Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
He’s right. He is family, but I’m no fool. He’s dirty, the kind of dirty that either infects everyone around him or kills them. He reaches for his gun, and I grab it, tossing it aside. I’m about to cuff him when someone grabs me from behind, and I quickly realize it’s Trevor. Kasey scrambles for his gun and aims it at me, giving me little option but to choose him or me.
“The rain stopped,” Ana says beside me, snapping me back to the present. “Let’s hope it stays that way. We’re close, and we need a clear line of sight.”
“About fifteen minutes out,” I agree, but I’m still struggling to snap out of that memory that I know has something to do with the present. I just want to know what, though.
“Have you ever been to his place?” she asks.
“Jake sent me pictures after he bought it,” I say. “But no, I’ve never seen it in person. I just know that he wanted to run those missions to buy a big place on acres of land close to his daughter.”
“God, his daughter,” she murmurs. “I dread telling her he’s gone.”
“Me too,” I agree softly, guilt stabbing at me. I should never have allowed unanswered questions about Kasey’s intentions that night to remain. I, of all people, know that loose ends always equal dead ends. Jake was supposed to retire a wealthy, happy man. We all were. I had a plan, a good one, too.
I exited the military with a couple of jobs already lined up and ready to pay, and a goal in mind: to do what I’d already been doing for the government but actually get myself and a team paid. A short-term in-and-out kind of deal. What I didn’t have was a big enough crew. That’s where Kurt came into play. He hooked me up with the right men, at the right time. The money followed. Why Kasey felt he had to run another mission, I don’t know. How long he did so, I don’t know, either. I’ve never understood it.
We all got rich. Jake got his place in Estes Park. I bought Ana a hell of a ring, and secretly bought her the dream ranch with horses she craved, which had been meant to be a wedding gift. Kasey made big money, too. The real issue burning a hole in my head is where did Kasey’s money go if not to Ana?
“We’re going to be expected,” I say. “You know that, right?”
“Of course, we will,” she replies. “It’s plan B if the first trap didn’t work.”
I turn us down a dirt road. “We’ll have to hike a few miles and approach on foot.”
“Agreed,” she says.
A few minutes later, I pull up between a couple of trees and park, the long branches and the dark night, sheltering our location. “Ready?” I ask.
“Of course, I’m ready. You know I’m always ready. However, I have to admit that I’m a bit surprised you brought me along for this. Why did you?”
“We both need answers and closure, and I learned the bloody hard way that my word isn’t enough for you.”
“Luke—”
“Sweetheart, I am Lucifer. And you better bet these motherfuckers are going to find that out before this is over. Let’s go.” I open the door and get out.
Chapter Seventeen
LUCIFER
They say it’s hot in hell, but “they” must not have visited the high altitude of the Colorado mountains on a rainy, starless night.
Ana and I move through the forest in silence, barely a twig popping, a true testament to the wet ground and our training. When finally, we round a mountain top and find coverage inside a line of trees, it’s only to find Jake’s place dark, not a light on in sight.
“Unnaturally dark,” Ana whispers. “He would have had on at least one light when they attacked him, and he wasn’t alive to turn anything off.”
“Agreed,” I say, and this only serves to confirm what I warned her about in the car. This is a trap.
“Should we wait until dawn?” she asks. “We’re almost there.”
“I don’t think there’s a good answer to either waiting or going now.”
“Let me call in law enforcement. They’ll light up the place and find the body. With my badge and a claim that you’re a consultant, it will allow us full access.”
“And what happens when they start shooting at the small-town police?”
“That would start a manhunt. Do you honestly think whoever this is has proven to be that stupid?”
“The police will make this complicated.”
“My badge says otherwise. Let’s make the call.”
“And if someone is working against you inside the FBI, even beyond Darius?”
“I won’t call it in to my boss, not now. Not until we’re gone, and I have a protected line.”
I hand her my cell. “Use mine for the local call, and later to call your boss. My team scrambles our lines. They’re not traceable.”