Chapter 24

24

Mitch

W e finally caught a line on Jake Miller.

I take Ethan with me, while Colton sticks around the ranch with the rest of our people—about a dozen extra pairs of eyes, to be specific. We’re on the southern edge of town, driving slowly in Sammy’s truck. It’s an older, dark brown model and has a better chance of not standing out while we follow this prick around.

“Someday, when all of this is over, we’re going to throw a big barbecue party at the ranch,” I tell Ethan. I’m driving while he keeps an eye on Jake’s car.

“He ditched his truck, I see,” he mutters, making a note of the license plates. “Arkansas plates. That’s interesting.”

“Why’s that interesting?”

“I’ve got a feeling he’s gonna skip there if things go south here. Otherwise, he’d have used a local car.” He pauses and gives me a long look. “I’m down with a barbecue, by the way. It sounds good. It’s a nice way to repay these people for their support.”

“I’m just glad to see everyone coming together like this. It gives me hope for the generations to come.”

“Look at you, sounding like you’re already in the sunset of your life,” Ethan scoffs. “You’re jumping over an important step here. Wife, kids to raise. We haven’t done that yet.”

I give him a surprised side-eye. “Of all the people in the world, I swear you’re the last one I ever imagined I’d hear talking like this.”

“Like what?”

“Getting married. Having children.”

Ahead, Jake turns left, driving past a sprawling trailer park. Above, the sky is a dull grey—a sign of more snow to come. We’ve yet to hear about another cold front, but it doesn’t mean the weather’s going to tone down anytime soon. It’s the first week of January.

On the right side, there’s not much to look at, except for a string of storage facilities. Half of them are empty. To my surprise, Jake takes a sharp right turn through the open gates of one such facility—the emptiest, saddest looking of them all.

“What’s he doing?” I mumble, keeping a safe distance as I pull over the side of the road.

“Not sure. This place is practically abandoned,” Ethan replies.

I nod slowly. “Yeah. He’s probably hiding something here.”

“Or meeting someone.”

“We should get closer,” I say, quickly texting Colton to let him know where we are. We always keep tabs on each other, particularly during troubled times like these. My brother and I get out of the pickup truck and carefully approach the gate.

“Any sign of his car yet?” I ask Ethan as he takes the lead.

“No. He must’ve taken it all the way to the back of the building,” he says, pausing to look up.

Both gate pillars are fitted with surveillance cameras. But they’re not active, by the looks of it. In fact, I see the wires hanging out, cut off a while back.

“No CCTV,” I say.

“Not a bad thing. Not a good thing either,” he replies.

“We can go in,” I suggest. “Light feet, mouths shut, eyes wide open.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you carrying?” I ask.

He gives me a quick but easy-to-read look. “Damn right.”

“Good. Me, too.”

“It’s happened since Melissa came along,” Ethan says in a low voice as we cautiously go through the open gates, our eyes constantly scanning everything around us.

“What?”

“This whole getting married and having kids thing.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“Do you think it might work with us? The four of us, I mean, in the long term?”

I give my brother a soft smile. “There’s nothing I want more, to be honest. She’s it for us, isn’t she? Colton certainly feels that way.”

“Me, too,” Ethan replies, his gaze warm as he looks back at me. “The last time he and I agreed on someone coming into our lives forever, it was with you. The night Sammy rescued you, remember?”

“Yeah, you two were weirdly close,” I chuckle softly.

Movement on the right side of the storage building makes us veer off to the left and out of anyone’s sight. We’re still for a while, waiting and listening. We here footsteps receding, voices mumbling. Nothing close enough yet, but definitely something. I can’t hear an engine running, so Jake must’ve switched his off.

“We’re twins,” Ethan reminds me. “Our bond—”

“It’s unique. I know. I learned that pretty quickly,” I reply. “But not a day goes by that I’m not grateful for the way your family took me in. You know that, right?”

Ethan nods slowly. “You were meant to be our brother.”

I can barely remember my own family. I see their faces in a handful of photos that survived the fire, but they feel like strangers, distant memories of who they were and what they meant to me. I was a little boy, paralyzed with fear and covered in soot, my hair singed and my clothes half burned when they pulled me out of the house. I still remember the flames, though, with crystal clarity.

That giant orange monster destroyed my home and my entire family. I was too little to understand back then, too young to fully process the grief, the loss. But the Averys took such good care of me that the transition was almost natural. One chapter of my life ended, and another began in the blink of an eye.

“Hold on,” Ethan whispers, ears twitching as he listens. He slowly leans around the corner. “Clear, let’s go.”

I follow him as we sneak along the wall, eyes darting everywhere. I’m getting wartime flashbacks aplenty, but this place is quiet, maybe a little too quiet for my taste. Something is going on here. Miller wouldn’t have picked this spot unless he wanted to be out of sight.

“There he is,” I mumble as both Ethan and I spot Miller at the same time as soon as we reach the next corner at the back of the building.

The parking lot is empty, with the exception of two cars: Jake Miller’s Arkansas-registered sedan and a black Escalade. The latter looks familiar. The trunk is open, and there’s movement at the back, but I can’t see much from this angle and this distance.

“That’s a cartel vehicle,” Ethan confirms.

I snap a picture and text the intel to Colton in real time while we continue to survey the parking area.

“He’s out by his car,” Ethan says.

Indeed, Jake leans against the driver’s seat, constantly checking his phone. A guy comes out from behind the Escalade, closing the trunk.

I recognize him from New Year’s Eve.

Jake gives him a stack of cash, which the guy is quick to check and shove into his jacket pocket. At the same time, his other hand comes around and slips something into Jake’s coat pocket.

“It’s an exchange,” I whisper.

“Yeah, but what are they exchanging?” Ethan mumbles. “You know what? Fuck this, let’s find out.”

“What? No—”

Too late.

Ethan takes his semiautomatic Glock out and steps forward. “Not one of you motherfuckers move,” he barks.

“Shit, shit.” I have no choice but to go with him. I take my gun out and point it at Jake and his cartel buddy. “You heard the man. Don’t move.”

“Oh, for f—” Jake groans and rolls his eyes.

“We’re interrupting something,” I reply, noticing how he keeps one hand on the coat pocket in question. “What do you have there?”

“It’s none of your goddamn business,” Jake says.

“I suggest the two of you get out of here and start putting that money together,” the cartel goon says, nowhere near as impressed by our presence and weapons as I had hoped. This clearly isn’t the first time he’s been caught seemingly unprepared. “My boss is running out of patience.”

Ethan scoffs. “Your boss needs to get his head out of his ass. How did he buy this asshole’s story, anyway? His girlfriend tried to run off with two million dollars’ worth of cocaine? Really?”

“You were told to put that money upfront,” the goon replies. “Nobody’s got time for finger pointing and explanations. Jake knows what he’s gotta do. You, on the other hand, seem to have a comprehension problem.”

“What I also have is a fucking Glock pointed at you,” Ethan says. “Back off Melissa Carson. She had nothing to do with your drugs.”

“She pled guilty,” Jake chimes in.

I point my gun at him. “And we both know how that came to happen. Don’t make me rid you of your kneecaps this early in the game. Come clean.”

“Or I’ll make you,” Ethan adds, equally determined to hurt Jake.

I hear a familiar clicking sound and look over my shoulder. My stomach instantly drops at the sight of two more cartel fellas coming in, both sporting AK-47s and some nasty looks on their faces.

The first goon chuckles dryly. “You boys should’ve planned this better. I don’t go anywhere alone.”

Ethan looks around, realizing the monumental pile of shit we walked into. “Where did they come from?” he grumbles.

“Inside, probably,” I reply. We’re screwed.

“Might as well pop 'em,” one of the men says.

But Jake intervenes. “No, you need them. They’re the ones with the money.”

“He’s not as dumb as he looks,” the second goon chuckles.

“There were three of them. These two can rot, for all I fucking care. Maybe it’ll incentivize their brother to pay up.”

Jake is about to object. But Ethan moves faster. In a single split-second, he shoots one of the men in the shoulder.

I immediately turn around and start firing. I get goon number two in the stomach. The third one fires back, but Ethan and I are already on the move. Jake hides behind his car, taking cover, while my brother and I run along the north side of the building.

“Move! Move!” I shout.

“Cover me!” Ethan says.

Without hesitation, I fire a couple more rounds. The third goon tries to catch up, but I manage to shoot him in the leg.

Ethan picks up speed, and so do I.

We turn the corner and bolt as fast as we can. The pavement is partially frozen. There are patches of snow, too. It makes it difficult for a clean run, so our boots slip now and then, slowing us down.

I hear someone shouting an order and Jake contradicting him. But their voices fade as we reach the front of the storage complex again. We don’t stop until we run past the gates and return to our truck.

“You drive,” I tell Ethan and toss him the keys.

He catches them, then slips the gun back into his holster and gets behind the wheel.

Just in time, too.

Another guy catches up, firing shot after shot.

I dodge two of his bullets, then retaliate and empty the clip, forcing him to take cover while I slip into the passenger seat. The engine roars to life, and before I even shut the car door, Ethan floors it.

We screech onto the road and leave this hot mess behind.

My heart’s in my throat.

Something tickles the side of my neck.

“Are you okay?” Ethan asks, panting as he keeps an eye on me and an eye on the road. “I’m gonna go around to the next highway exit and circle back,” he says. “Are you okay, Mitch?”

“Yeah,” I mutter, checking the side mirror. “It’s just a graze.”

It’s starting to sting, but it’ll be fine. That second round almost got me.

“Jake is still in business with them,” Ethan says. “What the fuck is going on here?”

“He framed Melissa,” I reply. “Nothing else makes sense. He planned everything that night. He had evidence and witnesses to incriminate her. Plus, his own testimony. He was probably hoping to get the drugs out of lockup after Melissa’s sentencing. Something must’ve gone wrong.”

“And Jake is trying to save his own ass by playing the game,” Ethan says. “We need to get to the bottom of this,” I tell my brother. “Or cough up the money and find someplace safe for Melissa to stay until it blows over.”

Ethan shakes his head, hands gripping the wheel so tightly, his knuckles turn white. “It’s never gonna blow over. Sooner or later, they will get to her, and they’ll hurt her. Nobody wrongs the Esparza cartel and gets away with their life. Nobody. That much we know for a fact.”

And it presents us with the inevitable.

We have no choice but to dig into Melissa’s past to get to the bottom of Jake’s lie and machinations in order to prove our theory. Jake wanted Melissa framed so he could run away with the cartel’s money. He almost got off scot-free, too… but something happened. Likely with evidence lockup.

“We need to talk to her,” I say.