I’ve been in front of the computer all night; I’m no closer to finding a way to get Knox out without getting myself caught in the process. I’d be the first person to go to prison for breaking into a prison.

Brooklyn was beside me most of the night with file folders and papers galore. She finally fell asleep on the couch next to my desk around four a.m. She didn’t even budge when I removed her reading glasses that had slipped down her nose and were covering her mouth. Little puffs of air fogged the lenses.

It’s now going on seven, and the kids are beginning to stir. I push away from my desk to get them up so Brooklyn can sleep a little longer, but the wheels rolling across the hardwood floor jolt her awake. “I’m working,” she mumbles as she sits up and licks her lips while wiping the sleep from her eyes.

I stand with a laugh and kiss her on the head. “Why don’t you go to bed for a few hours? I can handle the kids.”

“No way can I sleep until I have this figured out. I owe Jake so much. I have to work,” she argues, shaking her head vigorously.

I stop at the open door. “I can’t make you sleep, but I can make you take a break. Neither of us are going to figure this out if we’re going crazy. Let’s take an hour or so, eat some breakfast with the kids, and then we’ll get the nanny to take them out for the day so we can get back to work. Deal?”

“All right. You get the kids up and dressed, and I’ll start on breakfast.”

Brooklyn heads downstairs for the kitchen, and I stop in L.J.’s room first. He’s up and playing with his cars on the floor.

“Good morning, buddy,” I say on my way to his dresser to find him some clothes.

“Morning, Dad!” he replies cheerfully.

I dig his clothes out of the drawer and toss them to him. “Put those on and be in the kitchen in five. Got it?”

“Yep!” He’s always so happy in the mornings. It’s exhausting.

I walk into Jack’s room, and she’s tossing and turning in bed. She’s the one that likes her sleep. Her little body is saying it’s time to wake up, but she’s not having it. She will toss and turn until she wills herself back to sleep.

“Come on, princess. Let’s get up and get some breakfast in that tummy.” I dig around for her clothes.

“No, I sleepy,” she mumbles.

I fall to my knees beside her toddler bed and pull the blanket away from her face. “If you get up and get dressed, I promise to take you out to the range soon and let you shoot.” She takes after me more than I’m prepared for. She loves getting to shoot, and for a four-year-old, she has damn good aim. I’ll keep her using the BB gun until she’s a little older though.

“Yay!” she cheers as she pops up, jumping up and down on her little bed.

I quickly tug a pink shirt over her head and pair it with leggings. “All right, go potty and get down to the kitchen. Okay? No dolls this morning. We don’t have time.”

“Okay, Daddy,” she says as she twists a lock of hair at the crown of her head.

I wander down into the kitchen and find Brooklyn behind the stove. She’s moving like a sloth, but I can’t blame her. We’ve been backed into a corner and have no choice but to fight our way out. We’re both tired and stressed.

“Need help with anything?” I ask as I pour the kids some milk and place their cups on the table.

“I’d love another cup of coffee. Something tells me I’m going to need it.” She polishes off the last sip from her mug and hands it to me.

I get to work pouring us both, what must be, our twentieth cup of coffee. “Where is your dad this morning? He coming for breakfast?”

“No, he left yesterday morning for some golf tournament. He won’t be back until this weekend. Have you filled Zoe in on what we found out last night?”

I shake my head before taking a sip. “No. I’ll give her a call after breakfast. I’m sure she’s tired and probably still sleeping since she was up late last night.”

Both kids come running down the stairs at the same time. They’re both jumping up and down at my feet, wanting to play.

I reach down and pick up L.J. “We’ll have to play later, buddy. It’s time to eat.” I step around Jack and place L.J. in his chair at the table.

I turn around to pick Jack up, but she jumps up and hits me right in the balls. She’s the perfect height and drills me there almost every day. I freeze and hold my breath, trying to power through.

Brooklyn turns around, sees my face, and knows exactly what happened. She laughs out loud. It’s the first sign of something other than worry I’ve seen on her face since before we went to bed last night.

“I’m glad you’re done having children because my boys aren’t going to survive this one,” I say, referring to Jack. I pick her up and put her down in the chair.

“Jack, honey, I told you that you’re too strong for Daddy. You have to be careful so you don’t hurt him.”

She smiles and nods before sticking out her tongue at L.J.

L.J. doesn’t like to be shown up. He crosses his arms over his chest. “She’s not stronger than Dad. She just hit him in the balls!”

I bust out laughing, but Brooklyn gives me the death glare. “We don’t say that, buddy,” I tell him with the most serious tone I can muster, while a smile continues to play on my lips.

Brooklyn places the kids’ plates in front of them, and I take ours and set them down on the table. We all sit to eat together. The kids are arguing back and forth about whatever it is they’re talking about, but Brook is quiet as she’s chewing slowly. I can tell she’s worried when all she does is pick at her food.

“We’ll figure this out, I promise.” I reach over and place my hand on her free one.

Her eyes meet mine, and for the first time since we’ve been together, I can tell she doesn’t believe me.

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one that has to discover an impossible cure. You know I’ve been working on this for years. How am I supposed to come up with the answer like that?” She snaps her fingers.

“I don’t know, but if anyone can —”

“I know, I know,” she interrupts me. “You have way too much confidence in my abilities.”

We finish up breakfast, and the kids run off to play. “Why don’t you call the nanny and I’ll call Zoe,” I tell her as we’re cleaning up the kitchen.

She dries her hands and picks up her cell phone to make the call. I’m digging through my jeans pocket to call Zoe when I hear the front door slam shut. I turn around to see Zoe barreling toward me.

“I’m calling the police. He’s been gone too long. Something is wrong! I’ve been up all night pacing the floor, waiting for you to call me!”

I place my hands on her shoulders. “Calm down, Zoe. Please, sit down.” I back up her a few steps, and she sits down in the kitchen chair. “Do you want some tea or coffee?”

She reaches over and snags a piece of bacon from the center of the table. “No, but some chocolate milk would be amazing. Can I eat the rest of this?” She points to the leftover eggs, toast, and bacon on the table.

“Help yourself,” I say as I spin around to pour her a glass of chocolate milk. If food keeps her calm, I’ll make her a feast.

Brooklyn hangs up the phone and sits next to Zoe. “The nanny will be here soon. Did you tell her yet?”

“Tell me what?” Zoe asks, crunching on a well-cooked piece of bacon.

I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the counter. “I got a call last night.”

“From Jake? Is he okay? Why didn’t he come home? And, why didn’t you tell me last night?” she asks in a rush.

I hold up my hand. “Not from Jake. Jake is still missing, but I know who is behind his disappearance.”

“Jake is being held for ransom.” I run my hand through my hair, trying to keep myself calm so that maybe Zoe will calm down.

“Ransom? What do they want and who are they?’ She’s back to being frantic.

“The impossible,” Brooklyn mumbles.

Zoe quickly turns to look at her, then she slowly looks at me.

I give Brooklyn an annoyed glance. I know she’s stressed and tired, but she should be trying to keep Zoe calm.

“It’s the same man that put a hit out on Brooklyn, but he doesn’t want Jake dead. He’s hired men to do his dirty work. He wants some help, and Brooklyn and I are more than capable of giving them what he wants. We just need a little time is all.”

“So did you ever go and check out his bike? What if he’s still there? And, what is it they want?”

“He’s not,” I reply. “As far as what he wants, he wants to be released from prison and for Brooklyn to cure him.”

“But what if someone there saw something?” I see the rest of my answer finally register on her face. “Prison? What cure?”

I take a deep, calming breath. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll go by today and check it out, but I doubt that I’ll find anything. The man that I used to work for wants his freedom.”

“Yeah, he wants a cure that’s not been found yet,” Brooklyn adds, and I scowl at her.

Zoe begins to cry while rubbing her swollen belly. I kneel down in front of her. “Jake will be fine. They won’t do anything to him because they need him for leverage. We’ll get them what they want, and they will let him go. It’s just going to take some time. Please have faith in us. We’ve taken on more than this before.”

She sniffles and nods.

I stand and look at Brooklyn. “Can I talk to you in private for a minute?”

She nods and stands to follow me into the laundry room that’s off of the kitchen.

“I’m going to go check out the location of the bike to make Zoe feel better.”

“You won’t find anything there, you said so yourself. Why waste the time?”

“Because it will ease Zoe’s mind. She needs some peace. Plus, I don’t have to be in front of a computer to put together a plan. Are you going to be okay while I’m gone?”

She pushes her red hair away from her face. “I’ll be fine. I’m going to head to my office as soon as the kids are gone. Be careful.” I reach out and grab the front of her shirt, pulling her closer. Her lips find mine, and her tongue dips inside.

I place my hand on either side of her face and kiss her deeply, wanting to assure her that we will make it through this. We have to. I will not let anything happen to my brother. He’s already been through hell and back for me.

We pull away from one another, and I turn back toward the kitchen but pause. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Say goodbye to the kids before you leave.”

“I will. Try to get Zoe to go upstairs and lay down, would ya? The last thing she needs is exhaustion on top of all this stress. Jake will never forgive us if something happens to her or the baby because we were too busy to pay attention to her.”

She nods as she takes my hand. “I will. Be careful.”

It takes me a few hours to drive to where Jake’s bike’s GPS says it is. I pull into the parking lot of an apartment building. I park my truck and get out, walking through the lot, looking for his bike. I don’t see it in between the cars, but I do see it loaded up in the back of an El Camino. I walk over to the vehicle and look it over for any signs of a struggle. It has a shiny new exterior with no scratch marks on it.

“Hey! Can I help you?” a man with dark hair asks as he comes running over to me.

“Yeah. I was wondering who owns this car.”

“I do. Is there a problem?” he asks.

“That’s my brother’s bike, and he’s missing. Can you tell me anything about that?” I casually place my hand on the handle of my gun in the back of my jeans.

“Oh, man. Jake’s missing?”

I turn to face him. “You know him? Is this the car he delivered?”

“Yeah, he brought it up yesterday.”

“What happened?” I can feel the tension coming off me in waves. If it wasn’t for his sincere concern, I’d already have my finger wrapped around his throat for answers.

“I don’t know.” He rubs his head while thinking it over. “I came home to find him waiting on me. I got in the car and was checking it out. When I turned back to face him, Jake was out cold, lying on the ground.” He takes a deep breath. “I jumped out of the car and ran over to him to check him out, and that’s when I was hit over the head. When I came to, he was gone.”

“And you didn’t think to call the police?” I ask, not that they would’ve done a lot of good.

“I mean, it crossed my mind, but I’m an ex-con. I didn’t want to be linked to that. I didn’t see anything, and I have no idea what happened…”

Before he can process what I’m doing, I’m grabbing hold of him and throwing him up against the side of his car. “If I find out you’re lying…”

He holds his hands up. “I’m not, man. I swear. Jake’s my friend. I wouldn’t ever be involved in something like that. I just got out of prison, and I’m not trying to go back.”

I can see the fear in his eyes. I was a hitman. I’m good at reading people and this man, he didn’t have anything to do with what happened to my brother.

I release him and pull a card out of my pocket. “If you hear anything, or think of anything, give me a call.”

He takes the card from me. “I will. Please let me know if there is anything I can do.”

I’m walking to my truck but turn back around. “Actually, there is.” I move to the back of the vehicle and open the tailgate. “Give me a hand loading up his bike. No way am I leaving it here. It would be sold for parts.”