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I may not be the most intimidating man alive, but I know how to get a message across. It’s a little disconcerting to see someone so utterly unimpressed, especially after the pummeling that I just gave my own father.

“You need to cool your head,” Steve says. “You’re hurting your sister with this nonsense.”

“This isn’t about her. It’s not even about me!” I reply. “He’s got Madison. Why are you covering for him, huh?”

“If you’re so sure, why don’t you file a police report?”

That’s not the craziest idea, but it’s not the brightest, either. Why is Steve, his employee, suggesting this? “You’re making fun of me,” I say.

“No. I’m merely pointing out that you can do other things to get your friend back. Mr. Echeveria denied any involvement, so filing a police report is your only other option.”

“Fucking hell, Steve.”

“Ah, not Manny anymore, then?”

I scowl at him. Once more, stone cold and unaffected. It irks me.

“Rhue!” Laura calls out from the top of the steps. “Rhue, what the hell is wrong with you?!”

“You need to ask yourself if…” My voice fades as I see a black SUV pulling up. A young man gets out. He’s blue eyed, his dark blond hair is cut short, and he’s strapped into a nice moss green suit with a grey tie. I can’t help but wonder. I mean, honestly, what are the fucking odds? “Jake?”

His shoulders twitch but he doesn’t reply. It makes me angry.

“Jake!” I call out.

Finally, he looks at me just as he passes by Laura. “Excuse me?”

“Your name’s Jake.”

“It’s not.”

“I know you,” I insist, though I am anything but sure right now.

“Mind your business, you have no idea who I am,” the guy replies, and goes inside.

I would like nothing more than to go in after him, but Steve holds me back.

The look on Laura’s face tells me I’ve screwed up big time, but I lack the patience to explain how wrong she is.

My father is my worst nightmare right now.

The enemy I never wanted. The monster I must vanquish, one way or another.

Steve is right about one thing, though. Laura doesn’t need to join me on this crusade.

She’s already lost a mother. I can’t force her to destroy her father, too. She’s made her choice; to hold on to the information indefinitely until someone else takes Julian down. She’s too young to make this choice. I need to do this for the both of us.

Steve squeezes my shoulder. “This whole thing is taking an unsustainable toll on Laura, Rhue. You need to change that. Deal with your old man some other way.”

“What do you know about the old man, huh?” I shoot back, disgust taking over and filling my mouth with an acrid, unbearable taste. It’s failure. I’m tasting fucking failure.

“I know he’ll never do anything out in the open,” Steve says, his eyes reduced to slits.

He’s trying to tell me something, and I need to listen carefully.

“And you’re helpless on your own. If you want to bring him down, you need proof, and you need someone to make the world believe you.

Until then, you’re just an emotionally unstable son who lost track of his girlfriend. ”

“You’re cruel.”

“Rhue!” Laura shouts again, visibly frustrated that I’m not going up to her.

“I’ll call you later,” I call up to her. I look at Steve. “You’d better keep her safe.”

“Don’t worry about me, kid. I do my job.

But you need to stop hunting the whale with a fucking toothpick,” he says, then walks back up.

Laura isn’t convinced that this is over, and she keeps pointing at me as she asks him to help her to the base of the steps.

It’s the one thing my father has failed to install, a ramp on this side of the mansion.

It holds my sister back for now, though, so there’s a silver lining.

“I need to talk to him,” she tells Steve, who gives me a sideways glance.

I can’t drag her down with me. As much as I hate it, he’s right. “Laura, I’m fine. Just go inside, see if Dad needs any help. I’ll call you later. I promise.”

She’s not happy with my reply, but it’s the best she’s going to get and she knows it.

I leave her and Steve up there and get behind the wheel, rainwater soaking my seat.

The guy who just walked in still bothers me.

Who is he? I make a note of his plates and start the engine.

Minutes later, I’m driving toward the city center, my resolve slowly recovering.

Brick by brick, piece by piece, my mind begins to design a first draft scenario.

My father has Madison. If he wanted her dead right now, her body would show up somewhere. He wouldn’t let me torment myself like this. No, he has her, and he’s holding her as leverage. She isn’t the one he’s afraid of. It’s me that he wants to keep under his thumb.

Obviously, I can’t let that happen.

But Steve’s right, too. I can’t beat him alone, and my sister is too damn close to this. I could go to the cops—I’ve got the picture of her. I’m resistant to that, mostly because it’s what Steve told me to do.

How do I know what side he’s on?

How can I know which side the cops are on?

Contreras said he had a bad feeling—maybe his bad feeling will work in my favor. My only other possible ally is Noelle. She’s already investigating my father—but the very first person she would tell is Mr. Willis. I can’t let him know. Not yet. Not until I get her back in one piece.

My father started this war.

I’m going to finish it.