“Again.”

Shaughnessy came at me, driving his fist hard against my stomach. I doubled over as pain shot through my insides. I was bloody, sore, and teetering at unconsciousness. But I refused to cave.

I should have known this was too much planning for Shaughnessy, but my need to save Cara clouded my judgment. I couldn’t lose her; I just couldn’t. Even if she walked away from this without me, that was enough. Her, alive and safe, would always be enough.

A new pain filled my chest, squeezing at my heart like a vise, and Shaughnessy’s rancid breath assaulted my nose. “That hurt a little too much? Don’t flake out on us yet; there’s plenty more where that came from.” His fist connected with my side, and I crumpled against the wall, barely staying upright.

He grabbed my hoodie and yanked me forward. “I can’t wait to fuck her. She looks like she’d be a good ride. Is she, Donohue? Does your little bitch take it like a champ?”

With a low growl, I drew my head back and threw it forward, hoping that it would connect. Shaughnessy moved just in time for me to miss his nose, but I grazed his chin, and he grunted in pain, staggering back. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that.” His hand grabbed me roughly again, but a voice said, “Enough.”

“But, boss, we—”

“I said enough.”

“It won’t be long now,” he leaned in to whisper and then shoved me hard until my weak body slid down the wall. Shaughnessy backed away, giving his boss room. He looked down at me, his eyes hard.

“This can all end. All you have to do is choose,” the voice said.

I cleared my throat and inhaled a ragged breath. “Never.”

CARA

“What do you think they’re waiting for?” My voice croaked, dry from the tears and the stale air.

Jackson grimaced. He’d been doing that a lot, and I didn’t like it. “I have no idea.” His voice was flat—defeated—but I saw the flash of concern in his eyes. He had a good idea about what was happening on the other side of that door; he just didn’t want to share it with me. And I couldn’t help but think that maybe it was for the best.

“Where’s Max? Shouldn’t he be here by now? Shouldn’t he have sent for help?”

Shifting, Jackson stretched one leg out in front of him. “They must have gotten to him.”

“Fuck, you think they killed him?” I couldn’t even believe I was saying the words. His eyes went wide, and I scoffed. “Come on. If there’s ever a time to cuss, it’s now.”

Jackson remained silent, and I blew out an exasperated breath. “Well, do you?”

“I don’t know what to think,” he snapped, the frustration evident in his voice. “I told Max to call the cops if we weren’t out quick. There’s no sign of the cops or Max, so I can only assume they got to him.”

“Perhaps they knocked him out or took him hostage too.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Jackson’s reply did little to ease my panic. With every minute that passed, it was looking less and less likely that any of us would get out of here alive. Tears lodged in my throat, burning the backs of my eyes. I dropped my head back against the wall and let them fall.

JACKSON

Cara cried quietly while I stared at nothing. This whole thing was fucked up. We were unprepared, underequipped, and too damn hasty. We should have planned—gathered more intel—but Braiden was blinded by his need to protect Cara, and after seeing the state Ana was in, I just wanted it done. So I couldn’t blame him—roles reversed, I would have done the same. I had done the same. Back when Ana was in harm’s way, I’d stormed in with only one thing on my mind. Saving her.

The memories came fast, flooding my mind like an unpredictable storm. The pain. The danger. Constantly looking over our shoulders while we fought to be together. We’d come a long way and survived so much. This wasn’t supposed to happen, but when Frankie O’Connor had asked me to take in Braiden and Cara, the only answer I had was yes. Because if it wasn’t for him, Ana and I would never have gotten out of Chastity Falls.

Head still throbbing, I almost missed the door open. I sat up, eyes trained on the empty space. Braiden hadn’t looked good the last time he’d appeared, and a ball of nerves twisted in my stomach. Whatever they were doing to him, it wasn’t good, and a part of me knew that once they’d finished with him, their attention would most likely turn to us.

“Jackson,” Cara whispered, and I met her wide eyes. “Should we make a run for it?”

I shook my head. Someone had unlocked the door and opened it. They were waiting, but for what, I didn’t know. And then I heard it. The slight whoosh of wheels. What was that?

The empty hollow in my stomach spread into my chest cavity, stealing my breath as Cole Calder wheeled himself into the room, his eyes never leaving mine. He was the last person I expected to see, but like pieces of a puzzle fitting together, everything fell into place. An eye for an eye ... Braiden had crippled Cole Calder in Chastity Falls after a turf war ended badly, earning him a five-year sentence in Oregon State Pen. But Cole hadn’t even registered on my mind as the possible suspect since he was wheelchair bound.

“Cole, long time, no see,” I said coolly, trying to get a handle on his emotional state.

“So it’s true?”

“You’ll have to enlighten me.” I brought a hand to my head and rubbed. “Your puppet did a real number on me.”

Something passed over his face. “It’s been a long time, Jackson.”

“Not long enough,” I spat.

“When I got word Donohue was here with you, I couldn’t believe it. Not after what he did to you, to us. But I guess you two were more alike than I ever gave you credit for.”

I gritted my teeth together. This Cole Calder wasn’t the guy I’d known back in Chastity Falls. This was a man fueled by hatred and driven by revenge ... The Cole Calder in front of me was a guy with nothing left to lose—and that was a dangerous thing.

“Think this through, Cole.” I kept my voice light, eyeing the gun in his hand.

“I’ve had plenty of time to think this through.” He placed his hands on his knees. “He ruined my life. We both know I wasn’t the only one. Braiden Donohue took whatever he wanted, when he wanted, without ever considering the consequences. It’s time for him to pay his penance.”

“Cole, there has to be another way. He served time for yo—”

“Don’t!” Cole roared. “Don’t pretend that a few years inside clears him of his crimes.” He wheeled back out of the room, but he paused when he reached the doorway. “I’m just sorry it has to be this way.”

What did he mean?

“Cole,” I called after him, but the door closed again, and the lock rattled.

“Jackson?” Cara’s voice quivered, but I couldn’t bring myself to look her in the eye. This wasn’t a rescue mission; it was a suicide mission.

We needed a miracle now.

CARA

“Cole Calder is the brains behind this.” Jackson finally lifted his head and looked at me. I knew it was bad, but I needed to hold onto something—anything—right now, and Jackson was all I had. “I knew something didn’t feel right about Shaughnessy. It was too easy.”

“Braiden did that?” My voice dropped, remembering Cole Calder wheeling himself into the room. His grand entrance.

Jackson nodded with a grim expression on his face. “He wasn’t always a good guy, Cara.”

I knew that. I knew all about the Braiden Donohue of Chastity Falls. But that wasn’t who he was now. He’d saved me from Jason, my father’s aide and the guy tasked with protecting me. The same guy who tried to rape me. And then he had walked away to protect me. Braiden had only ever put me first. He wasn’t the same guy he was all those years ago—I knew he wasn’t—but it didn’t make facing his past any easier.

“Cole was as bad. It could have easily been Braiden in that chair. Or worse.”

A shiver worked its way up my spine. I thought this was behind us. The violence. Enemies lurking around every corner. We were supposed to have left that behind when my father granted us an escape from Seattle.

“He’s not going to let us go, is he?” My stomach churned. We knew them both now. We’d seen their faces. Wasn’t that how it went? The witnesses were killed to protect the perp’s anonymity?

“We’re getting out of here, I promise.”

Don’t make promises you can’t keep, I wanted to say, but the door opened, and Braiden staggered into the room. A fresh layer of cuts and bruises coated his visible skin, and I gasped, bile rushing up my throat. “Oh, my god.”

He shook his head, trying to reassure me, but nothing would convince me he was all right as a stream of sticky crimson oozed from the gash above his eye.

“Time’s up, Donohue. Who’s it going to be? The friend or the girl?”

“Why are you doing this?” I shrilled.

“Me? I’m doing it for kicks, but the boss man has a pretty good reason, don’t you think?” Shaughnessy glanced over his shoulder. “If someone messed me up so bad I couldn’t walk again, I think I’d want sweet revenge too.”

I stifled a cry. This was too much. This wasn’t supposed to be happening.

“We haven’t got all day. Choose,” he barked, and Braiden looked from Jackson to me and back again.

“I’ll go,” Jackson said with eerie calm as he attempted to clamber to his feet.

“No. I won’t choose.” Braiden looked Shaughnessy straight in the eye and said, “I’d die before you lay a hand on either of them.”

The air left my lungs, and I slumped back against the wall. Surely, he didn’t mean ... I couldn’t think about it. Jackson had promised me we would get out of this, and I had to believe him.

“Fine. Have it your way.” Shaughnessy approached Braiden, and I wanted to yell at him to make a run for it. To do anything but stand there and let him manhandle him out of the room.

When my sore eyes met Jackson’s across the room, neither of us spoke. We didn’t need to. We both knew where this was headed.