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breath and let it out slowly. Nick didn’t deserve my anger. “I’m going to head into town. Thanks for looking after things.”
    “No problem, Kate. You can rely on me,” he said, putting that goofy grin back on. It made me chuckle as I headed back to my car. I really didn’t want to handle any of this shit. But really who wanted to make arrangements for buying a loved one?
    Let the games begin .

Chapter 2
     
    Jared
     
    “Yeah, Nate, what’s up?” I asked as way of greeting when I accepted the call. I didn’t even have to look at the display. There were only two people who knew my new number, Nate and my twin, Dean. Dean was standing right next to me.
    “Hey, you guys still lost?” he chuckled, trying to keep the tone light when the conversation topic was heavy.
    “Nah,” I lied through my teeth, intentionally missing his meaning. Dean shook his head as he blinked back tears, Nate’s words coming at a bad time. “We’re Marines. We don’t get lost. We were taught how to read a map in our sleep, blindfolded, or already dead. You know that, Navy boy.”
    Nate sighed, probably shaking his head at how difficult I was being. “You know what I mean, Jared.”
    I nodded even though he couldn’t see it, trying to swallow the grief I was feeling.
    “I can’t look at this shit anymore,” Dean whispered before turning away. I glanced at my twin before looking back at the housing development that had once been our family’s ranch. That land had belonged to an Acker for generations until our parents died… Now it was a few thousand cookie-cutter houses that all looked the same, were built cheap, and were so generic that it made me sick.
    For those reasons alone this development should have been a crime. Too bad it went so much deeper than that.
    “Jared? Jared? You there, man?” Nate yelled, obviously having been trying to get my attention for a while.
    “Sorry, yeah, I’m here,” I said, clearing my throat as I turned away. No point in staring at the proof of how life doesn’t turn out the way it should all day. We can’t change the past and living in it won’t do anything but hurt our present and future.
    “Jared, where are you?”
    “Went to check out what they did with the ranch.”
    “Shit, I’m sorry, man. You think that’s smart? You just got out. Like you’re not already all over the place and feeling fucked in the head. You gotta take that on?”
    “We’re Marines,” I chuckled bitterly as I walked over to my beat-up old truck and got in, patting Dean’s arm before starting it up. “We’re always fucked in the head. It’s part of our charm.”
    “Amen to that,” Nate mumbled. “Look, I feel like an ass asking what I called for now given where you are, but I’m sorry, I have to. I know you didn’t want guarding jobs and all—”
    “We’re not babysitters,” Dean bitched, more than able to hear the conversation. I set the phone on the center console and hit speakerphone as I pulled away from the curb. “We said we’d learn your company and come to work for you on the rescue missions, Nate. We’ll dive into hell to save doctors or kidnapped Americans. We’re not risking our lives or taking a bullet for your Hollywood or politician clients.”
    “Yeah, we’ve risked our asses enough for them,” I added, annoyed with the idiots making decisions in Washington. “Hell, would it be so bad if there were less of them?”
    “Wow, okay, ignoring the bitter twins you’ve both turned into,” Nate drawled. “I give you a pass because I know seeing the housing development had to be hard, but just shut up and listen to me. I have only a little bit of time before I have to get on a plane and I need your help.”
    I shot Dean a glance. While Nate was normally direct, he wasn’t the type to ask for help without it really being needed. Plus his tone was slightly panicked.
    “What do you need, brother?” Dean asked, his mood changing from difficult to curious and easier to deal