As if that were possible. They’d have to kill Dane to prevent him from going after Shana, but he didn’t say that out loud.

Andrews turned away. He walked to the stairwell and disappeared, leaving Dane and Acer with an agent, presumably Secret Service, and the two staties, Mike and Frank, to lock them up.

Dane didn’t have a lot of time, but he needed to be smart and whole to get to Shana, so he waited until only the Secret Service Agent was left with them. Mike and Frank returned to their duties upstairs when their comm devices buzzed. Then while smiling, he punched the poor Secret Service man in the face, took his weapon and locked him in the cell.

Adrenaline had fueled his quickness and he still had his penchant for surprising his opponent. Dane apologized, but the man was irate and shouted a warning at Dane as ran up the stairs, leaving Acer behind.

Once he got upstairs, he was met by Mike and Frank. He’d prepared himself for this, but he didn’t like it. He grabbed Mike by the arm and drew it up behind him and leveled his gun on Frank.

“Sorry guys. Down stairs.”

“Don’t do this, Dane. You’re getting yourself into more trouble than Cap can get you out of.”

Dane ignored him, mostly, as he shoved the two men into the second cell. He ignored the swearing by the federal agent. But before he left Frank stopped him.

“You wouldn’t have shot us, Dane. Would you?”

He turned to the man and answered him honestly, the stinging twist of guilt and regret overshadowed by his need to find Shana, to get her out of this unharmed.

“It wouldn’t have been a kill shot, Frank.”

Then he ran up the stairs and left by the back door.

The sky was bright and the air hot. Dane thought for a second about running to the pie shop. It wasn’t far, located on the quaint main street of Vineyard Haven. But he’d need the car once he had Shana and Sassy.

He’d also need the car to either bring the assassins in or to get back to the President’s house to protect him because they’d escaped.

For one second, Dane was torn between returning to the President to stop the assassins or going after Shana. Because he knew chances were good that the two would-be killers would split up to cover both bases. Dane knew he needed to choose now.

He chose Shana.

After jumping into Tom’s car, a red Mercedes SL convertible, not ideal for sneaking up on a hot location, Dane decided he’d head down a back road. As soon as he turned onto the narrow street, he parked the car. Taking a chance, he dialed Cap as he drove. He wasn’t sure if Cap would be with him or not on this, but it was worth it to have the backup. Cap could arrest him later.

Dane didn’t need to wait long for Cap to answer.

“You are a f—ing bastard. What the hell are you calling me for?”

That was not a typical response from mild-mannered Cap, but Dane held himself in check.

“Shana and Sassy are at the pie shop. The assassins may or may not be with them. I’m outside and I could use some back up.”

“You have a helluva nerve. You had all the backup you needed. All you had to do—”

“Don’t give me shit now, Cap. We both know the likelihood of collateral damage with an army of federal agents on the hunt for a couple of assassins. They smelled blood and I didn’t want it to be Shana’s blood that got spilled.”

He stopped and took a deep breath into the silence.

“I’ll be there if you can wait three minutes.”

Shana had not much else to look at besides the clock on the wall opposite her. Sassy had been taped to a chair now and their chairs were fastened together back-to-back. Emeline had decided it would be amusing to leave the duct tape off their mouths.

She questioned them repeatedly and her lover occasionally interrupted her with a slap across Shana’s face. So far they hadn’t bothered slapping Sassy and asked her only a few questions. Since the girl’s only answers were sobs, they sneered and turned their attention to Shana.

Shana made sure she was a more entertaining prisoner by giving lip and maintaining their focus on her. She ignored Sassy’s flinching each time she was slapped. Her face burned and her lip was fat, but she was otherwise fine. She could handle this. Though the minutes seemed to drag on.

“How long do you think your boyfriend will take to get here? We’re tired of waiting. We need to get ready for the party tonight,” Preston said as he marched in a circle.

“We have hours. We can wait a few more minutes,” Emeline said. “I might find another provoking question to ask our guests.”

“Don’t let me stop you from—”

“Shut up. We don’t need to wait for him. We know he’s out looking for you. This kidnapping was more a diversion than anything else. And when we’re finished, we have you two for insurance.” He shrugged.

“Let’s go, Emeline. I’m bored with them. We have a party to work. Maybe we’ll serve the President some champagne. I hear he likes it.” Preston chuckled.

Shana said nothing. She wasn’t surprised that they somehow got hired as servers. They had a dozen identities that Acer had found. Likely many more they didn’t know about.

Emeline stood and stared at Shana for another minute. Shana kept her face neutral.

“It’s too bad. I wanted to meet your man. It would have been interesting. He entices me. He has that virile look. I wanted to try him for myself. Just once. Before I kill him.”

Sassy whimpered behind her, but Shana felt nothing but liquid nitrogen flowing through her veins.

Please do not show up, Dane. Not now.

Dane put the roof up on the convertible and sat low inside. It was past five p.m. and if the couple had plans to crash the President’s soiree tonight, he’d bet his beach shack that they were going as either service staff or security. That meant they’d need to be on their way soon. When they came out of the pie shop, he didn’t want them spying him—unless they’d already left.

He swore he could hear the seconds ticking down as if he had an old-fashioned Timex winding down inside his head.

Please show up, Cap. Now.

Without another word, only the smile of a jungle cat trimming her face, Emeline took Preston’s arm and they left. Once again, Shana was left to listen to them retreat up the stairs. How could they be so smug? The minute they left Dane could find and release her and Sassy and they’d be all over the Chambers. They would be caught. Shana and Sassy could not be used as insurance unless—

“Oh, one more thing,” Emeline called from the stairwell somewhere. “Be sure to warn your man that we’ve left a booby trap. He’d best tread carefully or he could blow you all up.” She laughed and a door slammed shut.

“Shit. God damn it to hell.”

“That goes double for me,” Sassy said. Her voice was surprisingly strong for a girl who’d been crying and whimpering all afternoon. Shana had been suspicious that it had been at least partly an act. It appeared she was right.

“We need to get out of this, Sassy. Before Dane gets here. We know they didn’t wire our chairs so we’re safe to get undone. Where did you put those scissors?”