“Looks like Jade must be traveling. We’ve got our other guys in North Carolina waiting for word to move.” Pierce points to the screen, but my eyes zone in on her flashing dot. That’s right, baby, get your ass to that ranch.
“I discovered a little something, or should I say, our handy friends down there did.” Pierce turns his head in my direction with remorse and sympathy etched across his face.
“Spill it.” My brows furrow, then I look at the screen, immediately understanding why he’s looking at me the way he is.
“Is that what I think it is?” Kase stands, his big build hovering in front of the screen.
“My god. That’s where they were holding me. Fuck me.” Every damn second of the torture and my brother’s face flash before my eyes when Kase moves out of the way. The shithole structure of a building and that wicked tree are on the screen. Only this time, I can see. Clear as can be. My eyes aren’t half open, and there’s no darkness from the recordings that night. There’s a large structure just behind all of that, half hidden in the trees. He zooms in behind it, and I work to make out what I’m seeing.
“It’s fucking cages. The asshole has cages. Are those people?” Shit, I can’t fucking see it zoomed in that far.
“Give me a second.” I listen to Pierce tap on the keyboard and freeze when the image comes back up. I hear my team moan, and I want to kill that motherfucker.
“Scan the whole area.” I need to see everything. He moves across the metal building, and I can see a few trucks in the back, probably loading something up. “What’s the time stamp on this satellite image, Pierce?”
“Three days ago.” Fuck. He continues to scan the area, only to show us the tops of the buildings and the surrounding fields.
“That has to be his hiding place for god knows what, and it’s surrounded by a motherfucking poppy plantation. The flowers are everywhere.” I can’t stand how close I was to this shit. Who knows who he has caged up, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let them be there much longer. “Get this information to the Mexican police contact we have. Fuck. I can’t believe he’s involved in all of this.”
“We walked right past that shit,” Jackson speaks up.
“Yeah, well, at the time, this wasn’t our priority,” Kase says, pointing at the screen.
“No. It wasn’t. I can say this though. If I had known that shit was there, I would’ve taken care of those cages before I torched that motherfucking structure to the ground. Jesus Christ, man, you good with this, brother? You sure you can handle this?” Kase tilts his head down and looks me directly in the eyes.
I don’t need to sit here and contemplate my answer. I’ve had weeks to think about when and how I would destroy Ty. Years, really, when it comes down to it. He just topped off my feelings for him when he chose to brutalize me, leaving parts of my body scarred for life. He’s hurt our mom in a way she’ll never recover from, then calling her like he’s coming for a fucking visit when he’s a damn monster now. Goddamn right, I’m ready.
“I’m good. Let's figure this shit out. I told Jade I’d take her away on a vacation one day, and that’s a promise I intend to keep.” I don’t lead them to believe anything other than that Jade and I are perfect right now. They don’t need to know the deepest parts of my gut worry about her once I get back to her.
I stand up along with my brothers, while Kase pulls up all the information he was given on Fernando. I just hope to god I can come face-to-face with Ty and watch his expression as we crumble his fucking world.
I can hardly stay focused. All I see is drugs, guns, illegal immigrants, sex slavery. Every damn thing our country fights to stay free of. Newspaper clippings, possible sightings of this notorious man who seems to be moving from one location to another.
They’ve been after my brother for several years. And it’s no wonder I had no clue or never once saw his face in any news article or television report. In every photo, his head is down or turned away. But it’s him. I’d know his voice and his posture anywhere. He’s been hiding his identity when he has to step out.
How in the hell could he go from a drug user to one of the biggest smugglers of everything illegal like this? I’m floored. This cuts deep. So fucking deep I can hardly breathe, knowing I share the same blood as this man.