SATURDAY. AEGIS GROUP, Seattle, Washington.

Kyle wanted to get the girls out of the office as fast as they could. By now plenty of people knew the Hunt family had hired Aegis Group, so it wouldn’t be terribly difficult for some enterprising journalist to come here and find their story. But there were things to do before he and the team could leave, like the medical checkup.

“Are you sure I can’t talk you into going to the hospital?” Kade asked Megan for the fifth or so time.

“I’m fine,” Megan snapped.

“You’re dehydrated—”

“I’ll drink lots of water. Go home to your wife, Kade.” Megan leveled a glare at Kade.

Bethany and Faith had given up arguing with Megan. The ordeal hadn’t broken her spirit, which was a good sign.

Almost all the boxes were ticked and in order for them to leave.

Kyle’s phone vibrated.

He peered at the screen.

Detective Blew.

That had taken longer than anticipated.

He ignored the call and strode down the hall to Zain’s office.

Zain sat behind his desk with a pad of paper in hand.

“How soon will she be ready to move?” he asked.

“Any minute now.”

“Okay, let’s call the parents. Then we’ll handle the cops.”

Zain dialed a number off the pad of paper. The call rang through the speaker between them.

This wasn’t going to be a pleasant phone call that was for sure.

“Hello?” Elijah said. There was a thread of annoyance in his voice.

“Mr. Hunt, this is Zain Lloyd—”

“Why has it taken you so long? I had to hear you’d found my daughter from the police.”

“Sir, securing Megan’s safety is our first priority,” Zain said in a patient tone.

“We’re losing the sweet spot to make this work in our favor. You’re losing me votes.”

Ah, there it was. The real reason Elijah wanted them.

Kyle and Zain had discussed that Elijah’s reasoning for hiring them could be because he thought the contract meant control of what happened with Megan.

“I need you to bring Megan to me. Before the sun sets. We can salvage the photo opportunity,” Elijah said.

“Mr. Hunt, this is Kyle.” He leaned forward. He got to be the bad cop in all this, something he was actually looking forward to. “Megan has made it clear that she does not want to return to your house.”

“I don’t care what she wants. My money found her, she’ll play her part.”

“Sir, according to our contract and US law, we cannot force Megan to go or do anything she does not want to.” Kyle had a love hate relationship with that line item. Today it was going to work in their favor.

Zain stared across the desk at him while Elijah sputtered.

“Bullshit. I paid you—”

“That doesn’t mean we can ignore US law,” Kyle said.

“I’m coming to you then.”

“You’re more than welcome to come to the office, Mr. Hunt, but Megan won’t be here. She’s being moved to a secure facility for her protection,” Zain said, jumping in.

“I want to see my daughter,” Elijah demanded.

“She doesn’t want to see you,” Kyle replied. It was his job to hold this line while Zain kept things smooth.

“At least let me talk to her?” Elijah sighed.

“I can arrange that in an hour,” Kyle said. He was going to make sure they missed that window for perfect fucking pictures.

“An hour?” Elijah sputtered.

Kyle was willing to bet Elijah had some bargaining chip to get Megan to bend to his will he wanted to use. Kyle was growing to dislike the Hunts more and more.

“Mr. Hunt, we’ll be in touch, but right now we have to talk to the police,” Zain said.

They said their goodbyes.

“One call down,” Zain muttered.

Kyle was looking forward to talking to Roger less. They’d traded choice words at the theater. Roger wanted to parade Megan out front where the cameras were. All he cared about was getting his killer. The victims no longer mattered. He’d lost sight of the real goal in this case.

“Here goes.” Zain folded his hands on the table.

“What?” Roger said by way of a greeting.

Zain nodded at Kyle.

“Detective Blew—”

“Where is my witness?” Roger demanded.

“Megan is being checked out by a paramedic and resting,” Kyle replied.

“You can’t run off with my only lead.”

“Megan and Faith are both willing to give statements, but our job is to protect them. I would think you could appreciate that given what Megan has been through.” Kyle wanted to make sure he used the women’s names. Driving home that they were people, with lives and fears might get it through Roger’s thick skull that these people had to be treated with consideration.

“I’ll meet them at the station.”

“After you brought the media with you to the crime scene?” Kyle chucked. “I don’t think so.”

“I can charge you with obstructing justice.”

“The people who told you where your suspect was holding a kidnapped woman? That’ll go over well.” Kyle was fairly certain Roger’s credibility was shot and his threats empty. “Here’s what I propose we do for Megan’s safety. I’m going to come pick you up from the station and bring you to the girls at a safe, undisclosed location. You can take their statements there and when it’s safe for them to come to you, we’ll make that happen.”

“I’ll need to talk to Mr. Hunt—”

“He has already been informed that Megan does not want to see him.” Kyle wasn’t going to yield on that one. He’d left home and hadn’t looked back for a decade. Megan shouldn’t be forced into line for her family’s sake. Not after what she’d been through.

“You aren’t giving me a choice in this, are you?”

“No.”

“This isn’t right. You can’t keep my witness from me.”

“I’m not. I’m offering you a way to keep her safe not on the tax payer dime. It’s a win win. You don’t have to worry about her. You can focus on finding your man.” Kyle glanced at Zain who gave him a thumbs up.

“Fine,” Roger grumbled.

“Great. I’ll be by to pick you up soon.”

Zain ended the call.

“That didn’t go too bad,” he said.

“Yeah, I get the feeling he’s got something up his sleeve.” Kyle grimaced.

“Well, the community is gated. They have their own police.” Zain spread his hands. “I’m also going to pull a few guys and have them do shifts watching the street outside the gates. Eventually it’s going to get out where the girls are. We need to be prepared to protect them from the media. Have you kept tabs on the news?”

“No...”

“My guess is Roger let it leak yesterday.” Zain leaned back in his chair. “I did some digging.”

“Of course you did.

“Roger’s spent his whole career hunting one person. He’s been moved around, made fun of. This is his chance to redeem himself. I feel for him, but I am not putting innocent lives at risk for his cause.” Zain’s gaze flicked to something behind Kyle. “Bethany, come in.”

Kyle felt a prick as though something hit him between the shoulder blades. Warmth spread through his chest and the very air felt different.

“Sorry—I didn’t mean to...”

Kyle turned, catching sight of Bethany hovering in the hall just out of view. From the moment he’d met her he’d liked her. That was why he’d drawn boundary lines, but those no longer mattered. He could feel himself pulled toward her.

This wasn’t a good idea.

Bethany deserved someone better. Someone whole.

“Come in,” Zain said.

She glanced at Kyle, the corners of her mouth twitching up. He clenched a fist and considered asking Shane to deck him one for being a dick like this.

Kyle hadn’t been thinking clearly.

They should have never crossed that line last night.

“Megan is hungry. I don’t know where Merida went.” Bethany stepped into the office, hands clasped together.

“She’s hungry? That’s good.” Zain shuffled papers around. “We’re actually going to move you ladies to a safe house. It’s not going to be long before this case has national media attention—”

“Media attention?” Bethany’s eyes grew large.

“That you don’t have to worry about,” Kyle said quickly.

“Exactly.” Zain clicked his pen a few times. “We want to give you ladies as much privacy as possible. I’ll bet Merida is finalizing food and equipment delivery. As soon as Kade says Megan is good to move, we’ll go. Do you know if Kade said she could eat?”

“Standard stuff. Keep it simple. Lots of liquids.” Bethany’s shoulders relaxed. “Thank you, for everything.”

Kyle patted the arm chair next to him. He should push her away, but not when she was so clearly nervous. His job demanded he put the women first.

“I’m going to go pick up Detective Blew. He still needs a formal statement from both Megan and Faith,” he said.

“Do they have to?” She stopped behind the vacant chair and gripped the back of it.

“If we want to find this guy, yeah.” Kyle did his best to maintain an easy tone. Right now his main objective was to get the ladies to a secure site and dig in. Once they had their defensive position established they could work on an offense.

“Want company?” Bethany asked.

The question took Kyle by surprise. He should say no, but he couldn’t. Not to Bethany. He owed her too much to deny her anything. “If you want to ride with me I’d love to have you.”

“Then you two should go. Take the long, scenic route to the safe house,” Zain said.

“Copy that.” Kyle pushed to his feet. “Come on.”

He and Bethany stepped out into the hall. They made a quick stop into the surveillance room to update his team, then let the girls know what was going to happen before heading down to the parking lot.

Deep down, Kyle was glad for Bethany’s company. She soothed parts of him that were still raw, proving that she was a healer in every sense of the word.

At least he’d been able to keep his word to her and get Megan back alive.

He’d been worried that between the well planned abduction, Megan’s family and the narrowly focused detective they’d bring the young woman back in a body bag. Instead, it was all working out. With any luck Detective Blew and his officers were tightening the net on their search and they’d have their man within hours if not a few days. With a killer who’d been active this long it was a matter of time until he was caught. He’d get lazy or the police would build up enough evidence. One thing or another would lead to his arrest.

“Thanks for letting me ride along.” Bethany buckled in and sank down in her seat. There was a nervous vibe to her still. He’d thought it was Zain. Some people were uncomfortable around him due to his serious nature and the cutting edge prosthetic arm. Now, he wasn’t as sure.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“No, I’m just—we’ve got her back. I feel...panicky? Relieved. And yet all this happened and I don’t know how to deal with it. I’m tired. I want to laugh, cry, hide.”

“That’s normal. You’ve been pumped full of fear and adrenaline, now it’s gone.”

“That’s it?” She sighed and deflated a bit more.

“Yeah, believe it or not.”

“So it’ll get better, is what you’re telling me?”

“Especially once they catch the guy.” He steered the Jeep out of the parking lot.

“You think they’ll catch him? After all this time?”

“Even if this guy was a teenager—a kid—in the eighties when the first set happened, he’s got to be at least forty years old by now. From what we’ve seen, he’s not a big, strong guy. He’s going to mess up. He’s going to bite off more than he can chew. He’s going to get caught.”

Except this guy hadn’t screwed up before now—that they knew of.

That was what worried Kyle. This guy had decades to perfect his techniques and how to get away. He could very easily be halfway across the country or even the world by now.

“Let’s talk about something else?” he suggested.

“Okay.” Bethany turned to lean on the center console. “What’s up?”

He chuckled. If only they weren’t hunting a killer. He’d like to spend time with Bethany. And that was the root of all his problems. Their histories were too similar. She needed someone who could be strong for her. A champion. Kyle wasn’t that person, but he wanted to be.

BETHANY HADN’T BEEN completely honest about her reasons for riding along with Kyle. Deep down, she only felt safe with him around. She didn’t want to paste on a fake face while deep down she was anxious and afraid so long as he wasn’t there.

It was kind of funny how she’d gone from intimidated by her patient’s attractive son to clinging to him like a hunk shaped life preserver.

She’d clung to Anthony as well.

But that was different. She’d been socially awkward and trying to navigate college when she met him. She needed Kyle in a different way.

“If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?” he asked.

“Oh, that’s...that’s a hard one.” Bethany stared at the darkening horizon. Her world had always revolved around Seattle. Even as kids, the farthest she’d been was a trip to California once. “I don’t know. I’ve never really gone anywhere.”

“You haven’t seen some place in a movie or a show and thought you want to go there?”

“It’s usually beaches. I’m not big on swimsuits and sand.” She liked more low key stuff, which wasn’t exciting. Especially to someone like Kyle.

“Unless it’s HGTV?” He glanced at her.

Bethany chuckled. He knew her far too well already.

“You could go somewhere that swimsuits are optional?” Kyle glanced at her, his mischievous smile startling a laugh out of her. She’d never known he had a lighter side before his father’s death.

Bethany rolled her eyes and propped her elbow on the console.

Swimsuits optional.

The idea of being freely naked around him again had parts of her perking up and her heart doing a weird, hop, skip and jump routine. The heat was back in her cheeks. She couldn’t remember a time before him when she’d blushed this much.

“Where would you go?” She needed to change the topic off her.

“Me? Hm.” Kyle scratched his jaw. “Depends if I’m going by myself or if I have company.”

“Oh?” She swallowed. He’d been all over the world. His answer was no doubt ten times more interesting than her. She lived in a tiny bubble with no imagination.

“If I’m going by myself I’d probably go to the Middle East. When we were sent over there we didn’t know anything about the culture or their history. I’d like to have the chance to learn. Not sure it would be a good idea or safe for an American, but it’s on my list.”

He wanted to learn.

Things like that set him apart from other men. From someone like Anthony. Kyle cared about more than what impacted him. She’d learned that just by watching him and now she knew it from firsthand experience. Kyle put others first, even his abusive father. Bethany didn’t think she could be that strong.

“Now, if I were going with a friend?” Kyle glanced at her, that warmth still in his gaze. “I’d go to Paris. Or Venice. Somewhere romantic.”

She tilted her chin to stare at the ceiling of the Jeep.

That was a hell of a lot better than her answer.

She didn’t know what Paris or Venice would be like, but the way he stared at her promised big, comfortable beds.

What about her promise to herself? Was she going down the wrong path again? Could she even know what Mr. Right would be like? Kyle ticked all the correct boxes, but what did she really know?

“Sorry—wrong thing to say?” he asked.

“No.” Her throat was tight, making the one-word answer hard to get out.

“Too far?”

Bethany clasped her hands together in her lap.

Her thoughts and feelings about Kyle were complicated. She’d be silly to not recognize that. There’d been plenty of times she’d marveled at his ability to put up with his father. One of her big reasons for staying on and weathering Mr. Martin’s liberal verbal abuse was that Kyle shouldn’t have to go alone. It had created a sort of one sided bond where she saw them as partners in caring for his father. Faith had pointed out before how her loyalty to this patient was misguided, and yet Bethany had stayed on. Because of Kyle.

“Beth?”

“Sorry,” she mumbled and shook her head.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“What it would that be?”

“Us? Last night?”

She didn’t want to talk about that because she didn’t know what to say. She’d promised herself to not date. Give herself time to really sort her life out. She’d just gotten to a good place when Mr. Martin passed and now here they were.

“Last night I stepped over a line. I’m sorry.” Kyle’s voice wasn’t cold, but it lacked the warmth she’d grown to enjoy. This was...professional Kyle.

“No. No, you didn’t.” She stared down at her hands hidden mostly in shadow. She’d known what they were doing and wanted it. There was never a point where she’d wanted to say no. “I just... Every relationship has failed spectacularly.”

“Then you’re bound for something good.” He stared straight ahead without looking at her. “You told me last night you weren’t interested in dating—”

“That’s not what I said.” She wracked her brain to recall exactly what she’d spoken. “Don’t try to pretend like I wasn’t an active participant.”

“All I’m trying to say is, you don’t owe me anything. Maybe it’s better this way.” He glanced at her briefly. “I mean, with my history? I’m the last guy you should take a chance on.”

“What?” She gaped at him, his profile foreign to her.

“Look at what I come from. My dad married my mom, then when she lost her arm he treated her like a monster that had to be kept shut up all the time. Some people have stress balls. My dad had me.”

Bethany stared at the side of Kyle’s face trying to process fact from bullshit.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why would he say those things?

“Here we are.” He pulled the Jeep up to the curb outside a police station. “It’s going to be a long drive back.”

“You can’t just say those things and expect me to accept them?”

“They’re facts, Beth.”

“If you seriously think your father’s actions predispose you to be like him, then you don’t really know yourself, do you?”

“Not one bit.” He nodded at the sidewalk. “There’s Roger.”

“This conversation isn’t done.” She was about ready to throttle him herself, but that wasn’t the answer. He wanted her angry. And she was. But not at him. She focused her gaze on Roger striding toward them. “What’s preventing him from using his phone to figure out where we’re at?” she asked.

“Nothing. We’re taking the scenic route to avoid being followed.” Kyle turned to face her. “We took Megan away from the guy who kidnapped her. If he’s fixated on getting to you three, we want to make that as impossible for him as we can.”

“Oh...” Bethany hadn’t even considered that.

She slid farther down in her seat.

The doors unlocked and a man slid in.

“You’d better not try to pull anything,” Detective Blew said.

“What? Like call the media and tell them a hot tip about a kidnapping? I’d never.” Kyle glanced at her then accelerated.

This was going to be the trip from hell.