Both Alex and Caitlin had to smile at that remark. It was so true — “cousin” tended to be shorthand for most clan relationships. It was just easier that way.
“Anyway,” Olivia went on, “Matías is one of those people who’s never satisfied with what he has. He always needs something more. He hates that our mother was a refugee witch, that we were only here in Santiago territory on Simón’s sufferance. I wish I could tell you what he’s up to, but we haven’t spoken for a few months now. He doesn’t approve of me, and I don’t approve of him.”
She sounded sad rather than bitter when she said this, and Alex could tell that beneath it all, she still loved her brother, even if she couldn’t possibly defend his actions. Who knows…maybe she was hoping he would manage to redeem himself somehow.
The baby began to fuss again, and Alex had been around too many cousins with infants not to know what that meant. The kid was either hungry or needed to be changed. Whichever it was, he knew that was his and Caitlin’s cue to get out of there. Anyway, they’d gotten the one piece of information they could use. It was time to be on the road.
“I’m so sorry,” Caitlin said. Her eyes met Alex’s across the room, and he gave her a very faint nod, just so she’d know they needed to wrap this up. “And we won’t take up any more of your time.”
Olivia didn’t bother to protest. She was still caressing the baby, trying to keep him calm, but he was getting increasingly restless. Alex knew the screaming would commence at any second, and she had to want them out of there just as badly as they wanted to leave.
She only nodded and led them to the front door. Just as he was crossing the threshold, Caitlin already a pace or two ahead of him, Olivia said, “Alex, if you do find Matías — ”
He paused and glanced back. Her mouth was tight with worry, her eyes strained. He could tell what she was thinking. “I won’t do anything more than I have to,” he told her. “We just want Danica and Roslyn back. What their clans decide to do after that….” All he could do was lift his shoulders. Truthfully, he’d been so focused on tracking down Matías that Alex hadn’t much thought about what they’d do with the rogue warlock once they caught him. Well, that was an unwelcome chore he’d be more than happy to hand off to the elders of the McAllister and Wilcox clans.
“I understand,” Olivia said sadly, then shut the door.
It was clear she never expected to see her brother alive again.
* * *
Caitlin remained silent as Alex maneuvered them out of the housing tract where Olivia lived and back onto the freeway, heading south so they could pick up Interstate 8 and take the southern route back to Arizona. The last thing she’d ever expected to feel was pity for a member of Matías’ family, not after everything he’d done, but she couldn’t help being sorry for Olivia. How awful to know that your brother was capable of such terrible acts, and also know there was nothing you could do to stop the justice that was surely coming his way. It wasn’t as if Caitlin had ever been terribly close to her own brother, as they were two very different people with not much except their parents in common, but she did love him, was proud of his accomplishments. She couldn’t imagine not being able to feel that way about a sibling.
While she was looking out the window, at the freeways that never seemed to clear completely, and the mass of cars around them, Alex said, “I’m going to call Miguel and get the information on the mail drop to him. If we’re really lucky, maybe he’ll have a lead for us by the time we get back to Tucson.”
“Sounds good,” she replied, although she had to wonder whether the de la Paz contingent in Tucson would wait for her and Alex to return, if Miguel actually managed to dig up something that would help in locating Matías. She had a feeling they wouldn’t exactly stand on ceremony when it came to that sort of thing. After all, she and Alex had at least a six-hour drive ahead of them. She wasn’t quite sure exactly how long it would take, since they’d traveled a different route when heading to Pasadena, but she knew it was going to require a chunk of time to get back to home base.
He pressed a button on his contacts list, then lifted the phone to his ear. Caitlin hoped no one was paying too much attention; didn’t California have a hands-free law for mobile devices? But as she glanced out the car window, she saw one driver with her own phone glued to her ear, and another apparently putting on mascara, so she thought Alex was safe from scrutiny as long as a highway patrol officer didn’t come cruising by at exactly the wrong moment.