Page 75 of Christmas with Three Cowboys

“It’s happened since Melissa came along,” Ethan says in a low voice as we cautiously go through the open gates, our eyes constantly scanning everything around us.

“What?”

“This whole getting married and having kids thing.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“Do you think it might work with us? The four of us, I mean, in the long term?”

I give my brother a soft smile. “There’s nothing I want more, to be honest. She’s it for us, isn’t she? Colton certainly feels that way.”

“Me, too,” Ethan replies, his gaze warm as he looks back at me. “The last time he and I agreed on someone coming into our lives forever, it was with you. The night Sammy rescued you, remember?”

“Yeah, you two were weirdly close,” I chuckle softly.

Movement on the right side of the storage building makes us veer off to the left and out of anyone’s sight. We’re still for a while, waiting and listening. We here footsteps receding, voices mumbling. Nothing close enough yet, but definitely something. I can’t hear an engine running, so Jake must’ve switched his off.

“We’re twins,” Ethan reminds me. “Our bond—”

“It’s unique. I know. I learned that pretty quickly,” I reply. “But not a day goes by that I’m not grateful for the way your family took me in. You know that, right?”

Ethan nods slowly. “You were meant to be our brother.”

I can barely remember my own family. I see their faces in a handful of photos that survived the fire, but they feel like strangers, distant memories of who they were and what they meant to me. I was a little boy, paralyzed with fear and covered in soot, my hair singed and my clothes half burned when they pulled me out of the house. I still remember the flames, though, with crystal clarity.

That giant orange monster destroyed my home and my entire family. I was too little to understand back then, too young to fully process the grief, the loss. But the Averys took such goodcare of me that the transition was almost natural. One chapter of my life ended, and another began in the blink of an eye.

“Hold on,” Ethan whispers, ears twitching as he listens. He slowly leans around the corner. “Clear, let’s go.”

I follow him as we sneak along the wall, eyes darting everywhere. I’m getting wartime flashbacks aplenty, but this place is quiet, maybe a little too quiet for my taste. Something is going on here. Miller wouldn’t have picked this spot unless he wanted to be out of sight.

“There he is,” I mumble as both Ethan and I spot Miller at the same time as soon as we reach the next corner at the back of the building.

The parking lot is empty, with the exception of two cars: Jake Miller’s Arkansas-registered sedan and a black Escalade. The latter looks familiar. The trunk is open, and there’s movement at the back, but I can’t see much from this angle and this distance.

“That’s a cartel vehicle,” Ethan confirms.

I snap a picture and text the intel to Colton in real time while we continue to survey the parking area.

“He’s out by his car,” Ethan says.

Indeed, Jake leans against the driver’s seat, constantly checking his phone. A guy comes out from behind the Escalade, closing the trunk.

I recognize him from New Year’s Eve.

Jake gives him a stack of cash, which the guy is quick to check and shove into his jacket pocket. At the same time, his other hand comes around and slips something into Jake’s coat pocket.

“It’s an exchange,” I whisper.

“Yeah, but what are they exchanging?” Ethan mumbles. “You know what? Fuck this, let’s find out.”

“What? No—”

Too late.

Ethan takes his semiautomatic Glock out and steps forward. “Not one of you motherfuckers move,” he barks.

“Shit, shit.” I have no choice but to go with him. I take my gun out and point it at Jake and his cartel buddy. “You heard the man. Don’t move.”

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