Each had said their goodbyes to their loved ones before meeting in the lair where they teamed up and said goodbye to each other. The mission now was to safely reconnect at Wyatt Ranch in Stoneridge, Montana. They’d hunt their enemy from there—far from home and far from their loved ones. It was what they had to do.
“The lair looks…empty now,” Dace grunted.
“Nothing but a conference room with a few stray laptops that connect to those screens on the wall. Everything else has been moved to the vault. City will be running things from up there.”
Liam was referring to a hidden floor in the Watermark Tower. The top level of the building just below the rooftop garden was a hidden floor that could only be accessed by code. And that’s if you knew where the button was outside the elevator on specific floors.
They’d been raided once before by the FBI when a senator was murdered, and Luke’s now wife was the only eyewitness under the brothers’ protection. The culprit had a dirty general and FBI director in their back pocket—all now dead—and put pressure on the brothers to turn her over. The FBI spent an entire day searching the building without knowing about that hidden floor, hence its name, the vault.
“Are Ivy and Cash settled in the vault too?” Eli asked Dace.
“I moved them up there as soon as her name came up over at Rip’s shop. I just got them back, so I’m not taking any chances.”
“I wouldn’t either, mate.” Eli had a special interest in Ivy and Cash as he’d been with them all their years on the run. They were his family as much as they were Dace’s. At least in his eyes.
“As far as anyone knows, Ivy and Cash are with me. We took some time away to make up for lost time,” Dace shared. “We have a lot of lost years to make up for. When we don’t show up anywhere, everyone will act concerned and play the game.”
“This is insane.” Wylie squeezed his forehead. “Every bit of it.”
“It’s what we have to do to keep all of them safe.”
“Pfft. Who would have thought the best way to keep our family safe would be to leave them? Look at who we are. Look at what we do. Yet us being here is no longer safe for them. I didn’t see this day coming.”
Declan grabbed his bag and moved toward the door. “None of us did, little brother. None of us did.”
Luke shook his head in disbelief, following his brothers’ lead. “Let’s get out of here. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we figure out who is behind this and stop the bleeding.”
“And the sooner we find Eva,” Wylie echoed.
8
“Liam said not to stray from the route, man,” Mercy reminded Wylie.
Wylie didn’t look up from the laptop. “We aren’t that far out of the way, and we’re staying off the main roads. We’re fine…I’m watching the route on the map. No cameras.”
It was getting dark and hard to see. Mercy and Wylie had been on the road for several hours and were behind schedule.
“We’re getting in late. You know Liam is watching everyone. If he gives us shit, I’m tossing it all on you.”
“I just wanted to check a few leads, Mercy. Eva’s used those safe houses and that little market before. If you ask me, Liam sent us this way on purpose, knowing I would check them out.”
Mercy chuckled. “However you need to justify it, man. You know I always have your back, but we need to do this by the book. This is some big shit, and going rogue puts everyone at risk.”
Wylie closed his laptop and slipped it back into his bag. “You’re right. Sorry, man. We’re back on the route and made up time with that last shortcut, so we’re only an hour off schedule. We’ll be fine.”
Mercy glanced his way. “Don’t be sorry, Wy. I get it. I’d be just as frustrated if my girl was missing and had nothing to go on but old leads.”
“She’s not my girl, Mercy. Just trying to do right by a team member.”
“Okay.” Mercy’s tone was sarcastic. “Whatever you say. Look, I’m down for whatever as long as it doesn’t put the team at risk. Just keep me in the loop. I got your back. I would just hate to find out she went off the grid on purpose.”
“She wouldn’t. It isn’t like her.” Wylie’s gaze was fixed on the passenger side window. It was dark outside without a single streetlight, so he was staring into nothing. “Unless she was in trouble and either didn’t have time to tell us or was afraid to put us at risk by telling us.”
“I don’t know, man. I like Eva a lot. I think she’s great and a total asset to the team, but let’s not forget she’s still basically running her dad’s cartel. I know it’s so we can dismantle it from the inside out and put it to bed for good, but that’s a lot of power…”
“No,” Wylie hissed. “She isn’t after power. She wants redemption and forgiveness for the shit her dad did over the years. She isn’t like him. Not even a little bit.”
“I don’t know, man. Even good people can change when money and power are in play. You sure she’s really on the right side of this and not playing us? What if she wasn’t dismantling the cartel, and it was really a mission to dismantle our team?”
Wylie turned to Mercy with a snide look. “What would she gain from that? After this long?”
“She’s been helping us take down other cells, right? Maybe we were her way of doing that without a fucking bloodbath. Let us do the dirty work. Her intel from working undercover has allowed us to take down some pretty big players. That has to be good business for the Valdez companies.”
“She has an army at her disposal. A literal army of thugs who have nothing to lose and will do anything she asks without a single hesitation. She doesn’t need us.”
“Okay, Wy. Let me pull a Declan move and play devil’s advocate here. What if we are enemy number one, and she used us to do the dirty work, then set us up to take the fall to get us out of her way? Brother’s Keeper is a big player in this game. How do we know she isn’t the game master?”
“Seriously? Eva?”
“Look. Like I said, I really like the girl, but the timing of all this is pretty strange. You have to admit that at least.”
“You’re right. We’re about to uncover one of the largest government conspiracies ever while locking up some of the world’s most dangerous criminals…cartel and government officials alike while destroying their drugs and weapons game at the same time. Pretty convenient timing.”
“Right, that’s my point. What if she’s been playing in your back pocket all this time when really you’re in hers and you just got too close for comfort?” Mercy didn’t believe everything he was saying, but he also didn’t deny there was logic in his theory.
“Then I guess it means we aren’t as good at this shit as we thought we were.” Wylie tossed his hands in the air and shook his head in disbelief.
“I thought you didn’t trust her anyway. Why are you defending her so hard if you don’t trust her, and she’s not your girl?”
“I didn’t trust her. Not at first. Guess I still kind of don’t.” Wylie played it off because the last thing he was going to do during the final miles of day one on the road was dig into emotions.
“You have feelings for her?”
“Not even close. Not in the way you’re implying anyway.”
Mercy rolled his eyes and laughed. “Okay, big guy. Whatever you say. I see feelings all over this. What happened between you two? Why are the guys always pairing you up and giving you shit?”
“Because they know it pisses me off. She played us to get in with us. Sure, it ended up working out because it gave us Esteban Valdez and his entire cartel, but still. It was fucked up how she went about it.”
“You mean she played you. That’s what I’m hearing.”
“Maybe. She did flirt and lead me on a little, but it was just a distraction to get what she was really after.”
“And what was that? You?” Mercy laughed.
“No, to get in with the team. She needed help to do whatever she was going to do.”
“Right.”
Mercy guffawed. “She looks at you the way she does because she needs help still. Got it.”
“She doesn’t look at me like anything,” Wylie defended. “I had a bad relationship, okay? Is that what you want to hear? You really want to get into this? My girl used me, played me, then cheated on me. There was a pattern. Eva ticked all the same boxes. I saw the red flags, okay? There’s no future for us.”
“That’s it? You had a bad experience with someone else, and it’s Eva’s fault? Man, you really are in denial.” Mercy dropped his voice and muttered, “You two argue like an old married couple. No future, my ass.”
Wylie didn’t even believe his own words. He didn’t want to care about Eva or see a future with her, but no matter how hard he wanted to subscribe to the idea that she wasn’t for him, he couldn’t get on board with it. Eva was on his mind and in his heart, and the longer she was gone, the more present she was. There was no denying that.
Despite coming to terms with those feelings, Wylie still knew there wasn’t anything there for them. That pattern he’d mentioned was ever present where Eva was concerned, but he wasn’t willing to take a risk. Not again. He cared enough to find her and bring her to safety, but it would have to begin and end there for them. At least that’s what he told himself.
Mercy finally broke the silence. “Dude, you know that holding a grudge against Eva for something someone else did to you kind of makes you an asshole, right?”
“She’s an asshole,” Wylie quickly fired back, seeming offended. “She lied to me, led me on. She didn’t want me; she wanted in with my family and our company. She had a fucking agenda and needed us.”
“Sounds like some deep-rooted shit you need to let go of before you find her. It’ll just make it harder when you find your girl.”
“Dammit, Mercy. She isn’t my girl!”
“Riiight. And I’m not a handsome son of a bitch,” Mercy said as he stroked his chin and looked in the mirror and laughed.
Mercy’s words danced through Wylie’s head, distracting him. Could this become a case of their greatest ally becoming their biggest enemy pitting the brothers against each other? Making fools of them and hoping they’d make the right, perfectly calculated mistakes leading them straight for arrest? Was she really trying to get them out of the way? But for what?
Wylie didn’t doubt that Eva most definitely played into all of this. She was a major factor, but not in the sense Mercy was implying. Believable? Sure. If it were someone else. Something else was at play where she was concerned, and she was no more responsible for the conspiracy at hand than he was.
Though Mercy had valid points about Eva and her potential motives and whereabouts, he couldn’t help by mentally dispute every one of them. Despite how he felt about her personally, it just wasn’t in her character to orchestrate such an ordeal. She may not be the woman for him, but she also wasn’t a crooked criminal mastermind. He’d bet his life on that, even if no one else would.
She was as much a victim and in danger as the rest of the team, maybe even more so, given the length of time she’d been missing. Eva had the same worry the rest of them did. Their company was under attack. But she had so much more on the line because of her cartel ties. If they found out who she really was and that she was systematically taking every single one of them down…she could already be dead.
When they reached the safe house a few hours earlier, they checked in with the rest of the teams. Everyone had made it to their destinations. Everyone was safe for now. Tomorrow would be another day on the road to another safe house before they each landed in Stoneridge, Montana, one team at a time so as not to draw attention of any kind.
Wylie wouldn’t be making that trip, though. He was on a different mission. Mercy knew the way, it was his family ranch after all, and they were supposed to arrive first. Mercy could handle himself now that Wylie saw him through the toughest part of their route.
When Mercy was finally asleep, Wylie grabbed his bag and left. He had an idea where Eva could be. It was a long shot and strictly a hunch, but it made sense. If she was there, great. He’d get her to the ranch, and all would be fine. If not, he’d figure out his next move.
Mercy had been right. It wasn’t fair to put everyone at risk, so he went on foot, headed back to one of the locations they’d checked out on their way there. He hadn’t had Mercy travel to the last one in hopes of finding Eva. It was to ensure he still had a vehicle stashed and an arsenal at his disposal. It was a long walk, but he’d make it before morning.
Then…he’d find Eva.
9
He didn’t know the men, but he recognized them from Eva’s organization. Dressed in suits, they looked a little out of place, given where they were. Wylie didn’t know exactly where to look for Eva, but he knew this town was a clue, at the very least. Seems he was right if these guys were here too.
He was in a small town in New Mexico. It wasn’t the place you heard of unless you knew someone. The tourists were mostly locals who used it as a weekend getaway to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. It was quaint, rustic, and maybe a little dirty aesthetically, but that was a part of the charm.
The buildings had stucco finishes and terracotta tile in pink, mint green, and yellow. They had an ethnic vibe that matched the aroma that smothered the air as he followed the suspicious men down the brick street, sans sidewalks, as Latin music played. It was a long narrow road of eatery after eatery, each having full patio tables in front, and only the occasional delivery vehicle made its way down the single-lane road. If he didn’t already know where he was, he’d imagine he was in a small Mexican village, despite the signs on the doors that told him there were more Latin cultures than just one.
Ducking into narrow alleyways and under porch fronts, Wylie kept a safe distance with his hat pulled down low and sunglasses in place as his only disguise. Any more or any less and he would stand out, much like the men in the suits did as they drew attention from storekeepers and tourists alike.
They were looking for something. The question was, were they looking for Eva? Or were they looking for threats to Eva because she was somewhere in this small stretch of the town? Either way, they appeared to be hunting. What they were hunting was the question. He continued to follow, certain his answer was forthcoming.
As they neared the final few blocks, Wylie ducked into a doorway to watch them. If they were to backtrack, he needed a quick and easy place to shelter as they passed before he could tail them again. They were sloppy because they didn’t even know they were being followed. Which also made them cocky. Eva wouldn’t stand for that, and it seemed his question was now answered. They weren’t there with her. They were there for her. That meant she was alive or at least believed to be.
The suits alone were a mistake. Their demeanor, their swagger, the holstered weapons under their jackets that were clearly displayed stood out like a neon sign that set off alarms and sent up red flags. Each of them had their hands tucked in their pants pockets in such a way it pushed back their suit coats like they were opening a curtain to mischief. They carried themselves with a faux confidence that appeared to command respect and fear, but all it did was reek of menace and promised certain havoc.
They were hunting all right. Hunting Eva. Maybe even hunting him or his brothers, that was yet to be determined. An old woman had come outside to sweep the bricks in front of her taqueria as they passed the first time, and as they passed her a second time when they circled back, she stopped. She was watching them, made eye contact even. The unspoken message she sent them was one of warning, and though it may have been lost on them, it wasn’t lost on Wylie.
The two men continued down the street and disappeared in the distance, but Wylie didn’t follow. He was more interested in the weathered old woman who had her sights on him. It was a long look, but after a few breaths, she nodded his way, then went inside with her broom. Wylie read into that as an invitation. Whether he was right or wrong would soon be known, but that woman knew something. And she k
new why he was there. He felt it to his core.
Before he checked out the small restaurant, he wanted to make sure the two unwelcome visitors were gone. He followed the direction they went, prepared for anything. If Eva was here, he knew where. Or at least someone who would lead him right to her. Before that, he needed to make sure it was safe to do so.
It didn’t take long to find them. They were on the edge of town, sitting in a car pulled up to another vehicle. He didn’t recognize the two men in the other vehicle. From a safe distance, he watched. The men seemed to be arguing about something, but they were too far away for him to hear. Interesting. They definitely weren’t here on Eva’s behalf. They were here to cause trouble, and he’d see to it that they didn’t have the chance.
When the cars left, each going in separate directions out of town, he doubled back to the small taqueria where he’d seen the mysterious old woman. From across the street, he waited and watched to make sure he wasn’t drawing any unwanted attention in the event any undesirables were still in the area.
Just as the streets seemed clear of anything worrisome, the shop's blinds were turned open, and the old woman could be seen in the window. Again, her sights were set on Wylie. She knew he was there and had likely been watching him. She left the window, and that’s when he made his way across the street and into the shop.
“Tacos,” he said, reading the menu. “You got tacos?”
“Yes.” It was clear by her heavy accented tone that she was not impressed with Wylie. “We have…tacos.”
“Excellent. I’ll take a platter of them…carne asada. You got that?” he asked, and the woman nodded. “I’ll take beans and rice with that, and I’ll try that horchata over there. Looks good.”
The woman stared back at him, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. He’d made her angry, or maybe she was sizing him up.
“Uh, everything okay?” Wylie looked at the cash register, then back at her as she just stood there staring at him with a blank expression. He grabbed his wallet from his back pocket. “How much will that be?”
Brother's Keeper V: Wylie (the complete series BOX SET): NEW RELEASE + Series Box SET included! Page 121
