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By the time Annie and Deanna were back from the grocery store, Alice had all the bedrooms ready for their new guests. She wasn’t sure how many would arrive, but she knew it would be a crowd.

Rollaway beds and cots were made up, fresh towels placed in the bathrooms, and all the groceries put away while they were deciding on something for dinner.

“I’ll start something for dinner,” said Deanna.

“Make it easy, honey. A big casserole or something,” said Alice.

“Lasagna?”

“Perfect,” smiled Annie. “Deanna? If I haven’t said it yet, I’m glad you’re going to be a part of our family. You’re perfect for Pax and we always knew that you would be. Unfortunately, my sons have very, very hard heads.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling at the other woman. “I’ve always loved him. We were being so stupid, not keeping up with one another.”

“I know a thing or two about that,” smirked Alice. “I let my sister interfere with Bogey and me. I regret all the time we lost, but we’re here now, happy and living the life we always dreamed.”

“You know, I wonder if my parents lived the life they dreamed. They kept that small tax and accounting business going for more than thirty years, never spending a dime for themselves. I hated that for them.”

“Didn’t you take vacations?” asked Alice.

“Not really. Dad’s idea of a vacation was taking a long weekend and going to Biloxi or Gulf Shores, something drivable. Then, not telling me about what was happening with Douglass and the others. It was just too much. I don’t understand.”

“We try to protect our children, right or wrong, Deanna. I know that my husband and son are retired Navy SEALs, but it didn’t stop me from praying for them as they swam out to that boy. They’re good, but you can’t beat the ocean, and if the rip currents had taken them, we might be standing here having a different conversation. I think your folks were just trying to protect you, that’s all.”

“I get that, really, I do. It’s just that in the end, they put me in more danger by not trusting me enough to tell me what was going on with their business.”

“You have to forgive them,” said Alice. “If you want to truly move forward and create a life for you and Pax, you have to forgive your parents and move on.”

“I know,” she started. The front door opened, and the women stepped into the foyer. Pax, Brax, Saint, Bogey, and Benji were all staring at them.

“How is he? How’s the boy?” asked Deanna.

“He didn’t make it,” said Benji. “He was severely dehydrated, and his little heart couldn’t take anymore.”

“No,” whispered Alice, her hand covering her mouth.

“He was able to tell us that he was one of ninety people placed on a boat and told they would be going to America, to freedom. The man on the boat told them they had to be chained to the boat because of bad weather. He didn’t remember a lot after that, only that the boat hit a series of rocks. From the sound of it, it was probably San Clemente Island.”

“Did they pay for passage?” asked Deanna.

“They did. Everything they had. His family was from Elota, Mexico. They were farmers but had been threatened recently because someone wanted his father’s land. That was all we got out of him before he started to experience seizures.”

“That poor child,” whispered Annie. “All alone for who knows how long on those boards, cold, hungry, and no one to answer his cries.” She hugged Benji, shaking her head. When they heard the front doors open again, they weren’t surprised to see their friends.

Luke, Hex, Eric, Cam, Patrick, Christopher, Moose, and Conor walked in. They knew immediately by the mood of those in the house that the boy hadn’t survived.

“Shit,” muttered Hex.

“That was my exact response,” said Bogey. When there was a knock on the door, they all looked at one another, counting heads. “Who could that be?”

Luke opened the door, staring at a man in uniform on the other side.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“Sorry, I’m looking for Brax Pechkin. I’m Master Chief Chuck Aaron.” Luke smiled, nodding at him.

“Come on in. I’m Luke Robicheaux.” Aaron stopped in his tracks, swallowing as he stared at the faces in front of him.

“Shit,” he muttered, taking a step back.

“Uh, I’m not contagious,” said Luke.

“No. No, sir, you’re not.” Brax stuck his head between the crowd and smiled at Aaron.

“What’s up, MC?”

“You asshole! You never said these people were your family. Shit! Pechkin. Is your grandfather Ivan Pechkin?”

“Maybe,” smirked Brax. “Come on in. Everyone, this is Master Chief Chuck Aaron. Aaron, this is my father, Benji, and mother, Annie. That’s Bogey and Alice Humphreys. You met my twin, Pax, and that’s Saint Humphreys. This is Luke. You just met him. Cam Dougall, Hex Vernon, Eric…”

“No, no, let me guess,” he said, looking him up and down. “Eric Bongard.” The others laughed, nodding.

“That’s Patrick and Christopher Jordan, Moose Sculler, and Conor Quinn.”

“Holy shit,” he muttered. He looked toward Pax and tilted his head, smiling at Deanna.

“Uh, yeah. Don’t do that. She’s my brother’s fiancée. Deanna.”

“Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just starstruck. I can’t believe you never told me about your family. I didn’t make the connection, and I’m seriously hating myself right now for that stupid mistake.”

“That’s the point, though. We try not to tell everyone who we are or who we’re related to. Some of us have names that can’t be ignored, like Robicheaux,” said Luke. “What can we do for you, MC?”

“I thought you’d want to know that the Coast Guard found eleven other bodies chained to boards just like the boy. This makes more than two dozen we’ve found like this now. As far as we know, potentially dozens more were not found. Someone is intentionally taking money from these people, whatever they have, chaining them to boats, and sending them to their deaths. We’ve been told to stand down, that it belongs to the Coast Guard.”

“That makes sense, though,” said Cam.

“It does, except I just spoke to my counterpart at Coast Guard command. They were told to stand down as well. They said it wasn’t our problem. It was Mexico’s problem. When did we stop caring about kids dying on boats, chained like animals?”

Luke looked at the others, then back at the MC.

“I don’t know, but what do you say we find out?”