My brothers want to have a meeting tonight, Gabe texted me.

I’m leaving soon, I texted back.

I took a final look at the patent agreement my team had drafted. “I think this looks good enough to send over,” I said to Bethany. “What do you think?”

“I agree.” Bethany started drafting an email to Petra. Her gaze flicked to me. “You ready to do this?”

I nodded. It wasn’t as though I had a choice.

“I’m going home to have a meeting with Gabe and his brothers—would you like to join us?”

Bethany hit Send and grabbed her bag. “Okay. I just hope they have some news. I’m sure you feel the same way.”

The men were waiting for us when we got home. Gabe jumped up when he saw me, taking me into his arms. “Did you hear anything today?”

“No, but we finished the documents and sent them over.” Which means we’re closer to a showdown. I looked away, not wanting to see his expression.

His grip around me tightened, which told me everything.

“Lauren, thanks for being here. I know you’re extremely busy,” Levi said. “I want to update you. You know we traced the plates to the vehicle that Li Na’s men stole. We found that car at the Eastridge Mall today—and Ash tracked down the owners.”

My pulse quickened. “Did you find anything that leads to Hannah?”

“Not yet, but this car was stolen from San Francisco, from a neighborhood that experiences a pretty high level of crime. I’m guessing they knew that—I think the people who did the job could be locals. Which is both good and bad. Good because they might be comfortable enough to stay in the area, and bad for the same reason. They could be very well hidden.”

“So what’s next?” I asked.

“I’ve been consulting with the FBI and the NSA, so I’ll follow up on this lead with them,” Levi said. “They might have something useful with the neighborhood—we can cross-reference their databases to try to find the men we’re looking for.”

Ash leaned forward. “And I’m taking the crew to go out and do a search. We’ll start at the mall, checking neighborhoods around the area. We’re also looking into every stolen vehicle that’s been taken from the area during this timeframe. It’s going to take a while, but at least we’ll be doing something while we wait for their next move.”

“That’s great—it’s progress. Thank you.”

Ash nodded. “Hopefully, we’ll turn up something.”

I swallowed hard, dreading what I needed to say next. It wasn’t going to go well, but we had to talk about it. “I think Li Na’s next move is to arrange the exchange—as soon as the paperwork’s approved. I got the sense from her that she wants me sooner than later.”

Gabe tensed next to me. “Babe—”

“Hey.” I put my hand on his thigh and squeezed. “We need to discuss this, okay?”

He opened his mouth to start arguing, so I turned back to Levi. “If she wants to set up an exchange, is there something we can do? To…disrupt it?”

I didn’t want to become Li Na’s prisoner, but I wasn’t sure what, if any, options I had.

“It depends on the setup,” Levi explained. “But we’ll do everything we can to keep you away from her.”

“And get Hannah back,” I said. “Because that’s the important thing.”

I stared at Levi as Gabe stared at me.

“Doing ‘everything you can’ isn’t specific enough for me,” Bethany chimed in. “If my client’s life is going to be put in danger, I would like more assurance than what you’re offering, which sounds suspiciously like a campaign promise.”

“I second that.” Gabe sounded both miserable and pissed.

Levi rolled his eyes. “I can’t make promises without more information. Of course I’m going to keep Lauren safe and get Hannah back. That’s the whole point.”

There was an uneasy break in the conversation as we considered what lay ahead.

“What can we do tonight?” Gabe asked.

“I’m going to take the crew out to start surveillance on the area,” Ash said. “You’re welcome to come.”

Levi shot Ash a look, but Gabe ignored it, jumping up immediately. “Sounds great. I’ll be ready in ten minutes.” He hustled from the room, not giving any of us a backward glance, in case I complained or Levi rescinded Ash’s offer.

“What’re you doing?” Levi asked Ash warily.

Ash shrugged. “He wants to help. It’s not like we’re going to do anything exciting.” He got up and left before Levi could tear into him.

Levi turned back to me and Bethany. “Let me know when Zhao contacts you again.”

“Of course. Also, Agent Marks called me today looking for an update. I didn’t get into specifics.”

“That’s fine—he’s not much help these days. I’ll check in with him again tonight, but I have another buddy over there who’s much more useful.”

We sat in awkward silence for a moment. There was nothing left to do but wait for Li Na’s next move.

“Would you both like a drink?” Levi asked. “I’m pretty sure I’m overdue.”

I raised my hand. “I have to face Gabe—of course I’d like a drink. Bethany?”

“Sure?” She sounded skeptical.

Levi handed Bethany a glass of wine. “I can tell you more about what we’ve been doing and my background—you seem like you still need some convincing that my company’s legitimate.”

“All the convincing I need is for you to actually get something done on this case.”

“I appreciate you not mincing words.” He raised his glass. “Cheers.”

Bethany arched an eyebrow. “I’m not sure there’s much to be toasting, yet…”

I grabbed my own wine and snuck out, leaving them to their pissing contest.

Gabe was in the bedroom. He’d changed into a dark sweatshirt.

I sank down on the bed. “Is what you’re doing tonight going to be dangerous?”

“Are you seriously asking me that?”

“I haven’t done anything.” Yet. I jutted my chin out. “And I can’t fight with you about what I haven’t done. I can, however, worry that you’re about to get yourself shot.”

He sighed and cupped my chin. “We’re just doing preliminary legwork. I guarantee you we won’t find anything tonight—the only lead we have is where they dumped the car. Looking for Hannah from there is…”

“Is what?”

A glimmer of sympathy lit his eyes. “It’s like looking for a blonde needle in a haystack.”

I nodded. I either refused or was unable to cry at this point; I wasn’t sure which.

“I forgot to tell you something,” he said. “I had a call from my vendor in London—she heard about the sale.”

“What? Heard about it how?”

“She wouldn’t tell me that.”

I stood up and started pacing. “Who would’ve leaked that news, especially to one of your partners? Everyone who knows is aware it’s confidential!”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”

“Li Na won’t like it either—and I can’t let that be a problem. Did you tell your brothers?”

“I mentioned it. I didn’t want to tell you and make you upset, but I also didn’t want to hide it, because…you know. We aren’t doing that.” He stopped me from pacing and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “But I want you to know that I’m going to handle it. You have enough on your plate right now.”

“I appreciate that, but please keep me posted. And just so you know, when Li Na does get in touch about the trade, I promise to tell you everything.”

“Good—that’s reasonable.”

“In exchange, you have to be as reasonable about what she wants, given the circumstances.”

“I promise to be reasonable. As long as she doesn’t touch a hair on your precious blonde head.”

“Gabe!” Ash called from down the hall. “Let’s go!”

I pulled away from him reluctantly. “Why are you doing this tonight? Is it going to be dangerous at all?”

“It won’t be dangerous at all—only dangerously boring. But I can’t stand sitting around here, not doing anything. I talked with Leo and Dave today, and got them to look at the new Skype feed, but they can’t come up with anything. We’re at a dead-end. And then I get this call for my vendor… Going with Ash tonight will give me something to do besides just go crazy. Does that make sense?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“What will you do while I’m gone?”

I forced myself to smile. “Keep working. And worrying.”

He kissed the top of my head. “I love you, babe.”

“I love you too.”

I followed him to the door, wanting to beg him to stay. “I went to visit Wesley today. The nurse said his vitals look good, and that the doctors would be in this afternoon. I’m going to call the hospital to see if there’s any update.”

“He’s a fighter, like your sister. They really are perfect for each other.”

“I just hope they’re both going to be okay.”

Gabe came back and swept me into his arms. “They’re going to be okay. I promise.”

That wasn’t his promise to make, but I still clung to it—and him.

He kissed me one last time as he headed from the room. “I’ll call you later. Try to get some sleep.”

After he’d gone, my phone beeped with an email notification. It was from Petra, saying she’d received the documents and would be in touch shortly.

Good. Things were moving forward, for better or for worse.

I went back into the bedroom and closed the door. Then I did something that I’d never done before that night: I got on my knees and prayed. I prayed for everything to somehow fall into place. I prayed that I could find a way to get Hannah back.

And I prayed that somehow, I could manage to stay alive.