SUNDAY. AEGIS GROUP Safe House, Seattle, Washington.

Jay saw the silver SUV roll out of the community from his vantage point at the gas station.

He’d been right.

A little too much information shared freely, and they’d left their safe burrow.

This was Jay’s luck taking a turn for the better.

The gated community was too secure. It would have taken him too long to figure out how to flush them out. This way was better.

He watched the SUV roll to a stop at the red light and sank down farther in his seat.

It really was stupid luck that he’d seen those two goons who’d been stationed at the gate go in with the luxury SUV. If Jay hadn’t been scoping out why they were interested in the back yard to begin with he’d have to focus on following them.

The light changed to green, and the SUV accelerated away.

Jay glanced down at his tablet and watched the blue dot blip away.

Keeping Megan’s phone and using the girl’s tracking habits against them was one of the more clever things he’d done. All he had to do now was wait until they stopped then swoop in and take his prizes. He didn’t even have to follow them.

In fact, he should have dinner. It was going to be a long night, and he had so much to accomplish if things went his way.

At this rate he’d be home in a few days with Mom and prepared to deal with another year of her steadily declining health.

SUNDAY. SECONDARY AEGIS Group Safe House, Seattle, Washington.

Bethany sat on the sofa in their new digs. She had to pee, but no one was allowed to leave the room until the whole fucking place was secure.

Whatever the hell that meant.

They’d driven around the city for close to two hours with one bottle of water and no stops. Megan was so tense and knotted up she ached. Then there was the continuous high level tension Faith was holding onto.

What they needed was to rest. Driving around in the name of safety was stupid. They should have stopped an hour or more ago.

Kyle strode through the living room without looking at them.

“Can we pee yet?” she asked.

He paused and turned toward them.

“Just a few more minutes.” He even had the nerve to smile. For some reason that was her last straw.

“No.” Bethany pushed to her feet. “I’m going to the bathroom and Megan is going to go lay down.”

“We’re almost ready to settle in. Just a few more minutes,” he said.

“No,” she snapped. “I’m done with this waiting game. This is bullshit.”

She turned toward Megan and offered her a hand. Her silence was more telling than anything. Megan always had a comment or a sarcastic remark. If she was this quiet, she had to be hurting.

“Beth...” The annoyance in Kyle’s voice grated.

He was annoyed?

Well so was she.

They’d trusted him and his team, and now their painful, private lives were plastered everywhere. This wasn’t just one nightmare to live through, it was two.

“There we go.” Bethany wrapped her arm around Megan’s waist and guided her toward the hall. “Come on, Faith.”

“The master is through the kitchen,” Kyle said.

On the other side of the house.

Great.

“Fine. Okay.” Bethany got them turned around.

They made a slow march across the living room. Like the previous house, this one had an open concept all in beige. She’d never seen a place more monotone than this one.

As far as she could see there wasn’t a whole lot to be done. Wasn’t a peak in each room and a glimpse under all the beds good enough? Or was there more?

Whatever it was, they could do it while the girls rested.

Bethany got Megan to the bathroom then into bed where she promptly rolled over and closed her eyes. This whole day was an emotional rollercoaster. Even Bethany was wiped out and all she’d done was sit and watch TV.

“I’ll see about something to eat,” Bethany said once Faith vacated the bathroom.

“I don’t even care about food.” Faith crawled into the big, king sized bed.

“We still need to eat.” Bethany didn’t feel like it, but she knew better. “I’ll go figure that out.”

She turned toward the door and braced herself.

Deep down she was hurt that Kyle hadn’t kept that promise to keep them safe. There was nothing safe about having her life blasted all over the country, not when she was trying so hard to stay away from the family she’d cut out of her life. Kyle had promised to keep her safe from everything, but except from getting Megan back, everything was worse.

It wasn’t fair to be angry with him though. Not after his dad had just died. But she was scared and mad and hurt.

She took a deep breath and pushed the bedroom door open, ducked out and shut the door.

Shane carried a bag out through the back door into the darkness of night.

Kyle stood at the bar, looking at his phone. He glanced up at her that plastic smile of his rubbing her the wrong way. It was so damn fake. Didn’t everyone else see that?

“Are there food plans?” she asked. She’d have rather talked to one of the others, but he was there.

“I believe Merida has something being delivered, but that’s on my list to check.” This wasn’t Kyle she was talking to. It was a version of him. A mask. A face he put on. He’d shut her out.

“Fine.” She had faith in Merida. That woman seemed to know how to spin all the plates and drop nothing.

“Yup. She texted me the delivery confirmation.” He flashed her his phone screen.

“Good.” She turned toward the door before she said something she shouldn’t.

“Beth? Do you have a minute?” Kyle circled the bar.

“For?” Bethany paused halfway to the door and glanced over her shoulder.

“I just wanted to explain some things so maybe you’d better understand the rules we have to work within.” He braced his hands on the kitchen island.

“Like?” She couldn’t wait to hear this.

“We try very hard to play within the bounds of the law. In this case that means we have to cooperate with Roger as much as we can.” His shoulders lifted.

“And risk that crazy guy finding us? Risk Faith’s husband finding her again? Risk Megan’s family dragging her into their shit?” And that didn’t touch on Bethany’s problems.

“We never anticipated this happening. I’m sorry.”

“But you knew Roger might do this or you wouldn’t have tapped his phone. Which I’m pretty sure is illegal.” She crossed her arms over her chest. It was fine and dandy to do that one law breaking thing, but they couldn’t protect them?

“We have to at least appear we’re working with them, Beth. If we didn’t they’d come after us and take the three of you and put you God knows where. Yeah, Zain hacking Roger’s phone is illegal, but it was our best play to do what we had to and keep you safe.”

“That’s great for you. Way to keep the authorities happy while screwing us over. I trusted you, and now...” Tears prickled Bethany’s eyes.

Damn him.

She’d looked at Kyle and saw someone good. Someone she could trust. It was why she’d come to him in the first place. And now part of her regretted that.

Was this fear talking?

She couldn’t tell.

For all she knew, she could have a front-row seat on the crazy train blasting its way into the horizon.

“I—we—are going to keep you safe, Beth.” Kyle came around the island until he stood in front of her. “I know we had a hiccup with Roger, but we’ve made it clear to him that we’re not communicating with him about anything except details. He’s not going to know where we are now.”

“But it’s too late. Faith’s husband is going to know where we live. Anthony—my family—know where we live now. Megan’s parents know where we live. And if they know that, how long until they know where we work?” Bethany sucked down a deep breath.

What if Anthony showed up at work one day? She did a few hours in the main office every week taking care of paperwork. There were only ever a few of them there. If he showed up, he’d charm the receptionist. Then there was the two ladies who did scheduling. They always liked a pretty face, and Anthony did know how to sweet talk someone.

He’d have to work for all of five minutes before he knew everything about her and how to control her again.

“Beth?”

“Let go of me.” She pulled out of his arms and stepped around him.

She needed air.

She needed space.

Everything was closing in on her again and she couldn’t take it.

“Beth—wait.”

“Stay away from me,” she snapped.

It wasn’t Kyle specifically. She just needed to be alone. Her knees shook and tears leaked down her cheeks. She ducked out into the back yard under the shelter of trees and a moonless night. The cool, damp air soothed her fraying nerves. All that openness above and around her. She could get away from the pressure, from the demands.

Kyle couldn’t control everything. He’d followed the rules and did what he had to. That made sense, and yet it hurt.  It hurt that after sharing with him a little of what she’d been through, she was now going to have to face everything she’d fought so hard to leave.

She bent over and braced her hands on her knees, closing her eyes.

This was panic. She hadn’t felt it in so long she’d almost forgot what it was like.

Deep breaths.

In and out.

Again.

Once more.

She repeated the breathing exercise she’d learned in her first therapy session. That was before she’d left Anthony and she’d used the breathing to keep herself calm.

The grass rustled.

Kyle coming to scold her for going outside, no doubt.

“I’ll come back inside.” She straightened and tipped her head up, looking at the canopy of leaves.

Kyle grunted, and before Bethany could turn something hit her in the back of the head. She pitched forward, going to her knees in the grass. A hand dug into her hair and something cold pressed against her cheek.

“Don’t scream. I’ll shoot whoever comes out of those doors first,” a man whispered.

A man who was not Kyle.

Her throat closed up.

Kyle was in the kitchen.

He’d be the first out, and he’d taken off his bullet-proof vest.

She couldn’t let anything happen to Kyle. Or the others.

“I-I’ll do whatever you want, just leave them alone,” she whispered.

KYLE PACED TO THE front of the house and through the formal dining room. They’d repurposed it as their surveillance room since this house was smaller and lacked an office to stick the equipment out of the way.

Isaac glanced up from the monitors and whistled.

“One guess who has you by the balls.” Isaac’s grin was positively gleeful.

“Fuck you,” Kyle muttered.

It was getting harder and harder to hold on to his calm. He couldn’t afford to fuck up. not now with so much up in the air.

“You both seemed a little testy. Trouble in paradise?” Isaac tapped away at the keyboard. “I’ve got the right side of the house on the monitor, Shane.”

“Do we have cameras up in the back yard?” Kyle knew Bethany needed space, but the idea of her out there with no one keeping an eye on her made his insides twist up.

“Not yet. We’re doing those last,” Isaac said.

“Shit.”

Kyle turned and paced the dining room.

If he’d stayed in the kitchen, he’d have followed her, and then they’d have it out. He knew it. The signs of panic were written all over her. It did something to him. He wanted to fix this. Make her feel better. Protect her.

Mom used to get like this and they’d go for a bike ride to clear the air. Even if it was raining, they’d go find somewhere to explore, away from dad.

Kyle wanted to do that for Bethany, except he was the one she wanted to get away from.

“What’s got you bugging?” Isaac asked.

Kyle kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t giving Isaac any more ammunition tonight.

“Come on, TL, talk to me.” Isaac leaned forward at the table, his expression so earnest Kyle almost believed him.

It was a ploy.

Isaac would get him to talk then use whatever Kyle said to fashion a noose.

Sometimes Isaac was an asshole. Today was clearly one of those days.

“Girlfriend giving you fits?” Isaac got up and circled to the end of the table where the cords ran to outlets.

“Get Shane to go check on Bethany on the back yard.” Kyle peered out the door through to the sliding glass still standing open.

“Shane, need you to go check on Kyle’s lady love. You know, Kyle, if you want some tips I’m sure Shane can dish. He’s the one who went and got himself engaged and all.”

“Shut up, Isaac.” He closed his eyes. If he could just get a minute to find his balance.

“If she’s too much for you to handle, we could always call Ryan or Vito in as backup.”

It wasn’t Isaac’s words that had Kyle’s vision hazing red, it was that little snicker at the end.

Kyle clenched his fists and whirled around.

Somewhere between looking at the living room and turning he lost track of time and his limbs. The next thing Kyle knew he stared down at Isaac sitting on the floor, blood trickling out of his nose. Kyle’s fist throbbed.

He glanced at his knuckles, all angry and red.

“Shit.” Kyle held out his hand. “I shouldn’t—I’m sorry.”

Isaac grasped Kyle’s wrist and got to his feet.

“Damn. Think you’re wound a bit tight there?” Isaac shook his head.

“Kyle? Isaac?” Shane called from the back of the house.

“Don’t mind the noise,” Isaac called out.

Bethany.

Kyle turned and caught sight of Shane’s wide eyes.

“Bethany, she’s not out there,” Shane said.

Fuck.

Kyle pushed past the other man and strode to the master suite. He knocked once then opened the door, throwing a long square of light on the bed where two figures lay asleep.

“Beth?” he called out.

No answer.

He closed the doors, his hand starting to sweat.

“Get flashlights. Let’s check the block. Maybe she went for a walk or something,” he said.

“Yeah, she’s probably just outside,” Isaac said.

Kyle wanted to believe those words, but he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

SUNDAY. UNKNOWN, SEATTLE, Washington.

Jay rolled the driver’s side window down and let the breeze wash over him. He loved the damp, Seattle air. Some people thought the city was gloomy and depressing. It smelled of promise and excitement to him. He leaned back into his seat and whistled that ditty Mom used to sing when he was a kid.

After so much going wrong, things were back on course.

He had Bethany.

The sweet, docile woman would be the easiest of the three to manage. He should have started with her in the beginning.

Now that he had one he could proceed. If he couldn’t tease the other three out of hiding, he’d take what he could get and shelve his plans for the night of glory until later. He had a list of candidates prepared. A year wouldn’t be that much time to wait.

Everything would be fine.

MONDAY. SECONDARY AEGIS Group Safe House, Seattle, Washington.

Kyle should be out there. If he walked the block again, maybe he’d see something the others had missed. Like when Bethany found the purse.

He stared at the map. All the circles blurred together into a bunch of dots that made no sense.

Bethany was gone, and it was his fault.

She’d panicked, and he didn’t know how to calm her down. He’d done what she asked and given her space. The whole time he’d thought it was okay. They had cameras. Shane was outside. No one had followed them.

He’d underestimated the enemy and now Bethany was paying the price for his fuck up.

She shouldn’t have trusted him. Her gut instinct was right, and he’d tried to tell her otherwise.

God, this was his fault.

“You hoarding the coffee, too?” Roger asked.

“Hm?” Kyle straightened and glanced at the other man.

“The coffee?” Roger nodded at the machine on Kyle’s left.

“Oh. Go ahead.” Kyle picked up the map and turned, spreading it out on the island.

“Unit went by their house. The Hunts are there for some photo op, but no sign of Bethany,” Roger said.

The killer wouldn’t go back to the house. There was no tie there. Nothing about it linked to his system.

“If you’d let us keep a detail on you, this wouldn’t have happened,” Roger said for the God-only-knew-how-many time since he’d arrived shortly after midnight.

Kyle focused on the circles.

Each one was color coded with a decade. Circles were dump sites. Check marks were abduction sites. Dots were where the girls lived. With as much data as they had now it was easier to see some sort of pattern. It wasn’t quite clear what that pattern was, but everything seemed to happen in a ten-mile radius each time.

“What do these clusters tell us?” Kyle gestured to the red section from the nineties. “What are we missing?”

“They’re all areas that had a high amount of vacancies during that time period,” Roger said. “I’ve been looking at this stuff for a long time. You should have trusted me more.”

Kyle bit back his words.

They wouldn’t be in this situation if Roger hadn’t wanted the public validation he so desired.

The bedroom door creaked open.

Kyle glanced at the clock.

Nine o'clock.

He wasn’t looking forward to this conversation.