Chapter 13

What do you do when a man is pointing a gun at your face? Instinct kicks in. In my case, I raised my hands and backed away. At this point, I wasn’t even thinking about fighting back. That’s how complete the surprise was.

I carefully eased backward until I bumped into the couch where Natty sat. Then I realized that of all the possible plans, that was the worst. Now we were bunched together and easy targets for the man with the pistol.

I shifted to my right to get a little distance between my brother and me. A trickle of sweat ran down my forehead. I still hadn’t said a word. It felt like my brain snapped into gear a moment later. I worked hard to stay calm. At least now I was thinking a little more clearly. Unfortunately, the first thing I thought about clearly was having a bullet strike me in the face. That was disconcerting.

A man stepped forward, out of the shadows of the hallway. It was hard to tell his age because he had a shaved head. He was powerfully built, with heavy muscles across his shoulders. That’s when I realized I recognized him. For just a moment, I thought he might be a famous wrestler. His dark mustache drooped over the corners of his mouth and I could see him going by the name of “The Ringmaster” or “Mr. Clean.”

Then it hit me. The Mr. Clean image stuck in my head. That’s what we called him when we found him in the hidden prison on the outskirts of Marlboro.

He had a smirk on his face, as he looked me over like a piece of meat. Then he said in that deep voice, “Hello, Mitchum. Been a while.”

I was at a loss for words. A few months back, in the dead of winter, my fourteen-year-old cousin, Bailey Mae, had gone missing. It turned out she had stumbled into a plan this asshole and a couple of others had to run a secret prison in an old mining facility not far away.

While looking for my cousin, I exposed the facility. Once the feds arrived and carted everyone off, I thought the whole thing was over. Apparently, I was wrong.

I couldn’t stop myself from mumbling, “I know you.”

His smirk turned into a smile. “Somehow that’s gratifying. Considering the last time you saw me, you had stuffed me in a cell in a freezing mine shaft.”