They got back in the Escalade, Colt in the front this time. He spent the trip finding out Jared’s address via text message from a friend who lived in Sarepta.

They stopped to drop off Sawyer, promising to return to his house as soon as they were done. The trip was quick and quiet, except for the sound of the GPS telling Walker where to turn.

When they got into Sarepta, Colt stared silently out the window. He hadn’t been into the town since he was a young man, and it had changed radically since then.

They drove past the main strip, full of gleaming new shops and bars, newly paved road. They had to stop several times for pedestrians to cross in designated places; it spoke volumes about how large the once-sleepy town had grown.

Luckily for them, Jared’s house was right outside downtown Sarepta, the first of hundreds of houses pushed out by the same mold. It was done up in light gray stucco and dark gray stonework, indistinguishable from the house next door except for by color.

It was breathtaking in scope, the size of the project immense.

“This is the place,” Walker said, pointing it out as they cruised past the house. “I’ll pull up across the street and down a little. Then we can recon the place.”

Walker drove down a ways, then turned the car around and stopped, just far enough that they weren’t suspicious.

“It seems like he’s not here,” Colt said, scanning the property.

“I doubt it. The papers piled up on his doorstep say he hasn’t been here for a few days,” Walker said.

Colt nodded. He’d been trained in surveillance just as Walker had, but he was more specialized in the breaking and entering part of their current mission.

He lips quirked up as he realized that he was feeling more like a SEAL than he had since he’d lost his foot.

“So?” he said to Walker. “I say we just go for it.”

Walker directed a frown at him. “What if there's a dog? Or a dog-sitter?”

“Let’s check out the back, see what we can see,” Colt said, opening his door. “If we’re stopped, we’ll say we’re college friends, okay?”

“Colt, we really need to observe longer…” Walker said, but Colt had other plans.

Colt felt Walker’s glare as he got out and shut the door, and it didn’t lessen as he strode toward the house. Colt didn’t hesitate, though. Just kept moving in purposeful steps to the front yard, then around the side of the house.

The backyard was a surprise, looking out as it did on nothing but a mile of grassy plains. The backyard boasted a back patio complete with French doors, but there was no sign the backyard was ever used.

Colt looked at Walker, nodding his head toward the French doors. Walker got the idea, and they both snuck up to the French doors, looking in.

They looked into a living room, though it was empty except for a couch. The walls were done all in white, making the room look ghostly. He saw a hallway behind the living room, presumably running along the length of the house. To the right, Colt guessed, would lead to the kitchen and laundry room.

Colt tried the handle to the door, out of curiosity. It turned with ease. He looked up at Walker, who shrugged at him.

Raising his brows, he opened the door. He held up a finger to keep Walker in place, and whistled.

Nothing. If there had been a dog or anyone in the house, they would have announced themselves by now.

He gave Walker the thumbs up, moving inside quickly. Walker followed him, closing the door.

Colt looked around, then signaled he would check out the left side of the house if Walker took the right. Walker nodded, and they parted ways.

Colt carried his task out quickly, moving through the living room and down the hallway to explore the other rooms in the house.

He saw a suitcase of clothes in the bedroom and a shaving kit in the bathroom. Other than that, there was no indication that someone was staying here.

He headed through the hallway to the kitchen, where he almost ran into Walker. He gestured to his brother, asking if all was clear.

“Clear,” Walker said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Nothing much in the bedrooms or bathroom,” Colt said.

“It seems like he might just crash here from time to time,” Walker said, jerking a thumb at the kitchen. “Look how bare it is in here.”

He was right. The stainless steel and white marble kitchen was astonishingly clean. Colt walked over and opened a cabinet, and found it empty.

“Check out this table,” Walker said, drawing his attention to the only space that could be considered cluttered in the whole house. It was covered in countless different documents, all randomly dumped there. “Shit…”

Walker pointed to five handguns sitting in a chair beside it, casually stacked.

“Jesus,” Colt said. He moved to check out the guns. “Serial numbers filed off, of course. Jared, you have been bad.”

Turning his attention to the table, the words Catahoula Creek caught his attention. It was a blueprint of some kind. He picked up the document, scowling as he realized that it laid out plans to make Catahoula Creek just like Sarepta.

He traced the map, identifying the main strip and the Whittier place, remade into a strip mall and miles of prefab houses. And right next to Whittier place was Roman Ranch, with a Walmart and a Home Depot in the middle.

“Oh fuck no,” he said, handing the documents to Walker. “He’s fucking crazy if he thinks that we’ll sell.”

Walker’s mouth creased in a frown.

“Yeah… but a dude ranch amongst all this?” he said, pointing to the strip of shops and the housing development. “The horses would panic. They’d be throwing riders left and right. It wouldn’t take long for word to get out. I don’t think we’d even make it through construction.”

“Which is why it won’t happen,” Colt said, fists clenching. “Not if I have anything to do with it.”

He looked at the rest of the table, trying not to lose focus. They were here for blackmail material on Whittier, it was important not to forget that.

Colt saw a couple glossy photo edges sticking out of the mess of paper. He pulled them out.

“Oh, here are the photos,” he said, showing them to Walker. “God, Jonas looks half dead. I would bet some serious cash that GHB or some other date rape drug was involved.”

“It looks like these are stills taken from a video,” Walker said, taking one of the photos.

“Yeah. We should look for a camera,” Colt said, distracted by spotting more plans for Catahoula Creek on the table.

“I’m on it,” Walker said, clapping Colt on the shoulder and putting the photo down on the table.

Colt sifted through what was on the table. Most of it was information about the development that Chalke intended to build in Catahoula Creek, prospectives for investors and the like.

It turned Colt’s stomach.

“I got it,” Walker said, returning with a small digital camera held high. “Still has the memory card in it and everything.”

“Did you see a laptop anywhere?” Colt asked, taking the photos and leaving the rest of the papers behind.

“Yeah,” Walker said, pointing to a laptop bag on the floor. “It’s in there.”

“All right,” Colt said, grabbing the bag. “Let’s get out of here before we’re caught.”

Walker nodded his assent. Colt headed back through the living room and out the back door, waiting for his brother before leaving the backyard altogether.

Colt jogged back to the Escalade, getting in quickly. Walker started the car and they took off, the main strip shining bright as they passed it.

They had the blackmail material… all they needed now was a good time to stick it under Jared’s nose.

Colt sat back as they cleared the Sarepta city limits, feeling greatly reassured.