Choose Me (The Archer Brothers 2)

Evan clears his throat and says, “Frannie knew we were alive. She’s the one who was sending the care pack –”

“How dare –”

Evan stands, towering over a seated River. I stand, as well, in solidarity with my brother. “No! You listen to me! Your wife knew that we were alive and chose to help her sick, twisted, fucking excuse for a brother. Weeks ago I found a cell phone in the bathroom and turned it over to NCIS. Each email they found is printed out, detailing every aspect of what went down. Registered in your name is a black SUV currently in Mexico for auto body work, the same SUV that tried to kill Ryley and Carole.” Evan starts to pace and I put myself between him and River. From everything I’ve read, River didn’t have any clue about any of this and was just the unlucky man who married into this dishonorable family.

“Six years we stayed in that jungle to protect that piece of shit Senator, who, as it happens, is your brother-in-law. We were there because he was having an affair with Christina Charlotte and when it ended, he kidnapped her daughter, raping her repeatedly before sending her to Cuba as a sex slave. Charlotte called her father-in-law, Brigadier General Chesley, and from there, favors were called in and we were sent to get the girl – which we did – but we stumbled onto something huge. When I shot Renato, it sent off a chain reaction.”

“Evan, I didn’t know.”

“How could you not know who your wife’s father is?” Evan roars. “He decides when we take a god damn piss.”

River looks shaken and confused. He rubs his hands through his hair. “Frannie told me she was adopted. I never asked if she knew her family. I didn’t…”

“Your fucking wife kept me from my son,” Evan says, adding salt to an already wounded man. “Rask doesn’t have a family because of her and who the fuck knows where McCoy’s wife and daughter are.”

Evan sits back down and holds his head in his hands. “She tried to kill Ryley,” he says defeated. “She watched Ryley go through hell, pretending to be her friend and yet she knew everything. She took Ryley’s pain and wrote me letters. She wrote you, Rask and McCoy, telling us how we were their heroes and they couldn’t wait for us to come home. School pictures, art work and pages from coloring books, all sent by her and for what?”

River shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he says, as his voice breaks and tears fall down his face. “I thought she was sick. I talked to her about getting help because I had a hard time understanding why everything was exactly how I’d left it, why there was cold beer waiting for me. I’m sorry, Evan.”

“You were our leader and she was supposed to be the leader at home, but instead she’s destroyed all of us because her brother is a fucking pervert.”

“I didn’t know,” is all he says over and over again. I put my hand on Evan’s shoulder, signaling that there’s nothing left here for us and that we need to go.

“You were my friend, my brother, but no more. I can’t trust you.” With those words Evan walks out of the house. I take one look at River before picking up the folder. He never once asked for proof, choosing to believe his fellow SEAL over his wife.

Walking out, I find Cara with her arms wrapped around Evan. There’s no jealousy coming from me and I’m thankful she’s there to comfort him. When she sees me, she lets him go and greets me with a kiss, making me believe we’ll be okay.

“I arrested Lawson this morning and there’s an APB out for Frannie right now. The San Diego field team is with Ingram. I know it doesn’t make up for what you lost, Evan, but it’s a little closure nonetheless.”

“Thank you, Cara.”

She nods. “The body that was discovered is, in fact, O’Keefe’s. We searched his house and found letters that he had written, detailing his part in all of this. He’s also the one who wrote the sole article that appeared in the paper. From what we’ve gathered, he was trying to be the whistleblower but just didn’t have the chance to really get it done.”

“There will be a trial. You’ll get your day in court. I’ll make sure of it.”

Cara kisses me again before climbing into her car. We have family plans later at Evan and Ryley’s. Our mom and Livvie will be there, as well as Jensen and Carole. It’ll be nice for us all to be together again. We haven’t had that in a long time.

Evan and I get in the car, both letting out a sigh of relief. “Where to?” I ask as I pull away from the curb.

“Magoo’s,” he says without hesitation and I agree with him that we could use a beer right about now. I careen to a stop when a loud boom shakes my car. A quick look in the rearview mirror confirms my worst fears as a fireball projects toward the sky. We get out and run toward River’s, but we’re too late. The house is fully engulfed in flames and before I can call for help, sirens wail in the background.

FOR A LONG TIME I hated coming to the beach because it reminded me of Evan. When he came back to me, he didn’t hesitate to bring me out here. At first I was uncomfortable but those uneasy feelings quickly subsided because he was here with me.

Tonight marks six months since everything came to light, since a bomb leveled River’s house and Frannie went on the run. My life could be so different right now, but by the grace of God, I’m whole. I hate thinking about what could’ve been but when I close my eyes or hear the screech of tires, I know that I’m lucky that Evan and Nate walked out of River’s house when they did. If they hadn’t, EJ and I would be alone right now.

I’ve had enough alone to last me a lifetime.

Evan and I have both been going to therapy and, for the most part, it helps. I have so much anger that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to curb it. Not until Frannie is behind bars. I don’t know if that will ever happen, but I hope for my sanity it does. I don’t want to always be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life and, as long as she’s out there running around, that’s what I’m going to be doing.

The ocean is calm tonight with only the occasional crashing wave. My toes are buried in the sand and my arms are covered with a sweater. I can’t decide if I’m hot or cold right now. Evan sits down behind me, surrounding me with his hulking form. Leaning into him, he wraps his arms around my shoulders.

“Are you sad that this is our last night here?”

I shake my head. After everything happened, we decided to sell our house and move back to Washington. Our new place is about a block from the beach, but it’s different there. When the Department of Defense got involved, we knew it’d take years before anyone went to trial and we didn’t want to wait. The Navy also offered Evan a very nice “please retire and don’t sue us” package that was too good to pass up. Besides, he said he’s never leaving me again so he really can’t be an active member of the military.

It’s odd to think that he’s retired, though, at such a young age and I don’t know how I’m going to deal

with him at home all the time but we’ll manage… I hope. Evan asked Nate to go into the private security business with him, but Nate hasn’t given him an answer. He wants to provide security detail for Washington’s finest, or anyone who needs him. He also wants to have the resources to help McCoy search for his wife and daughter.