From where they stood outside the farmhouse, Jace heard shouting inside. Men calling out instructions to each other. They knew the Hawks were here. They were getting ready. Well, his guys were ready, too.

 

“Okay, let’s move. Weapons ready,” Jace said.

 

His guys took out knives and guns. He heard the sound of several slides being pulled back, loading bullets. They walked to the house, ears and eyes open.

 

“Alex and Aaron, circle around first.” Jace pointed to the side of the house. “Make sure no one is coming up behind us. We’ll keep lookout here while you sweep.”

 

Aaron and Alex inched to the side of the house, peeked around the corner, then walked out of sight. Jace kept his eyes peeled, watching the house for any movement, and listened carefully for his guys. They’d call out if something went wrong. Minutes later, Aaron and Alex appeared around the other side of the house.

 

“All clear,” Aaron said.

 

They approached the porch with Jace and Aaron at the front, the rest of the guys right behind him. Jace lifted his leg and kicked the door, hard. It might not be locked, but busting the lock would make sure it didn’t get in their way later. The door crashed open to the sound of splintering wood.

 

Two of the Ghost Reapers ran at them, their guns pointing back at the Hawks’ guns. They stopped when they were feet apart and glared at each other.

 

“Where’s Lionel?” Jace demanded.

 

“With your girl, having a good time,” one of the men sneered at him.

 

Jace clenched his teeth and tried to ignore the comment. He was likely just trying to get him mad anyway. Giving in to that would only make things harder and get him tripped up. This was not the time to get tangled in too much emotion and let it cloud his thinking. He had two jobs to do. Save Isabella and Sara. Kill Lionel and his guys. Didn’t matter much what order they happened in, as long as they both happened.

 

Jace assessed the situation. Two of the Reapers, five of the Hawks. Obviously they outnumbered them right now, but there were several more men in this house somewhere. He didn’t need them sneaking up behind them and catching them off guard. How many more could there be?

 

They stood in some sort of entryway. From this angle he could see a staircase and two adjoining rooms. Another room, the kitchen probably, was visible far down the hallway in front of them. The stairs leading upstairs looked unused. Thick layers of dust and many boards broken or splintered. No one would be upstairs. Were all the other men with Isabella and Sara, or were they spread out?

 

The two adjoining rooms were empty. No people, not even any furniture besides an old dusty chair in the room to the right. There was likely a basement to the house, but if those steps were in as rough of a shape as the ones leading upstairs, then likely no one was in the basement either. So, that probably meant everyone was on the first floor. He listened again, but nothing gave away the location of anyone else in the house. Not that he wanted her to be upset, but he wished he could hear Sara or Isabella crying or something. Anything to tell him where they were.

 

He and his guys needed to go through the house to search, but first, they’d have to deal with these two guys. Five on two wouldn’t be too hard, though who knew how long it would be before the rest jumped in to help. If they rushed them, they could take them down easily.

 

Jace took a small step to the right. He glanced over at his guys, lifted both eyebrows, which was the signal, and rushed forward.

 

Gun shots rang in the room, but the Hawks moved at them too fast to be hit. Jace dove at the man closest to him. The man landed on his side, Jace straddling his waist. He put his gun to his temple, then hesitated. He didn’t kill people often and hated to do it now. But there was no way around this. He reminded himself that they’d taken Isabella and Sara, they’d held a gun to her head, and they’d tried to kill him. They’d burned down his house and the MC headquarters, they may have killed Daniel. The Reapers wanted him dead and if he didn’t kill them first, they’d be coming after him soon. Kill or be killed. It was that simple.

 

The man was struggling to get free, reaching for his gun that had fallen just out of reach when he landed on the floor. He gave up and tried to reach his foot, where Jace guessed he had a knife. Jace took in a short breath, blew it out in a huff, and pulled the trigger. With a loud bang, the man went still and a puddle of blood formed under his head.

 

Jace stood up and looked around. The other Ghost Reaper member lay on the ground, dead. Jace wasn’t sure who had taken him down, but his guys were on their feet, ready. Two more men rushed into the room.

 

Jace nudged Aaron’s shoulder and they snuck around the corner while his guys and the new guys were occupied. They were now in the room to the right. It was empty except for the chair. There was no place for anyone to hide and no one had come into the room since he’d first checked it.

 

A lot of shouting came from the entryway they’d just left. Jace didn’t want to leave his guys hanging, so he peeked around the corner to get a view of the entryway. One of the Reapers held Alex at gun point. He couldn’t see the other Reaper or his other guys.

 

But, from where he stood, he had a perfect shot. And no one realized he was there. He aimed and shot the Reaper in the shoulder. Trying for his head would have put his aim too close to Alex. Better not to take chances. The shoulder would do enough damage and give his guys time to finish him off. The man dropped his hold on Alex, who immediately kicked him and kneed him in the gut, dropping him to the ground. Then he shot him in the chest. Alex nodded at Jace in thanks.

 

Jace turned back to Aaron, who motioned that they should go to the doorway that led to the next room.

 

They inched closer, stopping to listen and peer around the corner. The next room was a dining room, also empty. But through the dining room, he thought he saw someone in the kitchen. He wanted to barge through the room, but he knew better.

 

He stepped into the room. There was so much commotion in the front rooms that it made it hard to hear anything else. A gun shot rang out now and then, echoing off the walls, making his ears ring. He edged to the wall where the doorway leading into the kitchen was.

 

Not much of the room could be seen without him giving away his position, but what he did see stopped him cold. Three legs. Two were on the floor—a child’s purple leggings and foot in a bright pink sneaker, and an adult leg in black pants beside it wearing flats. And a man’s jeans and boot standing across from them. The woman and child were sitting on the floor together. It had to be Isabella and Sara, but who was in the room with them? Lionel most likely, since he hadn’t made an appearance yet.

 

Jace turned to Aaron and nodded toward the kitchen. “They’re in there,” he whispered.

 

But then something happened that he didn’t expect. Smoke curled in the air. Someone had started a fire. He’d mentioned burning the place down when he talked with his guys outside, but they wouldn’t start one now. Not without his command, and not before everyone got out. Had Lionel’s guys set this place on fire, too? Man, they were just a bunch of pyromaniacs, weren’t they?

 

He didn’t see any flames, however, and it was more the smell of smoke and something burning than the smoke itself in the room, so it couldn’t be too close to them or too bad yet.

 

Jace held his gun up, ready. He looked at Aaron, who nodded.

 

“Let me go in first,” Jace whispered. “I might need you to take him out if it’s a standoff.”

 

Aaron nodded again and watched as Jace took a step forward. Jace stood in the doorway, gun pointed at the man in the room. It was Lionel after all.

 

Sara cried out, “Mommy!” and pointed at him.

 

Jace allowed himself one instant to look at them. Isabella had Sara sitting between her legs, holding her tight, rocking her back and forth. Her eyes were red and raw, her cheek bruised. Someone would pay for that. Her hair was a mess and her makeup was smeared, but she looked otherwise okay. They hadn’t hurt her much. But that bruise on her cheek. He had to swallow his anger. Isabella met his eyes and her gaze said she was both afraid and glad to see him.

 

Sara looked surprised and hopeful. Her bunny sat on her lap, much dirtier than the last time he’d seen it. She looked overall dirty, too, like she’d been playing in the dust that was so thick through the house. Or maybe they’d just had her sitting here in the grime. Her little eyes were bright red, too, and swollen. Tear trails lined her cheeks and from her nose, a thin line of clear mucus ran to her mouth.

 

Lionel leaned casually against the counter, eying him up. “About time you showed up.” His gun was in his hand, hanging at his side.

 

Jace had his gun trained on Lionel’s head.

 

Then Lionel raised his gun and pointed it at Isabella. “I wonder who can shoot faster.” Lionel grinned at Jace. “Wanna find out?”

 

Jace glared at him. “Drop it.”

 

Lionel laughed. “Drop yours.”

 

They glared at each other, neither moving. But Lionel didn’t know Jace had backup. All he had to do was wait a minute. He saw Lionel move before he heard the gunshot. Lionel fell to the ground, blood pouring from his arm. Aaron had missed, but it was enough.

 

Jace kicked the gun from Lionel’s hand and turned to Isabella. “Run!”

 

She shook her head. He couldn’t understand what was going on. Why wouldn’t she get up and leave immediately the instant she could?

 

Smoke was coming into the room now and he coughed. Not more of this shit. He’d been coughing for days it felt like. His lungs needed more than a few hours to heal. The air felt like fire when he breathed in. He covered his mouth, but he was already bent over, coughing hard.

 

He was dizzy and tried to shake it off. Aaron put a hand on his back and shouted something but the fight was too loud in the next room, and the fire was getting louder, and now the ringing in his ears was too loud. He fell to his knees, coughing.

 

Isabella looked at him, wild with fear. Why didn’t she get up and run? What was the problem?

 

“Run!” he croaked.

 

She held up Sara’s hand. There was a silver handcuff around it. How had he not seen that before? What an idiot he was not to notice. Of course she wasn’t going to leave without her daughter and he’d still need to get Sara out anyway.

 

Jace crawled over to them and inspected the handcuff. He saw the pipe Sara was chained to. Couldn’t be too strong of a structure if the rest of the house was falling apart like it appeared to be. He scooted around Isabella and slid under the sink. The pipe she was cuffed to was the pipe that ran from the wall to the underside of the sink. He put a foot against the wall on either side of the pipe and yanked.

 

The pipe broke free from the wall with some effort. It’d taken several tries, but eventually the plaster gave way and the pipe was corroded enough to snap apart. He broke out into another coughing fit, but Isabella was able to slid the handcuff over the pipe to get Sara free. They’d need some bolt cutters later or to pick the lock, but for now, they could run, and since the handcuff was only on one hand, it shouldn’t get too much in her way.

 

Jace turned to face Isabella, put his hand at the back of her neck, and brought her mouth to his. He stopped coughing long enough to kiss her hard. The world melted for just a second, and it was enough to flood him with emotion. The adrenaline made his mind spin. His body grew warm with desire and he wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes off right there and take her. Kissing her was the best feeling in the world. He never wanted it to end. He would make her his when this was all over. He’d do whatever it took and would stop at nothing to win her heart and keep it forever.

 

She kissed him back just as hard. She pulled herself to him, dug her fingers into his hair. She’d forgiven him, it seemed, at least for now, for being who he was. Maybe she’d see how his dangerous lifestyle could lead to him getting her out of anything. Maybe him saving her was just enough to make everything else okay.

 

He pulled back from the kiss to cough, and she whispered his name. Just once. “Jace.” But there was so much longing in it that he kissed her again, quickly this time. He got to his feet, and pulled her up.

 

“Run,” he said. “Go into the woods and stay there until I come for you. Or one of my guys.”

 

She nodded, fresh tears running down her cheeks. He coughed again and had to turn from her. She put her hand on his shoulder, then was gone.

 

Aaron stood beside Lionel, his foot on his hand. Lionel’s gun was tucked in the back of Aaron’s jeans and he periodically leaned around the corner and fired a shot. The other fight had to be over soon. How many of the Ghost Reapers had shown up? Were any of his guys injured? Jace glanced out the window in time to see Isabella run into the woods. Then he turned his attention back to the kitchen floor.

 

Lionel laughed from his place on the ground. “You idiot.”

 

“Shut it.” Jace kicked him in the ribs. He was glad Aaron hadn’t killed him. Gave him time to beat him, make it hurt a little. And this way he could be the one to take him out and have his revenge on the man who tried to kill him.

 

“They’re going to die anyway,” Lionel said. “You think we won’t find them? You think I won’t have fun torturing them and making their deaths painful?”

 

Jace kicked him again. Lionel curled around his ribs and coughed up blood.

 

“Go ahead,” Lionel spit. “They’ll die anyway, and so will you. I’m not the only one who wants them dead.”

 

What was he talking about? Who else could possibly want them dead? The only person who came to mind was Craig, but what did he have to do with any of this? Who even knew where Craig was. And he wasn’t affiliated with the Ghost Reapers in any way that he knew of. But there was no one else Lionel could mean. Maybe San had hired them to kidnap Isabella and Sara. Or was working with them somehow. If that was the case, then this fight was far from over.

 

The smoke was getting thick. How was it possible Jace was in a burning building twice in one day? His lungs burned so badly; he wanted nothing more than to run out of here and follow Isabella and Sara into the woods and clean air. But his guys were still here and Lionel needed to die first.

 

He took out his gun and pointed it at Lionel’s head. “Then I guess it won’t matter if I kill you.”

 

“Fuck you,” Lionel said, and spit blood at him. “Why didn’t you just keep to your own territory? We could have worked together. But no, you had to be a greedy bitch and move in on my sales.”

 

“You think I’d work with you and your dumbass crew? I made that money fair and square. Not my fault you lost out because you charged too much. Business is business, and apparently I’m just better at it than you. But then, I’m better at a lot of things.”

 

“You stole from me!” Lionel pushed himself up with his other arm. Aaron still stood on his hand, though, so he didn’t get far. He tried to pull his hand free, but Aaron glanced down at him and shifted his weight to put more pressure on him.

 

“I stole nothing!” Jace said.

 

“I beg to differ.” A voice from behind came through the din.

 

Before he could turn to see who it was, Jace felt his knees give out and he crashed to the floor. He’d been hit hard on the back. A fist right to his kidneys, forcing pain through him so excruciating, he had no choice but to crumble under it.

 

“Where are they?” the man demanded.

 

“Who?” Jace asked.

 

The man pressed a gun to the back of his head and used it to push Jace’s head down. “My wife and kid.”

 

Jace’s stomach lurched. This was Craig, then. Isabella’s ex and Sara’s dad. The one who’d beaten Isabella and yelled at her and treated her horribly. The one who’d hit his own kid. They’d been so desperate to get away from him that they left everything behind, and now he’d found them. And Jace had sent Isabella and Sara off into the woods alone, unprotected. The panic rose in his chest, weaving around the rage, and it made him start coughing again. He got onto all fours and tried to find clear air.

 

“Drop it.” Aaron’s voice. Jace couldn’t even turn his head to see what was happening.

 

“They ran into the woods,” Lionel said. “Out that door.” He pointed to the back door, the one Isabella and Sara had run through to get out.

 

Craig turned and bolted out the door.

 

Jace tried to get to his feet to chase him. Flames had broken into the room.

 

“We need to get out.” Aaron reached down and took his hand to pull him to his feet.

 

Jace coughed and looked back at Lionel.

 

Flames crept along the doorway opposite the one Jace and Aaron had come in. It was now lined with orange and yellow flames, reaching toward the ceiling. The heat made sweat run down all their faces. Lionel looked at the flames and sat up, now that his hand was free from Aaron’s weight. He put his hands down and slowly pulled himself up until he was standing.

 

Jace held out his gun and shot Lionel in the leg. He cried out and grabbed his leg, falling back to the ground.

 

Lionel looked to the doorway again, this time fear clear on his face. “Come on, man,” he pleaded with them. He got to a crawling position to drag his leg behind him, but Jace kicked him in the ribs, hard enough to break a few. Lionel fell to his side, clutching the ribs and groaning in pain.

 

“Get out!” Jace said to Aaron. Lionel had no gun and two gunshot wounds. Jace wouldn’t need back-up now. “Make sure everyone is out.”

 

Aaron took off at a run out the door and around the building.

 

“Don’t let me die here like this,” Lionel said. “At least shoot me in the head or something. Anything but burning alive.”

 

Jace shook his head and smiled. “You tried to kill me. You threatened my girl, then took her and her kid. You deserve far worse pain than this.”

 

Jace kicked him in the face. Lionel’s nose cracked and blood gushed down his mouth and chin. He slumped back for a moment, then started coughing. Jace shot his other leg for good measure. He needed to make sure he wouldn’t escape. Lionel wasn’t moving, but sat against the cabinets, going pale, coughing, and groaning in pain.

 

Jace ran out the door and looked for his guys and for Isabella.

 

He saw his four Hawks off to the side of the house, several hundred feet away, near the woods. Alex had a shirt tied around his arm, blood seeping through. There were some bruises and cuts among them, plenty of coughing from the smoke, and a few blood smears. But all in all, they looked okay. Alive, mostly unhurt.

 

He didn’t see Isabella, Sara, or Craig. He took off running into the woods.

 

“Jace!” Aaron called after him.

 

“I have to get Isabella!”

 

He heard footsteps behind him. They were coming to help. But he was several hundred feet ahead and not stopping. His lungs were in agony with every breath. He couldn’t breathe deeply and if he tried, he ended up coughing. He took fast, shallow breaths, panting as he ran. But running was difficult, too. His legs felt heavy and the trees tilted slightly around him. He shook his head to clear it.

 

He had to keep going, even if his ears still rang and he wanted to collapse. If Craig had Isabella and Sara, who knew what was happening. Were they still in the woods? What if he’d taken them and run off? Jace may have lost her again. That idea was too much to consider. He’d just gotten her back. They were supposed to be safe now. Supposed to get away and be in the woods waiting for him and be safe. Then they could leave and go home and he could protect them. And they’d be together.

 

If Craig was here, did that mean he’d been working with Lionel for a while? Lionel had certainly helped him back in the house when he told him where Isabella and Sara were. How in the world did that happen? Now he wished he’d talked to Isabella more about Craig. Where had they lived exactly? How violent was he? And what would he do if he ever found them? He reached back and made sure his gun was still secure in the back of his jeans. If he got the chance, he’d take the guy down. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about him. There would be no more fear of him showing up.

 

He wondered for a minute, though, if Isabella would be mad if he killed Craig. He was Sara’s dad after all. Maybe she wanted Sara to get to know him later, when she was older. Or maybe Isabella was hoping Craig would change and they’d get back together some day. For now, he just had to find them. Then he’d worry about the rest. He was so outraged at all Craig had done to his family and those he claimed to love, it might be worth angering Isabella just to get the chance to kill a man like that. The world was much better off without him.

 

Jace glanced behind him. He could see two of his guys running after him. They were far back, but they’d be a big help when they caught up to him, assuming he’d found Craig by then.

 

He picked up his pace, forcing his lungs to work harder, until they screamed at him stop. He forced them to work anyway, ignoring the pain. Then he heard a faint shouting.

 

Isabella. She was shouting something that he couldn’t make out. A deep man’s voice answered her, low and steady.

 

She sounded upset, hysterical maybe. Jace ran toward the sound. He saw something in the woods ahead. Something white and blue and purple amongst all the green and brown. It had to be them.

 

When he grew closer, he saw Craig first. Then Isabella a few feet from him. Craig turned and Jace saw Sara. Craig had a gun pointed at her head.

 

Rage ripped through him again, fresh and raw. What kind of a low life father held their own kid at gunpoint? No wonder Isabella sounded hysterical. Even his own worthless father had never stooped that low. Whatever hesitation he’d had before about killing Craig, it was completely gone now. Even if Isabella never talked to him again, he would kill Craig. He wanted to rip Craig to shreds and set the pieces on fire. He wanted to beat his face until it was mush. He wanted to twist a knife deep into his chest and pull out his stone heart to crush it in his fist. He wanted to make him suffer like he’d made Isabella and Sara suffer.