God bless her. She was nothing like Cora on the inside. But her looks? Yeah, they were all her mom. McKenna would spot those similarities when seeing her brother today too.
“Here we go,” Jesse said at the sight of the Hawkins Ranch sign. “You’ve got this. And I’ve got your back.”
“I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done.” Beckett’s voice caught with emotion this time, and his pulse raced the second his parents’ house came into view.
Ella’s and Savanna’s cars were parked out front. His brothers, Shep and Caleb, were there too.
He looked back at Miles once Jesse parked and unbuckled. “¿Estás bien? Are you okay?” Miles quietly clutched his bear, his eyes darting every which way to take in the property. “Your sister’s here,” he added. “Would you like to meet her? Tu hermana. McKenna. She’s my daughter.” He pointed a finger at Miles, then at his own chest. “Somos familia. We’re family.”
This caught his attention and Miles locked his gaze on Beckett. “Familia?”
Beckett nodded. “Soy tu familia ahora.” Fuck, he was going to cry. Why the hell now? He did his best to pull himself together as he repeated in English, “We’re family now.”
“Mi familia,” Miles said in such a small voice that Beckett would’ve collapsed if he weren’t already sitting.
“You’ve got this.” Jesse nodded. “And there’s my wife, so I’m going out there.” Jesse’s feet had no sooner hit the ground than Ella was in his arms, her legs wrapped around his hips and kissing him.
Love. Beckett wanted that. Now more than ever. But there was only one woman he wanted it with. Although they’d both been drugged, he recalled Sydney’s words back in that freaky sex room. I think I could love you.
“¿Listo? Ready?” he asked Miles, then hopped out of the truck. Before he could open the back door, Ella was at his side.
“How about no more boys’ trips for a bit?” Ella went to hug him but froze, her arms mid-reach. She’d spotted Miles.
Beckett tore his focus away from his sister when he noticed McKenna on the porch, a hand over her mouth, clearly fighting back tears.
“Jesse, can you help him out?” Beckett rasped before moving as fast as his legs would carry him. Meeting McKenna halfway, she threw her arms around him. To hell with his injuries, he’d take the pain from her tight embrace all day long. “Sweet girl,” he said, holding her head to his chest.
Beckett looked up to see his parents, brothers, and Griffin’s wife, Savanna, filling the porch, their attention fixed beyond where Beckett stood.
Miles was in the spotlight now.
Beckett finally let go of his daughter, and they both swiped the tears from their faces.
“Who is that?” McKenna pointed to Miles.
Beckett took a deep breath, reached for her hand, and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll introduce you.” When they neared and Beckett heard Ella talking to Miles in her soothing teacher voice, he knew he’d be relying on his sister yet again. She’d always been there for him with McKenna, but what if . . . what if Sydney . . .
He shook the thought from his mind to focus on the present situation. Introducing his daughter to her brother.
“McKenna, this is Miles.” He exhaled a shaky breath. “Um.”
“He’s my brother,” McKenna said, beating him to it. “Right?” She placed a hand over her heart, and tears filled her eyes again. “I can feel it. I—I just know.” She looked at her dad. “He’s why Elaina . . .”
Beckett nodded, overwhelmed by emotions.
“She’s gone, isn’t she? My mom?” McKenna asked, nearly choking on her words as she said them.
“Yeah,” Beckett whispered.
McKenna blinked back some of her tears and held her head high. So strong. Tough. A Hawkins woman. She knelt before Miles and offered her hand. “I’m your sister. It’s so nice to meet you.”
Miles’s eyes grew wide, the bear falling to the ground as he threw himself into her arms. McKenna let out a laugh when he nearly knocked her over.
The sob Beckett had held at bay since holding Cora’s lifeless body in his arms yesterday tore free, and he fell to his knees alongside his family and cried.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
JUST OUTSIDE JUÁREZ, MEXICO – SEVENTEEN HOURS LATER
“We can take it from here. We appreciate your help,” Martín said, reaching to shake Carter’s hand as Sydney unstrapped her vest.
Their mission was declared a success after four hours of fighting. The Falcon Falls team came through unscathed, and there were only minor wounds for some of the men on Martín’s and Mason Matthews’s teams. Nothing a little rest and some stitches wouldn’t fix.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to hang around?” Sydney asked Martín. “You’re planning to hit another one of their locations soon. We can go with you.”
Martín shook his head. “We have the cartel scrambling. Running scared. We cut off the head of the snake tonight, and yes, someone else will take over by tomorrow. It will be an endless fight. But it’s my people’s fight.” He nodded at Sydney. “And it is a fight we will win. You have done enough for us, and we thank you.”
“I’d be happy to roll out with you tomorrow,” Carter offered while Sydney looked around at the desert landscape. Their military-style tents were scattered around a wide area that served as their headquarters for the op. It reminded her of the time she’d spent in Afghanistan forever ago.
“And if we need you, we’ll call.” Martín patted Carter on the shoulder. “You have other work to handle now if I’m not mistaken.”
Right. The secrets they’d discovered “The Guarded One” had protected back at his estate in Chile.
Sydney abruptly turned around at the sound of voices arguing. Mya stood between Oliver and Mason, her arms outstretched, keeping them apart. Oh jeez. “If you’ll excuse me.”
Martín smiled and tipped his head goodbye as she hurried toward Mya for an assist.
“Would you two stop it?” Mya yelled just as Sydney arrived at their team’s camp area.
“What’s going on?” Sydney grabbed Oliver’s arm and yanked him farther away from Mason. “We’re supposed to be on the same side.”
Mya had lowered her arms when Sydney arrived, but quickly reached out and slapped a palm against Mason’s chest when he took a threatening step toward Oliver. “Stop it. It wasn’t his fault.”
“I don’t care if you were drugged. You stuck your tongue in her mouth,” Mason snarled at Oliver. “You shouldn’t have ever touched her.”
How the hell did Mason find out about that? Damn, word traveled fast.
“I’m not yours,” Mya reminded Mason.
“You’re sure as hell more mine than his,” Mason seethed. Oliver cocked his head and clenched his jaw, but before he could launch into a rebuttal, Sydney jumped in.
“We were all drugged at the time, Mason. It was out of our control,” she provided, hoping to defuse the situation. “Look, we just handed the cartel a major loss and screwed up their trafficking routes. We had a major win tonight. Can we focus on that?”