“Do either of you have anyone outside? If you do, just know that police officer Fletcher and her team will be here in minutes if things go bad. And she can have the sheriff’s office block the main road and send reinforcements.”
Esteban let loose with a litany of Spanish.
Sierra was exceedingly grateful that Beau couldn’t understand all the rude insults her brother was spewing.
Fletcher spoke through the speaker. “That means—”
“I know what that means,” Beau said. “Or the gist of it. No need to interpret.” He looked from Esteban to Rafael. “Do you have any backup outside? I don’t want a repeat of Sierra being caught in the middle of gunfire again because of some stupid stunt that one of you pulls. If shots are fired anywhere near her, I’ll put a bullet in both of you. Understood?”
Sierra stiffened beside him but remained silent. She wasn’t sure whether he was serious or not. But she was trying hard to trust him, in spite of his apparent doubts about her.
Rafael immediately shook his head. “I came here alone. I didn’t tell anyone I was coming. Except Esteban. He called me a little over an hour ago. Sierra had already told me he was alive. So it wasn’t as big a shock as it would have been. I was out of town, out of state when she called, so it took a while to get here. I’d just landed at the Chattanooga airport when Esteban called and said to meet him and Sierra here.”
“Esteban, how did you know she was here, in this cabin?” Beau asked.
Esteban gave him a surly expression and didn’t answer.
Sierra went off in Spanish at him, basically telling him to man up and take responsibility for his actions.
His expression turned sheepish, like a child who’d just been scolded.
“Did you want that interpreted?” Fletcher asked through the speaker.
“I’ll do it,” Sierra said. “I called him an idiot and told him to answer the questions.”
“Close enough.” There was laughter in Fletcher’s voice. “That’s the G-rated version.”
Beau smiled. “Esteban.” This time his voice was a little less impatient, a little less gruff. “Your anger at me is quite convincing. Either you’re a great actor, or you really are upset on your sister’s behalf. Understand where I’m coming from, though. She’s nearly been killed several times this week. You always seem to be involved in those incidents. Are you trying to have her killed, or is there another explanation?”
Rafael stared at his brother. “What the heck, Esteban? You’re behind the shootings she told me about?”
Esteban’s face took on a pained expression. “I trusted the wrong people. Idiots. Okay? That’s all. I was on the run and had to hire my own mercenary muscle for protection. I knew better. People who hire out to the highest bidder have no loyalties. When things get rough, it’s every man for himself and they don’t care who gets in the way. The ones Dawson didn’t kill were fired. I let go of every single one of them.”
“What about that Randy guy?” Sierra asked. “The one you gave the transfusion. Your friend.”
He rolled his eyes. “He wasn’t a friend. I barely knew him. I only guessed at his blood type.”
Sierra gasped.
He shrugged. “I was hoping to save him with my blood long enough so that I could interrogate him. I was worried someone else had gotten to him and the other men I’d hired, and that’s why they were so trigger-happy. Turns out they were just cowards and completely trigger happy. Period. I came here, to this cabin, alone. I’ve been combing the mountains and town trying to hear someone talk about anyone who matched our sister’s description being seen around here. That got me nowhere, so I rented a cabin to lie low until I could think of some other way to find her. I finally got a lucky break. My cabin isn’t far from here. I decided to check out any cabins in the vicinity and when I stood outside listening at one of the windows of thisone, I heard Sierra’s voice. I headed back to my cabin and called Rafael.”
“How did you find out about the tunnel?” Sierra asked.
Beau gave her an impatient look.
She shrugged. “I just wanted to know whether I’m to blame for that. For calling Rafael.”
Rafael frowned. “What does calling me have to do with anything?”
“Nothing,” Esteban told him. “I found the tunnel because we exhausted every other potential place you two could have been. We found your truck and fanned out from there. It was dumb luck that one of the guys fell on a tree root and into the mouth of the tunnel.”
“And you decided it was a good idea to go inside?” Beau asked.
“Last resort. I was desperate and wanted to cross it off my list of potential possibilities of how to find my sister.”
Relief swept through Sierra hearing that she hadn’t actually compromised their location at the safe house as she’d feared. “Why are you both here?”
“Sierra—” Beau complained.
