Carson stumbled out of the elevator. Ben had his hand in her hair, bending her head backward.

“Unlock your door,” he said.

Shit.

“My keys—they’re still in my car.” Carson braced her hand against the wall.

“Fucking hell.” Ben shoved her face first into the doorframe.

Pain blossomed along her brow and radiated down her neck.

“Stand there. If you run, I’ll shoot. If someone comes out here and you scream for help, I’ll shoot them. Got it?”

Carson nodded. She could only assume that Ben would do it. The kind of people he worked with, the things he did, he probably shot people all the time. She wouldn’t be his first, and he wouldn’t even blink if she died.

She closed her eyes and sucked down a deep breath.

Everything shook. Her legs were weak; her knees close to giving out.

Ben pulled something out of his pocket and slid it into the lock on her door.

This was how he’d gotten into her apartment and used her laptop to move his money. The yogurt containers. Her laptop not being where it was supposed to be. It all made sense now, and she understood why Agent Walker had suspected her. This looked bad.

A door down the hall opened and an older woman with short, white hair stepped out with her little dog.

“Carson, I haven’t seen you around,” the woman said.

Carson glanced at Ben who gave her a side-eye glare. She knew what he’d do.

She twisted to face her neighbor and put herself between the woman and Ben.

“I took a trip with my family,” Carson said. She even mustered a smile.

“Such a good girl.” The woman patted Carson on the arm before ambling past. “Can’t talk, dear, puppy’s got to pee.”

Carson held her breath until the elevator doors slid shut. Only then did she sag against the wall.

Her door clicked open. Ben grabbed her by the arm and shoved her inside.

She was alone with the devil now.

“What are you going to do to me?” She couldn’t really believe he intended to trade her like a commodity. That sort of thing didn’t happen here.

“Log in. Now.” He gestured at the coffee table where her laptop was hidden.

“If the accounts are frozen, there isn’t anything I can do. You know that.”

“Try,” he snapped.

“Is there anything else I can do to fix this?” Was there something she could say to give her a little more time? Even if she had a few more minutes would she come up with a plan?

“Move the God damn money,” Ben snarled.

“I can’t.”

Carson understood that the biggest concern right now was the money, but this had to go deeper than that. If this was all about money and Ben, wouldn’t it be over by now? This whole back and forth wasn’t going to make the FBI go away.

He lifted his arm and pointed the gun at her. “You figure out how to get that money, or I wrap up loose ends. You’re a liability at this point, understand?”

She pressed back into the sofa cushions and sobbed.

All she’d ever done was her job. It was a fluke that had assigned Ben’s account to her. She’d never wanted to get involved in an investigation that threatened her life and broke US sanctions on other countries. She just wanted to pay her bills and live a quiet life.

“Stop crying and start typing!” Ben yelled.

What did she do? She couldn’t do what he wanted.

But could she email someone? Did 9-1-1 take social media messages? Could she get out her last I love you’s to her family before Ben realized what she was doing?

Her front door swung open with a bang.

The metal kick plate skidded across the linoleum floor.

Four masked men stepped in, holding bigger guns than Ben’s.

“Guys! There you are. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you.” Ben actually laughed and braced his hand on the bar while pointing the gun at the intruders through the cabinets. “Close the door.”

One of the masked men actually did as Ben suggested.

“Hey, great timing. I just got the accountant here, and she’s going to clear all of this up. Right, Carson?” His voice went up there at the end.

The two bigger masked men circled the end of the bar. Ben backed up, his gun pointed at his pseudo friends.

“Guys? Guys, come on. We’re all on the same side here.”

The biggest one made a grab for Ben. He didn’t even try squeezing off a shot. Because these really were his friends? Or was he hesitant to have it out with these people?

The fourth member of the group held no weapon now that she got a good look at all four. He was slender in comparison, his clothes neater. The man reached up and pulled his mask off. He was tan, with a slight olive tint to his complexion. His dark hair was trimmed and neat. A generous stubble gave him the hint of a beard. His nose was the most prominent feature on his face.

“What’d I say? I’m going to fix all of this,” Ben said, focusing in on the unmasked man.

“How?” the newcomer asked in a flat voice.

“This woman is my accountant. This whole mess is her fault. You and I, we’re both victims here.”

“I do not care—”

“She’s got access to the funds I don’t have. She’s going to unfreeze the accounts and transfer them over.” Ben gestured at Carson.

She swallowed.

Did they really believe him?

Judging by their accents, they weren’t local.

“You have become a liability to us,” the man said.

“And I’m going to fix it. What have I always said? Stick with me and we’ll get the job done. Am I right?” Ben grinned.

Carson licked her lips.

He was selling them a lie, and they were considering it.

“You’re saying this woman can fix it?” the man nodded at Carson.

“She’s the reason we’re in this mess in the first place. And yeah, she can fix it.”

The man locked eyes with Carson.

She wanted to shake her head, say no, anything to stop the way this was going, but she couldn’t. Her body had frozen, all while Ben spun his lies around them.

“Is this true?” the man asked.

“Yeah,” Ben replied.

“I’m not asking you.”

Carson gulped.

“You’re going to fix this, aren’t you, Carson?” Ben turned to look at her.

They were all looking at her now.

“The FBI doesn’t want your money. They want his records. They want to know who he’s doing business with. Even if you get the money that’s not going to stop them. The only reason they haven’t figured out the files are because they’re in some kind of code.”

“Do you know this code?” the man asked Carson.

“No. I saw it, but I don’t know it.”

“It’s my own thing. It’s how I keep us all safe,” Ben said.

Oh, no...

Carson felt a scream bubbling up inside of her.

That was not the right thing to say.

“So no one but you can read them?” the man asked.

“Exactly.

“Then we don’t need you anymore? Good.” The man lifted his gun.

Ben’s eyes widened.

He realized too late what he’d told them.

“No—Kawa, I can—”

The man fired. Once. Twice. Three times.

Blood splattered against the cream-colored walls and on the beige carpet. Ben fell to the floor, his mouth moving silently while his eyes were already dead—and staring straight at her.

“Get her. Let’s go. Now.”

RYAN AND VITO ENTERED Carson’s apartment building by the front doors. The large complex occupied the upper floors of a shopping strip situated in a trendy part of town. It was the kind of place he’d call safe. Today that word had a different meaning.

He hoped they were going to find Carson at the end of this and not something worse.

“We’ve got the garage covered,” Alec said through the headsets.

“Copy that. Proceeding to the elevators,” Ryan replied.

His housemates had brought their full kit with them. Ryan was grateful they’d dropped everything given what they’d just learned. He’d have come by himself regardless, but having the other four to back him up was a relief.

“I see the rental car. It’s idling on the third floor of the garage along with another rental,” Paxton said, his voice charged.

“Have we considered that these people might be working with Carson?” Alec asked.

“Shut the fuck up, Alec. Paxton, do you see people?” Ryan paused. There was no point in getting up to Carson’s apartment if people were headed out.

“Only two drivers. Snapping pictures for ID later,” Paxton replied.

Ryan glanced at Vito.

They might catch Carson and whoever these people were in her apartment. Or they could pass her.

“Movement. Two—no, three—men. I think they’re armed. There’s one not wearing a mask. He’s got Carson,” Paxton said.

Ryan was torn between relief to know she was alive and fear of what came next.

“I’m moving the truck to block the exit, but I need a moment,” Silas replied.

“On it.”

“I’m coming up to you,” Alec said.

And Ryan was a building away from the action. They were useless here.

“Vito and I are coming around.” Ryan turned and caught Vito’s eye. The other man nodded.

They were going to get Carson back and then Ryan was going to find out what was really going on.

“Hey? Hey, excuse me?” Paxton called out.

“What the fuck is going on? Who are you talking to?” Ryan pushed through the front doors.

“Shit. He’s moved to intercept,” Alec replied.

“Hey do you guys have any jumper cables?” Paxton asked.

Ryan’s stomach sank. That was the ploy Paxton wanted to use?

Except Carson knew Paxton. She’d recognize him and know they were there. That could make all the difference. Unless Alec was right, and this was all a set up. Paxton could be putting himself in harm’s way. Some Aegis guys had no common sense.

“Paxton’s a dozen yards from them. They’re packing at least nine mils and trying to hide it. There’s blood on Carson and they’re packing her into the car. They definitely don’t want Pax to see her.” Alec kept up a running report while Paxton went back and forth with the unhelpful cohort.

“Blood? Is she hurt?” Ryan asked without receiving an answer.

“Truck is in position,” Silas said, chiming in.

“Wow, wow, wow. All I wanted was a jump off, man.” Paxton’s voice grew strained.

“Pax has a gun on him. I’m taking the shot,” Alec announced.

“No. Not with Carson hurt.” Ryan broke into a run, headed around the corner to the garage.

He vaulted over the concrete wall and planted his feet on the hood of a sedan. He leapt to the floor as the alarm went off. Ahead of him, Silas’ truck sat across most of the path out of the garage.

“What do you want me to do?” Alec demanded.

“Sorry, guys. Sorry. I’ll just be on my way. No harm, no foul, right?” Paxton’s tone grew more relaxed.

“Can you get to Carson while their attention is on Paxton?” Ryan sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

“Negative. Pax is between us. Are you coming up the northwest stair?”

“Yeah.”

“You will be behind them. They aren’t looking that way. Fuck. We need their attention on Pax.”

“We’re on the third floor.” Ryan flattened his back to the concrete wall and glanced over his shoulder at the two idling cars pointed away from him.

Sure enough, all the focus was in the other direction.

The interior car light washed Carson’s face out. She glanced left and right, her eyes wide with fear.

This was his fault. He shouldn’t have reacted with anger. Part of him knew her and that she wasn’t the kind of woman who would pull off a con. She was a good person and he’d failed her.

“I’m going for Carson,” he said.

He darted around the stairwell wall and circled around to the outer wall, keeping the parked vehicles between him and Carson’s kidnappers.

“Stop there,” one of the men said.

“Okay. Alright. I don’t want any trouble,” Paxton said in a slow drawl, hands out at his side.

One of the other men said something Ryan couldn’t make out. Carson was twisted around, watching the drama play out behind her through the rear window. The driver of Carson’s getaway car got out and popped the trunk—leaving the driver’s side door open.

“They’re looking real nervous,” Alec said.

“I’m almost to Carson,” Ryan whispered.

Two more cars.

“Hurry up. I don’t think they’re going to wait much longer.”

“Vito and I are behind you, Ryan. We’ll stop the car from getting out of here,” Silas said.

But at what cost? All it would take was a stray bullet to hit Carson in the wrong spot and she’d be dead. He couldn’t let that happen. Regardless of the lies, he still cared about her. It wasn’t all an act.

In the distance sirens wailed.

The unmasked man at the back of the lead car snapped an order.

The gunman lifted his weapon higher.

“Take the shot,” Ryan said.

A shot rang out, echoing through the garage.

Ryan felt a chill go through him as though he’d been shot. He pushed that aside and sprinted forward. He squeezed off two shots, scattering the men closest to the car with Carson in it and dove into the driver’s seat.

A bullet struck the rear window, shattering it.

Carson screamed.

Ryan jammed his foot on the accelerator and shifted into drive. The town car shot forward and the driver’s side door slammed shut. They careened around the end of the row.

Except the exit was blocked.

“Go, go, go,” Alec yelled in the headsets.

“Ryan?” Carson gaped at him in the rearview mirror.

“Hold on.” He cranked the wheel, taking the turn halfway down the ramp and headed back up.

“They’re running,” Silas announced.

Tires squealed below them as Ryan sent the stolen car higher in the parking structure.

“Are you hurt?” Ryan yelled over his shoulder.

Carson didn’t reply.

A crash from below drowned out everything the others might have said.

“God fucking damn it,” Silas yelled.

“They’re gone,” Alec said through puffs of breath.

Ryan stopped the car and shifted into park. He twisted to look back at Carson, bits of glass sticking to her hair and littering her clothes alone with drying blood.

“Are you hurt?” Ryan wanted to reach for her, but he knew these moments could be vital to her health.

“N-no.” Carson leaned forward. Once again, fat tears brimmed in her eyes.

Ryan reached for her and she crumpled against the seat, her head on his shoulder and sobbed.

She was safe. That was all that mattered.

CARSON SAT ON THE curb, Ryan’s arm wrapped around her. She stared at the asphalt and the bits of twinkling glass that had fallen out of her clothes and hair. The cops that had arrived a few minutes after Ryan rescued her were going back and forth. No one was speaking to her yet, which she was grateful for.

Ben was dead.

That man had looked at him and decided his life was pointless.

She could still see the moment the first bullet hit Ben in her mind. Like a perfectly captured picture.

“Hey,” Ryan whispered.

Carson closed her eyes. She wasn’t ready.

“The detective is here. Do you want to call a lawyer?” he asked.

She swallowed. Her ass was already on the line. Agent Walker was going to come down on her hard for this. She didn’t know how she could fix the situation. With Ben dead, how were they going to decipher the files? No one knew who Ben’s clients were except him.

“Carson, please talk to me?”

She turned her head and looked at Ryan. He’d shown up, her ginger knight in a blue Mustang that she didn’t deserve.

“Agent Walker. I should talk to him,” she said.

“Agent? What agency?”

“FBI.”

Was that too much? She didn’t know anymore. This was all out of control. She’d agreed to a couple days in hiding, that was it. This was supposed to be over.

“Carson Adair?” A man in a brown suit with a badge hanging around his neck ambled toward him. He was older, with gray hair and a bit of a belly on him. It was the eyes that made her shiver. This wasn’t a man that gave her a good feeling.

“This is Carson. I’m Ryan. Her boyfriend.” He pushed up and offered the man his hand.

Boyfriend?

She stared up at his broad shoulders.

Not that long ago he’d looked at her as if he wanted to strangle her, and now he was claiming her? Was there a reason behind this? Or did it mean something?

He had rescued her, and he didn’t have to do that.

Her heart fluttered for the breath of a moment before she tamped down on that hope. She had enough problems without creating another. As far as she knew, Ryan wanted nothing to do with her and this whole thing was some kind of obligation. He was the good one between them after all.

“You’re one of those Aegis boys, aren’t you?” The detective didn’t sound pleased.

“I am.”

“I need to speak with Miss Adair.”

“We can arrange that.” Ryan turned toward her and offered her his hands.

“Alone,” the detective said.

Carson let him take a hold of her and lift her to her feet. She was too unsteady to manage getting upright herself.

“You can talk to her now, with me, or later with a lawyer.” Ryan glanced over his shoulder. “Your pick.”

The detective grimaced. “This way.”

He turned and strode toward a sandwich shop at the corner of the building.

“What’s going on?” she whispered for Ryan’s ears alone.

“That’s Detective Blew with Seattle PD. Let’s just say, we’re not a fan of each other. You don’t want to talk to that man alone, got it?” Ryan wrapped his arm around her waist. “Eyes ahead. Don’t look back.”

“Why?”

Wheels rattled on the pavement.

She turned her head. Ryan lifted his hand to her cheek and kept her looking straight ahead.

“You don’t need to see that,” he whispered.

Carson gulped.

That? What was that?

She wanted more answers, but she was too grateful for his steadying presence to press for more.

Together they followed in the detective’s wake. He led them into the shop and took up a table in the corner. Ryan pulled out a chair for her right before her knees gave way.

“Want a drink? Coffee? Water? Something to eat?” Ryan asked her.

“I’d like a coffee,” Detective Blew said.

“Then get yourself one.” Ryan kept his gaze on Carson.

“Water? I—I don’t know.”

“Water and a coke then. Sit right here.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Both men approached the counter. She saw a few words spoken but there was clearly no love lost between the two men.

Carson cradled her head in her hands.

What did she say? What could she say?

She buried her face in her hands.

If she said nothing to the detective, was that the right thing to do? Agent Walker wouldn’t want her answering any kind of questions, but he wasn’t here. Should she call him? Or should she pray that the local police could do what Walker and the FBI hadn’t?

“Drink some of this. It’ll make you feel a bit better.” Ryan sat down next to her and pushed a cup of soda toward her.

“How is Coke supposed to make me feel better?”

“Drink it.”

Detective Blew settled in across from them with his coffee and placed his cell phone between them. She knew a recording app when she saw one.

Carson drank deeply from the soda cup, the bubbles tickling her nose and the carbonation burning the back of her throat.

Did she answer truthfully?

“Miss Adair, can you tell me the events of today?” Detective Blew took out a pen and pad of paper.

“Starting when?” she asked.

“What do you mean, starting when?”

“Do you mean what happened at my apartment? Or when I was kidnapped?” It was all jumbling together in her head.

Ryan squeezed her knee under the table.

“Start at the beginning,” Detective Blew said.

The problem with that was—what was the beginning?

For them to understand what happened today, they needed to know what happened weeks ago.

“I left Ryan’s house and went to the gas station. While checking my phone, my client—Ben Grewing—approached my car with a gun. He told me to get in his car and drive.” She folded her hands together and stared at her nails, examining her torn cuticles.

“And Ben Grewing, that is the name of the deceased?”

“Yes.”

“Why did he have a gun? What did he want?”

Carson swallowed.

She had to make a decision.

Agent Walker didn’t have her best interest in mind, and he didn’t care about her sister. Carson had to do what was best for them.

“A few weeks ago an FBI agent arrested my sister. He said I could make that go away if I helped them. They were investigating one of my clients—Ben. They wanted records to determine if he was working with people living in countries with US sanctions barring them doing business here. I refused and Agent Walker said he’d deport my little sister back to Ghana because the records room of the county she was born in burned down. There is no digital record of her birth certificate and her parents were here illegally.” Carson sucked down a breath. She couldn’t think about the threats to Frankie without getting pissed off.

Ryan slid his arm around her and gave her a hug, showing his silent support. Her story didn’t absolve her of guilt where he was concerned, but maybe he’d understand her choices now.

“So...I gave Agent Walker what he wanted. About a week ago the FBI raided Ben’s office, but they missed him somehow. What we—I—think happened is that he broke into my apartment while I was at Ryan’s and used my laptop to move frozen funds into an offshore account. He must have found the details of my deal with the FBI. I...I recorded my conversations with Walker and his partner because I was afraid. Ben knew I was the one who told on him and that’s the only way I can think how he’d have known. The FBI told me that Ben had fled the country, but clearly he was here today.”

The detective sat there staring at her, not writing a single word.

Should she keep going?

“He took me back to my apartment today. I guess his clients found out their money is frozen and they’re after them. His plan was to tell them I could fix this and throw me under the bus for everything. I don’t think we were at my place for more than...five? Ten minutes? These guys, they kicked in the door and—and they started talking. I can’t remember what they said, but the one took off his mask and told another to shoot Ben.” Carson covered her mouth with her hands and shut her eyes, that moment of his death burned into her mind.

“You’re okay,” Ryan whispered as he rubbed her shoulder.

Was she though?

Ben was dead and without him his code was a mystery.

Detective Blew tapped his phone screen.

“I don’t need to hear this.” He held up his hands. “What I heard was, some men broke into your house. They had a beef with your client over money, and you were caught between them. End of story, thank you for your time.”

“That’s it? You aren’t going to do your job?” Ryan glared up at the detective.

“There isn’t anything for me to do. This is a federal investigation as far as I’m concerned. I’ll make my report, but the feds are the ones who will want everything. Me knowing any of it? It’s pointless. I want no part of whatever this is.” Detective Blew gathered his things.

“You weren’t saying that when there were cameras around from what I hear.” Ryan twisted to look over his shoulder. “What a fucking coward.”

“What...what just happened?” Carson stared at the door swinging shut behind the detective.

“He decided he heard too much and bowed out.”

“That—he can do that?”

“A chicken shit like him would. Don’t worry about him. We’ll handle this. Do you have those recordings anywhere else?”

“Yeah, my phone. I put them on my laptop as a backup.”

“Perfect. I want to back those up on our server, something secure in case Walker tries to come after you.”

“Why are you even here?” Carson laid her cheek in her palm. If she thought she could get away with lying on the table, she might do just that. Today just wouldn’t end.

“I realized something after you left. You hadn’t told me the whole truth. I wasn’t going to let you go without getting to the bottom of it all.”

And now he knew.

A lump lodged in her throat.

Would he leave now that he had his answers?

What was she going to do about Frankie?

Agent Walker?

Those men who’d killed Ben and tried to kidnap her?

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. More tears leaked out of her eyes. She couldn’t do anything except cry. She was in over her head to the point that she was utterly lost.

“It’s okay. We’re going to fix this.” Ryan pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t agree with what you did, but I get it. And...I’m going forgive you.”

That was all Carson could ask for.

KAWA CLIMBED OUT OF the beat up rental car.

“Burn it and let’s get out of here,” he said.

What a fuck up.

This was out of control. They should have grabbed Ben and the girl then gotten out of there. When they’d gone out in the parking garage was when everything went wrong. He’d frozen. They’d all froze, because this wasn’t Syria. They couldn’t react in the same way they would here in America. The rules were different, and they had thousands of lives at stake. Every action they took had consequences that rippled out to form tidal waves.

He had to find out where the girl was before she talked. She was the new loose link. It could be too late if the cops found her or if she knew Ben’s code.

At this point it wasn’t about the money. They could get more. Steal it. Borrow it. Whatever.

The real problem was intel.

Who knew what? And how would it influence the world leaders?

If he could hold their deal with the senator together, then the only remaining loose end was the girl. She knew too much. If she started talking if she could connect Ben to their budding government it would all be over. The Americas were looking for any reason to wash their hands of Akkadia’s bid for independence because supporting them would be too costly. The shooting of a single man might be enough to sentence their entire movement to a swift death at the hands of their enemies.

Kawa wasn’t going to let one woman stand between a country and its independence. He’d lost too much to go back now.