I drove down the road back to Canyon Springs, shaking my head. Fuck, I’d given up, but what option did I have? Marcus was either somewhere out in the desert or in hiding, same thing, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

He’d stood me up. Though, I couldn’t figure out to what end. Was he just being a flake, or did he have an actual reason for this?

I drummed my thumbs on the steering wheel, eyes on the road, though, once again, my thoughts were on Riley and Carly at home. The plan tonight had been for them, and it had been a failure. Technically, that meant I’d let them down.

“Fuck,” I muttered.

My cellphone rang in my pocket, and I pulled over on the side of the road, brought it out, my pulse kicking up ever so slightly.

The name flashing on the screen brought ice down on my head. I hit the button to answer. “This is Rome.”

“Mr. Rome, hi, I’m calling from Immediate Response Alarms. I just wanted to confirm that everything is all right at your home.”

“What? Why?”

“We just got an alarm from there, and—”

“Send someone. Right now. Send someone. I’m not home.” I hung up before he could speak again, tossed the phone on my passenger seat and pulled out into the road again. The house was five minutes away. I made it there in three, pulled up outside to find too men from the alarm company waiting. The lights on the tops of their vehicles flashing.

I jumped out of the SUV, left it running, and ran over to them. The house was silent, the lights on, the front door open.

“What happened? Where are they?”

“Sorry, sir, who are you?” one of the men asked, touching a hand to the gun at his belt.

“I’m the owner of the house, that’s who the fuck I am. What happened?”

“Nothing, sir,” the guy replied, lifting his hand from the weapon. “It looks like someone broke through the side window, there’s glass all over the kitchen floor, but nothing appears to have been taken.”

Taken. Oh god. “Where’s my daughter? My daughter and her nanny, where are they?”

“Sir? I—sir, there was no one inside.”

“There had to have been,” I snapped, but didn’t give him a chance to reply. Dread had officially taken a place in my soul. Let alone my fucking stomach. I sprinted back to the car, wrenched the passenger door open and grabbed for my phone.

I had to call her, before it was too late.

I lifted the cell, spotted the notification from the #dateme app in the top corner of the screen. The phone buzzed in my hand, screen lighting up with the number I’d saved as Marcus’s. That dread multiplied, tenfold.

“Marcus,” I answered.

“Hello there,” he said. “Did you enjoy your wild goose chase this evening? I hear you even stopped by the Rusty Nail for a drink.”

“Where are they? Where’s my daughter? Where’s Riley?”

“Oh, they’re with me, of course. I thought it was mighty fun that you tried to strike a deal with me. See, I realized that, well, these two mean so much to you, it might be more fun to make you pay in a different way.”

“Bring them back,” I commanded.

Marcus laughed, a high-pitched giggle that didn’t quite suit him. “Why would I do that? You should’ve thought twice before you decided to double-cross me, Bryan. You don’t think I knew about your little plan with Clint? That motherfucker’s been on my payroll from the start.”

“I don’t believe you,” I replied, evenly, my heart threatening to burst right out of my chest.

“It doesn’t matter what you believe at this point, dipshit. All you need to know is that I’ve got them, and I’m going to make you pay. See, I was going to let all of this go once you paid me off, but then you had to go and disrespect me. Fuck my woman. I couldn’t let that slide, obviously. Of course, now she’s tainted by you, I can’t touch her either. And if I can’t have her, neither can you.”

“Motherfucker, I’m—”

“You’re going to watch,” Marcus said, “You’re going to watch on the internet, as I murder your little girl and your lover. That’s what you’re going to do. Stay tuned, Roman. I’ll contact you when the show starts.” Another giggle and then he hung up.

“Fuck!” I roared, squeezing my phone so hard the screen squeaked a complaint. I dropped it again onto the passenger seat, breathing hard. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Another set of sirens wailed up to the house. Two police cruisers arrived, skidded to a halt, officers emerged and stormed toward the alarm company guys, who spoke animatedly, pointing toward the house and then back at me.

I stared dead ahead, trying to work this out.

I’ll fucking kill him. I’ll find him and I’ll kill him for this.

Yet another car squealed to a halt, this time behind my SUV. I didn’t take note of who it was. I couldn’t focus on anything but Carly and Riley. The only two people I cared about in the world, right now. Or ever.

The message. She’d sent me a message. That I did remember. Quickly, I lifted the phone again and unlocked it tapped, through to the #dateme app. It didn’t show when she’d been online last, but there it was.

“Thinking of you. Is everything OK? There’s something I have to talk to you about, and I’m kind of worried. Just to let you know.” From Riley. Before all of this had happened.

Guilt thudded down on my shoulders.

If I hadn’t been so blind, such a dumbfuck, I’d have seen this message and come rushing home. Now, it was too late. This was my fault. All of it. I pressed the phone into my pocket, shaking from head-to-toe, the anger at myself threatening to overwhelm me.

“Roman!” Beverly’s voice broke through my stupor. “Roman, what the hell is going on? The alarm company called me.”

Fuck, I’d forgotten I’d put her as an emergency contact. She’d been the only person available at the time, and she’d agreed to it, too.

“Rome?” She jogged to a halt beside me, touched my arm. I jerked it out of her grip and stared at her, wild-eyed. “Whoa,” she said, “bro, what’s going on?”

“Mr. Rome?” A police officer appeared beside Bev. “You’re the owner of this house?”

“Fuck!” I yelled again. The officer jerked, his cuffs rattling on his belt, but Bev didn’t flinch.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“He took them,” I said. “He took them both. Carly and Riley. Marcus has got them.”

Beverly’s jaw dropped, and behind her, the police officer raised both eyebrows. Was he in on it too? How the hell could I trust any of these fuckers after what happened with Clint? I stepped around them and walked a short way down the road, stopped and looked up at the sky, gripping my head in both hands, tugging on the hair.

There had to be a way to find them before… fuck, couldn’t even think about what might happen if I didn’t find them. Or what he’d said.

“—give him a minute,” Beverly said, behind me. “Just—look, wait here. I’ll speak to him.” Her footsteps approached, and I shook my head in advanced, still gripping handfuls of hair.

“Don’t,” I said.

“Roman, we need to talk about this. You need to talk to the cops, especially. They’re the only ones who can help.”

“If that’s the case, I’m fucked,” I said. “They’re in his pocket.”

Beverly slapped me on the shoulder, and I looked down at her frowning. “For god’s sake, keep your voice down. If that’s the case, do you really want them to hear you? What the hell is going on here?”

“It’s Marcus,” I said, quietly. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you, and neither did Riley. He’s back, and he’s taken them, now.”

“Jesus,” she whispered, shaking her head, and I looked down at my sister properly, for the first time. Tears welled in her bright blue eyes, but she ground her teeth, set her jaw. “Then we have to get them back, no matter what.”

“Mr. Rome?” One of the officers walked up, an easy gait. Instantly, I mistrusted him. “Do you have a minute to talk?”