There were only two of them here, Marco and José. The other relatives lived closer to town and blended in with the locals. Jayce climbed into the back of the truck with the rest of his brothers. They started up and jolted over the rough terrain. They weren’t far from the area where they would meet up with their father and the two men he said were Mallory’s and Kizzy’s fathers—and very likely Dante’s and Noah’s future fathers-in-law.
As the truck rumbled along, Miguel asked, “So now that we know where they are, what are we going to do about them?”
Jayce shrugged. “That’s up to Dad. He says he has a plan, but he won’t let anyone in on the nitty-gritty details. Not yet anyway. He said he had to get a few other people involved and get their permission.”
“Permission to do what?”
Jayce reclined against the rustic bench. “I’m not at liberty to say.”
When they reached the cleared land along the shore of the Amazon, they all jumped out of the back and waved goodbye to their cousins.
The elder Fierro strolled over to meet them. “So, boys, what did you find out?”
“Are you ever going to stop thinking of us as boys?” Luca asked.
“Nope.” Antonio folded his arms and waited.
As soon as the truck was out of sight, Jayce turned to his father.
“There’s a compound. A fairly sizable one. Fifteen buildings on about four acres. We saw at least twenty men of various ages. A few women and children.”
“Damn,” one of the men said as he strolled up beside Antonio. “If I had known there were that many assholes across the river, I probably wouldn’t have chosen this build site.”
“They’re more than just assholes,” the other unfamiliar man said. “They’re dangerous. Extremely dangerous.” Then he looked to Jayce, stepping forward and extending his hand. “I’m Kizzy’s father, Aaron Samuels, by the way. I assume you’re the one called Jayce?”
Jayce shook his hand. “Yes. I’ll be the new leader of the family when my father retires.”
“I didn’t know you were still working, Antonio,” Aaron said. “I thought you had retired a while ago.”
“You’re right. I retired from the fire service several years ago. But now I want to retire from the family service. My boys are all grown, as my youngest will tell you, and they can take care of themselves. But I insist on leaving someone in charge. Actually, even Jayce has a backup. His brother Miguel will co-lead. We have unique problems, and somebody needs to be the final decision maker.” Antonio turned to his sons. “Did you see anyone armed?”
“Yes. There were a couple of guards carrying rifles. One on each side of the compound.”
Aaron nodded. “I would expect as much.”
“Is there any way to sneak in?”
“There’s a small tributary bordering it. A fairly steep bank could hide someone.”
“Can you give us exact coordinates?” Mallory’s father asked. He pulled a map from his back pocket and opened it. Then he carried it to the coffee table, spread it out, and smoothed it.
Antonio said, “We don’t have built-in GPS, but Jayce’s sense of direction can certainly guide my next guests to where they need to be.”
“Next guests?” Aaron prompted.
“It’s time for phase two.” Antonio nodded to Jayce and said, “You know what to do.”
Jayce closed his eyes. “Kristine? Can you hear me?”
His beautiful wife appeared next to him. “I could hear you better if you took your shirt off.” She waggled her eyebrows.
The guys laughed.
“Is that all I am to you? A sex object?” Jayce teased.
“No. You’re much more than an object. So, how are we going to do this?”
Jayce shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s been you and my dad cooking up this whole thing.”
