Page 31

Jaxson

Slowing the car to a crawl, I leaned forward, scanning the overgrown bushes and trees that crowded the roadside. “Look for a break in the trees,” I said to Tory. “It’s easy to miss the orphanage driveway.”

“Okay.” She leaned forward, peering through the windshield. I didn’t know why her presence made me breathe a little easier, especially when my gut twisted into knots that didn’t let up. And wouldn’t until I knew Whitney was safe.

Was Whitney still here? Alone? Under attack?

I’d made the call to leave him with the body, thinking it would be safer than dragging him into the swamp where I’d gone to find Tory. Now, with every inch closer to the orphanage, that decision felt more like a damn stupid idea.

I hoped like hell we weren’t driving straight into an ambush.

Tory pointed out the shattered windshield. “There, is that it?”

I tapped the brakes, squinting at the barely visible gap in the shadows. “Yep, that’s it.”

The pockmarked asphalt was so overgrown that the vegetation nearly swallowed the entrance entirely. I turned the wheel, easing the car onto the concealed driveway and killed the headlights. No need to broadcast our arrival.

The tires crunched over loose gravel and every sound grated against my nerves.

The trees thinned out, and a flickering light cut through the darkness ahead.

“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath. “Fire.”

I yanked the car off the road, pulling it into the shadows beneath a cluster of trees. My breath hitched as adrenaline surged through my veins, sharp and unforgiving.

Onyx whined softly in the back seat, picking up on the tension rolling off me.

“Easy, girl,” I murmured as I unbuckled and stepped out of the car. I opened the back door, clipped her leash to her harness, and said, “Tory, if you stay here?—”

Her door clicked open.

“Tory, wait—” I started, but she was already moving toward the shadows in front of the car.

“Son of a bitch,” I hissed, grabbing Onyx’s lead.

As I jogged to catch up, firelight flickered through the trees, casting chaotic shadows across the ground.

Smoke billowed from several ground-floor windows, thick and black, but the far-left corner was fully engulfed with flames leaping through shattered glass like they couldn’t get out fast enough.

“Tory,” I growled, keeping my voice low and sharp.

She glanced back, and her hard expression confirmed she would not return to the car. I should have figured as much. One shoe was gone, and she limped forward, no doubt that the sharp rocks were biting into her bare foot the same way they chewed into mine.

I tightened my hold on Onyx’s leash and with my other hand locking Eddie’s Glock at my hip, I caught up to Tory.

My pulse hammered in my ears, and every instinct screamed one thing: Whitney was in a ton of trouble. Whatever we were walking into, it was fucked up.

With Onyx on point, we scrambled side by side up the driveway, sticking tight to the shadows cast by the massive trees lining the entrance.

The flames grew brighter as we approached, licking up the side of the old building like the devil himself was dead-set on claiming it .

Whitney’s Tesla was still parked near the front steps, its polished surface reflecting both the moonlight and the flickering orange glow of the fire.

A body lay crumpled on the ground, twisted on its side.

Oh, fuck. No. No. No.

Tory’s breath hitched. She spun to face me, her eyes wide with fear.

My heart clenched.

If that’s Whitney . . . No. It’s not him. It can’t be. I’d know if he was dead. He’s my brother. My triplet. My fucking blood.

Tory and I crouched at the edge of the tree line, ducking behind hip-high grass that was dead still in the humid night air.

Onyx stood tense at my side, her nose twitching nonstop as she worked the area.

The flames made shadows dance and flicker across the clearing, throwing wild shapes against the ground, blurring everything and making it harder to tell what was real and what wasn’t.

“Tory,” I whispered, my voice sharp and commanding. “Stay close.”

She nodded, her jaw tightening as her eyes darted back to the crumpled body.

It felt damn good having her with me.

The thought hit out of nowhere, cutting through the chaos like a stray bullet: the only partner I’d ever needed was my K9. Until now.

I broke into a run, Onyx pulling hard on the lead as we closed the distance. Tory was right behind me, but all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.

Please don’t be Whitney. Please.

The heat hit me like I’d stepped into a furnace, and the acrid stench of burning wood and old paint clawed at my nose. But I locked my gaze on the crumpled figure lying next to the Tesla.

“Whitney,” I breathed, my chest tightening.

As we grew closer, the body sharpened into focus. Male. Facedown. Blood pooled beneath him, dark and shiny in the firelight. My stomach dropped, but I forced myself to assess. The physique was wrong. Too big, too broad.

“It’s a cop,” Tory whispered.

Relief hit me so hard it nearly buckled my knees. Not Whitney .

Thank Christ.

Whitney’s Tesla was to the left of the front steps, and beside it lay a motorcycle with the tires punctured and a bullet hole in the engine block.

We dodged broken glass and then crouched by the car, its own tires flattened to useless rubber. The windshield had exploded, scattering glass across the ground. I scanned the pale, slack face of the man on the ground.

“Jesus.” Tory gasped. “That’s Cooper Heathcote.”

“Fuck!” My stomach bottomed out. Cooper worked alongside Parker at Rosebud Police Station.

The relief that the body wasn’t Whitney evaporated in an instant.

Whoever had killed Cooper could still be here.

And Whitney was still missing.

I crouched beside the body, pressing two fingers to his neck even though I already knew the truth. No pulse. But the blood was still pooling. Cooper hadn’t been dead long.

I stood, my thoughts racing. Whitney’s car was here. Was he inside?

Or had someone taken him?

Onyx let out a sharp bark, and I jolted my gaze to her. Her nose was pointed toward the building, her body rigid and trembling with tension.

“Whitney!” I called, my voice cutting through the crackle of the flames.

Tory grabbed my arm, trying to yank me back. “Jaxson, shh!”

“I have to find him,” I snapped, harsher than I meant to.

“I know,” she said. “Let’s just be smart?—”

Onyx barked again, and she surged against the lead, nose to the ground.

“Onyx, find Whitney,” I commanded, pointing toward the orphanage.

Gripping her leash, I chased Onyx up the crumbling steps, and Tory fell into step beside me. The air was suffocatingly thick with heat and smoke, and each breath burned in my lungs.

Onyx veered down a narrow corridor, her nose glued to the ground, leading us straight toward the inferno. My grip tightened on her lead as the roaring flames grew louder, hotter .

The fire was spreading fast, orange tongues licking greedily at the papered walls. Overhead, the roof groaned and sagged, threatening to collapse at any moment. Beneath my bare feet, ash and glowing embers bit at my skin, making each step a gamble against the flames.

“Tory, careful,” I said, glancing over my shoulder.

The fear in her eyes twisted something deep inside me, shredding what little sanity I had left. She shouldn’t be here.

Every instinct screamed at me to turn back. To run. To get the hell out.

But I couldn’t. Not without my brother.

“Whitney!” I yelled, but my voice was barely audible over the crackling flames. I scanned through the smoke, searching every shadow and flickering light. “Where the hell are you?”

Onyx froze, her head snapping up. A deep, guttural growl rumbled in her throat and her body set rigid. Her sharp gaze locked on an open doorway just ahead.

Something moved, just beyond the reach of the firelight.

I yanked my gun free, leveling it at the figure.

“Don’t move!” I barked.

A weak hand rose from the shadows. “’Bout time you got here.”

“Whitney!” Relief and fear hit me like a stray bullet. Holstering my gun, I charged forward and dropped to my knees beside him. “Jesus, what the hell happened?”

He was sprawled on the ground, his chest heaving as he fought for air. Soot streaked his face, blood oozed from a gash above his eyebrow, and his arms were raw and blistered from burns.

“I saved . . . I saved . . .” His voice was broken, barely more than a whisper.

“Who?” I leaned closer, my heart pounding. “Who did you save?”

He shook his head as his trembling hand pointed behind him. “The files . . . as many as I could . . .”

Smoke curled around stacks of jumbled boxes, piled against the wall.

My stomach twisted. “Christ!” I jumped to my feet.

He could’ve fucking died for those boxes.

They better be worth it .

The fire roared louder, growing more ferocious with every passing second. The searing heat clawed at my skin, relentless and alive.

“I’ll get him out!” I yelled at Tory, my voice hoarse and raw. “Grab whatever you can! I’ll be back in a sec.”

“Okay!” she shouted, disappearing into the smoke without hesitation.

“Onyx, heel!” I called.

As she brushed against my leg, I hoisted Whitney up and over my shoulder.

He let out a sharp, pained grunt.

“I’ve got you, buddy,” I muttered as the fire raged around us. “Just hang in there.”

“She killed a cop, Jax.” Whitney wheezed.

She. Ice shot through my chest even as the flames licked at my bare skin.

B. It had to be her.

Anger blazed through me. “Yeah, I saw Cooper Heathcote’s body out the front.”

As I dodged flaming debris in my bare feet, the fucking fire whooshed in and out like a goddammed monster was breathing flames.

“And she took the body you found,” Whitney rasped.

“Fucking hell.” Anger and dread fought for dominance inside me, but I didn’t have time to process either.