“Not at all. But my father would freak out if he learned there’s someone out there working without the discipline that’s required to do this kind of job.” The seriousness on her face is scary, but right after that, she laughs.
Finnegan smiles briefly. “Good thing I don’t plan to invite him to play with us again. Who would want to work with a man like him? Or have him as a father? I doubt I would be happy if my dad wanted to dictate my life and career.”
Grace chuckles and mumbles. “It’s a good thing he doesn’t remember his dad.”
“What did she mean by that?” Finnegan asks once my sister leaves the room. Then he growls. “It’s fucking annoying that everyone sees me as… him.”
I cock a brow. “Him?”
“Archer.”
Because you are him! Those three words are loud and clear in my head, but instead of starting a fight with him, I say, “Your anger is valid, but so are their feelings. You were like a little brother to Grace, Lang… well, almost everyone who’s been working with us these past few days. They watched after the two of us. Seeing the vessel of Archer St. James is weird.”
“So far, you’ve been able to deal.”
“What do I know? I had a concussion the first time I saw you. Once I recovered, I was used to Finnegan Gil.”
“Dad once asked me what I’d do if I recovered my memory and found out who I was.” His voice is lost in thought, just like his eyes.
“What did you answer?”
He glances at me almost apologetically. “That I didn’t give a shit. I’d rather be his son.”
“But that’s not the truth.”
“It is to me.” He holds his head with both hands. “Can we forget about this Archer dude and just focus on ending the Z’s?”
There’s nothing I can add, is there?
You can’t force anyone into your life, and clearly, I can’t force him to change who he is for who he was so many years ago.
There’s a chill in the air. The night is darker than usual. We hide behind the trees, waiting for Lang’s signal. The team in Monaco finished the raid an hour ago. Zamudio sent most of his people to Europe, and they were all finished. It’s just him and a few of his most trusted men left here.
When we receive the signal, everyone moves toward the house. It doesn’t take long to hear the automatic guns firing. Finnegan and I don’t stop. We have one target. Everything else is the responsibility of our team.
We walk through the woods, watching each other’s backs until we arrive at the basement, where the double doors give us access to the bunker where, according to our sources, Zamudio can live for at least a year.
I pick the lock as fast as I can. We only have so much time before they reach the shelter. If they make it, God knows if we’ll be able to get them out of there in under a year.
“The grounds are clear. We have to empty the house and set up the explosives,” someone says through the communicator.
“We’re inside the house. What’s your status?” a second voice asks. I think it’s my father.
Ricardo Zamudio is descending the other set of stairs. We’re just steps away from the bunker’s door. No one will be able to pass through us.
“Going somewhere?” Finnegan asks.
“Travis, Son,” Zamudio gasps. “Thank God you’re alive.”
The two men following him are heavily armed. I shoot one, and Finnegan shoots the other.
“W-what are you doing?” Zamudio takes a step. His hands are slightly up, and his eyes pleading. “Son, it’s me. Did you lose your memory again?”
I laugh. “As a matter of fact, he recovered it.”
Zamudio finally looks at me and his eyes widen. “It’s you. How?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“You’re still alive? But…” His breathing becomes shallow. “We finished you in San Francisco. I lost some of my men, but we killed you and your wife.”
“But you didn’t,” I add with a big grin.
“Travis, don’t believe anything he said. He’s our enemy. Part of the men who tried to kill you before your accident.”
“Ninety seconds before detonation. You need to be out in less than thirty seconds.” Uncle Harrison, who likes to fuck with our heads about the time we have left, announces.
Can he just set up the timer so we can hear it?
“Son, please don’t do this. They’re—”
Bang, bang, bang.
One bullet hits him in the chest, the next one in the head, and the last one is for the guy who was coming down the stairs to save him.
I thought we had finished everyone. “Is anyone else alive?”
“A man escaped toward the basement,” someone responds through the communicator.
“We got him,” I say.
“Run out of the house!” Harrison says before he finally activates the timer.
Finnegan and I make our way out and head to the area we agreed on.
As we leave, I ask, “Why did you wait to shoot him?”
“He used to say not to kill anyone until they begged for their life. I thought it would be poetic to follow his instructions for the first time, while executing him.”
“You become an asshole when you’re armed.”
“Never piss me off during a mission,” he warns me.
Again, I don’t understand if it’s a threat or he’s trying to be funny, but I don’t ask as the detonation is about to happen. We run faster.
When the voice says one, we plank against the ground. The whoosh, the explosion, and the sound of the fire burning come almost simultaneously.
“It’s safe. Head to your vehicles and see you at the base,” Dad announces.
We stand, staring at the inferno.
Finnegan sighs. “It’s over.”
I pat his back. “Unmistakably. Sorry for what happened the last time we tried to escape. I swear we didn’t try to kill you.”
He shrugs a shoulder. “It makes me wonder if the Z’s tried to kill me before the accident. I should’ve kept him alive just to get the truth out of him.”
“You’re not good at interrogations.”
“I have you.”
I laugh as we continue our way toward the SUVs. “We’ll see about that.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Seth
We return to Knox Ridge to brief the teams. There were no casualties on our side. Dad has a conversation with Finnegan afterward. I wasn’t privy to it, and I don’t plan on asking what they discussed.
There’s one thing I haven’t told Finnegan and I might never do it. He wasn’t just my best friend but an integral part of our family. My parents only had four children, but they welcomed many into not only their house but their hearts. Archer was like a son to them. He came with us during our vacations, holidays and family events.
Dad loved him like a son. I don’t know if he suggested therapy or a doctor or… who knows what happened during the conversations. Maybe my father just got closure and plans on moving on without having Finnegan in his life.
Lang is one of the first to leave Knox Ridge, with the excuse that his husband needs him. He’s avoiding his cousin. When it’s time for everyone to leave, I walk with Finnegan toward his plane.