“Mountain oysters. He just said it was meat,” Gunner said.
Dylan burst out laughing. “And when you found out what it was, you blacked my eye, remember?”
Gunner frowned. “Hell yes, I remember. I haven’t gotten over it, either.”
Asher was grinning from ear to ear. “So, you don’t like sushi, and you don’t eat…”
“Don’t even say the word,” Gunner said. “I don’t want to spoil my appetite here. This all looks good.”
Asher got out plates and flatware and stood back while they built their own subs, then made his after they’d taken a seat. In that moment, life was good, but it would be even better once they exorcised the ghost in the basement.
* * *
It was just after 6:00 p.m. when Asher was finally able to contact the federal agent in charge of cold cases, and when he began laying out the whole story, it left the man scrambling for words.
“Your mother? That certainly came out of left field! Of course, that would have been an option for us to explore if we had been able to interrogate her, if she had not killed herself,” he said.
Hearing the agent quickly shifting blame to a dead woman ticked Asher off. “That happened in your custody,” he said.
“Yes, of course. That had to be rough for your family,” he said.
“The whole debacle was a nightmare. She’d already destroyed the image we’d had of her when it happened. We were kids. Dad was humiliated. It was years of hell and finger-pointing, and the rumors he had to live down would have ruined a lesser man. But that will be cleared up now in due time. However, we have a request that you do not reveal the recovery of the money until we get the Brandt brothers arrested. After they are, you will also make it known that it was Jacob’s sons who solved the cold case after his attempted murder, or we will make our own public statement to that effect. It will go a long way in clearing our family name. Keeping it quiet is imperative right now. If the Brandts realize the money is no longer within their reach, they’ll walk, because we don’t have enough evidence to convict them.”
“We can make that happen. How long are we talking here?”
“Within the next few days, for sure. We have a plan.”
“Then consider it done,” he said. “We’ll be sending agents to take possession tomorrow morning. They’ll arrive at daybreak when most people are still asleep. There will bethree armored SUVs with multiple agents. A lead car. The car that will transport the lock box, and a third car to protect the transport. There will be a chopper flying overhead, strictly for the agents’ extra security. It will not be landing. They will ask you to sign off when they take possession, and that will be the end of your participation. We will take an official statement from you at later date, after you have apprehended your men.”
“You can always contact me through the Texas state attorney general’s office—Department of Special Investigations. My brother, Gunner Kingston, is a homicide detective with the Dallas PD, and my middle brother, Dylan, is a general contractor and lives in Austin, near me. We’ll be waiting for your arrival. Tell your men to take the driveway on the west side of the bar and circle behind it. The house is attached to the south side of the bar. If you do, it’s unlikely their vehicles will even be seen.”
“Will do,” the agent said. “And may I say, you three are very remarkable men.”
Asher didn’t respond. He just hung up.
Saying nice words now didn’t take away the sting of how their dad had been treated after Brenda died on their watch. The Feds’ passive-aggressive questioning of Jacob had been a feeble attempt to point blame anywhere but at themselves, and even at the age of twelve, Asher knew it.
He dropped the phone in his pocket and then went back to update the brothers, but he was keeping Nora’s suggestion about setting a trap for the Brandts to himself until the Feds had come and gone.
Dylan and Gunner were in the kitchen, having carrot cake and coffee.
“We saved the last piece for you,” Dylan said.
Asher eyed the measly sliver lying among the crumbs. “Your generosity is overwhelming,” he said, then picked upa fork and ate it off the cake board it had been sold on. “The Feds will be here by daybreak. We do not all sleep at the same time tonight. I’ll stand first watch. Dylan can do the midnight to 3:00 a.m. and Gunner can do the 3:00 a.m. to daybreak, at which time we will all be up and ready, understood?”
“Are we arming ourselves?” Gunner asked.
“Considering the fact that Dad couldn’t get to his in time, I’d say it’s a good decision, wouldn’t you?” Asher said.
“I don’t have a gun,” Dylan said.
“I don’t intend to sleep with mine. I’ll leave it with you,” he said.
“I sleep with mine,” Gunner said.
They both looked at him in surprise. “The hell you say!” Dylan muttered.
Gunner shrugged. “I always had a sleep buddy. Just traded Leopard for a Glock.”
