Lainey Nickels stared at the phone in her hand, listening to the steady beeping of a disconnected call. Her heart thudded along at the same rapid pace, and her mind whirling in disbelief. The morning sun sliced through the window, catching little dust motes in the beam.

Shane had called her, and all she’d heard between the static and dead air was her brother’s voice, distant and eerily calm, the words ‘kidnapped’ and ‘hostage’ repeated, and then asking for her help.

Shaking, she closed the phone, absently tapping it on her desk. Where was Shane this time? What the hell had he gotten himself into now? She stood up, pacing back and forth in her small university office. Three steps took her to the door, three back took her to the desk. There didn’t seem to be enough room to contain her panic. She’d been looking after her little brother since their parents’ deaths, and even though he was a grown man with a career and a life of his own, she still felt responsible for him. She knew she always would.

Flipping open the phone, she scrolled frantically through the numbers until she found the one she wanted and quickly hit send. Dave Archer, Shane’s editor, would be able to help. He was Shane’s boss, after all, the man who’d have sent him on this assignment. The call was answered almost instantly by a gruff male voice.

“Archer.”

“Dave? It’s Lainey Nickels. Listen, I just got a call from Shane…”

“Well, it’s about time. Why the hell is he calling you? He missed his first deadline and we’re holding space for his story.” The editor’s voice sounded even surlier than usual.

“Dave, he said he’s been kidnapped…being held hostage. Where is he?”

The sound on the other end was undecipherable, somewhere between a grunt and a curse. “Damn it. He’s in Central America. Somewhere west of Belize, in the Petén region. That’s about all I know.”

The panic in her voice seemed to have little effect on the man on the other end of the line, and Lainey’s hopes for help from Dave began to crumble.

“He said he had a contact there and wanted to do a human-interest story about the impact drug trafficking has in the area. Let me check…” Lainey heard papers shuffling, another muffled curse, and then Dave was back.

“His itinerary had him flying into Belize, and then he went west into Petén…that’s in Guatemala. He rented a car in Belize, at the airport. That was six days ago.”

“And that’s it? Nothing else?” Lainey drew a deep breath, struggling to gain some composure. “Okay. So now what? What do we do to get him back?”

The silence on the other end went on far too long for Lainey’s comfort. Dave finally drew a deep breath.

“Lainey, there’s not much I can do. We’ll support you in whatever you decide to do, but…you have to understand…”

“You mean you’re going to do nothing.” In frustration, Lainey contemplated hanging up on Dave, then thought better of it, but just barely. Her statement was met with silence.

“Thanks, Dave. I’ll keep you posted.” She flipped the phone shut, resisting the urge to fling it across the room. She drew a deep breath instead, tried counting to ten and only got to five before she decided to make the call she knew she had to make. She dialed the number from memory.

“Detective Scott Navarro.”

The voice was the same, professional, deeply masculine…but it no longer held the power over Lainey it once had. Whatever passion – love – she’d felt for Scott had flamed out a long time ago. But in a pinch, he was still the man who could help her, as much as she hated the thought of asking him for help.

“Hi, Scott. It’s Lainey.”

A brief pause. She imagined him swiveling in his chair, leaning back, and looking out the window of his office. “Lainey. What a nice surprise. Haven’t heard from you since…well, it’s been a while.” The voice changed, dropping in register, becoming the seductive voice she remembered. Thankfully, it had no effect on her anymore.

“It has been…a long time.” The pause between his words held all their history. Since they’d broken up, since she threw him out. Since she’d asserted her independence and they both discovered he wasn’t ready for that.

She sighed, pushing back the memories. She’d been devastated, had lost the ability to trust, and hadn’t had any type of serious relationship since Scott. But even if she’d shut herself off from any kind of attempt at love, everyone was better off where they were, not where they’d been.

“Scott, I need your help. Shane has been kidnapped.”

“Where? When? Was he on assignment?” The professional voice was back and Lainey was relieved. Scott would always have her back, even if it cost Lainey her pride.

“Yes. Recently, like during the last five or six days. Somewhere in Guatemala. Petén, I think, west of Belize.”

“What was the assignment?”

“Something to do with drug traffickers, the human-interest angle. You know Shane, always looking for the people behind the headlines.”

“Yeah. I remember. What do you want to do?”

Lainey sank back into her office chair. “I want to get him back. But I have no idea how.”

The sounds of Scott’s office filtered over the phone, muffled noises, an occasional raised voice. “Lainey, I might have a favor I can call in. Let me make some calls and get back to you.”

Lainey smiled, relief washing over her. “Thanks, Scott. Really, this is…”

“Before you get too excited, know this probably isn’t going to be easy...or cheap. I know a guy, he’s local…and he’s the best at this kind of thing. But you pay for what you get. Do you understand?”

“How much?” The relief was gone, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Probably ten thousand, plus expenses.” Scott paused. “I know that’s going to be difficult for you, Lainey, and I’d like to help.”

“I can take care of myself.” Her voice was loud, the words out of her mouth before she even realized it. She closed her eyes, massaging her forehead with the fingers of her free hand.

“I’m sorry, Scott. I didn’t mean that…”

His low laugh surprised her. “Yeah, you did. And I understand. But this is different, okay? It’s not like…before. This is your brother’s life, not an overdue credit card bill. I want to help.”

“I know. And yeah, it is different. But he’s my responsibility.”

“Hang tight. I’ll make some calls and get back to you soon.” The line went dead.

Ten thousand dollars. She thought back to when she and Scott were living together in her apartment, she as a struggling grad student, him already on the force. He had just been promoted to detective and had gotten a pretty hefty pay increase. It had been easy for him to pay the bills, the rent, and take care of her expenses. Even when she asked him not to.

And just as she’d feared, the more he helped, the less Lainey felt like an equal in the relationship. The money somehow got in the way, and she felt as if she owed him something. With each dinner he purchased, each credit card statement he paid behind her back, she fell further behind and always in his debt. Less like a lover and more like a financially irresponsible child.

The final argument in a long string of arguments happened in a train wreck of events, starting with her graduation and her acceptance of a teaching job at the university. She purchased a brand-new car, the first one she’d ever owned. She’d been so excited to show the car to Scott, but he’d given her a disapproving look and the start of a lecture on responsibility.

“After all I’ve done for you, all the money…my money…that I’ve spent…the first paycheck you get, and you blow it on this.” He pointed to the little red car sitting at the curb, as if it represented every textbook or dinner he’d bought.

“Is that all this relationship has been? You taking care of me? How many times have I asked you not to open your wallet? I’m not a child, Scott. I’m a grown woman, not a charity case. If that’s all I’ve been to you, then this is the end.”

There had been more words, many more angry words, and in the end, she’d asked him to leave. She’d struggled at first to pay her bills, but she’d worked hard and now things were better. Not a lot, but they were better. At least she didn’t feel like she owed anyone, other than the bank and her creditors, anything.

But ten thousand dollars. She sighed, pulled her laptop across her desk, and logged in to her bank website. A few minutes of mouse clicks and she sat back. If it wasn’t any more than Scott had said, she could do it, barely.

Her phone rang and she scooped it up, anxious to hear Scott’s voice.

“Lainey? I got a hold of the guy I talked about. He’s willing to go down, take a look. No promises, but he thinks he might be able to locate your brother. He’s done work in that area before, so it’s familiar to him. With luck, he might be able to get him out.”

“I’m not sure how to ask, or if I should. Is he any good? Does he know what he’s doing?”

“Lainey, it’s not like he comes with references you can check. He’s ex-military. Good with guns, good in tight situations. He’s the man you need to go get Shane.”

“Yeah. Okay. Now what? What do I do next?”

“It takes some time to arrange a flight to Belize, from what I understand. He’s asking for four thousand dollars today, four thousand on the day he leaves. He’s giving

me…you…a break, taking the money in two payments. I’ve done some, um, favors for him and his cousin in the past.”

There was a pause. “Do you have enough money, Lainey?” Scott lowered his voice. “The offer of help still stands.”

“Where do I meet him?” Maybe ignoring his question would work. A long conversation about her finances and how he could help wasn’t what she wanted right now.

“I’ll take care of handling the money today…”

“I can do this myself, Scott. I have the money.”

She listened to Scott’s long exhalation of breath on the other end of the line, recognized it as him reaching the limits of his patience with her. His voice was tight when he spoke.

“Let me finish, Lainey. I’ll deliver the money today, per his request. He wants to meet with me first. He’s… Lainey, he’s like me.” His words were heavy with meaning and it took her a second to remember.

Scott wasn’t an ordinary man. Something Lainey found out by accident when she’d walked into her apartment once and found a very large wolf standing in the middle of her living room. When the wolf suddenly shifted into Scott, Lainey had screamed, then fainted. It had taken her quite a while to get used to the idea. The world wasn’t quite what she thought it was. But it hadn’t taken Lainey as long to realize Scott was still Scott. Even if he could shift into an animal.

“You can deliver the rest two days from now,” Scott told her.

“Oh. Okay. Sorry…again. This is…so unreal. It’s the worst thing I can imagine happening, and I feel like I can’t really do anything about it.”

“I know, Lainey. Just hang in there. Be here in an hour or so, and I’ll take care of today’s delivery.” Scott’s voice held no rancor, just resignation.

“Where do I meet him then, on Saturday?”

“He’ll be at the Fulton County Airport, in long term parking, far north end. His name is Gideon Hunt. Look for a dark blue SUV. I gave him a description of you and your car. He’ll meet you at ten o’clock in the morning. And he asked you to bring a photo of Shane.”

Lainey blew out a breath. “Okay. Listen, thanks, Scott. Really. And…I’m sorry about before, what I said.”

“Yeah. Me too, for whatever I said that set you off. See you soon.

Lainey made the trip to the bank and to Scott’s office in record time. She waited nervously at the downstairs desk until Scott came down to see her.

“Hey, Lainey.” He moved to hug her, but she dodged his embrace.

“Don’t do that, Scott. It feels…awkward. This whole day has been awkward, scary…unreal…and that would just make it worse.”

The flash of anger in his eyes caught her off guard and she hurried to unearth the envelope from her purse.

“Here. Large bills, unmarked, non-sequential serial numbers…” She gave him a hesitant smile, which was unreturned. She sighed. “I see humor still doesn’t work on you, does it?”

He took the envelope, shaking his head. “Let’s not go there, okay?” He met her gaze for a second then looked away. “I’ll get this to Gideon today and you’ll meet him on Saturday, at ten o’clock, Fulton County Airport.”

Lainey nodded, a sudden pang of remorse – bittersweet and painful – welling up inside. This wasn’t the time or place for dredging up the past and she squared her shoulders, lifting her chin.

“Got it. Thanks, Scott.”

“Call me, Lainey, if you need…anything. I’m serious. And the hug wasn’t what you think. I just wanted…you know, with Shane, the situation. I thought maybe a hug was the right thing.” He shrugged, a crooked grin on his face. “Guess not. You’ve got your game face on and I know what that means.”

“I’m just not ready for that yet, okay?” She turned and walked quickly out of the building before she tried to explain anything else and just made it that much worse.