FIRE (Elite Forces #2)(44)
“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 f*cking cages. The * has cages. Are those people?” Shit, I can’t f*cking 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 motherf*cker.
“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 motherf*cking 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 motherf*cking 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 f*cking 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 f*cking 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 f*cking deep I can hardly breathe, knowing I share the same blood as this man.
I place my head in my hands. Ever since I found out it was him, I’ve been trying to convince myself I wanted to destroy him, hurt him in the same way he’s hurt us. I need to wipe his body from the earth and pretend like he never existed.
I’m a hardass and a man of my word, but somehow, I’m a brother to a man who has committed horrendous crimes I can’t even fathom. He’s my goddamn brother, and no matter how hard I try to convince myself the torture he’s put me through and the half-empty life he’s left my mother to lead gives him reason to die, it still doesn’t settle well with me. The rage I’ve felt for him for everything he’s done still boils in me, but the fact remains… he’s my mother’s son. He’s my brother. I need a damn moment to grieve the fact the boy I knew is already truly dead. This man walking around in his body isn’t the kid I grew up with.
I’ve tried to tell myself he was already dead to us, but seeing his face on this monitor, hearing his voice call out commands, and watch his men deliver his demands creates a whole new array of feelings. I wish I could break through the lies that have become his f*cked-up life, to make him see, just one damn time, that I tried, god only knows I tried. And I failed him.