22
ANTHONY
Since driving back to the city would have taken too long, they spent the night in the eerie Mitchells’ house. Anthony’s sleep had been shallow and restless, as if the house didn't want him there. Shortly after waking up, they hit the road with the sun rising behind the faraway hills, heading toward what Google claimed was an abandoned amusement park from the late 1990s. It was a few hours drive, but close to Ethan and Chris’s old college. They hadn’t found any other reasonable option to go check.
Anthony kept his skepticism private about basing their search on something Chris had briefly mentioned to Ethan. They had no way of knowing if that house was still owned by the Mitchells. Chris had been in college when they took him there.
“I should call Mickey,” Ethan said from the passenger seat.
Anthony glanced at his watch. It was not even seven in the morning, but Mickey seemed like an early bird.
Ethan made the call from the speaker, and Mickey sounded wide awake when he picked up. “Any news?”
“They weren’t in the Mitchells’ house,” Ethan said. “The place is a mess on the inside, and it doesn’t look like anyone has been there for a while.”
“Did you find any clues?”
“No, but I remembered something Chris had told me a while back about the Mitchells owning another house. It’s supposed to be next to an abandoned amusement park, and I think it should be close to our old college. Anthony and I searched online and found a place that fits the description. We’re driving there now.”
“Interesting,” Mickey said. “I haven’t thought to check if another property was listed in the family’s name. Let me wake up some people to look into this. You can’t go knocking on every house in the area.”
“That’s exactly what we’ll do if we have to, but please try to get us an address.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
The call ended, and Ethan said, “He’s right, though. We can’t go knocking from door-to-door.”
“Jehovah’s Witnesses do that all the time.”
Ethan chuckled. “True.”
“At least from the map, it doesn’t look like many people live around that area. We can show them the photos of the brothers we found.”
“You’re right. It will be okay.”
Anthony chose not to mention that earlier, he had checked Trevor’s Facebook profile and saw a new check-in update from Florida, this time from South Beach. He hoped it meant they weren’t yet done with their plan for Chris.
But that left Jay.
The brothers had no reason to keep him alive. Hell, he was a risk they’d be smart to get rid of. And since Dima had been the one to capture Jay, would he be the one to kill him?
Anthony’s blood began to warm. He had never been more eager to hurt someone. If he couldn’t keep Dima as part of his past, he would need to keep him away from his future. There was no way in hell that he would let him get away with what he’d done.
“Slow down, Ant.”
“What? Oh.” He hadn’t noticed pressing down on the pedal.
“I want to call Melissa,” Ethan said, sounding like he wanted to do anything but that. “I just don’t know what to say.”
“Say that we’re still looking for Chris.”
“And when she asks how we know where to look?” Ethan lowered the window, letting cool air into the car. “She’ll know we’re keeping secrets from her.”
“Maybe Chris told her about the house we’re looking for?”
“You think?”
“Not really.” Anthony had gotten the impression that Chris kept Melissa out of his family history, so why would he mention something like that?
“I keep thinking of those photos I found of him,” Ethan said quietly. “The more I discover about his past, the sicker I feel. He warned me about asking questions, and now I know why.”
Anthony shifted uneasily, flashes of those disturbing images blinking in his mind. He couldn’t begin to imagine how hard Chris must have fought to escape his past, both physically and mentally. When Anthony first met him, it must have been around a year after he had left the Mitchells. So many things about his odd behavior now shone in a different light.
They kept driving in silence, the world around them green and peaceful. A little past eight, Anthony got a message from Oscar, asking for an update and letting them know he hadn’t yet heard from Dima.
“I wonder what the brothers promised him,” Ethan said after texting back. “It must have been a lot of money if he double-crossed Oscar.”
“Dima was loyal to Tobias, so I don’t think he could be loyal to the man who’d shot him.” Anthony shook his head in frustration. “I can’t believe that Chris was desperate enough to accept him as a bodyguard. He should have told you and me about it.”
“You know he hates asking for help. Ever since I met him, he’d rather go through any possible option before showing weakness.”
“But this is different.”
“I know. Once we get him back, I’ll let him have it.”
Anthony glanced uneasily at Ethan. Ever since they found out that Chris had been kidnapped, Ethan had been saying “Once we get him back,” as if there wasn’t an alternative outcome. Despite his hopes and prayers, Anthony knew they may have already been too late.
They passed through Newtown, close to Ethan and Chris’s old college, and not far from where Anthony’s parents still lived.
“I love this town,” Ethan said.
“Me too.” It had been where the four of them first met, around the same time Anthony had started accepting truths about his real desires.
Ethan turned to him. “Remember the day you and I met?”
“Nope.”
“Liar.”
Anthony smiled, sweet memories resurfacing. “It was in your dorm. I came to fix some things, and you asked for my help with your rocky desk. You were very nice.”
“Just nice?”
“And handsome.”
“That’s better. Then Chris joined us.”
Anthony remembered that moment well, how he had stopped breathing at the sight of that gorgeous man—barely more than a boy—entering the room. He had sized up Anthony with the bluest of eyes.
“He didn’t like me,” Anthony said. “He looked at me like an intruder.”
“He was like that with everyone.”
“Even with Jay?”
Ethan laughed. “The first time we met Jay, Chris acted like he might stab us, although Jay was super nice and let me try every beer they had.”
“It was your birthday, right?”
“Yep. And after we all hung out a few times, I found out that Chris had gone to talk to Jay about me.”
“Oh no. What happened?”
“Chris warned him that if he’d ever hurt me, he would, and I quote, ‘take him down.’”
Anthony whistled, struggling to picture skinny Chris threatening Jay. The balls it must have taken. “He seriously told him that?”
“He did, and Jay swore that he believed him. With you it was different, though. You won him over quickly.”
“I have a feeling you had a part in that.”
“No comment.”
They left Newtown behind in favor of a more rural landscape. In this part of the country, trees outnumbered people a thousand to one. Although they were using Waze to guide them, Ethan kept checking on Google Maps like the amusement park might vanish.
“Is there anything creepier than an abandoned amusement park?” Ethan showed Anthony a photo of a rusty carousel that seemed out of a nightmare, the horses deformed.
“Is that where we’re heading?”
“Yes, but hopefully we won’t need to get inside.”
Waze confirmed that they were getting closer to their destination.
“It’s unlikely we’ll find the right house immediately,” Anthony said. “I’ll park next to the first one, and we can move by foot from there if it's not too far.”
“Okay.” Ethan leaned forward. “Look over there.”
“Where? Oh, I see it.”
Above the faraway trees, the top of a Ferris wheel appeared.
Anthony drove faster.