“Now, that’s speculation, but it’s the last place anyone heard of it. No one saw the brothers move it or spend it. Find the fifty million, and all our troubles will go away. Find the girl, and we get ten million and maybe a pass on thismess.”
“We don’t bow to anyone, Brook. Especially not Cortez. All I want is justice and not to get killed in the process. She duped us that night, forcing you to run from a fucking cartel, and Father doesn’t have much longer. If we don’t settle this with Cortez, if we don’t find her, we’re sitting ducks in the middle of hunting season for the rest of our lives.”
“If the rumors are true, though, it sounds like you’ll have a front row seat when she comes to town to dig itup.”
“Okay, so I need to be on the lookout for chatter about fifty million dollars. Seems simple enough.”
I mean, how hard could it be to find fifty million in a town of one hundred and eight?
“Or find Cortez before he findsus.”
“Yeah, thattoo.”
“Speaking of Kate, did you know she’s originally from Long Island? What is she doing inPace?”
“Subtle, brother. Her mother was ill. She’s recovering from heart surgery at a clinic in Seattle.”
“Heart surgery?”
“Yeah.”
“And we’re looking for someone who stole Father’s heart.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, either you’re dumb, or a woman messed up with your head. Kate should be your number one suspect. She could be looking for the fifty million aswell.”
Kate wasn’t some bounty hunter, and she would have never pulled the stunt our mystery woman had that night. She was good. I’d seen it first hand, though I hadn’t asked her how long she’d livedhere.
“If she were on the list of those looking for that money, you would have known about it, wouldn’t you?” I asked.
I could tell from the look on his face that he agreed. Kate was the last person I should have been worried about.
“All I’m saying is, be careful. The name Cortez doesn’t exactly correlate with safety. How about I do a background check? What’s the lastname?”
“I don’tknow.”
“Well, fortunately I can get information from a drunk woman. It’s Black I can’t believe you don’t even know her lastname.”
“Sorry, she’s… did you see her? It’s a little difficult to think when she’s around.”
“And you say that I’m the one who thinks with hisdick.”
I removed my clerical collar and set it aside, hoping my brother would stop giving me the side eye. He should have known best that at this moment, I was his brother first, not a priest.
“How’sMom?”
“Sameold.”
“So back to business as usual?”
“When wasn’t she? You know, she’s the one who gave us all cover. She’s really good at this keeping her identity hidden thing.”
“Please tell me you’re not thinking of joining her venture.”
“It’s a multi-million dollar business, and believe me, it has its perks.”
“A manservant?”