The laughter coming from the living room woke me from my sleep. I reached over to Brock’s side of the bed to find it empty and cold. The memories of the previous day came plunging down like a bucket of icy water. I had been so wrapped up in the withheld information and the pictures that I hadn’t even thought about the mission Brock had gone on. It had gone FUBAR—fucked up beyond any repair. I had learned what FUBAR was from being around Brock’s team.

Not wanting to miss any information about my case, I hurried into the shower to get cleaned up. The shower helped me wake up and feel like this might be a better day. Hoping someone had a lead on the case, I dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a tight black T-shirt. Ever since my divorce, I had started to wear clothes that fit me. Doug had made me self-conscious of what I wore. Brock made me feel like the most beautiful person in the world.

As I walked down the hall, the murmur of voices became louder. When I rounded the corner, the number of bodies in the room surprised me. Neal was standing in the kitchen with Sophie, making breakfast. Brock was sitting at the kitchen table. Brock’s laptop screen was displayed on the big-screen TV in the dining room. His fingers were flying across the keyboard, and different windows kept opening on the screen. I didn’t understand anything he was doing.

Mia and John were sorting through papers on the other side of the table. Antonio, Asher, and CJ were in an in-depth discussion.

“What do you fellas need me to help with?” All the faces turned toward me with similar looks of apprehension. “No, don’t give me that look. We need to find this fucker and stop him. Only forty-six percent of violent crimes are cleared by the FBI. If we don’t find this man, we are helping to lower that statistic.”

Brock got up, walked toward me, and wrapped me in his arms. His hair was still wet from a shower, and his woodsy smell made me moan. His chuckle brought me out of my daze. “We have work to do now, but tonight, you are all mine.”

His words made my nerves ignite, and I didn’t care if anyone noticed. I’d been waiting months to sleep with Brock, but he kept wanting to take things slow.

Neal cleared his throat from the kitchen. “When you guys finish humping each other, we can eat.”

Breakfast was full of laughter and good-natured ribbing. But the ring of Brock’s cell phone brought breakfast to an end, and soon the dining room table resembled the war room at Blackwood Security.

“Hey, Boss. Do you have Patty with you on the phone?… Okay.” Brock pressed a couple buttons on his phone. Then I could see and hear Patty and Sam on the big screen on the wall.

“Sam, if you don’t tell me what the fuck is going on—” Patty stopped talking when she saw everyone on the screen. Her face lit up, but after a couple seconds of looking around, she knew the call wasn’t just for fun.

Before she could open her mouth again, Sam pulled her onto his lap in front of the computer.

“Sitrep,” Sam barked into the computer, meaning he wanted an update from the team.

Brock leaned forward so the speaker would pick up his voice.

“Jessica received another package yesterday. A note inside said they would be coming soon.”

“Wai—”

Sam put his hand over Patty’s mouth again. “If you don’t stop interrupting, I will put a ball gag in your mouth.”

Patty folded her arms across her growing belly and pouted.

“Continue,” Sam snapped.

“So far, they’ve tried to run her off the road, left threatening messages on her penthouse walls in blood, bombed her work car, and sent her the pictures of her kidnapping. Sophie found intel indicating that Doug had been in contact with a Mujahideen group before he died and had been funneling them money. The Mujahideen are under the impression that Axmed will get out of prison shortly. Once he escapes, they plan to come after Jessica.”

Before Brock could continue, Sophie spoke up. “From intel I have gathered, the group believes Jessica has information they don’t want her to know, and Doug was trying to sell her back to the group.”

Patty narrowed her eyes. “Who is your contact?”

Sophie shrugged her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of black slacks and a white button-down shirt. She was constantly put together, but deep down, I had a feeling Sophie was the most violent individual in the room. “You know I can’t say who my contact is.”

“I will figure it out. I know you’re up to something.” My sister was like a dog with a bone. Patty would dig until she found the information she was looking for.

“Do you happen to know where this terrorist organization is?” Brock asked.

“The group’s current leader, Abshir, has been making numerous trips to Africa.”

“Africa?” Sam asked. “Somalia?”

Brock’s hands went for his laptop, and his fingers started to fly across the screen. Two images appeared on the screen. “Fuck,” he murmured under his breath.

Sam ran his hands through his hair. “My exact thoughts.”

“What am I looking at?” Neal asked.

“The case we are working on with the FBI. The group we are trying to take down is the same one that is after Jessica. They’re trying to break her original kidnappers out of jail. The reason we didn’t put the two together is that we didn’t know who was trying to break Axmed out of jail. His group was dismantled when he was imprisoned, and we didn’t know who the new leader was until now.”

“Sam, are you going to interrogate the leader’s men?” John asked.

“I can’t.” Sam looked tired. Shialia must be having more problems than Sam was letting on. “Some of the King’s men have been compromised and killed the members of Axmed’s group. We think they were worried his co-conspirators would talk. I’m working on contacting some of the brothers I used to work with. We need to figure out what they are after before Axmed pulls a Houdini.”

My gasp had everyone turning toward me. I had a quick flash of being tied to the wall in my cell while a man beat me with a whip, tearing at my skin. I caught the scent of copper from the blood running down my back.

* * *

Brock

This was why I had kept information from her. I didn’t want her slipping back into the past. I lifted her into my arms and took her back to the guest room. I laid her down on the bed and went to the bathroom for a cold washcloth. As I dragged it slowly over her face, her eyes finally focused.

“I don’t know why I keep getting flashbacks.” Her voice was still shaky.

Fuck. This situation was getting out of control. “Why don’t you call your sister? I will finish figuring out our next step. I’ll go over everything with you when we talk about it later tonight.” I kissed her on the forehead, grabbed her pink phone from the nightstand, and handed it to her.

I closed the door slightly before heading back to the dining room. Sam was still on the screen, but Patty was gone. I assumed she was talking to Jessica. Hopefully, Patty and Jessica would be able to calm each other down.

I was sick of being one step behind. “Neal, I want to know how that woman delivered those photos.”

Neal was sitting with Sophie at the other end of the table. His fingers were flying across the laptop in front of him. Mia and John were comparing notes between the FBI case and Jessica’s old case.

Sophie had been fiddling with a case file before she spoke up. “Her flashbacks keep getting worse.”

“We need to eliminate this group.” Neal looked up. “I’m going to try to locate Abshir and find out where he is now.”

Absently, I reached out and grabbed another piece of licorice while I took a drink of coffee.

A few hours later, we were no closer to cracking the case than when we’d started. We needed to figure out what information they were after.

Jessica had rejoined the group after talking to Patty. Her spirits seemed to be lighter.

“Neal, how are things progressing with you and Daisy?”

Neal ran his hand across his head, apparently frustrated with the question or with how things were going with him and Daisy.

“She is a fantastic sub. I worry she has no limits and personally, John, I don’t think you’re helping her. The other night before John and I got there, Daisy ended up in a scene with two sadists. I worry she won’t say her safe word even when it’s too much.”

I hadn’t considered how far she would go before safe-wording. “Why don’t you take her off John’s hands?”

Neal rolled his eyes. “She’s a person, not a toy we can pass around.”

We weren’t passing her around like a toy. We were trying to figure out what was best for her so she wouldn’t get hurt or end up in a situation that set her back. Daisy had been meeting constantly with the team therapist, and she seemed headed in the proper direction.

“Sorry to put you in this situation,” I said. “I’ll get ahold of Aaron, and he can help Daisy. We don’t think John is helping Daisy much, either.”

“I told you she is not a fucking toy. I will decide what’s best for her. Stay the fuck out of it,” Neal demanded while pounding his fists on the table.

Bingo. I had hit the right nerve. It seemed Neal was protective of Daisy. Maybe now he would get off his ass and move Daisy in with him.

“Well, on that note, Jessica and I will see you at the club tonight.” We had been taking things slow. I didn’t want to scare her away. I had a private room booked for us tonight, and I couldn’t wait to sink into her.

At the mention of the club, Jessica’s head swung around. Her soft blond hair was up in a ponytail. The look of surprise on her face made me chuckle.

“Let’s go grab food, and then you and Daisy can get ready for the club. I have a private room for us.”

Jessica hopped up from the chair and ran to the guest bedroom to grab her things so we could head out.