Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
~CARMINE~
I didn’t plan to go back to Seattle emptyhanded. I’d thought to have Elena with me, this whole mystery solved.
I don’t like being wrong.
I wait on the plane, ready to go home, as the crew goes through their final checks. Using the family jet is convenient since it’s available whenever I want, and I don’t have to adhere to the schedules of commercial flights. I’m anxious to get back to Seattle to continue the search for my cousin.
I won’t rest until she’s home.
“We’re ready for you, sir.”
I nod at the pilot as my phone rings.
“Don’t take off yet. I need to take this call.”
“Yes, sir.”
He disappears into the cockpit as I answer.
“Give me good news.”
“Found him,” Shane says into my ear, coming across as pleased with himself. Shane has always been the quiet one, the least emotive, but he sounds downright chipper right now. “He covered his tracks fairly well for a nobody. But I’m no amateur.”
“Where is he?”
“Oregon,” Shane replies. “Rocco and I are headed there now. I’ll text you the exact location and meet you in a few hours.”
“Good work,” I say as my stomach clenches in anticipation. “Get me that info, and I’ll see you soon.”
I hang up and buzz the pilot.
“We’ve had a change of plans.”
Three hours later, and my brothers and I are in a booth at a diner in Bandon, Oregon.
“Why don’t we just go get her?” Rocco asks.
“Because we don’t know for sure that she’s with him,” I reply. “This could be another wild goose chase. Maybe Archer just happened to buy an investment property here.”
“I have a feeling,” Shane says, slowly shaking his head. “I feel it in my gut. She’s here.”
“We need to stake out his house,” Rocco says. “We’ll see who goes in and comes out.”
“Agreed,” I reply. “And there’s no time like the present. Let’s do this.”
I throw some bills on the table to cover our coffee, and we file out to the rented SUV parked at the curb.
My adrenaline is up as Rocco follows the GPS to the house on the shoreline. We park down the road so we can still see the driveway but also remain inconspicuous.
“No one’s coming in or out without us knowing,” Rocco says as he cuts the engine, and we settle in to wait.
Some stakeouts take minutes. Others, days. We have no way of even knowing if Archer’s in residence right now.
If all of this is for nothing, I’m going to be royally fucking pissed.
But less than an hour later, a white Audi pulls out of the driveway.
“Let’s go.”