Page 2 of Deadly Lies

“Mia, he will deny it like he’s already done. Either one of two scenarios is true: he either raped you, kidnapped your son, murdered a stripper, kidnapped you, and then tried to rape you again at gunpoint, or this entire time he confessed to crimes he didn’t commit. He told you he was guilty. Why would he do that? He has given up his career, he’s stuck in San Quentin, for Christ sakes. There is no sane, rational reason why he would be innocent. The only thing that makes sense is that he’s guilty, and maybe he used Paul’s ID.” But I knew there would be trail if he had done that. At some point, Joaquín’s ID would have to have been used to get off base.

But I couldn’t focus on that now. I needed to focus on Sienna.

“Well, we could figure it out. Grant was injured that night, so he wouldn’t know. Mitch had already left. Maybe another member of the Team would be able to tell us.”

She was correct, but there was a fatal flaw to her logic. Some of the SEALs could verify who was there and who wasn’t, but they couldn’t be trusted to tell me the truth.

“Mia, I could interview the rest of the Team, but who knows if they’ll tell me the truth. These men cover for each other, no matter what. You know that better than anyone. I know that you were snooping around at The Pickled Frog, and they shut you out. That is why you became Ksenya, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. But this time it would be different. Who would they be covering for? Paul is dead. If Joaquín was innocent, they should want him free. Right?”

She had a point. But nothing was a certainty with these men.

We really needed to get going. Cars whizzed by on the freeway.

“Mia, I know you are upset. But let’s get to Vegas, and we can talk about this more on the way.”

She clutched my hand. “I have to go to Joaquín. He’s my brother.” She looked out the window, and her voice dropped. “You don’t even know what it’s been like for me the past couple years, believing that my brother, the one person who loved me my entire life, the one person who was always there for me, even more so than Grant, could possibly have done this to me. I can’t tell you how many times I’d tried to will myself to believe that he did this. Tried to find some proof or reason to understand why.”

My heart broke for her. And for the first time since I had met her, I started to truly believe everything she was saying.

But I had to remember one thing always—Mia was an actress.

I kept my suspicions to myself. “Go on.”

“Joaquín had told me this story about our father screaming at him because my dad found Joaquín looking at me, but that didn’t ring true. I’d never seen any inappropriate behavior, and that’s not how I recall that fight. Papa yelled at him about the friends he was keeping and later told me that Joaquín had been bullied at school and joined the Navy. It had nothing to do with me. I have to go to him now.”

I grabbed Mia’s hand and looked at her. “I will help you figure this out. We can’t go see Joaquin right now. He confessed to this crime. Right now, we need to focus on Sienna. She’s only a little girl. We need to find her. We need to go straight to Las Vegas. We have to find out who this ‘grandpa’ is. Please, Mia. I need you here with me. I need you fully present. Think about how much you wanted to find Julián. Think of Sienna. Think of Mitch.”

Mitch. Saying his name brought back a flood of emotions. My relationship with Mitch had never made any sense. We’d gone from mortal enemies to fuck buddies to friends aligned on the same mission.

Finally, Mia exhaled and looked out into the vast desert landscape. We were around two hundred miles outside of Vegas. The dry desert heat blew into the car.

“Fine, Ash. You’re right. Finding Sienna is urgent. I will do anything possible for her. But you have to promise me that you will do everything possible to find out what really happened with Joaquín. Let me tell you this—I know my brother. If he had lied and taken the fall for a crime he didn’t commit, he would have a damn good reason to do so. He would not do this because he was afraid of blackmail. He would not do this because he was afraid of torture. Joaquín was afraid of nothing. No one. The only reason he would do this was to save someone he loved. Someone who was in mortal danger.”

A raw ache filled my belly. Mia was surrounded by men who completely loved her. Would anyone ever love me the way these men loved Mia? I knew I pushed everyone away. But was I capable of giving and receiving love like Mia was? Grant would sacrifice everything to save her. And, if Joaquín was really taking the fall for this rape to protect Mia from something, Joaquín had proven his devotion to her forever. But she didn’t even realize what she had just said.

If Joaquín was innocent, and I still had my doubts, he was protecting Mia from something far more horrific than being raped by her own brother. Protecting Julián from a fate worse than being raised by Lorraine, Tiffany’s mother.

What was Joaquín hiding? And why?

I placed my hand over hers. “Mia, if he is lying, then that is exactly what he did.”

Her face contorted. “What do you mean?”

“You just said he wouldn’t take the fall for anything. He wasn’t afraid of anyone. If he lied, he did it to save the only person he truly loved.”

Mia pursed her lips. “And that person is me.”

2

Mia

I WAS TOO UPSET TO focus on the road. I jumped out of the driver’s seat and tossed Ash the keys.

“You’re letting me drive Grant’s beloved truck?”

I nodded. “Yup. I’m too distracted to drive. Just don’t tell Grant I let you drive his baby.” Grant loved this hunk of steel. It had a state-of-the-art stereo system, huge rimmed tires, and a custom paint job. But Grant was such an amazing father and husband, he deserved to be spoiled.