Bittersweet

Chapter Three - "I liked the coffee."

He hated waking up early. The sun wouldn't be rising for the next hour, and there he sat next to his brother in the cold car that carried the stench of grilled peppers.

They were watching a small house at the beginning of a cul-de-sac, so it was easy for them to stay hidden in the trees.

Checking his watch, he saw the time read four o'two as the temperature sat at a knuckle-clenching twenty-two degrees. It was the middle of February which was perfect for his father to ruin an ex-boss's reputation.

"There he goes." Richie said, bringing Caleb's attention to the front of the car where they saw the bone-thin man jogging out of his house in shorts and a tight long-sleeved shirt.

Thank God. Caleb thought to himself. They had been in the car for twenty minutes and time was going no faster. The sooner he could go into the house, the sooner he could get back out.

They waited until the man was out of the cul-de-sac and further down the street to exit the car, the harsh cold intensifying. Caleb shoved his hand into his coat pocket where the rubber gloves sat bundled before quickly pulling them on.

Before Caleb began walking, Richie grabbed the file for Isaac Moran, took out the thick folder, and handed it to his brother. "This goes in the upstairs bedroom. Dad wants him to find it-"

"So his fingerprints get on it. I fucking know, man." Caleb said, cutting Richie off. Not only was he cold, but he was starving, and being in the car of a towering guy with pure muscle who adored trashy burgers did nothing to help.

"I'm just saying. I don't want dad to get mad again. You know how particular he is." Richie said, rubbing his hands before bringing them to his face and blowing hot air into them.

They both knew Caleb was aware of that already, he just didn't care. He was sick of his dad's manipulation and disgusted with his corruption.

Taking the folder, Caleb put up his hood, crossed the street, and hurried up to the side of the house where the man from the "electric company" had left a bathroom window cracked.

He pushed up the loose frame and jumped up to pull himself through and into the room. A scent comparable to moth balls overwhelmed his senses as he stood and pushed the window down to the position it had been before.

Opening the door, he internally thanked Isaac for having such thin curtains, because without them, he would have no choice but to turn lights on.

The stairs were down the hall according to Richie, so when he found them, he hurried to the second floor where the first room he saw had the door left wide open.

There were only three doors, and he knew one of them was a bathroom. He had every right to assume the one in front of him was Isaac's, but if it wasn't, he knew he would hear from his father.

In the past few months, Caleb had been a bit too reckless when it came to doing Reed's dirty work. He lost the enjoyment he had as a teenager and just felt disgusting. Those people deserved to be caught up in the things they got away with, but some of them didn't. A lot of them didn't.

Isaac wasn't one of them, though. He was a district attorney just like Caleb's dad, but he introduced fraud and laundering into a circle of judicial officers and chairwomen.

Walking into the room, Caleb realized how much darker it was compared to downstairs. He wanted to stash the folder in a drawer or something of the sort that wouldn't be completely obvious, but also not easy to miss.

Next to the bed was a large Victorian wardrobe with white carvings on the doors of it. He figured that would be an okay spot. If Isaac found it, maybe he would think he always had it and just forgot about it.

Caleb didn't know what Reed's next move would be after the folder, but knowing his father, he would likely taunt Isaac hours leading up to a tip off.

Opening the wardrobe, Caleb slipped in his arm and placed the folder on the floor in the corner at an angle.

Some hours later, Caleb sat back in his chair at the table as Richie attempted to avoid the waitress's advances. She had already touched his arm once, and Richie was determined to keep it at one, but she was persistent.

They had stopped for breakfast after stopping by their parents' house to visit their sisters, Casey and Nia. Out of the four siblings, none of them were biologically related. Richie was taken in first, then Caleb followed by Casey, and Nia was the final addition. Their ages were unevenly gapped, but they never saw each other as anything less than family.

Even someone from the outside looking in at their family wouldn't be able to tell that Richie, Caleb, and Casey weren't blood relatives with the slight resemblances they had, even to their adoptive mother, Fiona.

Watching as Richie walked back to the table, Caleb held back a laugh at his expression of relief.

"I feel violated." he exhaled, shoving his wallet back into his pocket and sitting back down.

He normally had women chasing after him, but after Angela, he wanted nothing to do with anyone else.

"Awe, we don't have to come back here. I hated that bagel anyway." he replied, whispering as to not offend the staff.

"Shit, that coffee tasted like piss, too."

"What's wrong with the coffee? I liked the coffee."

"Caleb, if you could live in a house made of espresso, you would. Of course you liked the coffee."

Nodding his head to the side, Caleb shrugged in agreement.

"Fair."