“Tell him,” Anthony said quietly, knowing that Stu wouldn’t stop asking and that he had the right to know.
Ethan rubbed his face and filled Stu in about everything. He didn’t go deeply into their history with Dima, because where would he even start with such a tale?
Stu remained quiet for a long moment before saying, “I can’t say that I get the full picture here, Ethan, but I do know that my suspicions were true. Fucking Chris Roberts got my brother in shit again!”
Ethan tensed, his grip on the phone tightening. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Oh no? Then why did he ask Jay for help and not you? You’re his best friend, aren’t you? It sounds like you were in the dark until those brothers did us all a favor and snatched that little devil.”
“Stu, stop.”
“It’s my brother who was dumb enough to fall for Chris’s bullshit again, only this time, he’s not going to end up in prison,because he might already be dead!”
Ethan hung up and was about to hurl his phone when Anthony got in his way. “He didn’t mean it.”
Ethan crossed his arms, his chin quivering and his eyes glossy. “He meant every single word. And whydidn’t Chris come to me for help?” That question had clearly been hunting him.
“I wonder the same thing, but maybe he thought that Jay would be enough.”
Ethan shook his head. “Idiot. He’s such an idiot. I hate him sometimes.”
Knowing that nothing was further from the truth, Anthony kept quiet.
Eventually, the anger left Ethan’s eyes, replaced by exhaustion. “Let’s drive back to the Mitchells’ house like you suggested. I can’t think of another option, and my ideas are clearly a waste of time.”
They climbed into the truck and started heading back, heavy gloom between them. Whichever shred of optimism they’d carried this morning had turned into dust as they drove back defeated. A few minutes later, both their phones beeped with incoming messages. They exchanged worried looks before Anthony stopped the car by the side of the road.
“It’s in our group chat,” Ethan said. “A video message from Chris.”
Relief washed over Anthony. “That means he’s alive.” Although there was no way of knowing when that video had been recorded.
Ethan held his phone for them to watch. Chris seemed tired and thinner than Anthony had last seen him, but at least he was alive. They watched the minute-long video in silence, then Ethan played it again. Afterthe second time, he leaned his head back and shut his eyes. “Trevor is going to kill him and make it look like suicide.”
Anthony had been thinking the same thing. The signs had been there all along, but that video added a fatal level of certainty. Chris had been addressing Melissa on that video, yet it had also been sent to their group chat.
The brothers are telling us to stop looking.
Melissa called Ethan seconds later. “I can’t speak with her.” His voice broke. “I can’t.”
“Okay.” He rubbed Ethan’s leg as the call went to voicemail. “He’s alive, at least.”
“Even if he is, he won’t be for long. Did you see his eyes? He looked so scared, so...” Ethan buried his face in his hands and wept.
Anthony focused on his breathing to hold himself together, giving Ethan time to collect himself. It was too early to mourn, but maybe they needed to begin accepting how this nightmare would likely end.
When Ethan finally calmed down, Anthony said, “I should update Mickey.”
Ethan wiped his eyes and nodded.
Mickey answered the call immediately. “I was just about to call you two. Have you tracked down the Mitchells’ second house?”
“No,” Anthony said. “Have you found out anything?”
“I found the address, and you were right—itisnext toan abandoned amusement park.”
“We’ve been looking around the area for hours with no luck,” Ethan said. “And we just got a video message from Chris.”
“You did? Is he okay?”
