My fingers drummed on my thigh as my foot bounced.

Thinking the Madam had played me, I reached to my pocket to double check the address.

It was here. The place Madam said I would find Kendra. Except she wasn’t here, and the place was crickets.

Tipping forward I glanced out each of my windows, then in the mirrors. The shipping yard played with my imagination as gulls flew above, squawking, as if mocking me for believing Madam would ever tell me the whereabouts of Kendra’s next delivery after what she did to have me get Tonya killed.

When my mind should have been on Kendra, all I could think about was Blake Stone.

Stone was the mastermind behind trafficking cocaine from South America into southern California. Through a sophisticated operation, he’d managed to flood the market and, with it, exploded his net worth in a matter of months. Once he got rolling, there was no stopping him. He quickly went from being a no name to being someone to keep your eye on. A true mover and shaker in an industry generally suspicious of outsiders.

But, in the end, it was his greed that brought him down. The same loss of perception I could now see flashing in the eyes of Madam.

Thinking I heard a car coming, I twisted around in my seat to look out the back window.

Holding my breath, I waited.

Praying it would be Kendra, it didn’t take me long to realize that it wasn’t anything but my own imagination playing tricks on me.

Why did Madam have Kendra coming all the way out here for? She had to be further along in taking over the gap Stone left behind than I had thought. It was the only explanation.

My stomach churned as the uneasy feeling grew.

I didn’t like anything about this. Not where I was. Not what Madam had Kendra doing. And I certainly didn’t like the power and control Madam had over the decisions we made.

“Fuck!” I slammed my hand down on the wheel.

Reaching across the dash, I popped open the glovebox. Digging under the car registration and insurance papers, I quickly found my cold pistol waiting to tempt me with death.

The seat caught me as I relaxed back into it and I set the gun in my lap. Stroking my finger over the metal, I immediately thought of Nora. A feeling of emptiness washed over me, realizing that one pull of the trigger would set me free.

I clenched my jaw in anger.

Madam thought she’d been the one to save me. The one to have picked me up. She gave me purpose. I’d let her have that. But Kendra gave me reason to live.

I swung out the cylinder, making sure the weapon was loaded.

It was strange looking down the muzzle without having urges of wanting to stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger. Even with my feelings deceiving me into believing Maria and Tonya were somehow my fault, Kendra kept me from wanting to die. As long as she was around, I could get through the toughest of challenges. But our time was nearing an end, and that was what had me most scared. Because who knew what I would choose to do then.

Lifting my hips, I stuck the gun in my belt just as a small sedan pulled up.

Keeping a close eye on it, I carefully watched from the sidelines with an anxious heart.

Suddenly, the back door opened and my breath was taken away.

It was her. Kendra. And she looked amazing.

Madam hadn’t lied. But was it still a set up?

As soon as the sedan drove away, I stepped out and hurried to catch up to her. Her long dark hair blew off her shoulders and her hips swayed seductively. Without her knowing I was there, I called out to her as I approached. “Bella.”

She stopped and turned.

Her jades widened as she looked around nervously. “Kelly, what are you doing here?”

Taking her by her hand, I said, “We have to leave.”

“What are you talking about? I can’t just leave,” she protested.

Tightening my grip, I countered, “You can’t go forward with delivering that package.”

Her brows pinched.

“It’s too dangerous.” I pulled on her arm, beginning to backpedal toward my car. “Look, I don’t have time to explain. Trust me on this.”

Nodding, she submitted to my trust. Her heels clacked over the pavement and once we were at my car, I opened the passenger door and forced her inside.

Kendra was still arguing with me when I fell into the driver seat. “You don’t understand, Kelly. If I don’t make this drop, I’m going to find myself in hot water.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Glancing around, I reached for the keys still dangling in the ignition. “You’re already in hot water.”

“This is my job—” She paused. Then she turned to me with dark eyes and asked, “How did you know where I was?”

Staring over the hood, I murmured, “You told me about the deliveries.”

Her eyes closed as she shook her head. “I didn’t tell you about this.”

We shared a glance.

“Maxwell,” she whispered.

She wasn’t entirely wrong about that. Except Maxwell didn’t know about her coming all the way out here. “He didn’t tell me about this. Madam did.”

Kendra’s brows shot to the top of her head.

I nodded once, fearing that if we didn’t leave now we would soon be met by something much worse.

“What has you spooked?” Kendra twisted in her seat to square her shoulders with me. “Is it Tonya? Because I know what you did to blackmail Parker.”

Putting the car in drive, I eased my foot off the brake and started to roll. “I didn’t kill her,” I whispered as my ribs began strangling my heart.

“No, but you might as well have.”

Kendra’s words were like a knife to an artery. I was conscious and awake, but my body went cold as I bled out. How could she blame me for Tonya’s death? She had no right. The details of what she knew were obscured by whatever propaganda Madam fed her. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Kelly, if you don’t let me hand this over,” she waved the package in my face, “you might as well have me killed, too.”

Slamming on the brakes, I lunged for the package. Tearing it open, time slowed to a crawl as we both watched hundred-dollar bills fly through the inside of my car. “This money is what will have you killed,” I yelled.

Kendra hurried to collect what bills she could, but they were everywhere. In the front seat and back. On the dash, to the floor. Finally giving up, she crossed her arms over her chest and adopted a sullen look as she huffed, “First Angel. Now you, too?”

Slamming my fist against the side door, I couldn’t believe my ears. “You talked to Angel?”

Kendra’s eyes knowingly flickered.

“Fuck.” I shoved my fingers through my hair. “You weren’t supposed to talk to her without me.” Turning to face her, I said, “Why did you do that?”

“She came to me.”

Taken back, I did a double take. “Angel can’t be trusted.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“What makes you doubt me?”

“She tried to convince me that I shouldn’t be making these deliveries for Madam.” Kendra collected a few bills off her lap. “And the fact that you’re here now,” she glanced at me, “makes me think she might be right.”

“Bella, Angel isn’t who she says she is,” I appealed.

A pensive expression lined her face. “Who is she then, Kelly? Because I would like to know.”

My shoulders tightened as I froze.

I feared that Sylvia was behind Kendra’s meeting with Angel. I could still hear Sylvia’s threat that all who were pursuing justice for Maria would soon be silenced. And now that Kendra had spoken with Angel, Kendra met those requirements. Her name was added to the kill list of those needing to be silenced, too.

Rubbing my hand over my face, it all made sense. Sylvia knew I was gunning for her. And if she was able to get to Kendra, she would strike where it hurt me most—Kendra—getting me to back off the case.

“There is more to what is going on then you even realize,” I murmured.

Kendra turned her head away and pulled her ponytail tight. “Are you worried about me?”

Reaching across the console, I took her hand inside of mine. “I don’t want to lose you.”

She turned to look at me with wet eyes.

Leaning over, she took my face inside her hands and said, “I promise you won’t.”

But she didn’t know everything. With stakes as high as they were, there was no way to guarantee any of us would be alive by the time this was all over.