Page 55 of Brutal Heir

Ring.

The sound fills the kitchen. I tap my foot impatiently, the sharp sound echoing off the tile floor. The lock on the gate is a four-digit tumbler. Did she forget the combination?

Ring.

Maybe she’s on another call. Something could’ve happenedat the ranch. But I’m assuming I would’ve heard about it by now.

Ring.

The tension inside me coils as tight as a spring.

Okay. That’s it.Somethings wrong. The tension releases, as if my body thinks it’s finally gotten the message through.

I head over and grab my gun belt with one hand, the other still holding my phone to my ear. Then she picks up the line, and I stop in my tracks.

“Que paso, pendejo.”

The sound of my own blood rushing in my ears drowns out everything. I haven’t heard that voice since I left Mexico, but I recognize it immediately.

“Alvaro. What the fuck are you doing on this phone?”

My half-brother has no business being on the side of the border. That river is our line in the sand, the fence that divides us. He stays on that side; I stay on this side. And everyone lives their lives.

“I came to see the lady guard,” he says, as if it’s an everyday conversation. “Now I come to find out she’s yourputa.”

Anger tears through my chest. I grip the phone so hard I’m going to crack the screen.

My mind races. Where’s Sage? “What the fuck do you want with her?” I demand.

“I came to collect. Yourputacost me a lot of money.”

What did she get herself tangled up in? My mind races as I try to think of a way to get her out of this mess.

“How’s that?”

“She called inla migra.”

Oh fuck.

“And they rounded up the whole group, along with the coyote and the mules.”

But Sage was just doing her job. “When was this?”

“Yesterday”

Not last night. Not this morning. I think back to where she was. Laredo. So she would have been coming or going, and she couldn’t have seen them at the ranch.

“Well, if they were stupid enough to get seen, then that’s on you. They shouldn’t have been coming in in broad daylight. And they shouldn’t have had anything with them,” I remind him.

“Fuck you, asshole.” The cold edge on his voice says my goading hit the mark. “She cost me a lot of money. I have people looking for me.”

That shouldn’t surprise me. His mother’s side has always been more interested in money than actual business. But that leaves me in a bad spot. I need to get Sage away from him as quickly as possible.

“Let her go, and I’ll get you your money.”

He laughs into the phone, and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. He knows as well as I do that this isn’t gonna end well.

“It’s a million, five, little brother.” He laughs, knowing I overplayed my hand. “You bring me my money, and I might just let her live.” Then he hits the button to end the line.

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