Page 50 of Into the Light

“Retrieve the body,” I whispered to Pico, who had his hands over his eyes, kneeling on the ground, seeking solace from a god who couldn’t change the grim reality before us. However, I needed to distance myself, otherwise I would be ensnared in the same anguish as he was despite my knowledge. I didn’t want to accept it, but he had suffered in silence for far too long.

“I’m going to handle this,” I vowed, for ultimately, there was no one to blame but Mr. Ortiz. He had forged the monster that had taken residence within Ash. He had coerced him into leading a life that was a charade, void of authenticity.

“Do you want—” Pico began.

“I said get the damn body,” I screamed, then scanned my surroundings. Mr. Ortiz wouldn’t react well to the revelation that he had played a role in his own son’s death. None of us could have rescued him, not even Ember.

Damn it.

I ran my hand through my hair. What was I going to say to her?

As I meticulously inspected every inch of the rock, with the others retrieving the body, Pico joined me.

“She needs to know,” he murmured.

“I intend to tell her,” I asserted, halting him in his tracks. Then I realized I could no longer live in Ash’s shadow. I needed to carve my path outside of it. This had to be avenged for him. Ensuring this tragedy never recurred, that this senseless ritual ended, became a necessity. The senseless feud between these two underground organizations had to stop. They were too blind to realize that by joining forces, they could be stronger.

However, none of this was pertinent at the moment. Right now, it was about my brother—the one person I would protect to the ends of the earth—who was now gone, leaving a void in my heart. Something so irreplaceable I didn’t know—

“Fuck,” I cried out, the tears threating to come as Pico placed a gentle hand on my back. It was a gesture so foreign to us, neither of us ever feeling this emotion.

“Someone came after him . . .”

“No,” I whispered. “No one but his own demons . . .”

“Rain Fortin.” My name snapped me back into my current reality of sitting on this godforsaken uncomfortable chair in a house I had no desire to ever be a part of.

“There is a significant amount of money that was intended for my son that is missing—you told me you were looking at this. Where is it?”

I knew where the money was. It was built into a business that Ember owned. A fake business with only one owner that was basically impenetrable by anyone except the IRS, but even then, I could probably pay someone off to get them off her back, too.

“I’m still looking into it.” I paused.

“Remind me, who gave Ash the money?” Pico did a double take at me, knowing exactly who had the money. It was in Ash’s will. The will that also had mysteriously gone missing.

“Ash’s mother left him a fund that was dedicated solely to him. I had no access to it unless he died and gave it to someone else.” Mr. Ortiz’s eyes glared into mine.

“Where is the will?” And now Pico could understand why it took me so long to figure out what happened to Ash. I could see him, brows furrowed, as the puzzle pieces suddenly came together.

“I’m still looking for it. I told you that I have to figure out what happened that night and that particular piece of information is coincidentally missing.”

Mr. Ortiz took a slow pull from his glass of whiskey before setting it down. This plan was fucking stupid, to say the least. I was trying to one up the biggest head of the Cartel. This man dealt with people far larger than my pay grade, but I had one thing on my side. He maybe had a small soft spot for his child and desperately wanted to know where the millions he had thought he would make were going.

“I am still figuring out what happened.” I repeated.

A resounding sound of glass hitting glass echoed throughout the house, and I winced, but Pico stayed stoic. He really should have replaced Ash. He had all the qualities of being the one in charge—a true leader.

“I need to know what happened to my son.”

I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. The only other instance in all the years I’d known Mr. Ortiz refer to Ash as his son was during the funeral in front of everyone. Otherwise, he simply called him either the leader of the Den or Ash. It was undeniably disheartening.

“I know you do, and I’ve been tirelessly working to unravel what happened—”

“Is that why you’ve been getting close to the Solis girl?”

It was like a punch to the gut. I had always been aware that Mr. Ortiz had eyes and ears everywhere in Isles, but I foolishly believed that we had maintained our discretion. I should have anticipated that bringing Ember to the house would inevitably expose her, and by making the entire meeting about not interfering with her, I had essentially laid it all out.

“She’s a valuable asset in all of this, sir.” Pico interjected on my behalf, and I silently thanked him once more. He was a born leader.

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