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Chapter 3

Jude

T he furniture and decor in the big conference room were nothing like what had been here when my dad ran the place. Since Chloe had purchased the timber company, so much had changed. And for the first time in years, the place was bustling.

We’d had to sell some of our land to the Gagnons last year in order to keep the lights on, and most of the furniture and equipment had been sold. Sure, we’d weathered some hard times, but as she promised she would, Chloe kept on every single employee that had remained when she took over. While rebuilding had taken some time, we were well on our way.

Almost every aspect of the business was different. Chloe hired scientists to consult so we could focus on sustainability, and she’d even sent me to a forestry training seminar in Minnesota in the spring.

And she’d insisted on promoting me to management. I’d tried to resist, but there was no winning an argument with that woman. Gus was much more suited than I was in these ranks, but he backed her up, insisting I join them. He’d always wanted to take over for our dad and become the fourth generation of Gagnon men to run the business.

And yeah, he did so temporarily after our dad went to prison, but we’d had to sell. If not, we all would have gone down with it. So he was not, in fact, the figurehead, but he seemed to be doing fine. Chloe owned the company, but he stood by her side when she needed it. Though he spent most of his time doting on their daughter. His life was another reminder that sometimes things work out in ways we don’t expect.

Four of my brothers were here, seated around the large table. Chloe was here as well. She fiddled with the fancy space pod in the middle, and suddenly, Owen’s voice echoed off the walls.

“Lila and I are here,” he declared in his usual business voice. He was calling in from his skyscraper office in downtown Boston, where he was CFO of a construction company. After years of staying far away from Lovewell and anything to do with the business, he’d come back last year to help us sell, and we’d grown closer in the process.

Chloe smiled and sat back in her chair. “Great. Okay, calling this meeting to order. We’ve got to talk about the woman.”

“Mila,” Noah said, tone subdued. “She’s got a name.”

He was seated next to me and clearly uncomfortable. He’d worked as a woodland firefighter out west for the last fifteen years and had only recently come back to Lovewell and been dragged into the disaster our family had been submerged in for years.

I gave him a grateful dip of my chin. Though this wasn’t an ideal way for him to spend his time, I was beyond thankful to have him by my side. Not only because he was my twin, but because, unlike the rest of my brothers, he had a fresh perspective on this mess.

“So she just showed up?” Owen asked, his tone tinny through the speaker. “Out of the blue?”

“Yes.” I leaned over, speaking into the microphone, ignoring the pointed looks coming from Gus, Chloe, and Finn. “And it’s fine.”

“None of this is fine,” Chloe said under her breath.

“It’s only been a day.” I straightened, hands on the armrests of my chair. “And she’s badly injured. Willa examined her and got her set up at my place so she can heal.”

“She was chased and shot at,” Cole added unhelpfully.

I watched as Gus and Chloe exchanged a worried look.

“What happened?” Owen pressed. “Who was she running from and why were they shooting at her?”

Without thought, I took off my glasses and lifted the hem of my shirt, using the soft cotton to clean them.

Noah leaned in a little closer, eyeing me knowingly. Dammit. This little move was a habit I often gave into when I was frustrated.

“She’s a journalist,” I explained, sliding the frames back onto the bridge of my nose. “Her younger brother was the one who was attacked here last year.”

Lila’s gasp was amplified by the speaker. She’d found Hugo injured on the property and had called 911.

“She came up here to investigate and managed to get in with a group of traffickers that works out of the Ape Hanger in Heartsborough. Apparently they found out what she was doing and came after her.”

“So she ran to your place?”

“We know each other,” I hedged.

“You dated her?” Owen asked, his tone firm.

“Not exactly. I met her at the dojo in Heartsborough. She came to some of the self-defense classes I assisted with. She came to the Moose one night while I was playing too.”

Every set of eyes in the room widened at me. I was not a monk, but I tended to keep my private life private.

“And she came home with me. Told me her name was Amy. Said she was from New Hampshire and was a bartender in Heartsborough.”

And I was a chump. I’d believed every word the beautiful, captivating girl had spoken. She’d enamored me from the moment I saw her swaying to the music. The feeling had only grown as the night went on. She’d been so smart and animated, telling me stories about weird food she’d eaten while traveling and her favorite places to ski. It was easy, being in her presence. So learning that it was all a lie had messed with my head.

“She left before I woke up the next morning. I assumed she’d gone back to New Hampshire and pushed her out of my mind.” Or tried to, at least, but I keep that to myself. “Then, months later, the FBI showed up at my door claiming she was a missing person.”

“Shit,” Finn hissed.

“And now she’s here,” Gus said. “Do we believe her? What’s to say she’s not lying again?”

I clenched my fists on the table in front of me as rage boiled in my gut. The urge to defend and protect Mila was so strong, but why? I barely knew her, and the circumstances of her arrival were suspect at best.

Though the doubt was there, I’d seen the pain in her eyes. I’d watched her suffer while Willa put her shoulder back in, and I’d sensed how scared she’d been when she walked through my door.

I couldn’t help but want to protect her. Whatever was going on, she was in deep. And she was in no shape to fight this on her own.

“She has the credentials,” Chloe said. “I had my guy run a background check. She’s legit. Journalism degree from Yale, was a producer for the International News Network, and spent three years writing for the Portland Herald Tribune.”

She angled forward and placed a manilla folder in the middle of the table.

“Here are some of her articles. Deep dives into opioids and government corruption. She’s got the goods.”

“So she can help us?” Finn zeroed in on me.

I had no idea. And honestly, I was more concerned with helping her. But we’d been up against this for years, and with the information Chloe had given us, it was hard not to hope she could.

“Why didn’t she go to the police?” Noah asked.

“She says she’s seen Souza colluding with various criminals at the bar. Claims he’s dirty and so are some of his deputies,” I say. “Same with the FBI. And given our own experiences, I think she may be right.”

All around the table, my brothers were nodding. We’d learned the hard way that we couldn’t always trust law enforcement.

Cole had pulled out knitting needles and yarn at some point. I wasn’t surprised. The activity helped soothe his anxiety. “She’s gotta talk to Parker.”

“Of course.” Chloe nodded. “We’ll loop her in.”

We’d hired Parker Gagnon a while back to help us investigate and work through some of the strange occurrences that had taken place since my father’s arrest. Thefts and vandalism had both been problems, and Lila and Owen had discovered accounting issues. Then there was the attack on Hugo.

Parker had worked for the state police for a time and had FBI contacts, but so far, we were still chasing down leads and trying to follow the money to the top.

“Do you think she’ll take off again?” Finn asked. He’d shown up with his shoulder-length hair down but had pulled it up into a bun as we talked.

“Doubtful,” Cole said, saving me from having to vouch for her. “She was adamant about not calling the police or going to the hospital. We had to hold her down while Willa popped her shoulder back in. Trust me. She’s scared and hurt. I think it’s best if we let her lie low while we coordinate with Parker.”

Noah fidgeted beside me. We’d been in here too long for him. I was surprised he wasn’t up and pacing or doing pushups to work off his pent-up energy; he was an outdoors kind of guy, always moving. “Can she stay with you?”

I nodded. She was already at my house, and it was secluded and private, so it made sense.

“No,” Gus said. “It’s not safe for you if she’s there.” He gave me that big brother glare he’d mastered before I could even remember. “Who knows what kind of trouble she’ll bring with her.”

I took a deep breath and collected my thoughts. Mila was my responsibility. It had only been twelve hours, but that fact had already sunken into my bones. “I’ll deal with this,” I said. “You’ve all sacrificed so much. And you’ve got families.”

Finn cleared his throat. “Do you think she really has evidence to take them down?”

“I fucking hope so.”

I thought about her smile, her freckles, and the mischievous glint in her steely gray eyes. She was trouble personified. But I couldn’t help but feel like she might be the missing piece we’d spent years looking for.

“What if this is our opportunity?” I scanned the table, making eye contact with each of my brothers and Chloe. “To end all of this, once and for all?”

“What do you mean?”

I closed my eyes and searched for the right words. Public speaking was not my thing.

“We’ve been living under this cloud for so long,” I eventually said. “Chloe, you’ve been followed by sketchy people. Cole and Willa stumbled on some kind of illegal deal, and then Cole was drugged and framed. And Noah—”

I looked over at my twin, and a wave of panic washed over me. It happened every time I thought about the fire. About what could have happened to the person I cared for most in this world. What could have happened to his daughter. I couldn’t even fathom it.

I swallowed back the emotion and lifted my chin. “We’re not safe. This isn’t going away unless we do something about it. And she’s our best chance.”

Gus, the quietest of all of us, spoke up. “But we hired Parker.”

“And she’s amazing, but she’s just one person. When she’s officially sworn in as the new chief of police, she can do a lot more. But right now, we’ve got a resource with hard evidence.”

“Have you seen this evidence?” This question was from Owen, ever the cynic.

I shook my head, then forced out a “no” when I realized he couldn’t see me.

“And you trust her?” Lila added. “Believe her?”

I ruminated on those questions for a moment. Did I believe her? Yes. Undoubtedly. I couldn’t imagine her dislocating her shoulder in order to pull something over on us. But more than that, the fear in her eyes was genuine. So was the jut of her jaw when she talked about what she’d done. And the love and care that oozed from her when she spoke of her brother.

“I do. I trust her.”

“What does this mean practically?” Finn asked. “How do we proceed?”

“Guys,” Gus said, crossing his arms. “It means she meets with Parker and tells her everything. Then we decide what’s next. We’re not going to do anything reckless.”

“Agreed,” Owen said from the phone. “We proceed cautiously. Give all the evidence to Parker. Try to rope in the FBI at the right time. I’ve got the lawyers on standby in case this goes sideways.”

“I think we’re gonna need more than lawyers,” Finn grumbled. “Like a couple of shotguns.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Okay, it’s decided. She stays with Jude and lays low while she heals. We’ll get Parker looped in, find out what this girl knows, and go from there.”

“And,” Gus said, putting his arm around her. “No one does anything reckless or dangerous. We consult each other, and we do not take any unnecessary risks. We’ve had too many close calls already.”

Murmured agreements went up around the table.

Meanwhile, my mind was spinning. What did Mila know? And could it help me put a stop to this? Because after this meeting, it was more obvious than ever how much this ongoing fiasco was weighing on my siblings. They had all sacrificed so much, and now they were happy. So it was up to me to wrap it all up so we could move on.