Chapter 1

My lawyer wife, Denise Rodriguez, and our five-year-old daughter, Lily Rodriguez, were kidnapped.

By the time I got there, the bomb had exploded, and they were reduced to ashes before my eyes.

My older brother, August Rodriguez, who was a prosecutor, was captured and tortured to death while trying to help me track down the killer.

Everyone said I was ruthless on the job, that I'd made too many enemies. They'd been dragged into it because of me.

I was the one who should have died.

Even the Major Crimes Unit stripped me of my badge.

For the next three years, I hunted the real killer in secret.

Until one lead brought me to a restaurant.

August, Denise, and Lily, who were supposed to have died three years ago, were all there, celebrating a little boy's birthday.

Our relatives and closest friends had gathered around them.

I started toward them, furious, ready to demand an explanation.

But Brendan Brooks, my best friend, grabbed me from behind and held me back.

"Graham, I know you can't accept it, but they're husband and wife now. If you make a scene, how are you any different from the other man?

"Denise was pregnant with August's child three years ago. Everyone knew how extreme you could be. Faking their deaths was the only way they could escape you."

My mother stared at me, her eyes filled with warning. "Maybe it's for the best that you've found out. These past few years, August and Denise have been hiding with their two children. Watching them live like that broke my heart.

"Now they're finally a happy family of four. If you walk away, everyone will forgive you."

The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I looked at every face around me and laughed until tears streamed down my cheeks.

So Denise and August had never died. Meanwhile, I'd spent the last three years drowning in grief, and they'd been living peacefully.

Everyone knew the truth and had conspired to keep it from me.

Chapter 1

My phone rang.

It was Terrence Fisher from Denise's law firm.

I put him on speaker.

"Graham, I've got a new lead on the killer. Ten days from now, he's supposed to make a deal at an underground fight club across the border. It's way too dangerous. Please, Graham. Don't go."

After the call ended, I looked around at everyone gathered there, tears spilling down my face before I could stop them.

Slowly, I crouched down and rolled up the loose legs of my pants and the sleeves of my shirt, exposing the scars covering my body. Around my ankle was a mangled burn scar, the flesh still uneven where a masked man had branded me with a red-hot iron while I was pursuing a lead aboard a ship.

My best friend, Brendan Brooks, had given me that lead. He'd once buried himself in gambling debt trying to scrape together enough money to get married. I paid off what he owed and helped him find a legitimate job afterward.

The stretched dark, overlapping whip marks across my back were the result of following another lead to an illegal casino near the border. A criminal gang caught me there and beat me for an entire day.

That lead had come from Julie Sutton, Denise's best friend.

When Julie's mother was diagnosed with cancer, I'd given her more than $10,000 to help with treatment. She'd always said she could never repay me.

Then there was the deep knife scar across my lower abdomen. I'd been investigating an abandoned slaughterhouse when one of the criminals stabbed me with a bayonet. The wound was so deep I nearly bled to death. I only survived because I managed to find something to pack against the wound and slow the bleeding long enough to get help.

That lead had come from Gordon Patterson. I'd financially supported Gordon for twelve years when he was growing up in poverty.

Now every single one of them was standing here.

There was only one thing I wanted to ask.

They had known Denise and my brother, August Rodriguez, were alive. They had known there was never any killer.

So why had they deliberately fed me leads that could have gotten me killed?

As they stared at the old and new scars covering my body, I saw none of the guilt I'd expected. Instead, there was only calm acceptance, as though everything had happened exactly the way they'd intended.

After a long silence, Denise stepped through the crowd and walked slowly toward me. Her fingers brushed lightly over my scars before she sighed.

"Graham, you've always been suspicious. If we hadn't kept you distracted with false leads, you would've figured out pretty quickly that August and I weren't dead.

"Those criminals were professional actors we hired. They knew how far they could go. You were never actually in danger of dying."

Brendan grabbed me impatiently and pulled me away from Denise. "They were actors, Graham. That's it. You got some superficial injuries. How bad could it really have been?

"Denise is August's wife now. It wasn't easy for them to get away from you and finally be together. Can you have some boundaries for once?"

It felt as though every drop of blood in my body had frozen. A deafening ringing filled my ears. I pressed a hand to my chest, unable to tell whether the pain or the nausea was worse.

So it wasn't only Denise's and August's deaths that had been staged. Every lead I'd nearly killed myself chasing had been fake too. Those criminals had all been actors they hired.

The scars I'd once thought of as proof that I'd never given up on them were nothing more than the punch line to a joke.

As far as they were concerned, as long as August got to be happy, what did it matter if I was left covered in scars?

Chapter 2

Through my tears, everything blurred except my daughter, Lily Rodriguez. After three years, she'd grown taller. She looked so different.

No matter what, the fact that Lily was alive was the greatest miracle I could have hoped for.

I rushed forward, forcing my way through the crowd before pulling her tightly into my arms. "Lily, come home with Daddy, okay?"

The next second, she sank her teeth into my arm. Then she drove a hard kick into my stomach.

Grimacing in pain, I let go. She ran straight behind August, peeking out from behind him just enough to stick her tongue out at me.

"You're not my daddy anymore. This is my daddy now! I'm not going with you. All you ever do is make me study!

"Daddy isn't like you. He plays games with me and buys me all the candy I want. You never loved me! I don't want a dad like you!"

I stared at Lily in disbelief. It felt as though someone had carved a piece out of my heart.

Lily had always had trouble with her teeth. Her dentist had warned us to limit sweets and take good care of them. Anyone who truly loved her wouldn't keep stuffing her full of candy just to make her smile.

August pulled Lily protectively behind him and flashed me a smug smile. "You probably don't know this, but three years ago, Lily was the one who insisted on faking her death and leaving with us.

"I wanted to leave her with you, but she cried and begged me not to. She said she didn't want to live with a bad father."

My mouth opened, but when I met Lily's eyes, filled with nothing but disgust, the words caught in my throat.

Denise and August had betrayed me. So had my family and friends. Even the daughter I loved more than anything didn't want me anymore.

Seeing the devastation on my face, a flicker of guilt crossed Denise's eyes. Holding the little boy she'd had with August, she walked over and spoke softly, "Graham, no matter what, I wronged you.

"How about this? If you promise to leave August alone from now on, I'll let both Lily and Mason call you Uncle Graham. We'll still be family."

My parents exchanged satisfied glances before nodding. They looked at me as though they were doing me a favor.

"Graham, look how generous August and Denise are. Go apologize to August. Then our family can finally move on."

The woman I'd loved for ten years had become my sister-in-law while the little girl I treasured most had become my niece. The brother who stole everything from me had done nothing wrong.

Somehow, I was the one expected to apologize.

Why?

I'd had enough.

I slapped August. "August was the homewrecker! Why should I apologize—"

Before I could finish, my mother, Faith Rodriguez, smacked my face. "And you still dare to lie? If it weren't for you, August and Denise would've been together a long time ago!"

My vision went black for a moment. The coppery taste of blood flooded my mouth.

Denise hurried over and tried to push me toward the door. "Graham, have you forgotten Mom and Dad have heart problems? Stop acting like this."

I looked up at the face that was both painfully familiar and completely unfamiliar. My eyes burned. "Denise, what did I ever do to make you hate me this much?"

We started dating after graduating from high school. We'd promised each other we'd both attend law school together.

But after August's SAT scores weren't good enough to get into his dream school, my mother locked me in my room.

On the final day to submit enrollment paperwork, she changed my college choice so I'd have to follow August to a small-town university instead.

Denise risked everything to break in through my bedroom window and get me out. Despite her small frame, she had stood protectively in front of me, staring my parents down without flinching.

"I've never seen parents play favorites like this. Graham has every right to chase his own dreams!"

Because of her, we both made it into the same university. She never stopped believing in me, giving me the freedom to pursue my dream of becoming a detective.

Three years into our marriage, I was critically injured during an operation and fell into a coma.

Desperate to save me, Denise, who had never believed in miracles, traveled to a remote mountain chapel that people swore had saved the dying. She climbed every step to its doors on her knees until her forehead was scraped raw, just to bring me back a blessed medal.

Maybe someone up there heard her prayers.

I woke up. When I saw the scar on her forehead, I scolded her for being so foolish.

She only smiled, wrapped her arms around my waist, and whispered, "Graham, the thing I'm most afraid of in this life is losing you."

But in the end, she was the first to let go.

When I was at my lowest, she became another man's wife. She taught my daughter to call someone else "Daddy."

And because of their "deaths," I was transferred out of Major Crimes and reassigned as a warehouse clerk in the department's logistics division.

For the past three years, I'd dreamed every night of Denise and Lily being blown to ashes in the explosion. I'd dreamed of August being captured and tortured to death.

In my desperation, I chased every lead, no matter how dangerous, refusing to give up until I found the killer.

Only to learn that every last bit of it had been an elaborate lie they created together.

Chapter 3

I fought to keep the tears from falling and turned my head away, unable to meet Denise's eyes.

I was afraid—afraid of seeing the scar on her forehead and that she'd confirm the truth I'd been refusing to accept.

Denise let out a quiet sigh, and the familiar warmth returned to her eyes. "Graham, I'm August's wife now. No matter how much you fight it, I have responsibilities now—as a wife and as a mother."

I lowered my head with a bitter laugh, my voice shaking with anger. "But you're my wife! What about your responsibility to me?"

The crushing weight in my chest made it hard to breathe. I forced myself upright and grabbed her arm. "You promised we'd spend our lives together. Denise, why? Just tell me why."

"Graham! Stop making a scene!" My mother shoved me away, tears in her eyes.

The last of my strength gave out, and I collapsed onto the floor.

"Denise is your sister-in-law now. No amount of throwing a fit is going to change that."

I opened my mouth to argue, but my phone rang. It was the ringtone I'd assigned to calls from the police department.

I answered immediately.

Captain Owen Barrett said, "Graham, the state police just concluded their investigation. You can return to Major Crimes.

"August's reported death had nothing to do with you. He spent the last three years undercover after faking his death.

"Based on the evidence he submitted, we dismantled a transnational organ trafficking ring. He's being awarded the department's highest commendation..."

My mind went completely blank. I couldn't hear another word.

The organ trafficking case… That was the case I'd been secretly investigating all along.

I shoved past everyone and sprinted home. I threw open my safe.

Every piece of evidence I'd risked my life collecting over the past three years was gone. I collapsed onto the floor, pounding my fist against the hardwood in despair.

Suddenly, someone wrapped both arms around me from behind.

"Graham, don't hurt yourself."

I froze before slowly turning around.

It was Denise.

In that instant, it hit me. My safe's combination was Denise's birthday. She was the only other person who could open it. She'd stolen my evidence and given it to August.

Tears streamed down my face as I grabbed the front of her shirt, barely able to get the words out.

"You stole my evidence for August? Do you have any idea what I went through to collect it? I nearly died over and over again! That evidence was my only chance to get back to Major Crimes!"

The organ trafficking case had been the last investigation assigned to me before I was transferred out.

To photograph a crucial meeting between the suspects, I was thrown from the third floor of an underground clinic. My lower back was shattered, and my left shoulder was crushed.

To infiltrate the organization, I posed as a buyer at one of their underground auctions. When they found the recorder I was wearing, they locked me in a flooded holding cell for three days.

I barely escaped alive with the evidence.

How could she hand over the evidence I'd nearly died to collect?

I gripped Denise's shoulders so tightly my hands trembled. She winced in pain but didn't pull away.

Instead, she looked me straight in the eye. "Graham, you owed this to August. If it weren't for you, he never would've had to fake his death. He never would've lost his career.

"You owe him. Consider it your way of making it up to him."

I opened my mouth, furious, ready to argue.

Before I could speak, I looked up and saw my mother standing in the bedroom doorway with another evidence file in her hands.

"Graham, I know these past few years haven't been easy for you. But August has had it even harder. He's always hated coming up short. Can't you help him just this once?

"You're brothers. What difference does it make which one of you gets the credit? Don't be so selfish."

As I laughed, my whole body shook, and the tears wouldn't stop.

Brothers?

When August stole my wife, did he remember we were brothers?

When he disappeared with Denise and Lily, faked their deaths, destroyed my career, and left the whole world believing I was responsible, did he remember we were brothers then?

I lunged forward, snatched the folder from my mother's hands, and tore every page to shreds.

"If you let him get the rest of my evidence, I'll make sure neither of us walks away alive."

My mother froze. Her face darkened as she pointed a trembling finger at me. "So this is how it is. Graham, you're the one who abandoned this family first. Don't blame me for what happens next."

Denise looked at me for a long moment before helping my mother out of the room.

I closed my eyes. Every ounce of strength drained from my body as I curled into the corner without moving.

Outside, daylight slowly faded into night.

No matter how late I used to work, Denise would always make me dinner before I got home. Before she left today, she'd done the same thing.

I slowly got to my feet, picked up the cold food, and dumped it into the trash.

Then I turned on my computer. I still had one complete chain of evidence they hadn't found.

I uploaded the entire evidence file. Then I recorded one final video.

"Stolen evidence always leaves a trail."

Chapter 4

People saw right through it.

My evidence was far more complete than August's, and my account of the investigation was far more coherent.

August, on the other hand, looked every bit like someone who'd spent the last three years living a comfortable life. There wasn't a trace of someone who'd risked his life infiltrating a criminal organization.

Letters flooded the police department, demanding that August be fired and that the commendation be awarded to its rightful recipient.

Just when I thought I was finally about to earn my way back to Major Crimes, August started a live broadcast. Looking straight into the camera, tears streamed down his face.

"Graham is my little brother. I wanted to keep this quiet for the sake of our family, but now he's trying to twist the truth and steal my credit. I have no choice but to tell everyone what really happened.

"I spent three years undercover, risking my life to gather evidence against the organization. Graham, meanwhile, had been working with them all along. He conspired with the syndicate to steal my complete evidence file."

My mother held up photos of me laughing with the crime boss during my undercover operation in one hand and my police ID in the other.

She declared, "I can prove it! Graham has been working with that criminal organization for years. I have plenty of pictures of him with their leader. He's a traitor to the police and a disgrace to this family!"

Beside her, Brendan wiped away fake tears and chimed in, "I'm Graham's best friend. I can back that up. I saw the syndicate transfer money to him more than once. I even caught him coming out of the crime boss's bedroom with her, half-dressed."

I stared at the livestream. It felt as if my heart were being crushed over and over until I could barely breathe.

Again and again, I posted comments explaining the truth. No one ever saw them. They disappeared beneath tens of thousands of hateful messages.

"Graham is disgusting. He's even trying to steal his own brother's credit!"

"And this guy wanted to be a cop? Fire him already!"

"Fire him? That's too good for him! Graham worked with criminals. Lock him up!"

My phone lit up.

I exited the livestream and opened the message from the police department with trembling hands.

"Graham Rodriguez, you have been terminated from the department. Effective immediately, your badge has been permanently revoked."

I stood frozen. It felt as though I'd been shot straight through the heart.

It was all gone. My badge. My career. Everything.

Over the past three years, I'd continued investigating the case despite direct orders to stop. I had no way to prove my contact with the criminal organization had been part of an undercover investigation rather than evidence of corruption.

Now my own family and my closest friend insisted I was a traitor.

Who would believe that parents would frame their own son? No one would ever believe me.

As I stood there in a daze, I looked up and saw a familiar figure running toward me. It was Denise. She stumbled to a stop in front of me and gently wiped the tears from my face with her thumb.

"Graham, don't be afraid. I've gone through your case carefully. If you turn yourself in now, you can still receive a lighter sentence. August just received a major commendation. If he pleads for leniency on your behalf, it'll help.

"You'll serve eight years at most. When you get out, I'll come pick you up myself. I'll convince Mom, Dad, and August, and we'll all live together as one family."

A bitter chill seeped into my bones.

I'd sacrificed everything in pursuit of justice. I'd done nothing wrong. So why was I the one being sent to prison?

I shoved Denise away. Tears streaming down my face, I ran all the way to the roof of an abandoned high-rise.

From the rooftop, more than three hundred feet above the ground, I started a livestream.

As hateful comments flooded the screen, I smiled into the camera.

"I've documented every investigation I've worked over the past three years. Every piece of evidence, every scar on my body… They all match.

"I'm willing to stake my life on my innocence."

Then I closed my eyes and let myself fall backward off the roof.