“What do we know?” I walked into the command truck with Ben.

Leo looked up from his monitor. “Hey, boss, I think we found Julie’s car.” He pointed to a blinking light on his monitor.

“Where?” I watched the screen over his shoulder.

“It’s at the edge of town on an old dirt road leading into the desert. It was stationary a minute ago, but now it’s moving back toward us.”

“Mark where it was,” I ordered. “If she left Maggie out there, she might still be alive.” I didn’t want to think the worst. I couldn’t even imagine Maggie buried in the desert.

“No, wait—it’s stopped.” Leo clicked the mouse and began to type. “Sending coordinates to your phone now.”

Without a word, I turned and walked back to the SUV. I uploaded the coordinates to the GPS and took off, wheels spinning and gravel flying behind me.

“Boss, you maybe want to let me drive?” Ben held tight to the oh-shit handle on the passenger side.

“Nope. Just hold on.” I turned the wheel too fast, and the car lifted up on two wheels as it screeched around the corner. I merged into traffic inches from the front bumper of the car I cut off. I stomped the gas pedal to the floor, and the beast’s engine surged to life. We flew past car after car, advancing quickly on the little blinking dot in the GPS screen.

Ding!

Ben checked his phone. “Leo just sent us a picture and the info on Julie’s car.” He swiped his finger down the phone screen. “It’s a rusted red thunderbird with gray primer on the rear quarter panel.”

“Keep your eyes peeled. We should intercept it in five minutes.” My jaw clenched as I white knuckled the wheel of the powerful SUV. Ben just nodded in my peripheral vision.

We had to find Maggie. Alive. I needed her. Sitting on that airplane, flying over the Atlantic, I’d realized how much I missed her—so much more than I had ever missed anyone else. I missed our silent morning coffee as we watched the sun rise and her random humming as she moved around the house. I wanted the feel of her, warm and soft. I craved her little snuffling snores next to me all night.

“Boss, up ahead. See those lights?” Ben pointed at tail lights growing closer.

“I see them.” Turning the wheel, I aimed right for them.

“Watch out!” he shouted, bracing himself against the door and the dashboard.

“Holy shit!” I slammed on the brakes, bringing us to a screeching halt just as a dark shape ran out in front of us. “What the hell was that?!”

I shouldered open the door, jumped down onto the road, and raced to the front of the car. There, in the bright glow of the headlights, a small body lay in a crumpled heap on the pavement. “Oh my God!”

It was Maggie. Her pale face was streaked with dirt and tears. With her eyes shut, her long lashes rested on her cheeks. She looked so fragile, so vulnerable.

“Maggie! What happened? Are you hurt? Maggie!” I looked up at Ben with my heart in my eyes. “It’s Maggie!”

Ben knelt down and felt for a pulse. “She’s alive boss. You didn’t hit her. She’s probably just in shock. Let’s get her into the car.”

Bang!

A shot rang out, and we both hit the ground, rolling under the SUV and covering Maggie’s body with ours.

“Who the hell is shooting at us?” Ben muttered.

“It has to be Julie. The tracker put her close by. I’m sure that’s who Maggie was running from.” We peered out opposite sides of the SUV, trying to spot any movement in the dark night.

“There,” Ben whispered.

I turned to see a shape materialize out of the inky blackness. “Where is she?! Where is the bitch?!” Julie had finally snapped. She was a raving lunatic, waving a gun around and screaming to herself.

Ben and I stayed quiet under the car, exchanging knowing glances. I signaled with my hand and then rolled out the side opposite Julie. Pulling my gun from my holster, I took cover behind the side of the SUV. I peered around the back, away from the headlights, keeping out of her line of sight.

“Maggie! Come out, come out wherever you are!” She sang her taunt into the night. “Where, oh, where is my Maggie?” She tried to look under the car, but the lights temporarily blinded her. “Come out, Maggie! I won’t hurt you!” A crazy smile spread across her face, and the whites of her eyes stood out against her dark expression.

“Julie!” I shouted. “Put the gun down and back away from the car!”

An evil laugh erupted from her. “You won’t shoot me!”

“Put the gun down, Julie!” She’d threatened Maggie. The hell I wouldn’t shoot her.

“Never! I’m going to hunt that bitch down and give her what she’s had coming for a long time!” She raised the gun up and lovingly ran the barrel down the side of her face. “My friend here is going to give her what she deserves!”

“I’m going to tell you one more time—put the gun down and step back! Put your hands behind your head!”

“HAHAHAHAHA!” She let out a cackle, and I swear her eyes gleamed red for an instant.

“It’s over, Julie.” I took a bead, right between her eyes, my finger flexing on the trigger.

“She poisoned you,” she screeched. “She poisons everyone! I won’t let her win!”

“She’s already won, Julie! You failed. I have Maggie here! She’s fine! There is nothing you can do now but surrender and save yourself.”

“No! NO!” Her voice was a howl, and she jumped up and down like Yosemite Sam in those old Bugs Bunny cartoons. “I won’t let her win! You can’t take me to jail! I won’t let you!”

“Julie-” the gunshot drowned out my words as she placed the barrel under her chin and pulled the trigger. The top and back of her head exploded in a shower of pink mist. For a moment, I was back in the jungles of Brazil, watching my kill shot take out the leader of the human trafficking ring. The situations were eerily similar.

Her body slumped to the ground, her eyes wide and unseeing. The gun fell a few inches from her hand.

Ben came up beside me and carefully took the gun from my limp hands. “Boss, it’s over. You need to take care of Maggie now.”

At the sound of her name, I snapped out of my daze and ran back to the car where Ben had laid her in the backseat. Maggie was pale and still, covered in blood. It was déjà vu all over again.

I decided in that moment that it was time we re-wrote the trajectory of our lives. This time, our timelines needed to wind together.