Corbin (The Theriot Family)

“Beau, I’m worried.”

“So am I. That’s why I’m going to track down my brother.”

“How long will you be gone?”

That depended a lot on Travis. “I wish I could tell you, but I’ve got to find him, then force him to talk. It could be a few weeks.”

She blew out a long breath. “Mardi Gras is coming up, and we’ve got—”

“I didn’t choose the timing. I’ve got to deal with this shit now before we lose everything.”

She stuck the card I’d given her into her pocket. “I know it’s not your fault. Take the time you need. I’ll keep things running here one way or another. Stay safe out there.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Tracking my brother down took even longer than I expected. I finally found him back in our bayou hometown working at a gas station and looking thinner and more tired than I’d ever seen him. At least he didn’t seem to be beholden to any of the crime bosses working the area. That would have made his extraction a hell of a lot more complicated and might have involved owing the Theriots even more than I had when they’d sprung me from prison.

I waited until he got off work, then grabbed him as he walked home in the dark, stuffed him into my car, and took off for the place my family still owned deep in the bayou. As soon as I’d learned where he was, I’d stocked it so we could hide out there as long as necessary. Until this was all settled, Travis could stay there, away from any trouble.

When I’d grabbed him, my brother had struggled until he’d realized it was me, then he’d just curled in on himself in the passenger seat, seeming to try to get as far away from me as he could.

“If I wanted you dead, that would have happened a long time ago.”

“Why the fuck are you here? You left me alone all these years. Can’t you just stay away? You see how I’m living. Isn’t that enough revenge?”

Rob had lured Travis in with promises of all the things he would give him—cars, homes, trips to exotic places, but the only exotic place Rob had taken him was a barn in the middle of nowhere that Rob used to hide the cars he stole.

I glanced over at Travis before returning my attention to the road. “Did you kill him?”

“What? Who?”

“If you’ve killed anyone, I’d be interested to hear about that too.”

“No. Fuck no. I haven’t killed anyone.”

I huffed. “Not directly.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about or why you’re here.”

I knew how deceptive Travis could be. He could look at someone with his big, blue eyes and his boyish face, and they’d believe everything he said. That trick didn’t work on me, not anymore. I’d believed him one too many times, and the last time it had sent me to hell. For the moment, though, I believed him. He was shaking and pale, and his voice held none of the fake cheer he put into it when he was lying.

I’d known he was fucking lying on that god-awful day when I’d gotten arrested, but I’d let him deceive me because I’d wanted to believe him. That wouldn’t happen again. “Rob.”

“What?” Before I could respond, his brain kicked in. “Wait. He’s dead?”

Either his surprise was genuine, or he’d become a much better actor in the years since I’d seen him. The only reason I dismissed that possibility was because of where I’d found him. If he’d gotten better at pretending to be something he wasn’t, surely he’d be shacked up with a sugar daddy.

“Rob is very dead. His decomposed body was sent to my shop in a car we bought off Marley.”

“Shit. That’s bad.”

“Yes, it is, and you’re going to tell me who killed him?”

Travis shook his head. “I can’t. I… I haven’t seen him in years. I don’t…”

“You’re lying.” He never hesitated when he was actually telling the truth.

“I’m not. I haven’t been in contact with him. I swear.”

I was determined to get something out of him. “You don’t have to talk to someone to know who their enemies are.”

“I don’t know what he’s been doing or who he’s been working for or any of that.”

“Then make some guesses.”

“I… I can’t.”

I let it go. I was too angry after over a week of searching for him. Yelling at Travis wouldn’t help. He’d just clam up more. If he was someone else, I wouldn’t hesitate to torture the information out of him, but despite all the fucking mistakes Travis had made, he was still my brother. Rob had manipulated him like he’d done me, but that didn’t make Travis blameless. An apology at some point in all these years might have made me more sympathetic toward him.

I turned off the paved road onto the track that wound though the strips of land between bayous. Travis didn’t utter another word until we pulled up to the house.