Page 21 of Dangerous Command

“Finished,” he said. His eyes shifted and he scratched his nose.

“Then what’s your purpose in Brackston?”

“I wanted to—” he paused, flinching, “—to make sure everything was cleaned out.”

“And you didn’t do that six months ago?”

“I… You know, I—” he swallowed hard, “—Never hurts to check again, Boss.”

“Don’t lie to me.” I moved forward swiftly and grabbed him by the collar. “You know how I hate liars.”

“I know, Boss.”

His palm was still bandaged. His whole body vibrated. The man was terrified, as he should be. And he was now my top suspect.

But that interrogation would be later. For now, he had a chance to prove himself.

“Where is your wife these days, Uncle Ray?”

“Still in Sage City,” he said.

“Go to your wife,” I said in a low voice, “and don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

He skittered out of the warehouse like a bolt of lighting.

“That was harsh,” Maddie said.

“He’s been acting strange.”

“So have I,” she winked. “You said it yourself.”

But Maddie was different. She wasn’t around when my father was murdered; Uncle Ray was.

“I don’t trust him,” I said.

“But he’s family,” she said. “I thought you lived and breathed family.”

Family meant the Adler legacy. It meant my mother and brothers. Maybe even my brothers’ wives. But it didn’t necessarily mean Uncle Ray. He was blood, but that didn’t mean anything if you were willing to betray the family. My gut instinct said he would. I just needed proof.

“He would jump ship the second he found a better offer,” I said.

“You ought to give him a chance to explain,” she said.

“I did. And his excuse was haphazard. In fact,” I pulled out my phone and dialed Axe. As I waited for the call to go through, I turned to Maddie. “I’m going to have Axe put someone on his tail.”

“Wow.Family,” she said sarcastically. The call rang twice, then, as usual, Axe answered, meeting me with silence on the other end.

“Put a tail on Uncle Ray,” I said.

“Done,” Axe said. Then we both hung up.

“So what ‘counts’ as family, then?” Maddie asked, putting up quotation marks in the air to show how ridiculous it was. “Don’t you have a half-brother? What about him?”

Ethan was a thorn in my side. A year older than me, he technically could have taken over the family legacy. But once he chose a captive over the family, he made his priorities clear. And I wouldn’t have let him stand in my way. It wasmythrone.

But Ethan had still proved himself useful to the family. Especially to me. I could respect him, more than I could Uncle Ray.

“He’s my brother,” I said. “Drop the ‘half.’”