When the door opened, Dani leapt from the bed. There hadn’t been a knock, no hesitation. The door just opened. She rocketed to her feet, training coming to the fore, and moved behind the door until she established that the target was benign.

Or at least not likely to kill her immediately.

She’d even managed to grab the ballpoint pen.

“There you are,” Benny said, as though he were playing a game. Maybe he was. “I was thinking about it, and maybe it’s not fair to have you cooped up all alone in here. I can see where a young woman would need to have someone to talk to, a way to pass the time.”

Dani eased into the room, pocketing the pen, though right now they were alone. Who was to say he didn’t need a decoration for his carotid artery? Still, she said nothing. Benny had all the cards and he knew it. It was his game, and nothing she could do or say at this point would or could change that. There seemed to be little point in killing him, less even than in playing along. But she didn’t need to get herself killed, which would surely happen before his body even hit the floor.

Not that she was going to trust him anytime soon.

Maybe he’s going to let me stay with Luke. She almost laughed, the idea was so ridiculous. Yet, for whatever reason, her heart had soared with just the thought of it. Oh, I have it bad. Focus, girl. Focus. You have evil incarnate in your bedroom and you’re worrying about your supposed fiancé?

Benny didn’t seem to notice she hadn’t been paying attention. He walked around the room, picking up and putting down books and knick-knacks. “However, it’s quite evident that you and your boyfriend cannot be trusted. It’s considered to be bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, and must be doubly so if she’s naked, wouldn’t you say?” He paused, a figurine of a ballerina in his hand, so delicate that he could crush it should he just close his hand.

Dani held her breath, hating that he should handle a treasure given by her mother so casually, wanting nothing more than to wipe that smug grin off his face. She dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands, using the pain to keep her focused. It’s only a cheap figurine. It means nothing. He cannot hurt me.

“So, instead, we’ve extended an invitation on your behalf. Your maid of honor is going to pass the time with you. This room should be enough to allow for a little privacy.” He indicated the sitting room with his hand. “But you’ll have to share the bathroom, I’m afraid.”

He set the figurine down. Dani started breathing again.

“Wait... maid of honor?” Dani asked, surprised at how hoarse and dry her voice sounded. She hadn’t been asked about who was in, or coming to, the wedding. The trip to the vendors yesterday had been a travesty, a way for Benny to publicize their wedding to draw her father in. For the first time, it occurred to her that other people might be involved. A wedding party. Guests.

Benny stepped out of the way of the door; one of his men thrust a suitcase into the room, and another shoved a young woman into the room so roughly she nearly tripped over the baggage.

“Katie?”

“What the hell is going on here, Dani?” Katie clutched herself tightly, pulling at her white sweater as though using it to shield the outside world. Her face was pale, her eyes wide, glistening bright with unshed tears. The girl was terrified, and kept looking from one thug to the next as though expecting to be hurt at any minute.

What had they done to her?

Mentally, Dani took note of the thugs in question. Adding their deaths to Benny’s. So be it.

She took a deep breath, remembering the way Luke had shoved down the anger. How he hadn’t let a reaction create a situation there was no coming back from. “Are you crazy?” She snapped out the words, each one sharp and biting, and full of contempt. “Kidnapping people like this?”

Benny spread his hands and smiled. “In for a penny. I’ve already taken your boyfriend away from his ‘friends.’ Which, by the way, we need discuss. I would dearly love to know just what kind of stag party they’re planning. It wouldn’t do for things to... get out of hand.”

“Bastard.” She spat out the word without thinking. There was too much innuendo in this conversation and now she wasn’t sure of anything. The reference to ‘friends’ could mean anything. It might well be they’d figured out he was a cop after all. Dani felt the blood leave her face.

“I was at that.” Benny took a half-bow. “And while we’re on the topic, maybe you can explain your young man’s fascination with sticks.”

She wasn’t about to answer. She’d die before she’d give him so much as the time of day.

He stared at her for moment, his eyes hard. Assessing. “No? Well, take some time, think about it.” He put a hand on Katie’s shoulder and squeezed. The girl gasped under the pressure. “I’m sure the two of you have a lot to talk about.” He released Katie so abruptly that she dropped to her knees. Dani lunged forward to catch her as he turned and walked out, his boys trailing after him.

Katie flung herself into Dani’s arms. She began weeping uncontrollably. “I didn’t know what they wanted, I was so scared, they said that they were taking me here, but I didn’t know what they meant. They came into the house and my folks were gone and I need to get back to school, but they came in and took me and went into my room and ransacked all my things, grabbing clothes...” Katie was scared to death and near hysterics, but something felt off. Dani held her, feeling much older than the five years that separated them.

What am I missing?

Maybe it was because Dani had seen too much, been involved in too much for something like this to unnerve her. Would it piss her off? Definitely. But for her, fear was an indication that she needed to face something. Or attack something. She’d been afraid for Luke earlier, at breakfast, but that had made her sharper, more than ready to act if the situation called for it.

Perhaps Katie’s reaction only underscored how far removed she was from the real world. This was a normal reaction. This was what fear was supposed to look like. She took a moment to wonder at the differences between them, and couldn’t help but think about how she’d gotten to where she was. What would her life had looked like, what could it have been without the training, the violence, the fights and flights she’d been through?

She tried to comfort the girl as best she could, but Dani wasn’t very experienced with that sort of thing. She righted the wrongs, but let someone else deal with the clean-up afterwards. Now she had a friend, a girl who had looked up to her all through school, needing her to be strong and brave and compassionate. Dani could manage the first two, but compassion didn’t exactly come second nature.

What can I do? What does she need? Shock victims need to sit down... okay, start there...

Dani helped Katie to the couch and sat her down. Katie had gone from hysterics to small sobs that seemed to wrack her body. She hiccupped between half-coherent words. At least the endless diarrhea of words had trickled out and seemed to be stopping.

“I’m sorry.” Katie clung to Dani’s hand so hard she was losing circulation. “I don’t mean to babble all over you, I’ve just... I’ve never been so frightened in my life.”

“Where are your parents?” Dani asked, wondering how to shake her loose without seeming callous.

“Yesterday, they got a call from Markland.” She stopped and wiped a tear with the back of her hand. Dani got up and fetched a box of tissue. “Thank you.” Katie gave her a weak smile. “The company needed them to fly to Paris for two weeks on business. All expenses paid.”

“What kind of business?”

“I don’t know. I think they didn’t know, either, but a free trip to Paris? They couldn’t pack fast enough.”

Dani nodded. Benny was going over the top for all this. Okay, so her father had taken a lot of money, but to kidnap people, pull Katie into this, pay for her parents to play in Paris... that was over the top for simple revenge. There had to be more going on. Something she wasn’t seeing.

“Why am I here?” Katie wailed suddenly, causing her to jump.

Dani pulled the girl in close for an awkward hug and stroked her cheek, brushing at the tears with her thumb. “I believe it’s to keep an eye on me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Benny’s arranging a marriage between me and Luke.”

She stared at Dani with huge eyes. “The cop?”

Dani’s hand clamped over the girl’s mouth fast and tight. Katie’s eyes bugged in her head. “Never say that!” Dani hissed at the girl. “Never. Benny will kill us if he finds that out. Understand?” She held her hand there until Katie nodded. Slowly, she released the girl.

“What does that have to do with me?”

Dani considered filling her in, but something still felt off. Maybe she was getting paranoid. But maybe a little caution might serve her better right now.

The question was, had Katie told anyone else that Luke was a cop?

“I think you’re here to make sure that Luke and I are never alone. But that’s only good if he comes to my room. If I can maneuver the guards to get to his room, there’s no one there to be a chaperone.”

“What about Luke’s best man?”

Dani sat back as if slapped. “Who?”

Katie blinked up at her, obviously confused. “David. I saw them escort him down the hall as I was coming in.”

“Oh, shit.”

***

ANOTHER DAY PASSED, and somehow they were all right back where they started. Or almost. Benny didn’t even bother to show up at breakfast. And Luke’s place was glaringly empty. Benny had left a single rose at his place, so dark it almost seemed black, which wasn’t funny in the least. Dani nearly picked it up, vase and all, to fling it across the room, but thought better of it at the last minute, and had to content herself with very pointedly picking up the vase and moving it to Benny’s empty place instead. David’s lips twitched at that, the first sign of humor that she’d seen in days, but he fell back to sullen silence when one of the guards at the door cleared his throat. Warning them, Dani realized. It was the grey-haired man who had brought her down yesterday. Stevens? She thought his name was Stevens.

She watched him surreptitiously as she poured syrup over her French toast, and wondered if perhaps some of the other men here were finding things a little too...heavy-handed.

Stevens used to read her stories when she was a child, keeping her busy while her daddy and Benny talked. He’d even done the voices. Stern as he appeared, was it possible they had an ally?

It was an interesting thought.

Even without Benny, breakfast was a subdued affair. Was Luke having his own breakfast delivered to his room? Dani wished she knew. Starving him was inhumane. She wanted to ask, but didn’t quite dare. Would David know?

She darted a glance over to David and Katie. David was unusually subdued, but then he had been since Benny had moved in. Katie, though, seemed to rally overnight, and had been quite cheerful as they’d dressed, chattering away about weddings as though she hadn’t a care in the world. Now, though, she was quiet and shied away even from David. Either the sight of the armed guards had left her rattled, or there was something more going on that Dani wasn’t quite seeing.

As the meal progressed, David seemed to shrink in on himself. He was sullen and closed off, and yawned throughout the entire meal.

“Didn’t you sleep well?” Dani asked him in concern.

“No,” he said petulantly, spearing a sausage as though it were an enemy. “Didn’t you hear the alarm going off this morning?”

Dani had. She and Katie remarked on it, wondering if there was a raid, some SWAT team heading into the mansion to rescue Luke, and maybe them, too.

“That was Luke’s fault.” He stared defiantly at Dani.

Dani blinked. “Luke tripped the alarm?”

“No, I did. But it was his fault.”

“How did you trip the alarm and why is it his fault?” Dani was confused now.

“I’m sleeping in the sitting room,” David explained. His voice took on a tone that accused her of being particularly stupid. “Once they dropped me off your idiot fiancé slammed the bedroom door on my face, so I had to stay in that sitting room all night. He didn’t even give me a blanket, and the damn air conditioning was on all night.” He looked at the two girls expectantly. When neither of them expressed sympathy, he sighed and explained as though it should be obvious. “The room without the bathroom!”

Dani was the first to understand and simply said, “Oh.” She and Katie exchanged glances. “So why did you set off the alarm?”

“What was I supposed to do? I pounded on the door, but he yelled at me to go to hell. So I pounded on the other door and the guard fucking said the same thing. There was nothing I could do, nowhere to go, and I didn’t even have jar or anything...”

Dani looked at Katie. She still wouldn’t make eye contact with David, but seemed to be moving closer and closer to her as David grew more agitated. Another minute and she’d be in her lap.

“Okay.” Dani nodded to her brother. “I get the problem, but what about the alarm?”

“It goes off when you try to open a window!” David snapped. “Every guard on the property came running when the window opened.” He looked down at his plate, his face began to color. More from rage than embarrassment, it seemed like. “I was standing there, pissing off the third floor, with every flashlight in Atlanta trained on my dick.”

Dani choked on her sausage.

“Did they find it?” Katie asked, and David threw down his napkin.

“You bitch!”

“Enough!” Dani glared at her brother. “Seriously? How old are you, David? Katie made a joke. The whole situation is...” She cleared her throat and tried not to laugh “...kind of amusing.” She cleared her throat again. “Sorry Luke wouldn’t let you in.” She couldn’t blame him, though. David was acting like a spoiled rich kid. She turned to the men standing at the door. “We’re going into the library,” she announced.

The two men looked at each other and shrugged; the older one, Stevens, nodded. “Good—see if you can educate the idiot.”

Dani turned to see David’s face burn bright red, his eyes trying to drill a hole in Katie’s head. For her part, she was the one refusing to look at him this time, letting her long hair swing forward, concealing her face from view.

Good grief. Could this get any more childish? “I think... I think I’m in the mood for a little game of chess,” Dani announced slowly and stared at Katie. “I think I recall you being very good at the squeeze play.”

Katie’s head shot up. A squeeze in chess meant losing ground because one was forced to make a move and there were no moves possible any other way.

Dani smiled sweetly, waiting to see if she got the message.

Katie looked over to David and then back to Dani. “Sometimes a double pawn has to make room,” she said carefully, “to protect the king.”

Dani nodded. “But if the queen’s still on the board, though, you don’t need to sacrifice anything. Just set up for the end game.”

Katie nodded slowly and they both looked at David.

“I hate chess,” he mumbled, but got up and followed them to the library. He stomped over to a chair in the corner of the library. “Why isn’t there a TV in this room?”

“We’re in a library, David. Try reading something.” Dani shook her head. “Fine, then, we’ll play, you just watch... the wall.” She turned back to Katie. “It’s easier to use a knight than a pawn anyway.”

Katie stole a glance at David, her eyes filled with something Dani didn’t understand. David was being obtuse and sulking. To tell the truth, even she was getting fed up with his childish attitude. She couldn’t blame Katie for being frustrated, too.

Dani made her way to the chess board in the corner. She glanced up, thinking how far away Luke seemed. Three flights of stairs, and on the other end of the house. He might as well have been on Mars. She ached with missing him.

Still, she took a deep breath and started setting out the pieces. The guards sat down next to the door, the younger not even paying attention. He had his cell phone out and was tapping at the screen as though his life depended on it. Stevens stared at him a minute before finally reaching over and removing the phone from the kid’s hands with a muttered word Dani couldn’t quite hear.

She stared at the phone as he pocketed it. Damn, but she wished she could get a hold of one of those.

“Katie, what happened to your phone?” she asked suddenly.

“I don’t know...” The girl hesitated in setting out her pawns. The pieces were beautifully wrought in metal and glass, each piece a work of art.

Dani nodded. Of course they’d take it. With a sigh, she took the queen from the velvet-lined case that held the pieces when not in use, and cradled it in her hand. She could almost feel her mother’s presence, and savored the warm feeling before reluctantly setting the piece on the board with the rest.

“All right,” she said, surveying the chess board. “Let’s play. David, be good and watch, quietly, please.”

David took a long, exasperated sigh and grabbed at a magazine which he threw aside a moment later, instead staring petulantly at them as they played.

Dani took white. She moved a pawn and looked at David. “So, everyone came running to see you last night?” she asked as though the question were an idle one. Nothing to see here, folks...

“Yes,” David snarled back. His anger was directed at Katie, though, who was pretending that David wasn’t in the room.

“You might be exaggerating. It was probably only a few of them.”

“No!” David snapped back at her. “It wasn’t! I counted. I was standing there with my dick in hand and there were ten—wait, eleven assholes staring at me!”

Eleven. That’s more than I initially thought. Obviously I missed a few faces. So, that means a couple here probably were my father’s men... if they haven’t all left. The rest Benny’s. I figured that even with the half dozen who worked for my father, Benny would have a dozen at most if they’re working in shifts like I thought. Where is he getting them and how is he paying for all that? “I’m sorry that happened to you, David,” she said, sliding a pawn to a new position with the intensity of someone who’d spent hours at a chessboard.

“You’re excused,” he said with mock graciousness, still staring at Katie. Dani looked over to the girl, who had been silent the entire time. Katie had moved a pawn on her side and was waiting for Dani. Her counter-move wasn’t bad. Dani grabbed the pawn on the queen’s rook and slid it forward.

Katie took hers and dropped it in front of Dani’s queen’s pawn. “Your queen is stuck behind the pawn that’s supposed to protect it.”

Dani smiled. She’d always liked Katie. Smart girl. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is keeping the king alive. That’s the game.”

Katie looked up at her sharply. “Maybe. I always thought that the other pieces might object to being expendable, though, don’t you?”

“They don’t have to be killed off to keep the king safe. Sometimes all they have to do is keep the attention on the wrong side of the board.” She moved her bishop and took Katie’s rook.

“While the queen wreaks havoc on the opposition?”

“If the queen’s in position, yes.”

Katie glanced over to the guards. They were almost as bored as David. The younger one had crossed his arms and looked like he was going to sleep. Stevens watched them through half-lidded eyes. Doing his job, but not pleased at baby-sitting duty. She wondered what he would be doing if Benny wasn’t running a lock-up in someone else’s house. “But you have to get her in position. And you have to time it right.”

“True. But if there’s a window, you can get the timing close enough.”

Katie nodded and moved her queen. It sat in the middle of the board, facing Dani’s. Both kings were forgotten as the current battle waged between the queens.

“And if that window shatters,” Dani said, moving her bishop to take Katie’s queen, “then all eyes are on the wrong side of the board.”

Katie sat back. She apparently hadn’t seen the position of the bishop, and had been caught by surprise. “Nice move! You’re right. But the king has a limited amount of room on the board.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Dani corrected her. “All that matters is getting the window shattered so as to redirect attention from the real battle.” She moved the queen again. “Check,” she said, and stretched. “I’ve been locked away for a long time,” she said, yawning. “I need to stretch a little. Hey, do you still play tennis?”

Katie’s head shot up to look at Dani. “Yes.”

“I never learned. I tried once, but David was the tennis player in the family. I was so bad at it, I almost put a serve through the kitchen window.”

“Yeah,” David piped up with a snort, “Father saw and banned you from the courts. He said he’d never seen anyone who lacked coordination as badly as you.” He snickered.

Ouch. Maybe she had been a gangly teenager, but she’d wager she was coordinated enough now... Stop. Just stop. You’re getting distracted.

Instead Dani looked at Katie, who pressed her lips together and then nodded.

“David, why don’t you and Katie show me how it’s done then? The sun’s shining, and from what I saw the court’s in good shape. Why don’t you two go off and play a game? I’ll go and change and watch from an upstairs window. It’ll give me a better view. Then I’ll come down and play.”

David straightened up and grinned at Katie.

Katie looked ill, but nodded anyway.

Of course, she’s terrified. That’s normal.

Right?

Except, Dani’s gut seemed to be trying to tell her something else. She just couldn’t figure out what it was.

***

DANI WATCHED THE GAME from her window. David and Katie used to be very evenly matched, but Katie had kept up with the game while David hadn’t. Through the open window she could hear them talking, David growing more and more sullen as the game went on. Dani sent a prayer that he wouldn’t run off in a snit when he started losing. C’mon, David, don’t wimp out on me now...

She bounced in place, amping up her adrenaline, getting ready to move.

She wouldn’t have long. Bless Katie for catching on. Dani just hoped she was good enough to pull it off, and Luke wouldn’t be in the shower.

She backed up to the door of her room, keeping an eye on the tennis match unfolding before her. David missed the point, so Katie had the serve. David seemed to be refusing to let her serve, his body language clearly demanding a “do-over”.

Damn it, not now! She wished that she could have warned him, gotten him in on it, but he hadn’t been picking up on the chess conversation. And after the events of the other night, she didn’t dare say anything in the open.

They played another set. Although Katie tried to make it look good, to keep David’s attention, he was outmatched. Reluctantly, and with more than a little pique, he tossed the ball to her.

Katie raised her racket and looked to the house, to Dani’s window. She raised her hand and hoped Katie would see the signal. Then, stretching as far as she could, Dani gripped the doorknob which she’d already unlocked as silently as possible, all while leaning toward the window, trying to see what was going on outside. Katie tossed the ball into the air and brought the racket overhand, hard, smashing the ball as hard as she could.

It flew well over David’s head, and he didn’t even try to stop it. The ball sailed out of the court just as Dani flung open the door. The guard’s head hit the wall as the window downstairs shattered under the impact of the ball, and Dani went racing down the hallway.

The guard on Luke’s door had fallen for the alarm and had already left his post. Dani burst through the door into the sitting room after fumbling for only a minute with the hairpins which had served her so well on her own door. Luke was coming out of the bedroom, looking confused, trying to see what the alarm was all about this time.

“RUN!” Dani shouted, and grabbed his wrist. Thankfully, Luke was quick on the uptake and took off after her. He followed her down the main stairs, jumping down them three, four at a time in a breakneck speed that would have severe consequences if he were to miss one.

At the bottom floor, he turned and ran to the left, to the front door.

“NO!” she cried, and took off after him. “Wrong way—that’s where they’re all gathered!”

Luke wasn’t listening; he spun across the tiles and ran to the office door, barely getting it open before diving through it. He leapt, throwing himself to the floor and the accent rug that lay beneath a small table holding a vase. He peeled up the rug and grabbed the USB stick and jumped to his feet.

“It’s been here the whole time?” Dani gasped, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that before. How many times had David been over this room and missed it?

“I’ll explain later!” he said, and peeled out of the room again. She barely got ahead of him as the alarm shut off. They only had minutes at best.

She motioned for him to follow and ran into the kitchen, skidding on the tile and vaulting over the island. He followed, if a little less gracefully. She made it to a small door in the back of the kitchen, the place were deliveries and vendors came unobtrusively so as not to disturb the residence.

She pulled the door open just as he hit the doorframe hard, and rebounded, rubbing his shoulder.

“Go right, stay down, take the left into the alley. Once you’re in there, they can’t see you from the house.”

“Come with me,” he said, breathing hard, looking to the kitchen and the house beyond. There were voices, people talking angrily. Somewhere a door opened and closed.

She wanted to leave. Damn, but she wanted to leave. But what about David... Katie... what would happen to them if she just up and disappeared? “I can’t.” She shook her head. “David, Katie...”

“Katie?” He stopped. “She knows I’m a cop!”

“I know! How...”

“I told her.”

It made sense. They hadn’t been able to talk about it last night. Dani had been too afraid the room was bugged. She shook her head. So far Katie hadn’t said anything. So far as she knew. This wasn’t the time or place to debate the matter. “Look, you need to get out quick! Just go. Bring help. I can’t go, not now.”

Luke looked at her, at the kitchen. They could hear voices. People were returning to their posts. Any minute now there would be a cook, an assistant coming through the door. It was only a matter of time.

“GO!” she hissed at him.

He grabbed her, kissed her hard. Her heart stopped, and for a moment she melted against him. This... this was why she was risking everything. For him. Only for him.

Then he turned and bolted out the door. Keeping low, close to the shrubs. In a minute he’d be away. Safe. She’d done her job.

Now to keep from getting caught.

Dani closed the door as quietly as she could and ducked back up the servant’s stairs, just missing coming face to face with the cook, who was talking loudly to one of the other servants about spoiled children who make work for other people.

Letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, she took the stairs two at a time. They led to the side of the house her room was on. She could slip back before she was noticed. In theory.

She raced up the stairs as quietly as she could and paused on the second-floor landing. Two men were walking down the hallway and she had to wait for them to pass.

“...wouldn’t mind that duty...” one of them said.

“That’s probably why you don’t have it,” the other one said. “Messing with the boss’ niece isn’t a great idea for continued health. Or life.”

“She’s not his real niece,” the first one argued, “and it might be worth it just to have those legs wrapped around my waist.” He chuckled. “Besides, there’s that other one. She’d damn cute. Not as athletic, but I would...”

The voices began to fade as they walked by. One phrase stood out. “... both be dead in a few...” the second one said, and then they were gone.

Dead?

Dani raced up the last flight and peeked around the edge of the doorway and into the hall. No one was there. She half-jogged back to her door and knelt by the unconscious guard. She patted his cheek.

“Hey, hey, are you all right?” she asked, repeating it over and over. Gradually, the man started to come to.

“Are you okay? I heard an alarm and then a thud. Are you okay?”

He leapt to his feet and held his head, instantly regretting his fast movements.

“Someone hit me,” he snarled, rearing back away from her. It was flattering, actually.

“Who?” Dani asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

“I don’t know.” He looked at her for a moment, and something passed over his expression. He’d considered her, but looking at her slight frame and long legs he’d dismissed the possibility of a pretty, petite little girl taking him out like that. “Get back in the room,” he said, thumb indicating the door. “I don’t know why the hell that was unlocked anyway.”

“Relax—you don’t have get huffy. I was just trying to help.” Dani slunk back into her room as the man grabbed a walkie-talkie and began speaking into it.

Dani walked into the room and took a deep breath. Katie was wrong. The queen was expendable, too.

After all, the king was safe now. Wasn’t that the whole point of the game?