“MISS! HEY, MISS!”

Shannon turned to see a dark-haired man hurrying toward her from the back edge of her unit. It wasn't Ian Ward. The other agent had driven her to her apartment after she'd picked him up at the hospital. She'd taken a few moments to interview Jaynice's fiancé and check on him. He was mending but terrified. For Jaynice. Shannon had probably spoken with him longer than she should have, but she hadn't wanted to leave the man who reminded her of her father alone. She'd stayed until he'd fallen asleep, then found Ian in the waiting room with Jaynice's daughter again.

There had been a truck in her extra parking spot. Not uncommon, considering her neighbor seemed to have a revolving roster of boyfriends each weekend. Ian had parked across the street in overflow. He was going to wait there while conference-calling Allen Knight.

Shannon was going to grab her second ready bag and hightail it back to the PAVAD building, —hopefully before Ben finished cleaning up the latest video.

"Miss, I... I'm sorry. I don't know your name." He gave her a self-conscious smile. Awkward. He wasn't much bigger than she was, but...something about him registered.

She tensed, her hand going toward her holster. She forced herself to relax as it sank in where she'd seen him. He lived in the complex. He'd even been in the laundry room the last time she'd washed laundry. And he'd been in the office when she'd paid her last rent payment. He was just a neighbor.

She’d been riding the bus with this man for a few weeks—until Ezra had fixed her car, anyway. He was a neighbor, nothing more sinister than that. She was just extra jumpy with everything that had happened.

He looked like her insurance agent. “Yes?”

“You dropped this.” He held something out to her, and she recognized it immediately. Her FBI issued windbreaker. She’d had to be issued a new one after the last had been ruined when she’d been hit at Colby's. Her new one was still shrink-wrapped; she’d requisitioned it a few days ago, and it had been tossed at her in the hallway by the woman in charge as she'd left earlier. The other woman had teased her about it being the only extra-small jacket they had left. Then the woman had asked if Ezra was ok. Shannon had spent a moment talking to her.

The brief distraction had been needed. A reminder that Ezra had more than just the CCU supporting him, willing to help him get through this. The entire PAVAD division took care of their own.

She held out her hand for the jacket. “Thank you. I just got that today. If I lost it right off the bat, I’d never hear the end of it. Mr.—”

“Se-Seaton. It’s Charles. Most of my friend’s call me Chas-Chase.” He smiled at her, a perfectly ordinary grin. To Shannon, there was nothing remarkable about the man. Nothing to make him stand out.

The name sounded familiar. But for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what about him was registering.

He made her skin crawl.

She held her hand out for the plastic-wrapped jacket. He placed it in her palm, his fingers brushing her inner wrist.

Then he smiled again.

And turned away.

As she walked away, Shannon couldn’t help wonder just what it was about the man that set off every warning alarm she’d ever possessed.

Her building was less than one hundred feet ahead. She had her gun. Ian Ward was less than fifty yards away and may even have a direct line of sight on her right now.

She’d get inside, grab her bag, and get back to the other agent. Then she'd run the name Chase Seaton. Just to be sure.

She’d been trained to trust her instincts about people. She’d make sure the guy didn’t have a rap sheet that she—or others in her complex—needed to be worried about. Then she’d get back to PAVAD business.

Shannon increased her pace. She wanted to get herself inside where she felt a little safer. Then she’d grab her bag and head back to PAVAD.

Be with Ezra. The way her instincts were shouting at her, she was supposed to be.

He needed her right now.

Not Cam or Ken. Or anyone else. He needed her.

And that was where she was going to be.

She looked over her shoulder. The man was gone. She could almost make out his back as he walked away from her building. Almost. Just like all the other nights before. He'd get on the bus with her half the time. Sometimes he'd sit near her and get off at the same stop.

That’s where she’d seen him before. The bus. The apartment complex.

Shannon turned back toward her own front door, loving the warm orange color of it. Home. Safety.

She’d thought she was closer to it than that. She should be. She blinked, tried to focus on the orange.

It didn’t happen. Her head swirled. She couldn’t focus. She turned back toward the waiting car. Ian was getting out of the car. Shannon took a step toward him. He represented safety. Backup.

He called her name and started toward her just as a hard hand landed on Shannon's shoulder.

She heard a pop. The sound of a silencer.

Ian Ward crumbled right before her eyes, covered in red. She stepped toward him, but her head was fuzzy. She couldn't force her body to work any longer. She opened her mouth to scream.

She heard her neighbor, Mr. McClanahan, yell out. She tried to look for him. To yell for the old man to get back before he was hurt.

Nothing came out.

Shannon crumbled to the sidewalk.

Hands lifted her from the pavement. She looked into watery blue eyes of the stranger from the bus as the world went dark around her.