“He doesn’t need to know,” I argued. “This will get him all riled up for nothing.”

My hands twisted the hem of my T-shirt because I really didn’t want to tell Heath any of this. My brother had always seen me as his head-in-the-clouds little sister who was better at being a geek than navigating real life. For the record, I was good at both, thank you very much.

Rhett shot me a look. “Have you forgotten that your brother is a cop? He kept tabs on you in California. He knows about the employee who kidnapped you. He told me so himself.”

Self-righteous anger swept through me like a firestorm. “Are you kidding? He told you that?”

“Yeah. He did.”

“Shouldn’t he have known who Carlos really was then if he was keeping such close tabs?”

“How many layers of shit did you have to hack through to find out the truth?”

Rhett’s question reminded me of just how carefully Carlos’s identity had been hidden. “A lot,” I mumbled.

“And who else has the skills to uncover that information?”

“No one he knows.”

“So, all those times your brother warned you off Carlos, it was his gut talking, a gut that you should have listened to because he knows his shit. He’s got good instincts.”

I didn’t have to come up with a response because Heath pulled up to the gate and Carver hit the button to let him in. We waited in the driveway in silence.

Heath was out of his car and coming toward us in seconds. “What the hell is going on? I finally got Dad settled after they finished all the tests, and I thought you’d be able to come out and take a turn and sit with him.”

Rhett held up a hand before Heath could rip into me like he clearly wanted to. “She locked herself in the safe room. There was a breach.”

All color drained from Heath’s face, along with any remaining righteous indignation. “Tell me everything.”

Rhett filled him in, and when he got to the part about Carlos’s real identity, Heath finally looked at me again.

“Told you I never liked that fucker. He’s dead. Fucking dead.”

Rhett stepped forward. “You’re gonna have to get in line.”

“Stop. Both of you.” I pushed myself between them. “We need a plan. A solid one. I don’t know what to do. I’ve gotten us all into a big old mess, and I’d like to get us out in one piece.”

Heath glanced at Carver. “You sure he’s solid?”

Rhett nodded. “Yeah, and he’s getting a bigger team together to keep Ari safe. Now we need to figure out the offensive strategy. How do we take Carlos out so he backs off? You have connections in Cali, obviously.”

Heath exhaled a long breath. “Yeah, I got a couple buddies with the Feds. No one knows who this guy is for real, otherwise there’d probably be a do not touch slapped over him, like so many of those other assholes we can’t take down without permission. But this guy, his ass is swinging. It might take me a couple days, but he’ll make a wrong move and I’ll have them bring him in. I don’t care if it’s a taillight out or a failure to yield. All they need is a legit reason to make contact, and then his ass is in for questioning.”

Even though I’d grown up in the world of cops and their strategies, it didn’t make sense to me. “Why can’t they just go to his door and arrest him for threatening me?”

Both men looked at me before Heath spoke.

“We don’t want your name coming up in the questioning. You’re staying as far out of this as possible.”

“But I’m already involved.”

“Not anymore,” they replied in unison.

“And you think this will work?”

Heath and Rhett had a silent conversation I couldn’t interpret before Heath turned back to me.

“Yeah. It’ll work. You lay low, and I’ll handle this my way. Rhett stays on you like white on rice. Don’t leave the compound. Get your extra security and make sure they’re solid. You stay safe inside the walls, and I’ll deal with what’s happening outside.”

“And Dad?”

Heath smiled. “I’ll take care of him. Don’t worry.”

“You sure you’re okay with this, Rhett?” It seemed so out of character for him to agree to let someone else take the lead, but he squeezed my hand.

“Keeping you safe is my number-one priority.” To Heath, he said, “We’ll be here. Keep us updated.”

We said our good-byes and watched from the front steps as Heath drove out the gate.

“So we’re on lockdown . . .”

Rhett winked. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t suck.”

I raised both eyebrows. “What if I want to?”