Page 2 of On the Double

“Please!” the man shouted, his hands grasping at my own, trying desperately to get away from me.

As I approached the stake, a lump formed in my throat. My steps slowed and I wasn’t sure I could keep going. My father stepped out from the crowd, his gaze settling on the man I was dragging behind me. I walked through the ash around the stake, tossing the man on the ground. Rafe’s body was no longer here, but I would find him and take him home.

“Is that the fucker?” my dad asked.

“One of them. String him up,” I said, not bothering to give anyone a direct order. I knew they were all just as willing to see this man pay.

Jack and Johnny stepped forward, grabbing the man at my feet, while IRIS got to work with Jason on rebuilding the fire around the stake. The fucker cried as he was tied up, begging for someone to savehis life. I bit back the tears threatening to fall, knowing Rafe didn’t beg or cry. He was strong to the end.

IRIS walked over to me, handing me the matches. “It’s all yours. I only used accelerant on the outer logs. It’ll take a while for him to burn.”

“Good.” I struck the match against the box and watched the flame for a second. My eyes met the man tied to the stake. He looked at me, his eyes pleading with me as snot dripped down his face. His whole fucking body shook in fear for what was coming. It would be painful.

I dropped the match and watched as the flames whooshed to life. They crawled up the logs at his feet, licking at his shoes. He tried to move, but was tied at the ankles. I listened for what felt like hours as the fire spread up his body, slowly burning him alive. His screams were agonizing. I thought maybe I would feel better as I watched him die. Instead, all I felt was an overwhelming guilt and sadness that I hadn’t gotten to my brother in time and that he had suffered in such a horrible way.

As the flames consumed him and his cries died down, I finally turned away, unable to stomach it anymore. My father clasped his hand on my shoulder in commiseration.

“Let’s find him and go home.”

We walked the grounds, searching for the remains of my brother. It took two hours before we finally found him tossed in a shallow grave. I stood beside it, staring down at the burned body that was only partially buried, and prayed it wasn’t actually him. Taking a knee, I carefully removed the dirt from his face.

A choked sob left my lips as I saw the bullet hole in his head—the very one I put there. My hand hovered over his chest before settling over his heart.

“It shouldn’t have been like this,” I whispered. “You were always an asshole, but you were my brother. My twin. We were supposed to keep fighting until we were too old to draw our weapons.”

A tear slipped down my cheek, falling onto my brother’s body. My eyes flicked to the wedding ring on his left hand. Though it was covered in soot, the dull gold was still visible. As carefully as I could, I picked up his hand and removed the wedding ring, knowing Libbywould want it. His finger crumbled as what remained of the tissue slipped away. It took everything in me not to break down in tears.

I removed the chain from around my neck and slid the ring on, letting it fall near my dog tags. Closing my eyes, I prayed that Rafe was at peace, that he was looking down on us and cursing us for crying over his body when he had already moved on. A burst of laughter left my lips as I pictured him rolling his eyes at me for being so fucking dramatic.

“Boss, you okay?” Fox asked.

Nodding, I stood and sniffled back the tears. “Let’s get him wrapped up for transport.”

“On it, boss,” Fox said solemnly, snapping his fingers at one of the guys. Dash walked over with a body bag, laying it on the ground beside Rafe’s body.

“Fox.”

“Yeah, boss?”

“I think we should have some shawarma when we get home.”

“Uh…don’t you think that’s a little…insensitive?”

I smirked at him. “Rafe would fucking love it.”

I thoughtthe hardest part about retrieving my brother’s body would be finding him in that shallow grave. I was wrong. The moment I stepped off the plane and saw Libby waiting for us, I knew nothing would be as hard as seeing the tears spilling down her face. Telling her had been hard. This was fucking brutal.

The back of the cargo plane opened and my men wheeled the casket out. Red and Lock had laid a flag over the top of it, making it even fucking harder than when we loaded him on the plane. His service to this country went above and beyond what any of us had realized. Not only had he toppled The Syndicate, he’d saved oursister’s life, giving his own to ensure she would never live under the thumb of that fucker Zavala ever again.

“Libby,” I croaked out as she walked up to me.

Her lips trembled as her gaze drifted beyond me to where her husband laid.“Is that him?”

I nodded. Just because there was a coffin didn’t mean he was inside. I wanted to reassure her that we brought him home to her. Removing the chain from around my neck, I slid his wedding ring from it and placed it in her hand. She stared down at it, tears spilling down her cheeks and landing on the dull metal.

My chest constricted as I watched her fall apart before me. Pulling her into my arms, I felt her tears soak my shirt. Her whole body shook, and I struggled not to lose it along with her.

“He left me,” she sobbed. Her fists balled up, striking me hard. “He fucking left me!”

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