MONDAY. WASHINGTON State Fairgrounds, Seattle, Washington.

Kyle’s stomach clenched the moment the light glinted off the blade.

He’d focused everything on the target and assumed Bethany would know to get clear of the danger. He hadn’t expected her to wade in.

“I still don’t have a shot,” Felix said from his position on the far right.

“Don’t shoot,” Kyle managed to get out.

The blade swung.

He heard the sick crack of metal on bone and the man’s howl of pain.

Bethany went down and the man whirled.

“Go,” Kyle snarled.

Kyle used the metal railing running along the front of the stage like a ladder then leapt to the stage floor.

The target had Bethany pinned to the ground while Faith and Megan scrambled blindly to get away.

Kyle sprinted forward, the rest of his team right behind him.

Bethany lay on her back, her legs kicking feebly from under her attacker. Kyle’s vision narrowed to that man and the woman who’d quietly stolen his heart.

He grabbed the man by the shoulders. Kyle used is momentum to fling the smaller man off Bethany and up against the back of the stage. The man yelled and whirled—not toward Kyle. Toward Bethany.

Kyle snatched the rifle at his side up and shot.

The man staggered sideways, his hands pressed to his chest.

He glanced down at his chest then at Kyle as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“Down on the ground,” Kyle bellowed.

The man leaned backward, but the wall wasn’t as close and he slid to the ground. A bit of blood bubbled up between his lips.

The first shot had winged him. The wound on his arm wasn’t anything more than superficial. The gut wound from firing without aiming was another matter. Dying would be a slow, agonizing experience. And maybe that would be justice of a kind after everything he’d done to women like Bethany and her friends.

But where was the justice for the others? What about them?

“Kyle!” Shane bellowed.

Kyle stared into the wide, fearful eyes of a man not entirely right in the head and knew he had to do something.

“Isaac, get the girls out of here. Felix, Shane—get me an ambulance.” Kyle took a step toward the man and crouched at his side. “This is over, understand?”

“Y-you shot me.” The man was trembling now.

“And I could have killed you.” Shane glanced up at Shane. “We need to stop the bleeding and get him to a hospital.”

“Are we sure that’s the best thing to do?” Isaac asked through the comm.

“Yeah.” Kyle stared down at the small, horrible man. “That’s not who we are.”

Their team wasn’t out to kill people. It wasn’t what they did, even if wanted this man to feel the kind of overwhelming fear the women had. How many victims’ fear had be gotten drunk off of? How many lives had he snuffed out? And for what? To make him feel better about himself?

Shane secured the man’s wrists over his head while Kyle pulled his shirt up and assessed the wound.

“Let me.” Megan knelt on the other side of the man who’d intended to kill her.

“You don’t have to do this,” Kyle said.

“Yes, I do.” She stared at him without the slightest waver in her eyes. “I need a shirt. Something to put pressure on the wound.”

Bethany sat on the floor, her stunned gaze staring at him covered in the man’s blood.

Kyle had come so close to losing her. She’d always been important to him, but now it was in such a deeper way. He loved her. He fucking loved her and he’d almost lost her.

“Guys?” Isaac called out.

“Beth?” Kyle took a step toward her. His hands shaking.

It was over.

She was safe.

“Police! Freeze. All of you, step away,” an all too familiar voice bellowed.

Roger.

Kyle closed his eyes. He didn’t have to ask who all of you meant.

Bethany stared up at him, her gaze dazed, confused, lost. All he wanted to do was gather her up and tell her it was a bad dream.

Instead, Kyle held his hands up while a half dozen uniformed officers marched on stage, the first two locked onto Kyle. Probably because of the blood.

“Do what they say,” Kyle said.

“We need an ambulance over here,” Megan called out.

“On your knees,” a young man barely old enough to shave said to Kyle.

“Christ, is this really necessary, Roger?” Kyle held up his hands and went to his knees.

Roger stood over the downed man cursing a blue streak.

Of course this was necessary. Roger wanted to be the one who took the Triple Threat Killer down, and that meant anyone in his way got scooped up, too.

“Down on your stomach,” the young officer said.

Kyle lowered himself to the ground but couldn’t help glancing at Bethany’s shocked face.

Another officer took Kyle’s handgun and the rifle while the first began the Mirandization spiel.

“What are you doing?” Bethany came out of her daze and shoved the young officer’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Beth,” Kyle said as calmly as he could. “Beth? Just go where they tell you to, okay?”

“This is bullshit,” Isaac whispered through the headsets.

“It’s a pissing contest,” Kyle replied.

He watched an officer guide Bethany off stage. Two more got Faith and Megan released. Soon it was just the cops, Kyle’s team and the killer alone.

A pair of shiny loafers strolled across Kyle’s vision. He turned his head and peered up at Detective Blew.

“How far away are the news crews?” Kyle asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Roger shrugged.

“Bullshit.”

The man was likely wearing his most expensive suit, so he’d look his best on TV. Today was the culmination of a lifetime of work on one case. And the man was willing to close this one at the cost of lives and people.

“You going to make it look like I was the killer because your other guy’s all shot up?” Kyle wouldn’t put it past Roger to intentionally cause confusion.

“I wouldn’t correct anyone if that was what they chose to believe,” Roger said.

A new voice whispered in Kyle’s ear. “Zain here. Patched into your comms at just the right moment, I see. I’ve got this covered. Sit tight.”

Kyle bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

Detective Blew might have just closed the case of a lifetime, but he’d picked the wrong person to piss off. Zain played the corporate suit well, but under all that? He was trouble. There was no stone in Roger Blew’s life Zain couldn’t turn over. He was going to regret today as much as he took pride in it.

A few moments later Roger’s phone rang.

“The gates should be open. Drive straight back. What—” Roger turned away from Kyle, sputtering.

“Let me guess, that’s my boss?” Kyle asked. “Save yourself the embarrassment and let my team go. Have fun playing hero.”

Kyle turned his neck, trying his best to see off stage where Bethany had gone.

“Get them out of here,” Roger snarled.

The cops sputtered a moment before Roger bellowed the order again.

Zain must have discovered some interesting bits about their least favorite detective.

The officers removed Kyle’s handcuffs, but did not return their weapons.

That was fine. Equipment could be picked back up later. What Kyle was most concerned about was Bethany and the others safety—and privacy.

BETHANY COULDN’T SHAKE the feeling that something was wrong.

The cops wouldn’t meet her gaze. Everyone was busy doing nothing.

“Where’s Kyle? Where are the Aegis Group guys? What are you doing with them?” she asked the cops.

“This way, ma’am.” The young officer guided her to an ambulance where Megan and Faith sat.

Bethany stopped next to the bumper. No sooner had she blinked than the officer was gone.

“Does this feel weird to anyone else?” She turned and peered around at the other cop cars.

“It’s not just you,” Faith said.

“The paramedic put a Band-Aid on me and disappeared. He’s not anyone I recognize.” Megan glanced sideways at them. “This is a set up. They staged us like this.”

“Staged us? For what?” Bethany asked.

“How can they do shit like this?” Faith’s voice cracked, and she swiped at her cheeks.

“Because some people don’t have hearts.” Megan’s tone was flat, lifeless. How many times had she been staged?

“We’re alive,” Bethany said.

That was what she wanted to focus on.

A processional of vans led by two SUVs crept toward the back of the theater.

Bethany’s stomach knotted up.

She was alive.

That was what mattered.

The vans came to a stop and like an ant hill that’d been kicked people poured out. Cameras and lights were aimed their way and suddenly Bethany got it. This was what the detective wanted, to be seen as a hero.

The SUVs stopped closer to the ambulance.

Bethany swallowed.

What else?

She didn’t think she wanted to know.

The doors of the first one were flung open and Anthony, followed by her parents, spilled out of the back seat.

Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were more dignified in their exit of the first SUV.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Megan groaned.

Faith stood and backed into Bethany.

“I don’t see him,” Bethany whispered.

The front door of the SUV that’d driven Bethany’s family swung open and one, last figure got out.

Shit.

Bethany clutched Faith to her.

Anthony reached them first. His smile was wide and bright. The added weight had given him dimples. He’d recently had a haircut. Because he’d realized this moment might happen?

“Beth,” he said.

She shuddered at the sound of her name on his lips

“Don’t. Don’t come any closer,” she said.

“It’s okay. Everything’s fine now,” he said.

“Bethany?” Her mother stopped a few feet away, tears in her eyes.

It’d been years since Bethany had last seen Mom. That day, Bethany had sat in the kitchen telling her family that she was afraid of Anthony and they’d told her she was being silly. They hadn’t believed her because to the world, Anthony put on this charming face. It was in private where his words cut her deep.

The little girl inside Bethany wanted to rush to her parents and hug them tight, but they weren’t on her side. They’d chosen Anthony. Hell, they still let him live with them.

“After all this time, we’re going to take you home, sweetheart.” Mom held out her hands.

“No,” Bethany snapped and clung tighter to Faith.

“It’s okay, Beth.” Anthony held up his hands.

“You don’t get to call me that.” Bethany’s vision hazed. This man had stolen her family from her, sent her running away from everything she knew. But she was stronger now.

“Easy. Easy,” Anthony chanted.

Faith squeezed Bethany tighter.

She glanced beyond her parents at Faith’s husband standing in the back like a dark rain cloud.

Bethany darted a look to her left at Megan sitting on the bumper, her parents stroking her and posing her like some sort of doll.

The cops weren’t coming to their rescue. They’d created this nightmare scenario for them.

Behind it all, the journalists sent up a cheer.

Bethany glanced at the back of the theater where Detective Blew stood with their kidnapper and intended killer. He even waved as he paraded the man down the stairs.

“Back up.” A tall man with broad shoulders stepped between Bethany and her family, blocking their view.

Bethany’s throat closed up.

Kyle.

Yet again he’d come to their rescue.

She reached forward and wrapped her arm around his waist. Even Faith stood close to him as though his shadow could protect them.

“Excuse me, that’s our daughter,” Bethany’s dad said.

“She is, and she doesn’t want to see you. Any of you. Same goes for Faith.” Kyle’s voice vibrated. He was angry.

“Bethany? Faith?” Felix tapped them on the shoulder. “Come this way, okay?”

“Megan—” she glanced at their third roommate only to see Isaac intervening there, too.

“I want to see my daughter. You can’t keep my daughter from me,” Mom said.

“In all due respect, ma’am?” Kyle’s tone was a clear fuck you. “You chose to not see your daughter the night you chose to not believe her. And you? If you ever go on TV and do any sort of interview about your girlfriend Bethany again? That sealed juvi file is going to mysteriously become unsealed. Understand? Back up.”

Juvi file?

Bethany would have to ask later.

Right now all she wanted was to get out of here.

“Come on,” Felix said with a smile.

Kyle turned and placed a hand on Bethany’s back, guiding her forward along with Faith. They marched past the ambulance and cop cars. The officers were all still doing their very best to appear busy, but there was nothing to do.

Felix led them to the fence.

The same red haired man with the tattoos from a few days ago stood on the other side.

“Your chariot awaits, ladies.” He used a pair of bolt cutters to slice through a chain holding the gate closed and swung it open.

Two big SUVs sat parked on the curb.

“Come on. This is over,” Kyle whispered.

MONDAY. KYLE MARTIN’S Home, Seattle, Washington.

Kyle pulled his Jeep into the driveway.

The job was over.

Usually that signaled the release of Kyle’s nerves. Another job well done without anyone coming home injured or dead was a success. Instead his teeth were still on edge and his hands ached from gripping the steering wheel like his life depended on it.

He killed the engine and glanced at the three stoic faces who hadn’t said a word since they’d left the Aegis Group offices.

“I’ll grab the bags,” he said.

When a job ended, usually the assets had a home they wanted to return to, or they stayed with family. In this instance, home and family were the last things they desired. Kyle had offered his house in a selfish attempt to get a few minutes with Bethany. Besides, he understood them. Ages ago, he too had left home to forge a better path for himself.

He got out and opened the rear door for Faith.

“Thanks,” she muttered.

Of the three, Faith was the one most shook by the day.

Tomorrow Kyle would have to find out what Zain had learned about Faith’s husband and see if they couldn’t advise her on a way out of her situation. At the very least they could give her the ammunition to get free. Build a case. Whatever she needed.

Kyle grabbed the girl’s bags from the back of the Jeep. By the time he had everything in hand the three stood together, arms around each other’s waists. There was something about almost dying with people that helped to make a bond stronger.

“This way.” Kyle nodded at the side entrance to the house and led the way in through the kitchen door. “Ryan is going to come by and sleep on the sofa tonight. If you’d like him to pick up some dinner, we can look over the menus in that end drawer by the dishwasher.”

“I think we’re too...stunned to make decisions.” Bethany glanced over her shoulder at him, her haunted gaze hurting him.

“Okay. I’ll make a decision for us then.” Kyle set the bags on the dining table then wiped his hands on his jeans.

“Is there a bathroom?” Faith asked.

“Sure. There’s a powder room to the left, then a full bath upstairs.” He pointed the way for each.

“Thanks.” Faith stared at the front of the house.

“I’ll go with you,” Megan said.

The two girls shuffled forward and up the stairs.

Bethany watched them go, but made no move to follow.

“Megan’s never been this...touchy feely,” she whispered.

“Experiences like these change people.” Kyle leaned against the table. “Beth? Bethany?”

“Hm?” She turned toward him.

“I’m sorry. About last night. All of it.” He blew out a breath. Those two words had weighed heavily on him for hours. If he’d have handled last night differently, none of this would have happened.

“You don’t have to be sorry. I panicked. I’m not proud of myself.” She hung her head.

“And I should have realized that. I just... I don’t know how to be both people. Team Leader and...”

Kyle stared at Bethany.

What were they to each other?

She didn’t want a relationship right now, and yet he felt things for her. Things he couldn’t ignore.

“I failed you and I’m sorry,” he said, finally settling on something.

“You saved us, even after we were all stupid enough to get caught.” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the table beside him.

“Don’t blame yourself.” The amount of preparation and planning left them all yards behind.

“What do you think is going to happen? With our families?”

“Well, I bet Megan already knows what she’s going to say to her parents.” Hell, Kyle wouldn’t be surprised if Elijah left his daughter alone now that the appropriate images had been captured. “Faith... It depends what she wants to do. I know Zain did some digging and if she wants help getting a divorce or whatever, we know people she can go to.”

He swallowed, unsure what to say about Bethany’s family.

Her parents had seemed distraught. He’d caught a few minutes of an interview with her parents where they made it sound like Bethany had been missing for years instead of just overnight.

“I think what hurts me most is that Anthony still lives with them,” Bethany said quietly.

He reached over and wrapped his arm around her waist.

“I wish I could talk to them away from him, but...I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s brainwashed them just like he did to me.” She leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Do you want me to...help?” Kyle wouldn’t have any issue with running off a leech like Anthony.

“I don’t know. Part of me wants to say yes, then part of me feels like they have to want him there for him to still be there. What if they’ve replaced me with him?”

“No one could take your place.” He turned his head and kissed her hair.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and he gathered her in closer.

The truth was, neither of them were going to be fixed from the marks of their past in a few days. In time he hoped she got past this and could have a relationship with her family. Kyle would put the memory of his father to rest when he decided what to do with the last of his father’s ashes, but it wouldn’t change who he was.

The tightness in Kyle’s chest unraveled a bit as Bethany held him tight.

She was safe. She was here. And he’d protect her from anything she asked of him.

“God, I was so scared when we got into the grand stands.” He closed his eyes, the picture of her sitting there, apart from the others, the focus of attention.

“You get scared? Really?”

He chuckled, that bit of levity soothing all the rawness inside of him.

Bethany lifted her chin and looked up at him.

“Thank you. Really,” she said.

“Any time.” He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek.

The bruises would fade. These memories would keep her up for a while, but eventually that, too would heal.

Bethany was a woman like no other. Her tender, soft spoken personality gave and gave. He wanted to give back for all she’d done for him. Even this wasn’t enough.

“Look, now isn’t the time to really talk about this, but...I want to keep seeing you.”

“I just...” Her eyes lowered to his chest.

“We’ve both got baggage. I’m not asking you for anything. Just hang out now and then. Or if you have some creep bothering you, call me first.” He’d take what he could get.

“I feel out of control right now and scared of my own shadow. I don’t know what to say or feel...”

“Let me take care of the shadows, okay? You matter to me, Beth. A lot. I don’t want to lose you.”

A knock at the door broke the moment.

“It’s Ryan,” a man called out.

Shit.

And Kyle hadn’t made decisions about food.

“Coming.” He gave Bethany a squeeze then let her go, hoping that wasn’t the last time.

BETHANY STARED AT THE bruises on her cheek. They didn’t look that bad right now, but tomorrow and later this week they’d be pretty gruesome. And then there were the cuts on her wrist and hands. She’d have these reminders for a few weeks while it all healed. Reminders that she’d survived.

“Did you decide what you’re going to do?” Megan leaned against the bathroom door.

Faith sat on the edge of the bath, brushing her hair out.

They were attached at the hip. All night, no one went to the bathroom, bedroom or in the yard alone. It was like this experience had bound them together even tighter than their secrets.

“Not really,” Bethany replied finally.

“He’s into you and you know it,” Faith said as though that were the answer to everything.

Bethany bit her lip.

She might not have Faith’s experience with men, but when she looked at Kyle, she saw an intensity of feeling behind his eyes—aimed at her. She wanted that, but she wasn’t ready either.

“I like him, but I’m not ready for him,” she said slowly.

“Tell him that. Go.” Megan opened the bathroom door and nodded. “Something good should come out of this.”

“We’ll be on the other side of the house if you change your mind,” Faith said.

Bethany’s cheeks warmed. The easiest thing to do would be to hide with the girls, ignore her feelings and burrow down deep into a bed. But then she’d lose Kyle. She knew she would, and she couldn’t bring herself to let that happen either.

She stepped out into the hall and stared at Kyle’s closed bedroom door.

What if she was seeing the opportunity she wanted to see?

What if it was all in her head?

What if he wanted something right now?

What if she made an idiot out of herself?

Kyle had dropped everything to help them. He’d been there at every turn to guide and support them when he should have been grieving and dealing with his own wounds. This experience didn’t magically change them. Neither of them were healed from their pasts, but they could go forward differently.

She padded down the hall to his door and grasped the knob. One deep breath in and she twisted the handle, and stepped in, closing the door behind her.

The only lights on were those in the bathroom.

The sink turned off, and she held her breath.

Kyle braced his hands on either side of the bathroom door and leaned out as though he were caged into that tiny room away from her. Droplets of water chased each other down his bare chest. He’d showered recently and hadn’t yet gotten fully dressed beyond boxers.

For several moments they looked at each other.

No one had ever looked at her the way he did. Not Anthony or anyone else. It was a hungry look that caused a cascade of warmth to go off inside her.

Bethany swallowed and wiped her hands off on her pajama pants. She’d told him in this very room she had a crush on him. She could tell him her feelings were different now, too.

She crossed to the bathroom and reached up, grasping him by the wrist.

Kyle let go and allowed her to take him by the hand. She led him to the bench between the dormers and planted a hand against his chest. He sat down, their hands still clasped.

“I need to talk to you, and I need to get this all out so you’ll understand. I hope you’ll understand.” He squeezed her hand, a silent plea to go on. “The other day I admitted to having this crush on you, and now... You went and saved me and my friends. Everything I learn about you makes me like you more. I feel like...like I should want more. Right now. But I’m also twisted up inside. I’m scared. Seeing my family today, it got to me. And...I’m not ready for more, even if part of me wants it. That part of me is scared that if I don’t tell you, right now, that I want to be with you you’ll go away. It’s just...I’m not ready and saying I am would be a lie. I don’t want to lie to you, Kyle.”

“Am I allowed to speak?” He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb and leaned forward.

“Yeah...”

“Okay. Come here.” He tugged on her hand.

She took a step closer and prayed for the best.

Kyle pulled her sideways, sitting her on his lap. She sucked in a breath, inhaling the scent of soap and him. He stroked his hand down her leg and sighed.

“Here’s the deal....” He stared at her, a familiar uncertainty looking back. “I love you..”

Bethany stared at him. Of all the things she’d imagined he might say that was not on her list.

How was she supposed to respond to, I love you?

Did she say it back?

Feelings bubbled up in her, but she couldn’t say them. She wasn’t entirely ready to express those feelings. She needed time to worry and fret about them.

“I’m not in a hurry, Beth. Hell, I think we should pump the brakes.” He stroked her leg again. “We’re both works in progress. Any more rushing would be bad for either of us. I don’t expect you to say anything right now. Maybe the best thing to do is leave it at that?”

“That’s the kind of statement that deserves a reply.” Even if she didn’t know what to say back.

“You should only say what you want to say. I know me, and I know...I know when I know.”

“I wish I had that kind of certainty.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “Is this okay?”

“This right now? Or this—us?” He gave her a little squeeze.

“This, us, this.”

“I think so. I’ll admit, being friends is going to be hard, but I’d take that over nothing. You’re a special kind of woman, Bethany Rossi.”

“Beth. You call me, Beth.”

Kyle kissed her forehead, and she closed her eyes.

“I suppose I can’t do that for a while?” he said against her skin.

“Some friends sleep together.” She lifted her chin, finding his lips with hers.

“I’m not sure I like where that sentence is going.” His hold on her tightened.

Bethany kissed his frown.

Given time, this would be perfect.