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His mother let out a gasp. “Ian,” she said quietly.
He whirled around. “No. Don’t try to talk me out of it. I know she’s perfect for me, and I don’t care what it takes. I’m going to marry that woman. Besides, we think we know what they’re after. We found a jump drive in her apron. We think Tucker hid it there.”
Sean’s brows lowered. “What? When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell us? That would have changed everything.”
Ian’s jaw tightened. He clenched his fists at his sides. “It doesn’t matter. But if you want to know, it happened right before dinner. I was going to tell you, but then the fire…” He shook his head. “That’s not the point. What I’m trying to say is that we might have just what we need to get these people put away.”
Sean put his glass down and moved toward the group. “We need to get that flash drive to the sheriff. He’ll know what to do with it. He’ll probably know where we can keep Jessica safe until everything is sorted out too.”
“She’s not leaving,” Ian growled.
Brock let out another snort. “You don’t really have a say in the matter.”
Ian spun to face him. “Butt out, Brock. I’m not asking permission. Jessica stays, and that’s final.”
Brock opened his mouth, but a knock on the door cut him off. All seven heads turned toward the source of the noise. Without meeting anyone’s eyes, Ian mumbled, “You don’t think they’d just knock, do you?”
Sean strode across the room, opened a storage closet and retrieved his shotgun. With one swift movement, he cocked the weapon. Pressing the butt of the gun against his shoulder, he motioned for Brock to get out of his way. “I suggest the rest of you arm yourselves.”
“Sean, be careful,” their mother murmured.
Ian grabbed a handgun from a drawer and followed his brother to the front of the house.
Sean peered through the spy hole then stepped back, a look of confusion on his face. He glanced at Ian, whispering, “I’m pretty sure it’s the DEA.”
“What?” Ian shuffled closer and got a good look. He lowered his gun as he glanced toward the rest of his family who had appeared in the shadows. His hand wrapped around the doorknob and he pulled open the door so that just he was visible. A woman with a short black bob stood beside a bald man. They wore their identifying jackets, but that didn’t mean they were with the agency. “Can I help you?”
The woman took out her badge and held it up. “I’m agent Gomez with the Drug Enforcement Agency. Is there a Jessica Todd on the premises?”
Ian peered at the ID. He glanced at the woman. “What do you want with her?”
The agents exchanged glances. Then Gomez met his eyes. “May we come in?”
“Ian, let them in,” Sean’s gruff voice came from behind him.
Ian pulled the door wide, allowing the agents entrance. Sean gestured to the living room. “Take a seat.”
The agents each took their spot on the sofa. His mother hovered by the door. Sean sat across from the newcomers in an oversized armchair. Ian and the rest of his brothers formed a line behind their brother.
Agent Gomez’s focus landed on each of his brothers before settling on Sean. “Do you know Miss Todd?”
Sean grunted. “She’s been staying here for about a week.”
The woman nodded. “Can you go get her? She should probably hear this too.”
Sean met Ian’s eyes for just a moment, then shook his head. “She’s resting. We’ll go get her after you tell us what’s going on.”
She shot her partner a look then sighed. “Miss Todd was involved with Tucker Price.”
Ian’s body stiffened. He knew Tucker was bad news. This was it. The truth was finally going to be shared.
The agent continued. “Mr. Price has been working with the DEA to bring down a certain drug trafficking ring in Colorado Springs. The last time we met with him, he’d agreed to steal some information from his superiors. When we hadn’t heard from him, we realized something went wrong.”
Ian snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
The balding man scowled at him.
Gomez pulled out a notebook from her pocket and flipped it open. She retrieved a picture. “This man’s name is Mateo Carillo.”
