“Done. They’re fucking done. They’ve already released a few of them.” Carter violently dropped his fist to the table and let out a guttural sound that heightened everyone.
“How? How is that possible?” Wylie asked. “That was a good bust.”
“No, it wasn’t. I was there. I was fucking there, and now I’m lead prosecutor. Conflict of interest and some other shit. These guys are getting out on a flawed technicality.”
“They were dealing illegal drugs and weapons,” Wylie fired back. “It wasn’t a dime bag and a little revolver, man. It was enough of each to fill a damn ship. The biggest bust in history. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars. Rocket launchers are a big fucking deal.”
“Yeah, well, it’s all unraveling, and I guarantee some of these guys are already in the wind. We’ll never get them back into custody.” Carter shook his head in disbelief. “Some of the bigger players who were rolled on are still locked up, and they should stay there for now. They’re the ones who stopped talking, though. Fuck.”
Carter slammed his laptop closed and tossed his pen as the anger brewing rolled over him.
“This isn’t the first case we’ve worked on with you that you’ve also prosecuted,” Dace reminded them. “So why now?”
“Good question. And if you figure out the answer, please let me know.” Carter was seething; furious was an understatement. “This is literally my job. I’m a special prosecutor with special privileges meant to handle cases that needed to bend around the rules for special cases like this. Hence, hiring you guys as often as we do and assisting on the busts when I can. It makes for iron-clad cases. Now it’s unconstitutional and whatever other shit they just spewed.”
“Who?” Wylie asked. “Who is behind this?”
Carter stalled and tossed his head back in defeat. “My office is dirty. My fucking office is dirty and no good. This has to be the attorney general and the DOJ, but it doesn’t make sense. Why now? Why these cases? Why are the very people who commissioned me with these specific duties now rolling?”
“Because we’re too close to something. David had the same problem, remember? He said his team turned on him. He didn’t know who he could trust anymore, so he sought us out.” It was all starting to come together for Wylie. “They turned on him, whoever they are, and now they’re turning on us.”
“So this is all a distraction?” Dace asked. “My son was kidnapped. That couldn’t have been for nothing.”
Dace was still sensitive—and probably always would be—to anything related to the incident surrounding his son. A son he didn’t even know he had until he was missing. The man, David Kimble, also happened to be the boy’s grandfather and was thought to be enemy number one until he proved to be more an ally by helping them recover the little boy.
“It wasn’t for nothing, Dace,” Wylie went on. “I don’t know where this all leads, but it started a long time ago. It began with whatever David Kimble had been up to, and he led it right to our front step, literally when he came here for help.”
“You think it was all orchestrated then?” Dace was trying to dissect his brother’s reasoning into something tangible and less cinematic. “To what end?”
“I don’t have an answer for you, but I don’t believe in coincidence. David was on the run for a reason and came to us. He then led us to that cartel bust on the coast. We thought we were there to avenge Ivy and rescue Cash. Instead, it exposed us to a bigger picture, which revealed how deep the cartel was involved. And now…Eva is missing. These aren’t two different things – it’s all connected and David seems to have the only map on this.”
“This is pretty dramatic, Wy,” Declan offered. “I see where you’re going with all of this, but it would take an awful lot to pull this off so seamlessly.”
Wylie let out a deep sigh. “We don’t know that this has happened seamlessly. We only know what we know. This could be years in the making. We may have had our hands in it for years. How do we really know? Dramatic? Yes. But when you consider the chain of events and Kimble’s warning about just how big this is…it can and does make sense.”
Wylie referred to a recent chain of events that started with Dace’s fiancée who, after missing for years, showed up beaten within an inch of her life just blocks from the Watermark Tower. Ivy had been in hiding under the protection of her father, David Kimble, until something happened that sent her searching for the son she’d hid from Dace for years while on the run.
The cartel had been the only clue then, and it led them to the coast not once but twice and finally ended in the largest drug and illegal weapons trade bust in US history. A bust that was currently falling apart.
“I have to agree with Wylie,” Liam chimed in. “This feels a little too put together. Remember, in our industry, we deal with the worst psychopaths and sociopaths in the world. They’re patient and methodical, and this reeks of both. Sure, it seems extreme, but maybe that’s why Kimble was feeding it to us in pieces. It’s pretty unbelievable as a whole otherwise.”
“We’ve worked some pretty big cases together, Landry.” Declan’s tone was ominous. “I can’t help but wonder if they’re all somehow linked if we work off Liam and Wy’s theory here.”
Luke continued, making it clear he agreed with his brothers. “This goes back to the original case surrounding the Valdez Cartel, the case Liam headed up when City was being stalked by that hacker, the senator’s murder that linked to the office of the Speaker of the House, and it just keeps going on from there, man. We’ve assisted on a lot of cases—even long before that. Those are just the most recent, and I can see how they’d somehow all link.”
“You know what you’re all saying, right?” Dace asked around the table. “If this really is the bigger picture, then it’s personal. You just named cases that included our loved ones…every single one of those cases surrounded O’Reillys.”
“We’re targets,” Declan agreed. “Which means this is only the beginning, and the one guy who probably has most of the answers we need right now is in a fucking coma. Kimble.”
“That means he was right. It goes all the way to the top.” Dace recalled the individual cases and pointed out further details. “Remember the general…what’s his name?”
“Grover. William Grover and that pissant FBI Director, Francis Waterman,” Luke chided. That hit close to home for him because their actions put his now wife in danger. “Waterman said it out on the tarmac right before he took his own life. He said, we’d signed our own death warrants. Remember, he wanted to talk in exchange for immunity until the general pulled his gun and was shot. This…It’s all connected, isn’t it?”
Liam nodded. “We may not have anything concrete, but it’s all adding up nicely. Landry was there for that too. He’s a target as well, or so we should assume. That’s why these cases are falling apart. Someone is coming for him as much as they’re coming for us.”
“Okay, so let’s say this has all been a cluster fuck distraction,” Dace deduced, wrapping his mind around the gritty details. “To keep our focus elsewhere so this other bullshit can go on without notice. So they can study us and see how we react? I mean, look at what happened with that guy from the Speaker’s office and even Kimble. Our own technology was being used against us. Technology our government has on contract. Kimble’s backroom club in DC is starting to sound like the real deal and less like a conspiracy theory.”
“Where does this leave Eva?” Wylie asked, nodding at his brother in thanks.
Carter turned to Wylie. “In trouble, man. If they didn’t know she was working this side too, they do now. I’d put money on it.”
“I know nobody wants to hear this, but you know I like to play devil's advocate, and we really need to look at every angle.” Declan cringed. He knew what he was about to say would sting, especially for Wylie. “Is it possible Eva flipped? Maybe she was infiltrating us? She knew nothing about what her team was doing, so is it possible she did and was playing both roles and not in our favor?�
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“Dec, come on.” Wylie fumed. “She literally handed us her dad and killed her own brother for the greater good. She wouldn’t flip on us. Not a chance. She’s after the same things we are. Remember, we brought her on. She’s too loyal and cares too much about what we’re doing and has formed real relationships here. She puts her life on the line for us every time she goes undercover, man. Every. Single. Time.”
Declan nodded in agreement. “I know, Wy, but we have to look at everything, and it’s just something we need to keep in the back of our minds while we hash this thing out. That’s all.”
Wylie couldn’t look at Declan. Everyone knew he was the guy who laid it all out on the line, even the shit they didn’t want to consider. Someone had to do it, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear. Dec was probably the least emotional in the group, next to Luke, and they tended to point out the hard stuff. The really hard stuff that made everyone question everything they thought they knew in every situation. It was what made them a strong and well-rounded team, but it was also what divided them when it got too personal, and this was personal to Wylie.
“We have enough reason to increase our investigation where she is concerned,” Liam interrupted while continuing to work over his keyboard. “Dec makes good points, but for now, we treat her as one of our own because that’s all she’s ever proven to be. I’m expanding my search on her. If she’s on the move, I’ll pick her up soon enough. Any activity at all and we’ll know.”
“She’s gone off the grid before. We’ve trained her to do so when under deep cover and following leads,” Luke reassured. “She’s strong, tough, and smart.”
“She’s never gone off the grid with me. She told me everything, and I told her everything. You’re your brother’s keeper, right? She lived that and took it to heart.”
“Especially with you, it seems,” Dace teased.
“Screw you, Dace. It isn’t like that. We’re barely…friends. We all have each other, and she didn’t have anyone. I was her…person. That’s all.”
“Yeah, you two can barely sit in the same room together, but suddenly you’re pen pals,” Dace went on, knowing he was getting under his brother’s skin.
“Because she’s a pain in the ass. Do I need to remind you how she became a part of this team?” Wylie defended himself a little more than necessary. “Before she handed over the keys to the Valdez empire, she played a much different role. Remember that? She became friends with Dec’s wife and watched her son to get close to us, knowing full well who we were and why we were there.”
“Exactly why I asked if it was possible she flipped,” Declan said. “Though well-intentioned, you can also interpret that as manipulative and threatening.”
“Oh, come on. Seriously, shut the fuck up, Declan. She saved your son. What she did was save your wife and your son from Esteban and everything he stood for.”
Declan smiled. “Sounds like you hate her, alright.”
Wylie glared at the group as they snickered at his expense. Eva did all the things they mentioned, but had she approached them any other way, they would have shut her out. She was smart and calculated, sure, but for all the right reasons. Lydia and Declan’s son mentioned, Jax, was Esteban’s biological son—Eva’s half-brother.
She was protecting him from the life of organized crime she so desperately wanted to escape as the daughter of a major drug lord. Her deception was warranted and made the mission they all were actively participating in successful. They owed her. Without her sacrifice, they may not have neutralized such a dangerous threat to the world and their family.
“I think she’s proven to be pretty trustworthy. She puts her life on the line, time and time again, just to right the wrongs of her dead father…” Wylie continued to defend her even though it wasn’t necessary.
“She didn’t use you,” City said as she entered the room, setting bags of food on the table. “I know you think she did to get to us, but she didn’t, and you need to let that go, hon. It may have seemed like the relationship you were building was all just a…front before you knew who she was, but it wasn’t. She liked you, Wy. Genuinely. And you liked her.”
“Oh, come on.” Wylie’s cheeks turned crimson. “Can we not have this conversation again?”
“I wish you boys could hear yourselves sometimes. You’re worse than the lovestruck teenage girl upstairs,” she went on, referring to Liam’s daughter. “I’d love to read what you write in your diary at night, lonely boy. She likes you, always has, and you clearly like her.”
“I don’t like her. Not like that. Jesus, City. If anyone else from the team just disappeared, we’d be having the same discussion,” he defended.
“Really? She’s been gone how long? You guys disappear for days at a time before you send in a cavalry. I seem to remember when Carter was missing for weeks after the senator was murdered before it was determined he was in trouble. Dec here was on the lam much longer than that when he was moving Lydia all around the country after faking their own deaths while the rest of you worked to take down Esteban Valdez, the guy chasing them.”
“That was different,” Wylie fired back.
“Really? How so?” City wasn’t just married to Liam; she was a part of the team too. She knew each of them as well or better than they knew themselves. “Look, Wy. It’s okay to have feelings for someone. It’s okay to have feelings for Eva. I’ve been logged in and listening the whole time while upstairs feeding the baby. I agree with everything you’re saying. This isn’t like her. Something is wrong, and we need to find her. And…you need to be okay with what the rest of us already know. She means something to you.”
“It’s just…accountability.” Wylie was reaching for a distraction.
“Uh-huh. Because you have each other’s back just like Liam and me, Dec and Lydia, Luke and Daisy, and Dace and Ivy now that they’ve been reunited.” City looked Wylie in the eye as she leaned in and put an arm around his shoulder for a sisterly side hug. “It’s okay to feel, Wy. I think you’ve suffered enough. Feel everything she makes you feel.”
The room sat silent as City’s words washed over the place. They all knew she was right because they’d all been right where Wylie was at that very moment. He struggled with two things: the job because one of their own was missing, and his feelings because the one missing seemed to have an obvious piece of his heart despite his denying so.
“Okay, okay. Thanks for the pep talk, City. I think Wy is about to start his period with all this talk about feelings.” Luke broke the silence by helping his brother out of the spotlight. “Let’s do our thing. Finding Eva is our priority, along with figuring out what the hell is happening with these cases and who’s behind all of it.”
Wylie flipped his brother off. “Screw you, Luke. That’s all I’ve been saying. To make Eva’s disappearance a priority.”
A collective, done, rang out as they all began to shuffle papers and grab their things to move onto whatever was next.
City leaned in toward Wylie once more and whispered, “If your gut says she needs you, it’s because she does. That’s how soul mates work, honey.”
Wylie stood and kissed the top of City’s head before he left the room. “I’ll find her.”
4
It had been two days, and there was still nothing on Eva. Nothing on anything really. They were chasing theories with no end in sight because the evidence was lacking, and the only thing any of them had was that same gut feeling Wylie had. A storm was coming, and none of them knew how to weather it.
Eva had been gone for days at this point, which was too many for Wylie. She was a fighter, smart and savvy, and he didn’t doubt she could handle herself, but what if the storm came for her first and blindsided her? She may not have stood a chance if that were the case.
They still didn’t know much more than they had in the days leading up to this point, just that something was in motion. Something big. Something dangerous. Something potentially lethal. As they raked over the little informat
ion they had and reviewed old case files trying to link pieces together, all they were able to see was just how big the fucking storm was, and that it was headed straight for them.
Regret had found its way in where Wylie was concerned. So many damn regrets. He’d spent so much time creating a façade that implied Eva meant nothing to him instead of facing the facts. Fact: he cared about her. Fact: he didn’t know how much. Fact: he needed to find her to figure out why he felt more drawn to her than ever before. He would no longer deny something was there, even if he didn’t fully understand what that something was.
He’d given his heart away once before, and it didn’t end well for him. It broke him in more ways than one. He was an all-in kind of guy, and that cost him. Trust wasn’t an easy thing from that day forward, so given how Eva came into their lives, she started with a strike or two against her from the get-go.
She’d pretended to be someone she wasn’t: familiar. She lied to get close to them: familiar. She’d played his heartstrings only to let him down in the end: familiar. And now she was gone, and he was struggling with guilt because all those familiar things weren’t her burden to bear, yet he hung them over her as if they were. Hence…the regret.
When Declan posed the possibility that she had intentionally and purposely gone quiet, it stung. The broken part of him taunted, See, this is why we didn’t let her in. She left you too. But the part of his soul that craved her at that very moment scolded, She’s not like the rest, and you didn’t give her a chance to prove it. Guilt… Regret…
This is what City had been referring to when she mentioned soul mates to him. He didn’t believe in those things, did he? Not after what he’d been through. Or maybe he did because of what he’d been through, and he was just too jaded and blind to the truth.
He needed to find her.
“All charges dropped,” Carter said, tossing a stack of files on the conference table in the lair. “Every single one.”
Brother's Keeper V: Wylie (the complete series BOX SET): NEW RELEASE + Series Box SET included! Page 118
