someone." He waited to see the reaction of his words, but Danny did a good job at remaining uninterested. He went on. " We also have a gun collection in the adjoining room full of weapons solely used in this family. We're very proud of the amount of… game that our ancestors got for the family. It is the very reason for our survival." His eyes narrowed and he leaned in a little closer to Danny. "Care if I talk to you for a minute?" He motioned to Pilar, and Danny sent her to stand by Mick.

The two walked along a display case full of daggers and knives. Danny's fists were clenched, and he felt his reflexes kick into overdrive. Sammy smirked before he spoke. "So, how are you liking New York?"

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, it's alright I suppose. Kind of big for my taste."

Sammy nodded. "Yeah, I can see why someone… like you… might not be comfortable around all the… fuss that goes on here. I can understand why you… and your family… might feel like you don't fit in here."

Danny caught the sarcasm in his voice and felt his neck muscles spasm. "Oh, I figure we can hold our own."

"Oh, well, that's not what I hear. "

Danny looked at him, puzzled. "Just what do you mean by that?"

Sammy took out one of the steel daggers from the case and fondled the point on it before speaking. "Oh, come on, you know why you're here, don't you?"

Danny stared at him, ready to grab the tool from his hands.

"Your father's gotten into a hole that there's no way for a small timer to crawl out of. It's a shame for you brother, sister, and you, but there's no avoiding it. We own you."

Danny felt his neck go hot and his biceps tense. "What do you mean you own us? No one owns us and you don't know what you're talking about."

"No, you don't know what you're talking about, Danny. Actually, I'm kind of glad to see it come to this, I think my family has been burdened with yours for long enough. You've kept us back for a long time, and I'm really looking forward to this."

Danny's voice raised. "Looking forward to what exactly?"

Sammy's lips curled as he walked away from Danny and raised the dagger in his hands. In one swift maneuver, he hurled the tip across the room and lodged it into the wall about 2 inches from Danny's head.

"Hey, what's the big idea!" Mick bolted towards Sammy, knocking him into the display case that shattered when it hit the floor beneath the two bodies. Pilar screamed and ran to Danny. Mick took his position above Sammy, pinning him against the broken glass and squeezed his hands around his neck. Sammy managed to grab a sliver of glass and swiped it across Mick's eyebrow. He squeezed out a snicker when the stream of blood started down Mick's face. Danny saw this and started for Sammy when the shouts of his Mother came from behind him.

"What is going on here?" Carmen ran into the room and grabbed a terrified Pilar up in her arms. "Mick! Get up! Why are you bleeding?" She positioned herself between the feuding boys and waited for an answer.

Sammy spoke up. "Oh, it was just a simple misunderstanding, Mrs. Santos. But we got it straightened out, didn't we fellas?" He shot glances at both Mick and Danny. Carmen looked at her younger son because she knew that all the answers always displayed themselves in his eyes.

"Yeah, sure, Mama, just a simple misunderstanding." Carmen began to protest, when Sergio's wife entered the room with an expressionless face.

"Carmen, considering the events that obviously have taken place in this room and between our husbands, maybe it would be better to try dinner again on your next visit to New York?"

Danny's mind raced. What happened with his father? Why did the Rosierras' supposedly own the family? He didn't care anymore, he just desperately wanted out of there and to be back home.

Miguel came into the room. "Yes, Carmen, it's probably best if we just go back to the hotel. Sergio and I finished with our business, and we all need a good night's sleep before traveling tomorrow." His voice was enveloped in that tone which warrented no protests and left nothing up to discussion. Carmen nodded and carried Pilar out of the room. Danny took out his handkerchief and pressed it against Mick's brow before following his parents out of the room.

Sammy stood up behind them. "Have a safe trip home." Danny looked back and say both Sammy and the woman smirking at them.

The front door slammed and snapped Danny back to present time. He took a shaky breath and peered into the entryway. A moment later, Michelle entered with a pile of mail in her arms.

The sight of her with her soft hair resting on her shoulders relaxed his nerves. He looked down at his hands and found them to be steady. She threw the envelopes onto the desk and let out a sigh. Danny caught glimpse of a large brown envelope sticking out from the middle of the pile.

"Um… how did the test go?" He squinted and looked back up at her. She ran her hands through her hair and leaned her head to the side to stretch her tired neck. His head followed her motion.

"Fine, I guess." Her eyes opened and peered at him.

They both smiled, neither one sure of what to say after that mornings awkwardness. She studied the dark circles under her husbands eyes and felt the anger she carried ease. She sensed the hunger in his eyes and moved forward a little bit. Searching for something to say, she looked back at the mail pile between them.

"Get anything interesting today?"

He looked down. "Uh, well, let's see." He flipped through the pile and picked up the large brown envelope. He took the letter opener and slid it underneath the lip of the envelope and reached inside. He pulled out a thick slice of paper and turned it over. It was a photograph. He studied it for a bit and felt the blood run from his face and the burning start in his stomach again.

Michelle looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

He looked distracted, but couldn't peel his eyes away from the photograph. "Oh, it's nothing. Really." His mind was reeling as he eyed the forms in the picture. It was of a beautiful woman in a red dress. Barefoot and sitting in a swing. Michelle. He saw himself standing behind her. He noticed the carefree smiles on both of their faces. Oh, could it have only been the night before? The first time when he had felt free with her, and someone had been there. Watching them. Watching HER. His jaw muscles tightened and the blood rushed back to his face in a fury of anger.

"Danny, what is it?" Michelle moved closer to him and made a motion to look at the photograph. He jerked it away protectively.

"Michelle! I said it was nothing!" She backed off defensively and glared at the man before her.

He managed to tear his eyes away for a moment and saw the hurt in her eyes. "Look, I'm sorry, but it's nothing for you to worry about." He smiled at her. It was unreturned. "You look tired. Why don't you go get a nap, and I'll have some food made for you when you wake up." His voice softened and his shoulders dropped.

She looked at the floor in front of her. "Sounds great. I think I'll go do just that." She turned around without looking back and disappeared around the edge of the doorway.

His heart sank as he felt her slip from his grip again. They had been so close. He looked back at the picture and felt a newfound determination. Coming back for him was one thing, but involving Michelle would not happen. He pushed the picture back into the envelope and picked up his keys. "Sorry, Mama, it's time to stir things up."