Chapter 5: The Whole Truth
At the station, Jude told us everything from the start.
Lucas had grown up thinking he was an only child. He’d found an old sealed adoption file in his father’s safe three months after his parents died. He’d tracked Jude down to a small auto shop two states away.
“When we met,” Jude said, staring at his hands, “we just stood there staring at each other. Like looking in a mirror. He told me about the loans, the people who’d started following him, the way they’d threatened to take Ethan and me if he didn’t pay up.”
“So you came up with this together?” I asked.
“He came up with it,” Jude said. “I told him it was crazy. But he said it was the only way to keep you safe. We found the man—old, sick, no one would miss him. We paid his medical bills, promised his family a proper grave. Then we swapped him the night before the funeral.”
“Then why are you here now?” Ethan asked.
“Because someone betrayed him,” Jude said, his jaw tightening. “Someone told them where he was hiding. They raided the safe house at dawn. Lucas took a bullet to the shoulder. I grabbed the keys and drove as fast as I could.”
He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. A photo popped up—Lucas, pale but awake, sitting on a couch somewhere quiet.
“He’s waiting for us,” Jude said. “But we can’t go home. Not tonight. Not ever, if we’re not careful.”
