Chapter Twenty-Nine

As he heard the words, they sunk into him. Marius's heart jumped into his throat. He rushed to Ruben and Felix, setting his hands on their shoulders. "Go, get in the truck, head to the bunkhouse right now."

Ruben looked like he was going to puke, but took Felix's hand as the man turned so white, he could have glowed in the dark. Dallas came to Marius. "He's here."

"Yeah. Must be a part of the basement no one knows about."

As soon as they heard the truck engine, Marius took out his phone and texted Dante. Send backup here to Dallas's house now. Brooks might be here. Don't come in guns blazing. We need to find where he's hiding in the basement.

Dallas nodded to him as he whispered, "There's a rifle in the bedroom. I ain't leaving you."

"We'll go together."

They moved up the stairs and retrieved the thirty-ought-six and once they were heading back down the stairs, Marius wished more than anything Dallas had gone with Ruben and Felix. At the bottom of the stairs, he pulled Dallas into his arms. "Stay behind me. I know you're not a man to do that, but this is what I do, Dallas. I don't want you to have to live with it if he dies. Let it be by my hand."

Dallas's eyes were cold and fixed, his mouth one slash from fury. "I ain't gonna lose sleep a bit if I kill the mother fucker."

Marius saw that to be true. Still, he didn't want to sully the two men he loved. Killing was no small thing, easily passed off a conscience. "Just…take care of yourself. We have a boy to think of."

"Him and you are the reasons I'm ready to kill someone. Wouldn't do it for myself."

Marius kissed him hard, letting his lips linger there for a long moment. With his forehead still on Dallas's, he asked, "You ready?"

"I'm ready."

The basement stairs were next to the door to the breezeway. They opened the door and listened for a few seconds before Marius started down them.

Each step had Marius's heart pounding. The basement was dark, but he waited until he was halfway down to grab his phone and turn on the flashlight, keeping it level with the gun as he took a few more steps.

Nothing looked out of place. The washer and dryer were stationed in the corner next to the water heater and folding table, and the chest freezer sat empty with the lid raised.

There were boxes of holiday decorations, a few boxes of old clothes and a smell of mildew hung on from when the basement had flooded a few months before Harrison had moved. Dallas and Ruben had both spoken of it, how they'd been taken off the ranch to help the cleanup.

The walls were all concrete and bricks, the foundation for the house itself. Marius had been told the cracks had been repaired, so if there was a door, the workmen would have noticed.

When they got to the basement floor, the cracked and mended cement floor, Marius nodded to the corner where a bookcase full of jars stood. "Behind there, maybe. I don't see anywhere else that could hide a door."

"It's gotta be."

They went to the bookcase and started taking the jars from the shelves. Once it was clear, they moved it away from the wall.

There was nothing. No door and the wall was solid. "What the fuck? How'd he get in?"

"We haven't changed the locks. Could that be it?"

Marius knew that, but he didn't think it went that way. "Why would Felix hear the pipes if they weren't in the house?"

Dallas went around the room again, knocking every few inches on all the walls. "This is bullshit."

Marius then let his eyes drop to the floor. "Dallas…is there a rug or something that is covering other stuff?"

"The floors were fixed too, Marius."

Marius looked at the boxes and bins that were stacked against one wall. They weren't on the floor exactly. They were on wooden pallets, likely keeping them elevated in case the basement flooded again. "Dal, those boxes on the pallets…you think?"

Dallas gave a shrug as he stepped over to the bins and started to take them off the stack. Marius helped and when the pallets were free, Marius lifted one.

The rest of the floor was rather bumpy, a rough cement job by whoever had built it to begin with. This area, however, was smooth, level and there wasn't a mended crack on the five foot long slab. "Look at the pallet, babe," Dallas said and Marius turned it around, seeing what Dallas was speaking about. There were wheels on the bottoms of the pallets.

"Fuck, Dal, this is it. Find how to open it."

After discarding the pallet, the two of them moved the others and started looking around the floor. There was a border, an indenture into the concrete, and when Dallas took out his knife and started to stick it in the crack, he said, "It's at least four inches down."

"This has got to be it, and if he's moving the boxes, that means he's not here. He likely covers it again when he leaves."

Dallas nodded to a series of streaks on the floor. "That's the trail of it."

Marius got up and went to the wall behind the slab. In the crease of where the wall met the floor, there was a metal square that was small but also free of dust.

"Babe, get your rifle and cover me."

"Is that it?" He asked as he got his rifle from where he'd leaned it on one of the walls.

"Yeah, I think so. Best be ready either way."

As Dallas held the gun down, Marius pushed in the lever. It pushed easily and once he did, he heard a loud click before the floor began to rise. Marius got the hatch door up, then held his gun, pointing it into the hole left once the hatch was open.

"It's dark as fuck."

"Like Felix said. Listen, stay here, and watch this hatch. If anyone comes down here, shoot them."

"Anyone?"

"I have a feeling, and mind you, I don't know where it came from, but it's nagging me. I don't think he was working alone."

"Marius…what if it's Felix?"

Marius glanced over his shoulder to see Dallas ready to tear up the stairs and start after the truck. "No, no. He wouldn't have told us about the pipes banging. He was genuinely shaken."

"If anyone hurts Ruben, I'll kill ‘em."

"Yeah, you'd have help."

The flashlight into the dark hole showed a ladder. That led further into the darkness. He started down the ladder, trying his best to keep his gun and flashlight steady. When he got to the bottom, he called up to Dallas as quietly as he could. "Dal, I'm at the bottom."

"Be careful!"

"Yes, sir," he whispered into the dark. Bringing his flashlight up, he looked around to see he was in a small room with a door at the end. Before he could take a step to the door, Dallas was down the ladder with him. "Call your friends. I heard them at the front door. They're coming into the house."

Marius told him, "Get your flashlight on while I call. I don't want any surprises."

After Dallas's flashlight was lighting the room, Marius called Dante.

"Marius, what the hell is going on? Where are you?"

"There's a staircase by the back breezeway. Take it to the basement and you'll see the open hatch. We found where he's been. In the subbasement all along."

"Goddammit, Marius. How the fuck didn't we know?"

"Have someone watch the area around the house and have someone come to the subbasement to help us in case he's down here. We don't think he is, but you never know."

He hung up while Dante was cussing up a storm. "Let's go, babe."

Dallas nodded. "I'll cover you."

Marius got to the door, expecting it to be locked, but it wasn't. He turned the knob and pushed the door open, though it wasn't easy. The thing was solid steel. "This had to be a panic room for old Harrison," he whispered to Dallas. "That's why it wasn't in the plans."

"How do you know it wasn't in the plans?"

"Heard your buddy, Jace, talking about it when I was asking about the house and how soon they could finish it for you. The basement, the attic, both needed work. Roland was hanging over the plans, worrying over everything."

When they got through the heavy door, Dallas shined his flashlight over the walls and found a light switch. Marius flipped it and the room was illuminated.

It was a small room, maybe ten by fifteen, and had shelves containing five-gallon bottles of water, canned goods, and MREs. Dallas nodded over to the two doors across from them. "You think that's where he has ‘em?"

"I'd say we check. Cover me again."

"I got you."

Marius went to the first door and tried it, but it was locked. The second door was as well. They were also heavy doors, steel. "Fuck," he said in a croak.

"Look here," Dallas said and moved to the wall by the shelves. "Keys."

Marius took them from Dallas and unlocked the first door before he heard Dante's men coming up behind them. Marius opened the first door and handed Dallas the keys as soon as he saw people on the floor in the first cell. "Check the other one. Bruno! Help me, Anton, help Dallas if he finds more."

The construction workers were there, all beaten, tied with ropes and cords, most lying on their sides on the cold floor. Marius set down his gun and started checking them to see if they were still alive. "Anton, get that vet, now!"

"We'd better call an ambulance," Dante said.

"It's Harrison," Dallas called from the other cell and Marius hurried to see for himself. Sure enough, the old man was on the floor, a thin blanket over him. Marius and Dallas knelt by him, trying to revive him.

Bruno came into the cell with them. "The others are all coming around, but they're dehydrated and pretty sick. I think this takes care of someone thinking it was us."

Dante was in the room with them, kneeling to Harrison. "Josiah? Remember me? Dante Carrillo?"

Harrison was still dazed, but his eyes fluttered open. "Dago," he said hoarsely. "Where's that fucking kid?"

"Who, Mr. Harrison?" Marius asked.

"Alex," he said, then started to cough.

"He's got pneumonia," Anton said as he stared into the room from the doorway. "Listen to that cough. It's from fluid in the lungs."

Marius was harried. As soon as Harrison was out of there, they might not find anything out before the police. "Mr. Harrison, who is Alex? Who is he?"

"Bastard," he managed to get out before another coughing fit that ended with him passing out. Marius looked up at Dante.

"Does he mean it's his bastard kid?"

"Could be. Probably. It makes sense. Why else would he pay all that blackmail?"

Dante got the helicopter to take Harrison into the hospital, and by the time it took off, the sheriff and his deputies had arrived. Marius gave his statement, and Dallas, Ruben and Felix did as well. Well, after he told them no one realized Felix was missing yet.

All their ducks in a row, it seemed, but Marius still worried. If Daily had any hint that they were hiding things from him, he'd go for blood.

When the house became an active crime scene, the three knew they had to stay at the bunkhouse. That wasn't exactly convenient. They did fall into their old bunks, all except Dallas. His bunk had been taken by Bonita.

When morning came, with Marius and Ruben still asleep, Dallas handed out the dailies to the ranch hands and then took his cup of coffee into the kitchen to speak to Vic. "Thanks for the waffles. Thanks more for the coffee."

"You all found Harrison."

"Yeah. There was a weird panic room under the basement. Fucking crazy."

"Not so crazy if you're a rich, paranoid old fuck like Harrison," she said as she set another bowl into the already cluttered sink. "I heard rumors about him building a bunker, but we never saw anyone on the ranch that didn't belong. He couldn't have done it himself."

"We don't know how or when it was built. All the paperwork he left behind, there was nothing about it. Even the expense. Dante said he'd get that Neil on it, but it's there, we found it."

"But not the killer," Vic said, wiping her hands on a towel. "That piece of horse shit is still on the loose, and ain't one of us safe while he is."

Dallas felt terrible about that. "Well, he doesn't have his place to hide now, so there's that."

His phone rang and he asked Vic to excuse him. It was Jace. "Hey, Dallas, meet me in the stable, alone."

"Sure. What's up?"

"Stables, and I'll let you in on everything. Is Marius around?"

"He's still sleeping. I don't want to wake him."

"That's fine, you can fill him in later."

Dallas ended the call and told Vic, "We're going to be on high alert until he's caught. Can you maybe listen around town, see if Daily still thinks we're in on this?"

"We? You mean the Carrillos."

Dallas sighed long and loud. "I'm a part of them now. My partner is part of them, that makes me part of them too."

"It's like that, is it?"

Her sly smile immediately made him smile back at her. "Yeah. It's like that."

Jace was waiting by one of the horse stalls. "Look at that. This horse is fucking beautiful."

Dallas pet Gentleman Jack's nose. "He's a good horse too."

Without anything further, Jace announced, "Harrison is dead."

Dallas groaned and said, "Fuck."

"Yeah. He talked before he went and what he said is not going past us, here at the ranch, and still, only a few here. Alex was Harrison's kid, which we figured. Alex knew his half-brothers didn't want the ranch. He wanted it. Harrison said no way, and Alex held out hope until Harrison sold the place. Alex vowed to make him pay…and all of us that came onto the place after it was sold."

"Well, he was on his way to do just that. He's lost his home base, though. What now?"

"Don't know. There was more. Harrison knew the kid was a killer even before he sold the ranch. Seems Alex's mother, Sondra found out about it, him killing animals and people. She told Harrison, and Harrison tried to get Alex arrested. There was no proof. Daily…Daily knew."

Dallas wanted to punch someone. "Daily fucking knew? He knew?"

"Yeah. He, uh, tried to say more, but then went into cardiac arrest. His body was just done. Seems we didn't see it, because he was dressed, but Alex had tortured him."

Dallas hadn't loved Harrison by any stretch of the imagination, but dying that way, well, he wouldn't wish that on anyone. "We're going after him, I know that, but how? How are we going to win this?"

"We…uh," Jace started with a rush of air that was part words, part laughter. "We have an army, and more are coming. Dante is thrilled the house will be used to house people, the cabins are done, so all the hands or the others can live there. We're putting the bikers and mobsters into the bunkhouse and your place. We have the trailers, we're all set. Roland is working like crazy on the plans for all the buildings. It's…still going on as planned. That tells me something."

"They believe they'll have him dead long before the opening."

Jace nodded curtly, smiling. "I'm not going to be sad when that fucker is dead."

"But who is the accomplice?"

Their eyes met, and Dallas saw how worried he truly was. "Dallas, my Tango is working longer hours than Roland right now, if that's possible. He's got worry lines on that beautiful face of his from it. Not that we all don't."

Dallas understood his worry. "You'd like to send him away, like I want to send Ruben."

"Just Ruben?"

They chuckled over that. "No, but Marius…he's the general of this army you mentioned. Couldn't make him go if I tried."

"And you've tried."

"Not really, no. I started to, and saw those eyes. He wasn't having it."

"We like to think we are the bosses, but they just humor us into thinking that most days."

Dallas thought he'd never heard anything so true. "Does this get any easier?"

"Are you asking me? I got with my boys a little less than a year ago, and to answer you, not in that time, no. Ask someone who's had someone longer."

"Hunter's happy, Dante. Maybe it does."

Jace laughed at that. "I've never met Hunter's Ethan, but I've met Blaine, and…as sweet as he is, I'll bet he's got Dante wrapped tight around that finger."

"True story, Jace. Well, I guess we're stuck now, so we just hold on for the whole eight seconds, or longer, whatever they decide, right?"

"Damn right."