Shane stared out the rain-splattered windows.

They were alone.

The other team had left them with the run of the place without so much as a backward glance. It didn’t leave him with the warm fuzzies about their location. They were most vulnerable when they were on the move, so now that they’d reached their new destination they should be more secure. Then why did he feel as though a shoe were going to drop?

Probably because if he were going to lay siege to the place, he had a good half dozen ways he’d do it.

“Yo, York.” Felix ambled into the room. “You’re off.”

Shane squinted, willing the storm to let up so he could better see the wall.

“You hear me?”

“Yeah, I heard you.” Shane turned from the window. Felix was growing on him. He took the job a lot more seriously than, say, Isaac. He still wasn’t Cisco though. “Keep an eye on the perimeter. I don’t care if there’s a security system, got it?”

“Will do.” Felix nodded. “Cisco called Kyle earlier, in case you were wondering how he is.”

Shane swallowed.

He did wonder, and he struggled with how to forgive himself.

“Lacey’s still in the dining room.” Felix glanced over his shoulder. “In case you were going to look for her.”

Shane grunted and left the room.

He’d had nothing to do but think while on shift watching the storm roll in. About Cisco. Lacey. His future. All of it.

Lacey really did make him consider that there were options out there.

The end of his SEAL career came about before he’d been ready. Granted, if things had happened on his timetable he’d have still been left floundering. The reality was that he’d never given much thought to what came after in life. What he wanted to do outside of his job. He loved serving his country, it was what made him get up every day, and now he liked knowing that they saved people. But deep down he wasn’t as happy as he’d been before, and he wasn’t as young.

This career had a shelf life and he needed to consider Lacey’s advice.

He took the stairs down to the first floor, and headed straight for Lacey. She had the run of the command room but focused on the laptop.

Shane had no idea what he’d say to her, what they were doing, all he knew was that he wanted to be near her.

Lacey glanced up and blinked at him.

“Hey—long time no see. Sit?” She patted the chair next to her.

He did as she requested, peering at the screen.

“I trimmed the tape, by the way,” she said in a low voice.

“Oh.” He shifted in his seat.

“I didn’t realize it was recording, I swear.” She turned toward him and cringe. “I wouldn’t do that intentionally.”

“No harm done.” And none of the guys would see it now. “What are you working on?”

“I’m screenshotting all the faces on my tape, making notes.” She gestured to a legal pad full of scribbles. “Most of them are fuzzy, but it’s a start, you know?”

“Kyle said when the FBI would be here?” Shane would rest easier knowing the authorities were looped in.

“Soon?” She shrugged.

“How you doing watching this?” He nodded at the laptop.

“It’s rough.” She lifted her shoulders, expression pained.

He took her hand, but offered no other comment.

“Some of it I forgot. I guess...I was so scared at the time, I just blocked it all out. It was one, unending nightmare. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around how these people can do so many bad things and...be okay with it.”

“I don’t have an answer for you.” He lifted their joined hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “There are bad people, and then there are people who do bad things.”

“Doing bad things I understand. I mean, who hasn’t been there? But this...” She swiped her finger across the track pad, and a face Shane recognized filled the screen. It was the guy from the airport, the one Shane had squared off with. “I crawled inside the deep freeze to avoid Alex one night. You know how you just have a bad feeling sometimes?”

“Yeah.” Like the one he had right now?

“I’m pretty sure I hid in there for like ten minutes. I couldn’t feel my feet by the time I got out.”

Shane studied the face. If he ever saw Alex again, he’d kill the guy. In Shane’s experience, women had an intuition that shouldn’t be ignored. If Lacey thought she was in danger, she’d likely avoided a fate worse than death.

“Come here.” He tugged at her hand.

Lacey leaned into him. He wrapped his arm around her waist and squeezed, reminding himself that she was okay. They’d survived this long.

Felix’s voice crackled through the radio. “Headlights at the gate.”

“Should be the FBI. Their last ETA was fifteen minutes ago.” Kyle didn’t sound too pleased.

Neither was Shane. They had a serious, repeat offender on their hands and no one was moving very fast to put a stop to it.

Lacey turned her face into Shane’s chest and sucked down a deep breath. He stroked her back, wishing he could do more for her. They didn’t speak, just listened to the radio banter and the rain outside.

All too soon, the front doors opened and a chorus of new voices broke the relative stillness.

Lacey straightened, pulling out of his arms and he shifted, getting more comfortable in his seat. This was going to be a long interview, and he had zero intention of leaving unless Lacey wanted him to. She’d gone through hell alone once.

Kyle led a pair of suit-wearing, stony-faced agents into the room. The woman took the lead, her piercing dark gaze going from Shane to Lacey and staying there. The man was more relaxed and easy.

“Afternoon, folks.” The man nodded his head.

“Evening,” Shane drawled. Couldn’t the guy tell time?

“Hi.” Lacey clasped her hands in her lap and sat up straight.

“My name is Special Agent Susan Leary and this is my partner...”

“I’m Will Sutton. Pleasure to meet you two.” Will extended his hand over the table first to Shane then Lacey.

Was this their bad cop, good cop routine? Or just who they were?

“We’ve been briefed by the Atlanta PD and your home office about the events that have transpired.” Susan pulled out her phone and scrolled across the screen.

“You’re Lacey, right?” Will leaned on the table, his warm gaze landing on her.

“Yes, Lacey Miles.”

“Have you been to a doctor or the ER yet?” Will asked.

“No.” Lacey glanced at Shane then Will. “Why?”

“Well,” Will spoke slowly, “sometimes with these cases when a person has been held against their will—”

“I wasn’t raped, if that’s what you’re getting at.” Lacey did like to slice through the bullshit.

“I didn’t mean that specifically.” Will held up his hands.

“But that was one of our questions, the nature of what happened to you, etc.” Susan cast Will a sideways glance. “Lacey, would you mind if I recorded this interview?”

“If it’ll help, please.”

Will produced a digital recorder and set it on the table amidst the mess of wires.

“Can you tell us about when you were abducted?” Susan asked.

“I can show it to you,” Lacey said.

“What?” Will dropped his hand.

“Did...they not tell you?” Lacey blinked. “I was wearing a camera the whole time. In the beginning, I mean. Most of the first two weeks were recorded.”

The two agent’s faces went slack in shock. It was almost funny, if it weren’t so serious.

“I’ve spent the afternoon going through the footage and screenshotting all the faces, jotting down any information about them I could remember. It’s mostly here. I’m missing, maybe five guys? I even have this one guy that—I think he was a client—but I hadn’t gotten to that part of the tape yet.” Lacey tabbed through the pictures.

“Can we get a copy of this?” Will asked.

“Yes.” Lacey turned to Shane. “I thought someone would have told them.”

“The two agents who were supposed to come got tied up with something else,” Susan said. “Can you play it from the beginning?”

“Sure.”

Lacey tabbed the footage back to the evening she was abducted. Shane found himself watching the world from her perspective, listening to her laugh, all the while knowing what was coming. She stopped it at several points to give a greater perspective about her location, things she hadn’t picked up on until it was too late.

The sounds of Lacey screaming for help and no one doing anything to stop the kidnapping made Shane sick to his stomach.

This was why he continued to do what he did. It was for the people who needed to be saved, who would otherwise fall through the cracks.

He watched and listened as the figures on the film terrorized Lacey, their intimidation tactics were textbook. These were trained men, former military—some even had tattoos from their branches clearly displayed on arms or a leg.

It made him sick to watch, but Lacey didn’t once shy away or let the past touch her now. If anything, she got fired up and angry.

The agents spent about an hour listening to her recounting of what happened after the tapes ended, and even they agreed that she’d been given no choice but to play along with Marcos’ game.

“We want to try to talk to everyone tonight.” Susan checked her watch. “We have a lot more questions for you. We’d like to reach out to these other victims and see if they would come forward.”

“I haven’t made it through all the tape yet,” Lacey said

“There’s more than enough to get started with. Again, sorry we were so late.” Susan rose and extended her hand to Lacey.

It was a wonder how the agent’s attitude had changed once there was video evidence of the crimes.

Susan and Will went to chat with Kyle, leaving Shane and Lacey alone.

“How are you doing?” he asked.

“Pissed?”

He nodded. He’d rather her pissed over scared any day of the week.

“We’ll get something to eat, then sleep. Felix is taking the first shift.”

“He keeps getting the shitty shifts.”

“That’s how it is being the rooky on the team.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize he was new. You guys work so well together.”

“Because we’ve been working together in some capacity for years, Felix just hasn’t been assigned to us until now.”

Lacey nodded. She swiped her thumb over his knuckles. Not once had she let go of him during the questioning.

“I think I’d like to lie down for a bit, if you don’t mind?”

“Sure. I’ll show you up.” He stood and pulled her chair out.

Lacey snagged her camera off the table and let him lead her up the stairs to the second floor.

Adam and Felix had their heads together at the landing, their voices hushed.

“Is there a problem?” Shane asked.

“Lacey, maybe you can help?” Felix ran a hand through his long hair. “Aanya isn’t happy with the room situation. They want to make use of the master, but we’re trying to drive home to them that it’s safer if they take a smaller, interior room.”

“I’m not sure I’ll be much help.” Lacey cringed and glanced up at Shane. “I can try?”

“I’d appreciate it,” Felix said, and headed back to his post at the front of the house lookout.

“Well, here goes.” Lacey gave Shane’s hand a squeeze and let go, headed for the cracked door ahead and the raised voices.

“Where is she bunking?” Adam asked.

“With me. We’ll take the closet room.” It was the smallest room he’d ever seen, barely able to hold the full-sized bed. It had a tiny window, but nothing that would prove too exposing.

Adam’s brows rose, but he didn’t offer any further comment.

Yes, this was unusual for Shane, but he couldn’t argue that being with her felt right. Whatever came after, whenever she left, he’d deal with it then.

Lacey folded her hands in her lap and screwed her smile on a bit tighter.

“I just—I want to be comfortable. I don’t want to feel like I’m in a cell.” Aanya continued to pace from one side of the room to the other.

“I don’t understand. Where are the cops in all of this?” Dev paced counter to his wife.

Lacey bounced her knee. She’d been thrown to the sharks. Aanya and Dev were irritated, worked up, and no amount of soothing was going to help them see the bigger picture. That all of this was to keep them safe and out of Marcos’ hands.

“Why can’t we go home?” Aanya wheeled around, pinning Lacey with her stare. “We could go to New York or Delhi. Either one would do. We could hire more security. We’d be fine.”

Lacey opened her mouth, but Dev jumped in with more questions that she couldn’t answer.

How the hell did she get out of here?

When would Shane come get her?

The minutes dragged on and she continued to be pelted with questions. She pitied Kyle. He’d done wonders talking and soothing their nerves, but this was crazy.

“Has anyone spoken with my father?” Dev paused, staring right at Lacey.

“I thought you had?”

“No, I mean my biological father, not my stepfather.”

“Oh, well... I don’t know.”

“He’s probably worried about you, sweetheart.” Aanya crossed to her husband and wrapped her arms around him.

“Why can’t we get a hold of him? It doesn’t make sense.” Dev frowned.

Lacey ducked her head. From the creases on the man’s face and the way Aanya clung to her husband, it was clear there were deep troubles plaguing them that were none of Lacey’s business.

Someone tapped on the door.

“Come,” Dev said.

The door creaked open and Adam leaned in, looking at her.

“Phone,” he said.

Who the heck would call for her?

Lacey wasn’t going to look this gift horse in the mouth. She ducked out of the room, breathing a deep sigh. Adam shut the door behind her, blocking out the sound of the couple’s voices.

“Thanks for getting me out of there. They are not interested in listening to reason.” Lacey grimaced.

Adam held out a cell phone.

He hadn’t just thrown her line, there really was a call.

“Who is it?” Lacey whispered. The number was unfamiliar, but she didn’t make a habit of memorizing phone numbers anymore.

“Kyle said to give it to you.” Adam shrugged and turned around.

Who would know where to find her? Who would want to talk to her? And why?

Lacey stared at the phone a moment longer. It could be anyone, from a sponsor to Josh’s family reaching out to her. Given the opportunity, she wouldn’t take any calls, but Adam hadn’t left her with a choice.

She pressed the phone to her ear and braced herself.

“Hello?”

“Lacey?”

“Is it her?”

“Be quiet, I can’t hear!”

Lacey stood on the second floor landing, frozen to the spot. Her throat closed up and her knees locked.

“Is she there?” Mom’s voice was faint, hard to make out.

“Y-yes, Mom, I’m here,” Lacey managed to get out. She swallowed, trying to dislodge the knot in her throat.

“Oh, my God.” Mom sounded as though she were sobbing.

Because of Lacey?

She had fucked up pretty bad this time.

“Lacey Grace, don’t you ever scare us like that again.” Dad’s voice grew thick with tears.

Lacey braced her hand on the wall.

The only time she’d seen her father moved with emotion was when Mom told him she wasn’t pregnant.

“I-I’m sorry, Dad.” Lacey stumbled to the wall and put her shoulder against it. Properly supported, she slid to the floor, unable to remain standing.

They hadn’t cared she was gone. No one had. What the hell was going on?

“Lacey? Lacey, where are you? They won’t tell us anything except you’re safe.” Jessica asked. Her voice was loudest and the easiest to hear of the three.

“I’m in Atlanta.”

Mom and Dad muttered more thanks in the background.

“We didn’t believe them,” Jessica said.

“Didn’t believe who, what?” Lacey had missed quite a deal, it would seem.

“We’ve had weekly meetings with some assistant or secretary at the State Department, every week since you disappeared. They just kept saying there was nothing they could do, and then this guy called us out of the blue and said they had you. That you were safe. We thought... We thought it was that man...”

“His name was Zain something,” Dad said.

Lacey stared at the carpet without seeing it.

“Who are you with? Are you safe?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, I’m safe, Mom. I’m with some guys, they rescue people.” Lacey didn’t know how to begin explaining the Alpha Team to her parents.

“What kind of people? From the government?” dad asked.

“No, they’re... Someone else hired them to get their family back, and they took me with them. We’re trying to coordinate with the FBI right now. The cops... Josh, my friend...”

“We heard about your friend,” Jessica said softly.

“I’m so sorry, baby.” Mom was openly crying now.

“I thought... When we talked... you pretty much said, tough shit.” That was the last moment Lacey had in her mind, the words her family had spoken. They hadn’t cared.

“The cops, they told us we couldn’t act desperate,” Dad said.

“When are you coming home?” Mom’s tears, her sobs, they were coming in stereo now. Dad must have gone to her, trying to comfort her.

“Mom, mute your phone, please? I can barely hear Lacey,” Jessica asked without her usual authoritativeness. She was being...kind. Compassionate.

“I got it,” Dad said.

“Lacey? Do you need anything?” Jessica’s voice was clearer now, and Mom’s emotional response quieter.

“No, I don’t think so. I honestly don’t know. I mean, everything happened so fast, and now we’re here. It’s still pretty intense.” And that wasn’t even touching on what was happening between her and Shane.

“We’re prepared to come to you if you need us. Send you whatever you need. We just—someone has to tell us what we can do.” This was a new side of Jessica, one Lacey had never seen.

She’d always been barely tolerated. Jessica rolled her eyes whenever Lacey spoke. Mom would cluck her tongue and shake her head. Dad outright voiced his disproval. It was why Lacey hadn’t gone home in ages. What was the point? She was misunderstood and unwanted. Or so she’d thought.

“I really don’t know right now. I had my first change of clothes in almost two months yesterday. That was pretty glorious.” Lacey swallowed down the rest of her mindless ramble.

“Do you need us to send you clothes? Can we come to you?” Jessica seemed to have a list of questions. She’d probably brainstormed a whole project management plan. That was Jessica. Prepared for everything.

“No, don’t come here. They... It’s just not a good time. We’re still...sorting out what happens next.” Lacey opened and closed her mouth, the one question circling her mind. “Who are you and what happened to my family?”

“Don’t be silly, Lacey,” Jessica huffed.

“Jess, let’s be honest, hun.” Dad’s grim tone didn’t bode well for any of them. “We have been less than supportive of Lacey. That’s going to change.”

Lacey pulled her knees up to her chest and blinked back tears.

“Lacey?” Dad’s voice wavered. “We’ve spent the last month doing nothing but watching your videos, where you go, all the things you do, and...I’m sorry. We’re all sorry, you understand? You’d talk about going to all these places and we didn’t listen. None of us ever did.”

“Dad’s right,” Jessica said. “Lacey, I owe you an apology. I’ve belittled what you do. I’ve been dismissive because I never really stopped to listen. I-I’m proud of you. What you do. Some people talk about doing things and making a difference and you...you do it. You don’t talk, you do.”

Lacey buried her face against her knees. The tears leaked out. She couldn’t hold them back. Her whole life, she’d felt left out and unwanted because no one understood her. All these years, and now maybe, just maybe, the people she loved finally loved her back.