Page 66 of Escape You

They were right. I was in this mess for thinking I could handle the cartel situation on my own. Wesley and Matt had marine training and a set of skills that would be very useful dealing with Rossi. With my cover blown, this top-secret mission was no longer in play. The FBI and their big-picture plan could go fuck themselves. My brothers were here, and now we could finally finish what we started in Venezuela months ago.

“Did you talk to Rebecca?”

“Yeah, she mentioned she left New York because Marcel grabbed her. She got away, but barely. She’s safe. The main objective right now is your safety. Your girlfriend told us to get you out of here. She meant business. I don’t care to stick around to find out what would happen to all of us if you don’t leave tonight.”

“Our plane is scheduled for takeoff in two hours. Let’s go. We’ll just tell Mom you’re hungover or something.” Matt glanced around the room, then walked over to the small closet near the bathroom. He grabbed the hospital plastic bag with all my belongings and tossed it on the bed. The T-shirt I’d worn earlier fell out, soaked through with blood. Pam hadn’t put my clothes away for me to wear later. She didn’t want the evidence of what happened to me in her hospital. Worst part was, I was going to have to wear those clothes out.

Matt winced. “Get dressed. We’ll stop by your place and pick up your stuff on the way out. We have time.”

“What? Guys, I’m not going anywhere. Mia needs my help. I’m not just gonna bail. I don’t care what she’s done.”

“Tyler, you can’t possibly think that you and her are a good idea.” Wesley exchanged a look with Matt. How much did they know about Mia and all the shit that had transpired since I came back? “Dom’s pissed that you slept with her. She’s like his little sister. He wants you to keep your distance. Man, be glad we got him to stand down and let us come on our own. You really need to keep it in your pants from now on.”

“I don’t give a shit about what Dom thinks. I’m pretty sure neither does Mia. Hear me out. You were mad at me for not saying anything before. Well, now I’m asking you for help.” I planted my feet on the cold floor to stand and make my point to them, but I hadn’t the strength to push off the bed.

“Sit down, Tyler.” Wesley rubbed his hand over his beard, glaring at me as if all the information he needed to make a decision were written on my face. “Fill us in. Start from the second when you dropped us off in Atlanta six months ago.”

My shoulder throbbed when I reached over to get to my water. Shit. This recovery time was going to be a bitch. I switched hands and drank. We all felt guilty for what happened in Venezuela at the beginning of the year, which was why we had all, at one point or another, tried to fix things on our own. But we got ourselves into this mess together. We needed to stay together to see it through.

“After I left you, I came to New York with Rebecca,” I said.

“Yeah, we figured out that part.” Wesley crossed his arms over his chest. It’d been almost a year since they were honorably discharged from the marines. But to him, the mission was far from over. This wasn’t my brother asking questions. He was a Marine Raider. “Why didn’t you take her to Canada like we agreed?”

“She told me everything. About Smith and Rossi and the human trafficking deal they had going on. I couldn’t turn a blind eye to all that. Not to mention that we all promised her our protection in exchange for information. I couldn’t just drop her off in some old apartment and pretend the problem had been fixed.”

“So you brought her to your own place. Who the hell is Rossi?” Matt asked.

My brother Matt was all about logistics. This is what we should’ve done when we left Venezuela. Work together and figure all this out. We had gone through our assess to get to our elbows, but we’d finally gotten here. Rossi and Marcel would not get away with this hideous deal they had going on.

“A few days after Rebecca settled in, I made her go out to dinner with me.” They both rolled their eyes. “Not like that at all. She looked so sad. Her brother had just died.”

“Right.” Wesley glanced down.

“Anyway, we went out to dinner and ran into Jac Rossi, the New York faction boss, the one who has the backing of the big 5, as in the five original Mafia families. She recognized him because he’d recently visited her boss, Smith. I went to the FBI to get them to take the case, but they shut me down.”

“Why? You had a witness.” Wesley shuffled forward.

“The agent in charge has what he thinks is a better plan for Rossi. He thinks Rossi is close to getting a seat at the Big 5 table. If that happens, he’ll have an in with the underground crime organization and catch bigger fish.”

Matt looked at me, shaking his head. “How does Rossi moving forward with his human trafficking bullshit give them an in? They would need an inside man for that.”

“Right.” I sat back on the bed to rest my shoulder. “Remember when I was in Atlanta, I told you I had been reassigned?” They both nodded. “Rossi’s grandson died last month. The FBI asked me to step in and pretend to be him. Apparently, I look like Chase Rossi. And since the old man hadn’t seen him in over ten years, the ruse worked.”

It worked until Mia turned me in. But I couldn’t tell them that part. It hurt too much, and it didn’t help my case. They both stared at me, waiting for me to connect the dots for them. Why the urgency to go after Rossi now?

“I took the job because it was the only way to find proof that Rossi was Smith’s associate. I was able to corroborate Rebecca’s story. Rossi is our guy. He’s the one helping Smith, and now his son, smuggle people into the country. In fact, he has a new shipment coming in next week. The FBI won’t move a finger to stop him. They need him to make this big move so he can get the Big 5’s attention and finally land that seat at the big 5’s table. Do you see why I can’t leave? I need to stop him. This is as bad as Rebecca said. Worse, really.”

“I do see.” Matt crossed his arms over his chest. “I always thought the Big 5 was more of a legend. Five crime families pulling the strings from the shadows seems farfetched, very Hollywood. But here’s the thing. There are a few details missing. For example, who the hell shot you and why? And why does Dom’s little sister want you out of Jersey. Who is she really?”

Jesus, this was a full-on interrogation, by my two brothers no less. “Okay.” I put my hands up in surrender. “Rossi shot me when he found out I wasn’t his grandson. He didn’t kill me all the way. Being a government official has its perks, I guess.”

“How does the FBI feel about that?”

“No idea. I blacked out from the pain or loss of blood. I don’t know. When I came to, I was already here. I’m registered under a different name.”

“How’s Mia involved in all this. Who the fuck is she?” Wesley asked.

I let out a breath. “While I was chasing leads on Rossi and getting nowhere with the FBI, on this side of the river, Mia’s mentor and boss got gunned down by the Mexican cartel, leaving an open spot for her to step into.”

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