Page 59 of Everything We Found

The footage jumped forward showing police reinforcements arriving, and he watched fixated as the chaos unfolded—officers taking defensive positions, a massive exchange of gunfire. Thiswas his worst nightmare. Exactly what he hadn’t wanted to happen.

“Tom?”

He glanced at Nadia, her eyes wide. She looked like he felt. Helpless and in shock. He just shook his head. James had never returned his calls, not since the other night. He had no idea if his brother was alive.

“According to our sources,” the reporter continued, “the homeowners were not present at the time of the attack?—”

Tension poured out of him, his relief so intense it nearly brought him to his knees. But it was short-lived, quickly replaced by a nauseating realization he’d already known. It just hadn’t been confirmed until now.

“This just in,” the anchor announced gravely. “Federal authorities have confirmed that the suspects involved are members of the Hidalgo Cartel.”

His blood turned to ice, his hand aching from gripping the remote. He tossed the device onto the couch. “I need to go there.”

Nadia turned to him abruptly, stunned at his announcement. Cammy looked at him with a shake of her head. “And do what?”

“I can’t just sit here.” Here, he was useless. There, he could at least see for himself that they were safe.

Nadia’s green eyes welled with concern, drowning the initial alarm he’d noticed in them. “They found us once, Tom. You’d be exposing yourself.”

“Exactly what they probably want,” Cammy said.

Thomas paced behind the couch, his attention glued to the television. Every instinct warred with him to act. To board the next flight to Hawaii where he could gather James and his family and bring them back here to Cammy’s where he knew they’d be safe. But sanity broke through the fog of fear and rage. The movewould be reckless. He’d be putting himself and Nadia, even Cammy, in danger.

On screen, the footage switched to a press conference. A stern-faced woman in an FBI windbreaker stood at a podium.

“We can confirm that the residents were not home at the time of the attack,” she stated. “They have since been located and moved to a secure location that will remain undisclosed for their protection.”

“Thank god.” Nadia exclaimed his exact sentiments.

Cammy’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen, her expression inscrutable when her gaze met Thomas’s. “Excuse me.” She took the call, stepping out of the room.

Thomas watched her go, his mind reeling with unanswered questions and half-formed plans. He pulled out his burner and called James. He needed to hear for himself that he was all right. The call went directly to voicemail. With an impatient edge, he left a brief message for James to call back.

“No luck?” Nadia asked. He shook his head.

The broadcast started to cycle through the video again, and with nothing new being reported, Nadia picked up the remote and turned off the TV. The sudden silence was jarring. She set the remote on the coffee table and turned to him. They watched each other, and while they didn’t speak, he felt an entire conversation unspool between them.

She was scared and she was trying not to show him how much.

She was worried for him and for his family.

She didn’t want to be here. She wished she was anywhere but with him.

And despite what she’d admitted on the drive here, he couldn’t make himself believe that she didn’t hate him.

He wouldn’t hope for more.

Thomas tore his eyes away before she saw into the depths of his soul. He stared at the ground, wishing he could go back in time until, this time around, he could tell James everything their father had told him about Phil’s involvement with the Hidalgos. James never would have run off to Mexico on his own.

He wished he could go even further back in time to when he’d sat across from Nadia at Joe’s Diner, sharing his dreams with her as easily as they shared a sundae. He wouldn’t change a thing about those moments. He just wanted to go there. Life was simpler, less complicated. When Nadia hadn’t believed him to be the monster he was.

His head shot up at a light touch on his arm. Nadia stood there, looking up at him with her bright jade eyes. He felt himself falling into those two pools that held nothing for him but affectionate concern in that moment. She didn’t know it, but she was his safe space.

Cammy re-entered the room and they both turned to her. She tapped her phone in her palm.

“What did you hear?” he asked, straight to business.

“A lot.”