Page 16 of Everything We Found

“Where does the investigation go from here, Les? What can we, the American public, do?”

“Right now all eyes are on the U.S.-Mexico border. If Ruiz makes it across, it’ll be a major challenge to recapture him. Authorities are asking anyone who might have witnessed the accident or know of Ruiz’s whereabouts to call their local law enforcement.”

“Thank you, Les. We’ll be sure to keep our viewers updated. A nationwide manhunt is underway. Fernando Ruiz is considered armed and dangerous. Do not approach him on your own. Any possible sightings should be reported to yourlocal authorities.” Maureen Curry addressed the camera. Her segment concluded and the broadcast switched to report on the day’s sporting events.

Nadia turned down the volume. Her hand shook and she put down the remote. “Not the news I wanted to hear.” Ruiz was on the run. He could be hiding anywhere.

“Agreed.” A muscle in Thomas’s jaw subtly twitched, the only indication he gave that the news had rattled him. Then his face darkened.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Kane once told me that if anything happened to Ruiz, his sons would unleash hell.”

“Do you think that’s what happened at your house? What could be happening now?”

“Don’t know. But it doesn’t hurt to be overly cautious. Here.” He activated one of the burner phones and gave it to her.

“Thanks.” She put the phone in her pocket, comforted that Aimee was just a text away.

He stared at her face, his eyes narrowing as he gently touched her cheek. She hissed at the bruising burn the slight pressure of his fingers brought on. Despite the sting, she was acutely aware of how close he stood. Warmth radiated off him in the cool house.

“You should take care of that.” His voice was low, almost tender, and she felt a tightening in her chest at the unexpected intimacy of the moment. His face was inches from hers, his breath against her skin. The temptation to lean into him was compelling despite the fear and anger radiating through her, or the oncoming crash that would hit her shortly from the depleted adrenaline.

But she’d been ignoring her wound since it stopped bleeding. Compartmentalizing it with all the other events of the day. Nowthat he’d brought attention to it, her cheek throbbed, the open wound stinging.

“There should be a first aid kit in the bathroom,” Thomas added. “I have one if there isn’t.”

She nodded, knowing she couldn’t put off cleaning the laceration any longer without risking infection. She headed to the nearest bathroom, acutely aware of Thomas’s intense stare following her retreat.

She closed the bathroom door, her fingers lingering on the lock, a flimsy barrier against the violence that had erupted earlier and the unpredictable hours ahead. The only thing she did know was that nothing would ever be the same with her again.

Her secrets, all of them, were unraveling.

7

THOMAS

As soon as Nadia locked the bathroom door, Thomas activated another burner phone and tapped out James’s number with a sick feeling in his gut. The moment Kane told him about Ruiz’s escape, he’d been wanting to call his brother James himself. The siege on his house happening within hours of Ruiz’s escape couldn’t be coincidental. There was no way in hell. Today’s events had been planned well in advance. Who else had they attacked? Who died today? He needed to hear James’s voice. He wanted proof of life and prayed James and his family, their mother included, were safe. As an afterthought, he prayed the same for Phil.

Phil was the reason they were in this mess, having once made Thomas’s days a waking nightmare by exposing every employee of Donato Enterprises who touched that money to the risk of being indicted on trafficking conspiracy charges. Thomas couldn’t stand his half-brother. But he would never wish Phil dead. He was family. Unfortunately.

He added his older half-brother to his list of calls.

The new phone felt foreign in his hand, a reminder of how quickly his world had unraveled. He pressed the device to hisear where it rang three times before voicemail picked up. “James Donato here. Drop a message.”

The sound of his brother’s voice made him homesick for better days.

“James, it’s urgent. Call when you get this.” He rattled off his new number and paused with a rough swipe of his hand through his hair. “I’m sure you’ve seen the news. Be careful. Watch your back, and don’t let your boys or Natalya from your sight.” He ended the call and exhaled sharply. If only James had answered his call for once, he wouldn’t be so worried. But other than a smattering of texts, Thomas hadn’t spoken with his brother in four years.

Next, he called Claire. A memory surfaced as he waited for his mother to answer, her absolute disgust with him when he’d confessed to faking James’s death. After Aimee had found him in Mexico, Thomas went to her house to share the news before she heard it from someone else. She’d raged at him. How could he have deceived his own mother? Claire was a cold, unfeeling woman, but he’d never seen her so unhinged. She tore apart his father’s den, a room she’d barely been able to enter since Edgar had passed.

At the time, James had believed he was Jamie Carlos Dominguez because of his dissociative fugue, and the news that her youngest son was still alive had devastated Claire. At the advice of her physician, she’d checked into Serenity, a luxury wellness retreat and renewal center. Then, under the guise of an American tourist, she’d rented a home next door to Carlos.

Thomas had begged her not to interfere. He’d pleaded for her not to engage for the sake of James—rather Carlos and his sons’ safety. She hadn’t listened. She wanted to meet her grandchildren. She at least was mindful not to let on who she really was.

But once James’s original identity resurfaced and he returned home, only to eventually move permanently to Kauai, she decided at that point to punish Thomas. Claire held a majority stake in Donato Enterprises and colluded with the board of directors to terminate his employment contract. Just like that, he was ousted from the company he’d been trained to operate from a young age.

Just as well. The company Uncle Grant had launched had been on the brink of bankruptcy since the day the government raided their offices. Donato Enterprises’ reputation never recovered once the news was out that the company was part of the Hidalgo Cartel’s network. It didn’t matter that Thomas had been working with the feds to help undermine the cartel from the inside. The damage had been done.