Chapter Thirty
SEBASTIAN
I’m staring at barbed-wire fence with a sign that says “Trespassers will be shot on sight.” Lovely.
“FBI should be on their way soon,” Brennan says beside me. “So we need to be in and out quickly.”
“Who called the FBI?”
“I did,” Brennan says. “I know a guy out of the Orlando office. He agreed to give us some lead time. But this shit is bigger than us. We’ve got people being transported across state lines and out of the fucking country, for fuck’s sake.”
I’m thinking the movies aren’t the only reason for Simon’s love of swearing.
I turn to take the night vision binoculars he’s holding out to me. “This place is huge. Where are we even supposed to look?”
Simon’s brother steps up on the other side of Brennan, pointing toward a thick stand of trees.
“There’s a partially damaged section of fence down that way, it’s easier to climb over.
That’s how I got out before. I doubt it’s been fixed yet.
The area around there is also pretty swampy, so it’s tough to take the horses through when they’re checking the perimeter.
There’s still a row of wire along the bottom, so it’s easy to trip.
I’m still a little worried I caught something nasty tromping through there. ”
“Gators?” I ask.
“I didn’t see any. But…” He shrugs.
Yeah. It’s Florida.
Another car pulls up behind mine and Brennan’s. A dark SUV. Looks like a Mercedes. Out jump three guys in camo cargo pants and dark tank tops. Two have light skin, but they’ve covered a significant portion in what looks like war paint.
Liam’s team was chasing a lead on the missing kids, so he could only send a few guys. I guess these are them.
“Why are these guys dressed up like we’re trying to pick off enemy combatants in the jungle?”
Brennan answers for me as he pulls a mask over his face.
“Junior here says our guy is most likely at one of a couple of abandoned barns on the far side of the property. A lot of the land is cleared, meaning we aren’t going to have good cover.
We’ll need to stick to the trees, and when we run out of trees we want to stick out as little as possible.
When you’re as pale as me, you learn even a little moonlight draws attention. ”
“Is it really that serious?”
Gabe nods. “I grew up hearing about the evils of the outside world and the need to protect ourselves against it. People here take that very seriously.”
For a moment I examine Simon’s brother. A bit slimmer, a bit taller, but the same intelligent eyes and baby face. “What changed your mind?”
“A little bit of exposure to the outside world. A lot of realizing I was as gay as my brother, and that no amount of praying was going to change me. Plus, I eventually realized that this place—” He nods his head toward the expanse of farmland stretched out before us.
“—isn’t everything it seems. I’m quiet. People tend not to pay attention to me or notice when I’m around.
Over the last few years I witnessed the leader of our community cheat on his wife.
I saw the elders here had plenty of food and firewood while others went without.
I saw my best friend shoved into a van against his will and driven away. ”
God. This kid’s probably got miles of trauma from that alone. “Does Simon know?”
He shakes his head.
“You should tell him.”
Gabe nods again. “Eventually. He’s already way too worried about me. Right now I just want him back.”
“Incoming,” Brennan warns.
We all duck into the trees as the headlights of a white van speed past us.
“Is that the same vehicle?”
Simon’s brother swallows audibly beside me. “It’s ours. Or rather, it belongs to our pastor. Last time I saw it here, the person driving it wasn’t one of our members. So I guess the no-outsiders rule only applies when you’re not the guy running things.”
Even in the scant moonlight I can read bitterness all over Gabe’s face. Not that I can blame him.
We all track the path of the van as it heads up a side road, far too quickly to be safe around the curves in the road. It bypasses the path that leads to where the houses are and disappears into a stand of trees.
“Other than the barns, what’s on the back side of the property?”
Simon’s brother shakes his head. “A pond. Grazing land. The barns are the main thing.”
Shouting rings out in the distance.
Brennan pulls out a handgun. “OK. Fuck what I said about stealth, get in the cars. Let’s go before we miss our window.”
“What if they shoot at us?” Simon’s brother asks.
Brennan’s grin is sinister in the moonlight. “Then you shoot back.”
“Fair enough.” The kid pulls out a shotgun I hadn’t noticed him holding and grips it tight. Then he nudges me with his elbow. “I’m riding with you.”
We pile into vehicles, with me leading because Simon’s brother is the only one who knows exactly where to go.
When we come upon a couple of old wooden structures, the white van is parked outside the first one with its engine running and headlights blazing, but nobody appears to be behind the wheel. There’s yelling coming from inside the barn.
We climb out to approach on foot. I’ve parked right behind the van to make it a little harder for them to leave. Beside me, Simon’s brother releases a shaky breath.
“Our father found Simon out here when I was a kid,” he says.
“I didn’t entirely understand what was happening, just that Simon was in trouble for breaking the rules.
I overheard he’d been caught here with another boy.
They’d been doing sex stuff, I guess. Whoever it was left Simon tied up and ran away.
My father ended up whipping Simon so much…
Well, I didn’t see all of it, but there was an awful lot of blood on the ground.
By the time Mother and the rest of us made it here from the house, Simon was gone, and our father was dead on the ground.
It was…” He shakes his head and doesn’t finish. Doesn’t need to.
It explains a lot. I’m furious for Simon. If I could, I’d kill his father for him all over again.
The door to the barn flies open and out comes Simon with his hands behind his back. Walking behind him, with a gun in his hand, is: “Tony?”
Tony’s surprise causes a slight hitch in his step before he hooks his elbow around Simon’s upper arm and then presses the gun harder to his head.
Just like that, I’m ready to promise that asshole anything. As long as he doesn’t hurt Simon.
“What are you doing, Tony?”
I know what he’s doing. I want to hear him say it out loud.
Tony smiles the same smile he uses when he thinks he’s gotten a really good idea. This time, though? What he’s in for is a world of hurt.
“Really, Sebastian? You’re here for the whore? You’ll stay at your office every night until midnight, you kick me out when I get lonely and hire company, but you put aside your precious company to come searching for him?”
I take a long, slow breath, and I’m amazed when I exhale that I don’t actually breathe fire. “Tony, you don’t want to do this.”
“Oh, I think I do.”
Do I want to shoot Tony? No. We were friends once. Will I do what’s necessary to protect Simon? Yes.
“I was working long hours because some sack of shit kept kidnapping my clients and I was trying to figure out what was going on. I questioned every single employee. Took me way longer than it should have to consider the possibility of you being the rotten apple.”
Now that I realize, it makes sense. Before we had office space, I ran the business out of my condo. Tony would’ve had access to my electronics, our client roster. He must have figured out my passwords somehow.
Tony laughs. “You have no fucking clue. This whole operation started up without me. I just happened to luck into a conversation with one of the guys involved and found a way to be useful.”
“Really not something to be proud of, Tony.”
“Hey, fuck you. You gave me a shitty allowance for marrying you and now you want me to sign away my rights so you can make millions.”
In spite of his predicament, Simon scoffs. “You know how many people would kill for the kind of money you were wasting?”
“You could have said no, Tony,” I add.
Tony shakes his head. “You wouldn’t understand. You weren’t raised the way I was. We lost everything. My father fucking killed himself when we went broke. My mom got sick.”
“Yes, I paid her medical bills.”
“And I was just supposed to roll over and be grateful?”
“Fuck yeah, you were.” Simon rolls his eyes.
“Shut the fuck up,” Tony growls.
I realize Simon’s brother is no longer beside me. Then I hear the pump of a shotgun. “I think you better stop, Pastor.”
Simon’s brother is aiming at a man who had been skirting the outside of the barn, keeping to the shadows. He’s young, probably about my age, and he’d even be handsome if he didn’t look so murderous.
“Who the hell is this?”
“Our new pastor,” Simon’s brother murmurs. “The one who’s been dealing out the back door for more money while the rest of us struggle.”
“And my ex,” Simon adds.
I glance between Tony and Simon’s ex, not sure who’s the bigger threat.
Tony pipes up. “The smart thing to do here is to walk away, Bas.”
As if Tony’s ever known what was smart. “The smart thing to do is let Simon go. You know damn well that blaming me for your problems is bullshit. I tried to help you.”
“Never went out of your way like you did for this guy, though.” Tony digs the gun into Simon’s temple.
My body goes rigid. “Don’t you dare hurt him, Tony.”
Nobody’s allowed to hurt Simon except me.
“You piece of shit motherfuc—”
Somewhere behind us, a shot rings out. Simon takes advantage of the distraction and stomps on Tony’s stupid leather loafers, causing him to loosen his grip. Who wears loafers on a damn farm? When Tony loses his footing, Simon twists out of his grip.
That’s when I shoot.
There’s no time to process what I’ve just done. Behind us, light explodes, and more shots are fired. One of those shots comes from Simon’s brother, but it doesn’t hit his target. There’s a flash of movement as their cowardly pastor disappears into the trees.
Tony’s on the ground, bleeding. Next to him is the blue wallet I’d given him. It’s covered in blood now.
“Feds are on their way,” Brennan warns. “Better get out of here.”
I grab Simon’s hand and shout for his brother. “Come on. We need to get the fuck out of here.” Brennan’s right. Things will be much more complicated once the authorities arrive.
Two of Brennan’s guys are herding another bound man out of the other barn. Liam’s team is pulling another one from the back of the white van.
“Go,” Liam says. “We’ll take care of this.”
So I get Simon and Gabe into the car and get the hell out.