Page 71 of Tony

“And both times the FBI interfered with our missions so they could intercept these little girls, they failed. The first time—well, this is where you guys come in.”

“Wait. Which guys?”

“Vann. Fort Collins. Belinda. All the other witnesses.” Soshee looks at me with utter confusion before looking back at the highway. “She wasn’t always Belinda. She was Rosalie back then.”

“What?” Soshee makes a face. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand. What does that mean? Belinda had a different name?”

“Umm.” I run a hand down my face and realize I haven’t shaved in a couple days. “Yeah. Kinda. Well… she saw the operation go down when the FBI swooped in and tried to take one of the kids in our shipment from the Caribbean. And they were pissed. Rosalie—Belinda—I just call her Rosalinda to keep it straight—she saw this by accident. And she and I were already done, right? It was over. So I agreed to have her put into the witness protection program and sent up here to Fort Collins.”

“She’s… in the witness protection program?”

“Maybe?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either. I mean, we all thought she was being protected all these years. But then, on the last mission, the same thing happened. The FBI came in and told us they were going to take a girl off our shipment. And we teamed up with the Boston brothers—”

“Whoa. Hold up.” She pulls the car over to the side of the road, puts it in park, and turns in her seat to look at me. “The Boston Brothers? As in… Jesse Boston?”

“He’s my brother-in-law. Married my sister last Christmas Eve.”

“Your brother-in-law is Jesse Boston?”

“Yeah. And I don’t know how much you know about them, but—”

“Know about them? Are you fucking with me right now?”

“No. I swear. This is all true.”

“I’m related to them.”

“What?” I laugh, even though this isn’t funny. Not one bit. “That can’t be. Those guys have no family. Just each other. I know this. Their father and uncle—”

“Were killed. I know. Trust me, I’ve heard that story a million times growing up. ‘Keep your mouth shut, Soshee. Don’t tell anyone, Soshee. Or your mom, or your sister or your little cousins will all be next.’ Because that uncle of theirs who was killed? He was my father, Tony!”

“What? You’re Zach Boston’s sister?”

She closes her eyes and turns her head away to stare out the window. “Oh. My. Fucking God. This cannot be happening.”

“You’re really Zach’s sister?”

“Half-sister. We had different mothers. But yeah. Basically. I’m his sister. He got the cushy city life and my mother and I were sent here to Fort Collins to live with her side of the family after it happened. That’s how I got here. And now you’re telling me… what? That Belinda is part of this too? That you… we’re all… connected to something dangerous?”

I wince and shrug. “You did want a mysterious, intriguing, slightly dangerous date, didn’t you?”

“Oh, my God, Tony. This isn’t funny. This is all bad. They know! They have to know who I am! And that means none of us are safe!”

“I… hate to say this, Soshee, but this is just backstory. I haven’t even gotten to the real problem yet.”

“What?” She looks like she might start crying.

“I’m sorry. Fuck. Maybe I should go home. Not tell you any more. Keep you safe.”

“Are you fucking insane?” Any previous sign of upcoming tears disappears immediately and she becomes all business. “Start talking. Now. I want to know everything. Does this have anything to do with Tara disappearing? I’ve asked Vann like a hundred times what happened to her. I know they all went on some road trip, but then Vann and Belinda came back and Tara didn’t.”

“She didn’t disappear. She’s living with my brother, Alonzo.”

“The fisherman?”