The smell of stale cigarettes is almost unbearable in this tiny motel room. I’ve stayed in a lot of shithole dumps with disgusting odors, but this one takes the fucking cake.

Harper. She’s the reason this is unbearable. Her sweet, sugary scent is still on my skin from holding her through the night. I can usually handle places like this, it comes with the territory of my job. But after smelling my favorite scent in the world for the first time in almost a decade, I’m about to lose my lunch. She hasn’t even been back in my life for a day, and already she’s turned me into a fuckin’ junkie jonesing for his next fix.

I would stay in a nicer place, but this is the closest motel to Harper. I’m not willing to be farther from her than I have to be. I don’t trust this situation or this bastard claiming he’s Santiago’s son. My instincts tell me he wants something from Harper, but he’ll get closer to her over my dead body. I’ll tear apart his life before that happens. If he is Santiago’s kid and he kept him away, it’s for a reason. I have no doubts about that. Santiago provided me with food when my mom was too blitzed out of her mind to even remember she had a son. Without him taking me under his wing, I wouldn’t be where I am today. A high school dropout, in the grave, or in a gang, that’s where I would be without Santiago. He was the most cunning and resourceful man I’ve ever known, didn’t utter a word without a reason. And there’s a reason Harper and I didn’t know this bastard existed.

I boot up my laptop, thank fuck I had it in my truck. It’s rare that I leave home unprepared, and this situation would have been a lot harder without it. Nothing else was in my truck, so I’ll have to stop at a store to pick up some shit.

As I’m setting up my WiFi through a VPN and getting ready to dig in, Kiernan’s name flashes across my phone screen. “Marx,” I answer.

“Got some intel for you, bossman.”

“Give it to me,” I demand, leaning forward, anticipating any information he can give me.

“Santiago is on the birth certificate. Kid was born in Mexico. Mexican government is just too damn easy to hack into. It wasn’t even a challenge. I actually got bored.”

“Get to the fuckin’ point, Brooks,” I growl through the phone.

“Touchy, touchy,” he chuckles. “What’s so important about this, anyway?”

“I’ll tell you when I know more. Now give me the info.”

Kiernan’s voice changes from joking to serious as he switches to his information officer. “Rafael Bazán Cortez, son of Santiago Cortez and Adriana Bazán. Santiago and Adriana married shortly before the kid was born, only have the one child together. He was born in Mexico where he was raised. He does have dual citizenship. He dropped the last name Cortez at some point, only going by Rafael Bazán. Working on finding his current location.”

“He’s in Austin.”

Kiernan sighs. “Do I want to know how you know this? Are you in his house right now with him tied to a chair while you’re holding a gun to his head demanding answers from him?”

“No, dumbass.”

He chuckles, changing back to his joking manner. “Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.”

I glare, even though he can’t see me. He knows me well enough to know that I’m picturing burning him alive. If he wasn’t so useful, I’d have tossed him under a tank during our first week of boot camp.

“I’ll give you more information when I know more. He’s in Austin. See if you can find out where he lives and a recent photo.”

“You don’t know what he looks like? Who brought you to Texas? You left that place a long time ago.” His voice is incredulous.

“Just get me what I need,” I grunt into the phone.

“It’d be easier to get you everything if you gave me any information. My search could be narrowed.”

Fuck. He’s right. I know he’s right. My molars are about to crack from how hard I’m clenching my teeth. I prepare to hear his laughter and fess up.

“I got a call from Harper yesterday saying she needed help. This Rafael guy bought her building and told her he was the son of Santiago. Santiago was a second father to Harper and the only father figure in my life, and she wanted to know if I knew about this kid he never spoke about. Not talking about his kid is not like the man we knew.”

There it is. His booming laugh comes through the phone, making me vibrate with barely controlled anger. I don’t want to hear it. I’ve been getting shit from Kiernan about Harper for almost as long as I’ve been separated from her.

“I should’ve left your ass in Afghanistan when I had the chance,” I mutter.

“You can’t live without me, brother. It’s okay to admit it.” His howling laughter echoes through the phone again before he composes himself enough to continue speaking. “Harper, the elusive Harper. You just up and left at the first phone call, huh?”

I don’t answer him.

“Did she ask you to come?”

“Yes,” I respond quickly.

He laughs again. “That means no.”

“Fuck you.”

“For real, though, brother, is she in danger?” The amusement has completely left his voice.

I groan, completely frustrated with my lack of information. But my instinct is telling me there’s danger ahead. “Not positive. My gut says yes. I don’t know what it is, but I sense it, man. There’s something brewing.”

“And, that’s what took you to Texas?”

“Yes. You know I haven’t thought about her in a long time. I couldn’t ignore it, though.” The lie is like sandpaper in my mouth. I haven’t stopped thinking about her. Ever.

Kiernan chuckles again. We can be under enemy fire and this guy will find an excuse to laugh. “You know, you’re the best damn leader I ever served under, in and out of the service. You’re a shit liar, though. Don’t forget my mastery with a keyboard far out scores yours. Erasing internet history doesn’t actually erase your history.”

Shit. I know that it doesn’t. There are ways of finding information even if a skilled person is trying to cover their tracks. I didn’t think I would need to do that in my own office. “What the hell were you doing on my computer?”

“I’m left to man the command center too much. It gets a little boring outside of the field. I have to find ways to entertain myself.”

“Stay out of my office.”

“Whatever you say, bossman.” His snicker tells me that he’s not going to listen to me.

“Get back to me with whatever you find. Make it fast.”

“Aye, aye, captain.” The line clicks before I can yell at him to stop with his shit.