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Christopher, Patrick, Conor, and Moose found their hotel in Playa Novillera located on the beach. It was filled with tourists, but locals were working at the hotel and surrounding businesses. They knew that this was at least a pickup spot for some of the victims, according to the information sent by Aaron, Tanner, and the others.

“I think we missed out on the whole spring break experience in Mexico,” smirked Christopher.

“I’m not sure we missed out on anything,” said Patrick. “This is a fucking mad house. Look at those girls. They can’t possibly be old enough to drink, and they’re falling all over the dance floor.”

“Jesus, I have a daughter,” frowned Moose. “She’s never leaving home.”

“Not really something you can control,” smirked Conor.

“Watch me,” said Moose. He looked around the hotel restaurant, seeing a mix of spring breakers as well as more mature tourists. “This doesn’t really fit what we’re looking for. I mean, none of these people are locals.”

“No, but the staff is,” said Christopher. “I would venture that those in town or in the outlying areas know about what’s been happening.”

“It’s fucking hot in here,” frowned Patrick. “Don’t they have air conditioning here?”

“Hello, sir,” smiled the waiter. “We apologize, but our air conditioning has been out for two days. We’re working on it. I can offer a table on the veranda. You’ll get the warm beach breezes.”

“That would be great,” said Moose.

They followed their waiter to the veranda and were happy to get a table away from most of the chaos. A few moments later, another young man approached the table and stared at the four men.

“Are you alright?” asked Patrick. “Do you want our drink order?”

“I-I’m sorry,” he said. “You’re twins.”

“Yes, sort of. We’re actually two-thirds of triplets. We have a sister,” smiled Christopher. The young man gave a sad nod.

“I-I had a twin.”

“I’m sorry,” said Patrick. “I know how connected multiples can be. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“I didn’t lose him,” he said with sarcasm. “Someone stole him from me. They filled his head with dreams, and now he’s gone.”

“What do you mean?” asked Moose.

“My brother was in a wheelchair. I was born first. He stayed in the birth canal too long and suffered some brain injuries. But he was smart. Really smart. He read every book he could get his hands on and loved his computers.”

“He sounds wonderful,” said Patrick, looking at his brother.

“He was the best. The very, very best. Then, some man convinced him that he could correct his brain damage. It can’t be corrected!” yelled the young man. Other tables turned to see who had made the disturbance as a manager walked toward them.

“Is there a problem, Raul?”

“There’s not a problem,” said Christopher, smiling at the woman. “We were just laughing about being a twin.”

“I see. I thought we agreed you wouldn’t speak of that at work,” she sneered.

“Forgive me, but someone who lost their brother should be allowed to grieve. You can’t always control where that grief manifests. Work, home, on a street, or in a church. He’s doing a fine job, and we’re great.” She stared at Raul and then back at the table of handsome men, nodding.

“Very well. If you say everything is well, I believe you.” She walked away, and the young man shook his head.

“Thank you for that, but it won’t make a difference. She’s been trying to fire me for a while now.”

“Because of your brother?”

“Because I keep asking about him and want to find the men that took him,” he said.

“Raul, we think we can help you,” said Christopher. “What time do you get off?”

“I’m off at midnight,” he said quietly. “If they don’t fire me before then.”

“Let us handle that,” said Conor. He stood and walked toward the female manager who’d yelled at Raul, asking for a manager above her. Raul’s eyes grew large, and he stared at the men.

“She’s going to be very angry about that. She wants to hire her nephew, and they won’t let her.”

“Firing you won’t change that,” said Patrick. “How about four iced teas, four bottled waters, and bring us the house specialty.”

“You don’t want the house specialty,” he said with the first sign of a smile they’d seen. “Not unless you want to spend your time here in the bathroom. Get the grilled fish tacos. They’re decent, and they won’t make you lose weight.”

“Great advice, brother. Great advice,” laughed Moose.

Christopher, Patrick, Conor, and Moose killed time until midnight when Raul was off his shift. They met him further down the beach near a small bar on the sand. It was crowded with young people overindulging, but they grabbed a few chairs on the beach and ordered some drinks.

“Who was it that approached your brother?” asked Conor.

“I don’t know. They never approached him when we were together, or I would have stopped it. I loved my brother dearly. I loved him just like he was and wouldn’t have changed anything about him. He kept telling me about all the things these men were promising him, and he asked if he could borrow five thousand U.S. dollars.”

“Five thousand?” frowned Patrick. “That’s not a lot of money for something like this.”

“That was one of many things that made me nervous. We’d been hearing about boats sinking and people dying, but my brother wouldn’t listen. The man kept telling him that because they were taking so many people, they weren’t charging as much.”

“Why not just drive across the border?” asked Christopher. “It’s easy to do.”

“The man wouldn’t tell my brother the name of the doctor who could help him. He said it was part of the deal that no one could see this special doctor without approval. They wouldn’t even give us his name, but they convinced him that he would be normal. Th-that we would be identical,” he sniffed.

“It’s not your fault,” said Patrick. “He was using your brother’s love for you against him. He knew what he was doing, and he’d done this before.”

“But how can we stop him or them?” he asked.

“You let us worry about that.”