Ethan made the call from the speaker, and Mickeysounded wide awake when he picked up. “Any news?”
“They weren’t in the Mitchells’ house,” Ethan said. “The place is a mess on the inside, and it doesn’t look like anyone has been there for a while.”
“Did you find any clues?”
“No, but I remembered something Chris had told me a while back about the Mitchells owning another house. It’s supposed to be next to an abandoned amusement park, and I think it should be close to our old college. Anthony and I searched online and found a place that fits the description. We’re driving there now.”
“Interesting,” Mickey said. “I haven’t thought to check if another property was listed in the family’s name. Let me wake up some people to look into this. You can’t go knocking on every house in the area.”
“That’s exactly what we’ll do if we have to, but please try to get us an address.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
The call ended, and Ethan said, “He’s right, though. We can’t go knocking from door-to-door.”
“Jehovah’s Witnesses do that all the time.”
Ethan chuckled. “True.”
“At least from the map, it doesn’t look like many people live around that area. We can show them the photos of the brothers we found.”
“You’re right. It will be okay.”
Anthony chose not to mention that earlier, he had checked Trevor’s Facebook profile and saw a new check-in update from Florida, this time from South Beach. He hoped it meant they weren’t yet done with their plan for Chris.
But that left Jay.
The brothers had no reason to keep him alive. Hell, he was a risk they’d be smart to get rid of. And since Dima had been the one to capture Jay, would he be the one to kill him?
Anthony’s blood began to warm. He had never been more eager to hurt someone. If he couldn’t keep Dima as part of his past, he would need to keep him away from his future. There was no way in hell that he would let him get away with what he’d done.
“Slow down, Ant.”
“What? Oh.” He hadn’t noticed pressing down on the pedal.
“I want to call Melissa,” Ethan said, sounding like he wanted to do anything but that. “I just don’t know what to say.”
“Say that we’re still looking for Chris.”
“And when she asks how we know where to look?” Ethan lowered the window, letting cool air into the car. “She’ll know we’re keeping secrets from her.”
“Maybe Chris told her about the house we’re looking for?”
“You think?”
“Not really.” Anthony had gotten the impression that Chris kept Melissa out of his family history, so whywould he mention something like that?
“I keep thinking of those photos I found of him,” Ethan said quietly. “The more I discover about his past, the sicker I feel. He warned me about asking questions, and now I know why.”
Anthony shifted uneasily, flashes of those disturbing images blinking in his mind. He couldn’t begin to imagine how hard Chris must have fought to escape his past, both physically and mentally. When Anthony first met him, it must have been around a year after he had left the Mitchells. So many things about his odd behavior now shone in a different light.
They kept driving in silence, the world around them green and peaceful. A little past eight, Anthony got a message from Oscar, asking for an update and letting them know he hadn’t yet heard from Dima.
“I wonder what the brothers promised him,” Ethan said after texting back. “It must have been a lot of money if he double-crossed Oscar.”
“Dima was loyal to Tobias, so I don’t think he could be loyal to the man who’d shot him.” Anthony shook his head in frustration. “I can’t believe that Chris was desperate enough to accept him as a bodyguard. He should have told you and me about it.”
“You know he hates asking for help. Ever since I met him, he’d rather go through any possible option before showing weakness.”
