CHAPTER SIXTY TWO


The living room was silent as I descended the stairs. I looked to the left
and saw Oscar in the corner. When I saw another two males beside him, I figured
they were Coolay and Carls. One had blonde shaggy hair and the other had long
blonde curls. Both had blue eyes and I wondered if they were brothers, but a
cough reminded me that I was now standing in front of my brother.


Krein had lost weight.


"You're taller." I said faintly.


He frowned, but he had. He'd lost weight, looked taller, and the slight
muscular build that I had witnessed in prison was now gone.


He looked past me and I knew that Jace had followed.


Krein had looked at me with hesitation, but his eyes hardened and his jaw
tightened.


"Lobster, anyone?" Adam asked again.


A slap was heard and I guessed from Adam's muffled 'ow' that he'd been
smacked in the back of his head.


Krein stepped closer and spoke over my shoulder, "Privacy, please."


Jace stepped towards me and said softly, "And risk the chance that you'll
grab her for Mallon? No way in hell."


Krein surged forward, "You have something to call me out on? I've earned that
job, best friend."


Oscar straightened from the wall.


Rafe's eyes grew large with anticipation.


And I noticed that Scotty automatically reached for his gun.


This wouldn't end well.


I reached around Krein, threw open the door, and yanked him after me. As Jace
moved to follow, I shut the door on his face.


"What the hell are you doing with him?" Krein started.


I whipped around and proclaimed, "You will shut up…right about now."


I used to be prolific and compassionate.


I wasn't anymore.


"What's your message?" I demanded.


Krein was startled. "What?"


"You came here for a message. What is it?" I crossed my arms over my chest.
"I'd like to get back to what I was doing if you don't mind…"


"Oh!" Krein blew out a dramatic breath. "You're too good for me, now? Big
brother's not in prison and desperate for visits, you don't have to feel guilty
anymore, do you, little sis?"


I arched an eyebrow and smiled, "I have a gun."


Krein frowned.


I explained, "I'd be cautious if I were you."


"When did you grow up?"


"Between the time you walked past me when I was twelve and when you saw me at
the prison." I said flatly.


He grinned, "I love you, sis."


"Don't. Just…don't." I swatted at the air and asked again, "What's your
message?"


"Really? You're going to not talk to me?" Krein persisted.


"Talk about what, Krein?! You abandoned me!"


"I thought you were over that."


"I'm never over that. You were supposed to be a good man. You were supposed
to serve your time and come out honest."


"You know anyone in prison? You might go in honest, but I don't know anyone
who comes out honest."


"Krein!" I cried out, frustrated.


"Just telling you the facts, sis."


"And you can stop calling me that!" I said heatedly.


"You are my sister."


"No! No, I'm not. We come from the same parents, but we're not brother and
sister."


"But you said—"


"I was an idiot!" I exclaimed harshly.


The screen door opened and Rafe stepped out. She'd found her cowboy boots
again with ripped faded light blue jeans over top. Instead of the black weapons
pack that she had on earlier, she changed into a white camisole with a black bra
peeking out underneath. Her hair swept down in long curls behind her back.


And Krein took one look, studied me, and shifted uncomfortably.


Rafe smiled slowly, seductively, and remarked, "Jace wants you inside."


Krein held her gaze, but he said to me, "It's not me that he wants to talk
to."


"You're here to talk to me?" I asked.


Krein still watched Rafe.


Scotty called from inside, "Maya. Jace needs you."


"This is going to be interesting." I muttered underneath my breath and moved
inside. I found Jace in the kitchen. He was cleaning the gun barrels with them
all laid out on white towels.


I leaned with my back against the stove and crossed my arms, "So don't tell
me that you actually have something to talk to me about because we both know you
don't like me talking to Krein."


Jace shook his head, tense, "Do you blame me?"


"Yes. Actually, I do."


Jace laughed shortly. "He's your brother. And he hates me, albeit he's
reluctantly working for me, but he hates me."


"Why is he here?"


"To talk to you." Jace answered swiftly and turned to pick up another
barrel.


Jace wasn't happy. I saw that much and I realized that I hadn't seen Jace
like this. Krein got underneath his skin. Throughout the entire ordeal of him
and me together—nothing got underneath Jace's skin, even when he was talking
about what got underneath his skin.


Jake came to the doorway and hooked a hand in the ceiling. He casually leaned
forward and said, "So…should we be worried about Rafers out there?"


Adam popped underneath his brother's lanky form and entered the kitchen,
"Rafe watches her own back."


He still held a plate of lobster in front of him.


"Do you actually have something to say to me?" I asked impatiently. "Because
if you don't, I'm going back out to talk with my brother."


Jace stalled.


"I'm going." I turned to go, but Jace halted me, "Wait…."


I looked back.


He placed the barrel back on the counter and left the cleaning oil beside it.
"I have something to tell you."


I skimmed Jake and Adam. Both hid faint smiles on their faces and I knew Jace
had nothing relevant to tell me.


I cursed, "You don't got a goddamn thing to tell me, do you?"


I'd shocked the boys. I knew that much.


Jace closed his eyes.


Here we go…


"We're always fighting. Why are we always fighting?" Jace asked himself,
frustrated.


"Sexual tension?" Adam suggested.


"Shut up!" Jake hissed.


"What? It's valid…isn't it?"


"Why do you and Molly fight?"


"We don't, well…we do. A lot, actually."


Jake glared at his little brother.


"We fight because we want different things, oh…" Understanding dawned on him
and he gulped before he shut up.


Jake grasped Adam behind the neck and dragged him out of the room.


Jace turned to leave, but I stopped him, "Did you send Rafe out there on
purpose?"


"What?" He turned back, incredulous.


I saw it. It was there. Guilt.


I nodded and muttered to myself, "You did. You sent her out there because you
know she is exactly my brother's type."


"Did he at least wait until you left to hit on her?" Jace asked shrewdly.


"Who do you think you are?! You're not god, Jace."


"I'm not acting like I am—" Jace started to argue.


Oscar interrupted, "We don't have time for this. We have to move. Now."


I saw the shift and realized that I'd been arguing with a jealous boyfriend.
Jace was now professional, cold, and focused when he clipped out,
"Movement?"


"Yeah. Twenty clicks. They're closing in fast." Oscar grated out and watched
me.


"What?" I didn't want to know.


Jace glanced over his shoulders. He had turned to grab all the guns, but he
saw Oscar's gaze on me and said for him, "It's not a coincidence, Maya."


"Krein did not lead them here. He wouldn't do that."


"He would because he's not trained. And because Marcus is smart." Jace
retorted and brushed past me.


It was just me and Oscar. And the kitchen.


I heard Jace barking orders. The door flung open. Krein and Rafe rushed in
and I heard Jace drag Krein upstairs.


And then there was silence as the group just worked to prepare themselves for
an imminent attack.


Oscar said quietly, "I've heard enough and watched enough. You got more than
one battle going on inside of you. I can't help any of those, but I can tell you
that my boss has never stuck his neck out for a girl. Never. You're the first.
It means something, girl."


"He doesn't love me so it doesn't matter."


Doron's voice came back to me, "You can't expect him to suddenly say what
you want to hear." So I asked instead, "Why can't he tell me that?"


"Because they die or stop loving him. It ain't rocket science, girl." And
with that Oscar moved past me to take up his place beside his comrades.


I heard a loud footstep behind me. It was a cowboy boot and I turned to see
Rafe regarding me coolly. She arched a rebellious eyebrow and said haughtily,
"Your bro didn't hit on me. He passed the test, little sis. Bossman
doesn't believe it, but I've a mind that your bro is one of the good guys."


I rotated on my heel and asked, "He took him upstairs?"


"He's on lockdown and you got to go through your lover to get to him."


I circled upstairs. I moved past our room and followed the hallway to the
furthest room.


Just outside the door, I heard, "I did what was right."


Krein snorted, "Are you kidding me? You set us up. You set me up!"


Jace threw back, "No. You dug your own grave."


"I did what you wanted, Jace. You were my best friend! I trusted you!"


"Shut up. We don't have time for this."


Something was thrown against the wall and then I heard, "You didn't take Kip
down or Jester or Cleaves. None of them, none of them saw prison orange, but I
did. Why'd you save them and not me, you goddamn bastard!?"


"They're Panthers." Jace answered easily. It made perfect sense except that
it didn't.


"I'm a Panther!" Krein hissed.


Something else rammed against the wall.


I jumped, startled.


"You weren't just a Panther, Krein and you know it. You did things that I
couldn't cover up."


"Because of you!" Krein shouted.


There was silence until suddenly Krein cursed, "And now you're fucking my
sister. You're always talking about loyalty and brotherhood and look at what
you're doing. You're screwing—"


A thump was heard and then nothing.


Jace walked out of the room a second later, met my gaze, and I realized that
he'd known I was there.


He closed the door softly and said just as quietly, "There's a lot of blood
between him and me, but it's not you and me."


"Did you tie him up?"


"I can't take the risk that he might get us from behind. Either way, he lead
Mallon right to us." Jace reached behind him and pulled out a handgun. He
doublechecked the barrel and remarked, "I want you at my side."


"I can fight."


"I know, but I still want you at my side."


"You don't want Rafe there?"


I knew the question was dumb, but I asked it anyway. I looked down.


Jace took a step forward, but I spoke. He stopped.


I murmured, "You and me, we keep going around something. We couldn't trust
each other in the beginning and we still can't trust each other."


"I do trust you—"


"I'm not talking about that." I interrupted. Tenderly.


Jace closed his eyes.


I continued, stricken, "You want me to believe in something and I'm trying. I
told you that I love you…"


I let the question hang.


Jace cleared his throat, "Maya…"


"You and me…we're not simple, but we have that inside of us too. You can't
protect me from my brother—if that's even the case and you can't—"


"Boss!" Rafe rasped sharply from downstairs.


"We have to go." Jace said quietly. He stepped forward and tilted my chin
upwards. His thumb caressed my cheek and he murmured, "I believe in making
things better."


He bent forward and kissed me softly.


I closed my eyes, felt the warmth surge inside of me, and just as I melted
against him, Jace pulled away.


I felt the cool touch of his handgun as he transferred it to my hand. He
whispered, "Keep an extra one with you, just in case."


He left silently. I felt him move downstairs instead of hearing him.


As I drew in a shuddering breath, I moved forward and saw my brother, his
arms tied behind him, spread eagle in the middle of the room. He couldn't
maneuver his way out of his holdings.


I saw the swelling already forming on his jaw.


He opened his eyes and saw me.


I stood at his feet.


"Don't suppose you want to believe your brother over lover boy and let me
go?" Krein cracked a grin.


I kicked him swiftly.


He hissed and asked, "What'd I ever do to you?"


"Hmmm. Let me list them off."


"I've changed, Maya." Krein stopped the joking and said seriously. "I really
thought I was doing you a right before. I saw you that morning, yes, but I
walked past you because I didn't want you involved with my life. I'm not a good
person. I knew back then that I was becoming a worse person, but I couldn't stop
it. You see, there's this guy that I considered a brother and he took me under
his wing. He was a legend, Maya. How can I pass that up for being a nobody?"


"You abandoned me." I seethed.


"I didn't know that I had a son until you told me." Krein said, imploring. "I
saw him, Maya. That stupid girl brought him to see me. I saw my son…"


"Events are unfolding that are beyond all of us and your nephew lies at
the heart of them…"


Doron's deep voice echoed in the hallways.


I flinched.


"Mallon knew that I was coming to see you. He must've. He set me up, but I
want to be with you guys. I need to find my son." Krein begged.


"Maya!" Jace shouted from below.


I jumped, but said, "Then you're going to have to trust that legend again
because he's the only one that get us through this."


"He's bad news, Maya!" Krein called to my back.


A gunshot shattered a window.


I saw tht Krein believed what he said.


Gunfire was now shared beneath us.


I could hear shouting outside, but inside was silence.


"You hear that?" I asked Krein. I gestured to the floor. "Nothing. They're
professionals, Krein. Does that tell you something?"


"That Jace knows how to watch his back."


"No." I shook my head.


"…You are but a small thread of so many threads that must weave
together…"


"There's more going on here than you and me, Krein. It's bigger than me and
Jace, you and Jace, me and Marcus. I don't know what it is, but I know that
something's going to happen and it's…we're going to win, Krein." I felt that in
my heart. I felt it blaring in my blood. As I left, I said to myself, "Because
we have to."


As I got downstairs, Oscar waved me to my knees and I crawled over to
him.


He shot through a hole that he'd carved in the wall.


"Where's Jace?"


"What?" Oscar shot again.


"Where's Jace? He said that he wanted me with him."


"He's gone."


"What?" I exclaimed sharply.


"He went out the back. There was an opportunity and he took it."


"Where'd he go?"


Rafe sneaked up behind us and said, gravelly, "He went to piggyback behind
your boy."


"Where did he go?!" I seethed.


Oscar grimaced as a bullet hit too close for comfort. "He went in the woods.
Adam's maps pinpointed where their generals probably are and Jace hotfooted it
out of here. He went to circle back and follow their trail."


He'd find the encampment. He'd find the children.


"He went alone?!" I cried out.


And all of Marcus' men would find him.


"That's how he always does it." Rafe said, uncharacteristcally, quiet. "He's
got the best intentions, but when he sees an opportunity for his hide to save
ours—he takes it. He went alone, little sis."


"…You must decide who is to be the sacrificed."


"Fuck that." I bit out and pushed backwards.


"Where are you going?" Rafe demanded.


I didn't answer. If I had, she would've stopped me or tried to stop me.


I slipped through the back.


Rafe chased behind me.


I bypassed the backdoor and circled around to the stairs again.


Everyone was facing outwards, their backs to me. Rafe searched for me in the
back, but I slipped upstairs.


I didn't know that Oscar had looked over his shoulder, saw me, and turned
back to continue shooting.


I hurried upstairs, crawled through the narrow hallway, and found myself in
the back room again.


I ran my hands over every inch of that room.


I believed Doron when he said that it had been used in the Underground
Railroad. I also knew that adults had used that room and there's no way a grown
man could've gotten through that narrow hallway.


That meant another way in and possibly another way out.


My fingertips felt a small corner of the floor give away. There was a small
hole, but it was enough. I felt cold air against my finger and smiled in
victory.


I'd found the way out.