Kynan claps his hands together. “Advance teams are leaving now to scout the area and set up. We leave in two hours. Everyone get prepped.”
One by one, the room clears out until I realize only Peter and I remain. The silence is thick and awkward.
My brother shifts in his chair. I look around, anywhere but at him.
“Think we can talk a bit?” Peter asks.
My eyes snap back to him. “About what?”
He lifts a shoulder. “Like… what do you do for a living?”
I’m caught off guard by his interest. “Um… I’m a graphic designer.”
“Where did you go to school?”
“University of Central Florida. I moved in with Aunt Dorene not long after you were arrested.”
Peter nods, meaning that wasn’t news to him. “Mom told me that you moved out. I imagine it must have been unbearable there.”
“They hated me for turning on you,” I whisper.
“They were wrong,” Peter says, and my jaw sags slightly to hear him say that. “They could have supported me and supported you at the same time. There was room for them to be there for both of their kids. Not to excuse them, but I think they took my failures as their own, so it was easier to blame you than face the truth.”
“I…” I suck in a breath and let it out. “I don’t know what to say. They abandoned me, and they did that so they could be there for you. I resented you for that.”
“As you should,” he admits quietly. “Every bit of this is my fault and no one else’s.” Another beat of silence. “But Mila… I never said a bad word about you to them. Not once. I was upset,for sure, but you were and still are my little sister, and I would never turn on you. I hope you believe that.”
I stare at him for a long moment. “Strangely,” I say honestly, “I do.”
He looks down, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was a shitty brother. I was a shitty person. Prison didn’t make me better… but it sure as hell made me think.”
My throat tightens. “What are you going to do? After this?”
Peter lifts his gaze, his blue eyes so much like mine it hurts. “I don’t know. But I want to figure out a way to give back. To do something good. Won’t ever make up for everything I did. But it’s a start.”
It’s quiet for a moment—a strange, fragile truce settling between us. Peter seems to be on the right track. Maybe I’m willing to see what kind of man he becomes.
♦
The drive tothe abandoned mine feels like a slow march toward something insidiously final, but whose end it will be remains to be seen. I am sick to my stomach and my heart is working so hard, I worry it will explode.
Peter is silent beside me, hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel of the rental car. Although we shared a sandwich back at Jameson HQ and spent time with him asking me a million questions about my life and all he’s missed, we’ve barely said a word to each other on the drive to the meetup. The old limestone mine looms ahead, gray rock and bare earth stretched like some ancient scar across the landscape.
Wide open. No trees, no cover. Just that utility building in the distance. I squint at it. I know Malik is already there, but I can’t see him.
I press against my chest, feeling the Kevlar vest under my sweater. It’s heavy and provides a comfort, but it won’t protect all of me. I tug at the edge of my sleeve, the small comms piece Jameson placed in my ear itchy but comforting. It’s so small, it can’t be seen by the human eye and I hope to God they can get it out when this is all done. The technology is amazing though and Malik’s voice comes through, calm and controlled. “I have visual on Mila. All clear for now.”
My stomach twists harder.
Peter stops the car and kills the engine. Jace is nowhere in sight. We sit there for a beat, neither of us speaking.
“You ready?” he asks without looking at me.
No. Not even close.
But I nod. “Yeah.”
We step out together, gravel crunching beneath our boots. The wind whistles low through rusted-out metal equipment, the mine entrance yawning in the distance like a mouth waiting to swallow me whole.
