The words crashed into my brain so fast I couldn’t comprehend what I heard.

He’s my father.

For as long as I’d been on the force, and many years before that, police departments and the DEA had been trying to pin something—anything—on Creighton Banks in order to bring him into custody. Nothing stuck, despite the countless rumors, investigations…and casualties. Creighton Banks was notorious for being the kingpin that governed one of the biggest heroin operations the southern States had ever seen, and he seemed to be untouchable.

At least, until he murdered his own wife in cold blood.

He’d shot her at point-blank range, and had been tried and convicted with the aid of the only eyewitness to ever take the stand against him.

His daughter.

“Son of a bitch,” I hissed, leaping from the vehicle.

Hailey had disappeared behind the copse of trees that edged the parking lot, and I whirled around frantically, wishing I hadn’t given her a black hoodie to wear. She blended into the shadows too easily, hiding from me. And I didn’t blame her, after the harsh things I’d just said. “Hailey!”

A muffled whimper sounded from the darkness to my right, and I followed it, my eyes narrowing as I tried to distinguish one shadow from the next. “Hailey?”

“Just leave me alone, Alex.”

There. I turned, saw a scatter of movement at the same time a snap of twigs underfoot cut sharply through the air. I lurched forward, managing to grasp only the sleeve of the sweatshirt she wore. “Hailey, stop. Wait.”

“Go to hell.”

“It’s not the first time you’ve said that to me,” I said seriously. “And it probably won’t be the last. I’m a jerk, Hailey. I’m sorry.”

She pulled angrily from my grasp, but I held on.

“Let go!” she yelled, sniffling loudly. “And you’re right. You are a jerk, and I will say it again. Go to hell.”

“Stop it, or you’re going to hurt yourself.” I pulled her to me, and she struggled and fought me the entire way. Thankfully, I was bigger than she was, but barely stronger in the fit of adrenaline she had coursing through her veins.

“Go to—”

“Stop, Hailey.” My voice boomed, enough that I cast a glance back through the trees to see if anyone had seen me go after her into the darkness, or if anyone had heard her yelling at me. With one rough tug, she was pulled to a standstill in front of me, her hands pushing on my chest. Not away, but just enough to keep a distance between us.

Fair enough. Distance, I could live with. For now. “I know you hate me right now, and if I’m being honest, I hate myself a little bit, too, for the things I said back there. But, if what you said is true—”

“They—”

I pressed a firm finger to her lips as she glared up at me, mindful of the black-looking cut at the corner of her mouth. “If the things you said are true, and I believe they are, then it is more dangerous than I realized for us to be out here right now. Do you hear me?”

I cautiously pulled my finger away, half surprised she hadn’t tried to bite the goddamn thing off.

Hailey nodded. “Oh, now you believe me.”

“I told you, I’m an asshole, and I’m sorry.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

“No, it doesn’t,” I shook my head grimly. “But at least I’m not in denial about it, either. Now, get back in the SUV. Please.”

It wouldn’t have surprised me if she’d told me to go to hell again, or if I’d had to drag her back to the vehicle kicking and screaming. Instead, she gave me a venomous glare then stormed off toward the vehicle, and I knew why she didn’t fight me on it. Because she had nowhere else to go, and no one left that she trusted.

Not even me.

* * *

Hailey’s apartment building was shrouded in darkness when I pulled the SUV into her driveway. No other vehicles were parked behind the building. There weren’t any security lights back there, and Mrs. Coskins had chosen to pull her old Corolla up by her door at the side of the building. Hailey’s entrance door was the only one at the back.

The SUV rolled to a stop and I turned the key, killing the engine. “Let’s just get you what you need from here, and get back to my apartment. We’ll talk, then, okay?”

She didn’t answer, but tersely pushed the door open and climbed out, slamming it behind her.

So, she wasn’t going to just forgive me, that was pretty obvious.

I followed suit, pulling the gun from the holster beneath my seat, shoving it into the waistband of my jeans, and locking the SUV with a loud blip as I pressed the button on my key fob. I don’t know why I felt I needed that gun more now than when I’d originally known Hailey was in trouble, but knowing Banks’ involvement was something my mind couldn’t let go of. She fiddled with the keys before finding the right one to open the entrance door, and I stayed close, careful not to touch her.

“You don’t have to come in. I’ll only be a second.”

I figured that was the politest way she could come up with saying she didn’t want me there, but I just nodded. “I know.”

She didn’t argue with me.

I pushed the entrance door closed behind me, locking it, and followed her down the hallway and staircase that led to her basement apartment. The other tenants were quieter tonight than the last time I’d been there, but the faint laughter and chattering of a TV sitcom floated from somewhere at the other end of the hall.

Hailey turned the light on inside the apartment, but the doorway where I stood was still veiled in blackness, the ceiling light being dimmed by a frosted shade. I stepped inside, closing the door behind me, taking a quick glance around. Nothing looked amiss, but the apartment was so damn barren that it would be tough to discern if what little was there had been touched.

“Go ahead and get your—”

A loud ringing sliced through the stagnant air, and I turned instinctively in the direction I thought it was coming from.

The kitchen?

“Answer it. I’ll just be—”

“Hailey, it’s not my cell.”

“But I don’t have a—”

An old-style flip phone sat on the kitchen counter, its display screen lighting up with each shrill ring.

“I don’t have a cellphone,” she said weakly, staring at the phone with round eyes. “Mine was in my purse, and the one I bought at Wal-Mart before I was attacked wasn’t returned to me yet.”

“I’ll answer it.” I put a soft hand on her shoulder, pushing her gently away from it, then ripped a Kleenex from the box on the counter and picked it up. It flipped open easily, and I answered it with a voice that was steadier than I felt. “Hello?”

Click. The line went dead.

I set it back down, not even realizing I’d pulled my gun from the waistband of my jeans until I saw the surprise etched on Hailey’s face. The apartment was small, and apart from the bathroom, it wasn’t difficult to discern that the unit was empty. We were alone. Inside, anyway.

“It’s okay,” I assured her, crossing the room to flip the lock on the door.

The cellphone began to ring again. This time, Hailey held a hand up, blocking me from it.

“I’ll answer it.”

A hundred objections flooded my mind, but Hailey flipped the phone open before I could get them out. “Hello?” Immediately, her hand reached out for the countertop, gripping it so tightly her knuckles went white. Even in the muted light, I watched as the color drained from her face, making the stark contrast of her bruises against her sallow skin a sickly combination.

I knew who it was, just as she did before picking it up. And suddenly, I hated to admit it, but I felt like we were fish in a barrel. I had ten rounds in the magazine and two locked doors between us and a killer.

Hailey’s father. Jesus Christ.

“Don’t,” Hailey was pleading. “Please.”

“Hailey, hang up the phone,” I whispered. “Now.”

But she wasn’t listening. Not to me, anyway. She leaned back against the wall behind her, tears welling up over her eyelids as she shook her head violently, seemingly unaware that the owner of the voice on the other end couldn’t see her.

“He’s n-not involved,” she stammered, staring blankly ahead, past me. “He didn’t…I mean, I’m not—” Her hand came up, covering her mouth to hold in a sob. I could see it, the base of her throat quivering slightly as she tried desperately to hold herself together.

“Put it on speakerphone,” I hissed quickly. “Please, Hailey.” I held the gun with one hand, and pulled her hand away from her face, squeezing her fingers in mine.

“I-I’m sorry,” she cried into the phone, then pulled it away from her ear and pressed the speaker button. “I’m sorry. I am. Do you hear me? I’m sorry.”

There were a few seconds of static, as though the person on the other end of the line was shuffling something, or moving about. “Oh, believe me, Hailey Banks, you will be.”

The line went dead.

I’d been a cop long enough to know what the cold, unfeeling voice of a criminal sounded like, but never had I witnessed a father addressing his own daughter with such articulate venom. It hit me hard, turning the blood in my veins to ice.

I pushed the phone out of her hand, back onto the counter, relieved she’d had the wherewithal to use the Kleenex to pick it up. “It’s okay,” I said calmly. “We can talk about this at my place, but right now, we’ve got to go.”

“It’s too late,” she replied, desolate. “He’s already here.”

Fuck. “I need you to listen to me, Hailey.” I tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at me, “Did he say he’s been following you?”

She nodded, dazed.

“Did he say things that proved he’s been following you?”

Another nod.

“Okay. Get your shit. We’ve got to go.” When she didn’t move right away, I pointed toward her closet. “Now, Hailey.”

Hearing that voice—the father she’d obviously fought so hard to be free of—had petrified her to the core. And he’d known exactly what to say to break her down from the inside out. The Hailey that stood before me now didn’t have even a shred of the hostility and independence she’d held in the passenger seat of my SUV only a few minutes prior. Only a frightened shell remained.

But, at least that shell was moving now, tossing clothes and random toiletries into a plastic grocery bag I’d found in the cupboard under the sink. While she did that, I called Trent, knowing he was on shift. While I didn’t think he would be on patrol in this area of town, another officer was, and I had Trent radio him to swing by. Trent relayed that he was only a minute or two out. Good, we didn’t have much more time than that.

“What’s going on?” he’d asked.

I’d never lied to him before, and I wouldn’t start now. “More than I realized. But definitely not what we thought. I’ll call you soon.” I hung up. There was no time for explanations. “Do you have whatever you came for, Hailey?”

She emerged from the bathroom, nodding.

“Good. Let’s get you out of here.”

It was easy, too easy. Not only did Officer Cheyne and Officer Altan show up—two police cruisers and three armed officers at least gave the illusion that we had a fighting chance—but I got Hailey into the vehicle and out of the driveway without so much as a flicker of danger seen.

But that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Creighton Banks was watching our every move; he wouldn’t have called that phone at the precise moment we entered the apartment without being close enough to know we were there. And the only reason we made it away from that apartment without incident was because he allowed us to.

I wouldn’t admit it out loud, but on my own, I knew I didn’t have the power to protect Hailey from him. Hell, I didn’t even know if I could manage it with the aid of the entire police force.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try my damnedest to keep her safe. If it was the last thing I did, Hailey would know that she didn’t have to go up against the likes of Creighton Banks alone. And that’s exactly what it might be—the last thing I ever did.