CADEN SURVEILLED THE huge wooden structure ahead of him. Backlit by the sun’s first rays, most people would think it just another barn on the massive property. He knew better. The DEA team surrounding the building waited for his signal. Caden waited for his man on the inside to make his move, a man who trusted Caden with his life. Exhaust fans around the building blew out the volatile ethyl ether used to manufacture meth, making the breeze smell like hospital antiseptic. Caden needed this to go down without a shot fired because of the potential for an explosion that would level the place—and kill his undercover brother, Trigger.
His heart thumped against his ribs, anticipation tensing his muscles. The unusual predawn meeting started nearly an hour ago. Long enough for Caden to get his men in place.
Trigger had called in the meeting and ordered the raid. After five years undercover on various assignments, Trigger needed out of this dangerous game and to spend time in the real world, devoid of the lies and deceptions that kept him safe but always alone. Worried about his brother’s mental state, Caden should have put him on leave earlier this year. But Caden needed the best for this job and so sent Trigger undercover once again.
When they arrested Marco and turned him on his third cousin Emiliano Guzman, the notoriously brutal drug trafficker, Caden would breathe easy again, knowing his brother was safe and they’d taken down another major drug dealer.
He’d make Trigger take the long vacation he needed.
Impatient and getting more worried with every tick of the clock, Caden texted Trigger again.
GINGER: My empty bed gets colder by the minute. Come warm me up. Hurry!!! Get over here.
The texts allowed Trigger to pull out his phone and take pictures of the inside of the structure. Each picture he took got automatically sent to Caden’s cell. If Marco got suspicious and checked the texts, he’d see exactly what Trigger and Caden wanted him to see—that Trigger had a stripper hot for him. Caden already sent a string of texts since 3:00 a.m. when “Ginger” got off work. As covers went, it was ridiculous, but useful.
Caden wasn’t kidding about getting colder by the minute. The early-morning low temps chilled his face and hands. He wanted a steaming cup of coffee and a hot meal. First he needed to ensure his brother’s safety and lock up the bad guys.
His cell phone vibrated with several more photos from Trigger’s phone. Caden checked them out, noting the stainless-steel storage and chemical-processing containers. With equipment this sophisticated and large, they could make huge batches of meth in no time. One picture showed a huge cache of guns, both handguns and automatic weapons. Another picture of plastic bags filled with crystals came in just as the burner phone Caden used to send the texts to Trigger chirped with a reply.
TRIGGER: On my way in 2 minutes B ready
Caden stared at the picture of plastic barrels probably filled with liquid meth, waiting to be transported in liquor or liquid-detergent bottles across the country to labs that would convert it to crystals and sell it on the streets for millions.
Caden put the word out to his team over their radios. “Two minutes. Wait until they clear the building. Take them down by the trucks.” He hoped everything went to plan.
He pulled his gun from the holster at his side and mentally counted down the seconds, sending up a short prayer to the heavens that his brother and his team made it out alive.
The side door opened. Marco stepped out first, smiling. He stopped short and scanned the wooded area. Caden held his breath, hoping his men remained hidden in the trees.
Marco’s eyes narrowed.
Caden’s heart kicked into higher gear.
Marco moved toward the back end of the building, away from the trucks. Trigger and Paula, Marco’s girlfriend and Trigger’s mark, walked out of the building.
Marco turned back to them, pulling a gun from his back. He held it at his side, but Caden held his breath, waiting to see what happened next.
“Something’s off.”
Trigger held his hands out wide, then let them fall back to his sides. “Marco, let’s go. We’ve been up all night.”
“You’ve been acting weird for days,” Marco accused. His eyes narrowed on Trigger. “Something you want to tell me, bro?”
“The fumes are getting to you,” Trigger shot back. “I’m out of here. Take your girl home. I’ve got one waiting on me.”
Marco raised the gun and pointed it right at Trigger’s chest. “You and my girl have gotten really tight. Look at the way she looks at you right now. Like you’re supposed to protect her. Like you two have a secret. So tell me, bro, what is going on between you two.”
Trigger held up a hand. “Dude, I don’t trespass, so get that out of your head. She’s looking at me because you’re acting crazy pointing that gun at me, busting my balls.”
“Marco, I love you. There’s nothing going on. Let’s finish this business and go away like we planned.”
“You always want to go away. This is my life. This is business. You don’t just turn your back on family.”
“People are dying.” Paula’s eyes filled with tears.
Caden felt for the young woman. Her two brothers were caught six months ago trafficking drugs into Idaho. One brother ended up dead in a shootout with police. The other ended up in the hospital for a minor gunshot wound to the shoulder and then jail for the next several years. Last week, her father overdosed on the very product her boyfriend made by the barrelful.
Love for her family turned her against the man she loved and hoped to save before Marco ended up dead, too. She couldn’t save him from jail, but it didn’t stop her from trying. She didn’t know Trigger used her grief and angry rants about what Marco was doing to collect intel and build a case against Marco. Trigger remained her friend and confidant by appearances, but behind the scenes, he worked with Caden to topple Guzman’s organization.
The last thing they wanted was for Paula to get caught in the crossfire.
Marco’s head cocked to the side, and he stared hard at Paula. “What did you do?” His dark gaze shifted to Trigger.
“Nothing,” Paula snapped. “I want it to stop.”
“Who have you been talking to?” Marco’s eyes volleyed between Paula and Trigger. His gun remained steadily pointed at Trigger’s chest.
Distracted by Paula moving toward him, Marco didn’t see Trigger pull the weapon until it was too late and Trigger and Marco stood before each other like two outlaws facing off at high noon.
Caden shook his head. This situation had become as volatile as the chemicals inside that barn.
Trigger moved like a cat, prowling toward Marco and putting himself in front of Paula, his gun trained on Marco. “You’re losing your shit, man. We don’t have time for this. We need to stay calm and stick to the plan. The trucks will be here in a few hours to haul this shit, and we get paid.”
Marco eyed Trigger. “Are the trucks you swore you’d supply going to show?”
Trigger nodded, reassuring Marco, “I always come through, don’t I, man?”
“Something isn’t right,” Marco said, repeating his earlier statement. “I have a bad feeling I’m about to be fucked.” He looked past Trigger to Paula again. “What have you done?”
“Nothing,” Paula swore, walking around Trigger toward Marco. She placed her hands on his chest, despite the fact Marco never dropped the gun pointed at Trigger. “He’ll take over, so we can leave and escape your cousin’s hold. He’s scary.”
Marco laughed with fatalistic humor. “You don’t escape Guzman’s hold. He squeezes and plays with you like the rat you are in his maze until you’re of no use to him—or worse, a threat to be eliminated. You don’t get out.” He looked up from Paula’s pleading eyes and stared down Trigger. “The only way someone takes over for me is if I’m dead.”
“No,” Paula pleaded.
Marco held Trigger’s gaze. “You’ve been way too good from the beginning. Mr. Fix-it. The man with the plan when I needed one. Still, something has always been off. The trucks getting stopped and searched. The two smaller labs down south getting raided.”
“Part of doing business,” Trigger explained. “DEA is cracking down in this state. Look what happened to Torres.”
“I did look into it.”
Caden froze. Oh shit. If Marco knows Trigger got snapped up during the raid on the Kendrick spread, he might connect the dots and finger Trigger as an agent.
“Guzman had one of his men in the joint shake down that punk kid. What was his name? Connor.” Marco shook the gun at Trigger. “Connor Higgins.”
Trigger didn’t even blink. He was that good. “That punk kid is a junkie and a fuckup.”
Connor had cooked meth for Torres at a secret location on Rory Kendrick’s ranch. His sister, Sadie, tried to stop him, but Connor kidnapped her and tried to kill her before Trigger stepped in to stop him.
Trigger vibrated with intensity, ready to strike if Marco made a move.
Marco shook his gun at Trigger. “That punk kid gave you up as one of the men working with him and Derek.”
Derek nearly stabbed Trigger during the raid on the meth lab, but Sadie saved Trigger at the last second.
Trigger stood his ground. “I tried to get them organized, so we could make some serious money. One used more than he made.”
Connor.
Trigger didn’t even blink as he stared down the dangerous man in front of him. “The other murderous bastard fixated on a woman and not the job and fucked everything up.”
Derek.
“In the end, they knew Rory Kendrick discovered where they’d set up shop on his land and called the cops. Too bad for Connor and Derek that they asked Torres to come check out their setup when the two of them were distracted from the job and didn’t know the feds were closing in.”
“DEA takes down Torres, one of those punks ends up dead, the other locked up, yet somehow you get away.” An unspoken accusation rang in Marco’s words.
Caden held his breath again, hoping Trigger’s cover story held up and Connor hadn’t blabbed about his sister, Sadie, saving Trigger’s life. If Connor put together that Sadie had been working with Caden and Trigger, this whole scene would blow up in their faces.
Trigger didn’t falter. “While the focus was on getting Torres, I took advantage.”
“Like you’re trying to take advantage now.”
“What I want to do is go fuck my girl, get some sleep, and meet you here later when we ship out. You’re the one taking nothing and making it into something.”
Marco scanned the trees one more time, then focused on Trigger again. “I don’t believe you.” He held up his cell phone. “Motion sensors at fifty yards.” Marco circled his hand in the air to indicate the area around the barn in the middle of nowhere.
“You’re doing all this because a fucking deer set off an alarm.” Thank God Trigger thought fast in dire situations like this.
“One motion sensor might be a deer. Twelve is a team closing in.”
Caden got on the radio. “Watch your backs—”
No sooner than the words left his mouth, gunfire broke out as Guzman’s men closed in on them from behind.
Caden’s heart stopped in his chest. He took a step to run to help Trigger, but he was too late.
Trigger ran toward the trees in an arc that kept Marco in front of him. Marco fired three rapid shots, hitting Trigger in the shoulder and side, the last bullet whizzing past his head. Trigger stumbled with the impact and pain but managed to keep his feet under him, barely, and got off two rounds. Paula launched herself against Marco’s chest, holding on to him as the bullets slammed into her back. Marco held on to her as her body went limp and her head fell back. He stared down into her empty eyes.
She saved the man she loved, but lost her life for someone who didn’t love her enough to keep her safe and out of this dangerous business.
Marco shook with rage and grief. “No!”
Trigger held one hand to his bleeding side and used the other to keep his gun trained on Marco. “Drop it. It’s over, man.”
The meth cook gently settled Paula at his feet and backed up toward the trees at the back of the barn. “That’s what you think.” He held up his phone and touched his thumb to the screen.
Trigger spun and ran toward Caden, but not fast enough. The blast sent him flying forward and Caden stumbling back as the shock wave of heat hit them.
The explosion leveled the barn. One of the agents who’d tried to apprehend Marco lay dead, burning planks of wood surrounding him.
Caden ran for his brother ten feet away, facedown on the ground, his leg on fire. Caden tore off his jacket and smothered the flames. Fearing the worst, he rolled his brother over and laid his cheek to Trigger’s chest. An exhilarated rush of adrenaline went through him when he heard his brother’s heartbeat.
Chaos reigned around him as agents exchanged gunfire with Guzman’s men. Caden got on the radio and ordered a medivac for Trigger. He applied pressure to the bullet wound gushing blood on Trigger’s side.
“Beck.” Caden gave up calling his brother by his undercover nickname. No way he’d put Beck in harm’s way again. “Beck, come on, man, say something to me.”
“Fuck. My head.”
The blast and fall probably rattled Beck’s brain good. “You’re going to be okay.”
“You’re a dead man,” Marco yelled as two agents dragged him handcuffed out of the trees nearby.
The distant gunfire stopped. His men rattled off updates over the radio in Caden’s ear. They’d contained the situation. One agent lost, two more injured in addition to Beck, and eight men in custody, including Marco.
“You save his ass now, it’s only delaying the inevitable. I will kill him,” Marco vowed.
“Get him out of here,” Caden barked, his hands sticky with his brother’s blood still oozing out his wounds.
The agents dragged Marco away, despite how hard Marco fought to get free. “I’ll see you dead, man. You don’t fucking betray me. You killed Paula. I’ll fucking kill you!” Marco’s rant continued even as the agents stuffed him in the backseat of a car.
Caden sighed out his relief when the paramedics arrived and the medivac chopper flew overhead to land nearby. His conscience didn’t ease one bit. He’d put Beck in this situation. Beck would take Paula’s death hard. They hated to lose the innocent. Paula’s involvement with Marco remained questionable at best, but she didn’t deserve to die.
Right now, Caden needed to focus on Beck. The paramedics cleaned and applied pressure to Beck’s gunshot wounds. They cut off his burnt pant leg and wrapped the severe burns in gauze.
Caden jumped into the chopper with Beck, and the medical team focused on getting his brother the help he needed. In the back of his mind, he hoped this mess was over with Marco, but he feared retaliation from Guzman. No matter what, he’d do his job and his family duty and keep Beck safe and protected.
His cell phone buzzed with a text message. He pulled it out and swore.
AUNT TAFFY: You stood her up AGAIN!!!!!
Caden hung his head, but it snapped up when Beck reached out and touched his leg. He took Beck’s hand. “You’re okay. We’ll take care of you.”
Caden needed someone to watch his own back, because if the woman he stood up twice didn’t kill him, his aunt might. He didn’t know who to be more afraid of: the drug lord they’d surely pissed off when millions in meth went up in smoke, or his aunt.
Definitely his aunt.