Page 7 of Rett

“We’re a lucky family.” Dan smiled at his grandfather, Dan Anderson, better known as Wilson, then looked up to see a familiar face. “I’ll be damned. It’s Everett.”

“Shit! Everett!” yelled Dan, walking toward him.

His parents and grandparents rushed forward, hugging him. But his facial expression said something was seriously wrong. His clothes were dirty, covered in blood. His face was scratched, his hands shaking.

“Rett? Brother, what’s wrong?” asked Dan.

“I-I need help.”

“I can see that,” said Dan, grabbing a chair and a bottle of water. “Take a seat.”

“Rett, what’s wrong, son?” asked Kiel.

“I need help.”

“Fuck, I think he’s going into shock,” said Wilson. “Rett, look at me, son.” He turned to stare at the face of the man he’d known so well. Shaking his head, tears began to fall.

“Rett, tell us, brother. Tell us,” pleaded Dan.

“I killed her. I murdered a woman.” Dan, Wilson, and Kiel frowned at him, shaking their heads. It wasn’t possible.

“Rett. Slow down. Tell us exactly what happened.”

Rett ran through his past few weeks, not leaving any detail out. On the fourth bottle of water, he realized that Wilson had cleaned up his cuts, bandaging a few, and his mother brought him a clean shirt.

“I just got off the phone with Ethan and East,” said Pigsty. “He was listed as MIA, but they didn’t want to call any of us. They said they knew he was okay because the chatter was that Ramos’s men were chasing an American soldier because he killed his girlfriend.”

“I-I had sex with her, but I didn’t kill her. I mean, I don’t think I did,” he said. “I noticed that tattoo and knew immediately who she was. I just got the fuck out of there. I was in New Orleans, trying to find a way back here, and this beautiful girl helped me out. She fed me, allowed me to sleep in her place, but they followed me. They were on her doorstep.”

“What the fuck did you say?” growled Otto. Rett looked up, just staring at the man. “Son, you better not tell me that her name was Casey.”

“Oh, God. What have I done?” Rett lowered his head into his hands, shaking his head back and forth.

“Go get her,” said Eric. “Now!”

Otto, Gabe, and Luc took off toward the trucks, speeding toward the city. They called Casey, instructing her to stay put, lock her doors, and not allow anyone near her.

“Rett, we need a description of this woman. Everything you have,” said Pigsty. “If they only know you’re a soldier and don’t know your name, then we can try to figure out what went wrong. We all know that chances are pretty fucking good they set you up.”

“We have a problem,” said Sly, walking toward them. “I think we know who the woman was. Esme Salvador. They claim that she is the daughter of the Secretary of the Treasury in Venezuela. She’d been missing for some time, and her father thought she’d run away. He claims she was only sixteen.”

“There’s no fucking way. I mean, this woman was young, but she was at least twenty-five, maybe twenty-six,” said Rett.

“We have her photo and birth certificate,” said Sly quietly. He handed the photo to Rett, watching as he rubbed his temples, shaking his head.

“That’s not her. That’s not the woman I was with. If she’s dead, she wasn’t anywhere near me. I didn’t touch her!”

“Calm down, Rett. We’ll figure this out. I’m sure it was a setup, but we need to know why. Let’s get you cleaned up. A hot shower will do you good,” said Kiel. He nodded at his father, looking at the concern on his mother’s face.

“I didn’t kill her,” he said quietly.

“I know, baby. Like your dad said, we’ll figure this out. Go with your father.”

“The woman, Casey. She helped me. She was so nice to me. Please make sure she’s okay,” he pleaded. Kiel led him away as Wilson watched. He turned to the others.

“I’m going to go with them. He’s experiencing shock and some psychotic episodes. I don’t know what they gave him, but he hasn’t fully gotten it out of his system yet. It’s been weeks, so if it’s a new drug, this could be a problem for all of us.”

“Fuck,” muttered Cam. “This is all we need. Venezuelans dealing in new drugs, trapping U.S. servicemen in alleged murders.”

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