“I can’t believe you guys did this,” Bethany hissed, standing outside the captive’s room.

I shrugged. “We didn’t have much choice.”

Lauren must’ve told her what we’d done, because Bethany had stalked over from the main house, seething and intermittently complaining as we waited for Levi to come out of the interrogation room. 

After a week of interrogation, our captive had finally told us his name was Carey, but I didn’t believe him. His license and other documents were all fake. We had no idea who he really was or who’d paid him to follow Fiona—and he wouldn’t talk.

Bethany snorted. “You didn’t have to take him captive. Of course you had a choice.”

“He’d been following Ellis and Fiona. Did you want us to wait until he attacked?”

“Did you want to call the police instead of assaulting him in public, then taking him hostage and keeping him locked up for a week?”

Bethany looked as if smoke might pour out of her ears.

I shrugged defensively. “Should I even really be talking to you about this?”

“I just want to know what you have planned for this guy so that I can protect my client—who, I should remind you, runs a multibillion-dollar business and cannot be implicated in this sort of circus!”

Hannah tore around the corner at that moment, but she stopped short when she saw her attorney. “Oh, hi.”

Bethany put her hands on her hips. “Oh, hi, yourself! I’ve sent you ten texts this week and you haven’t responded, and now I know why.” 

“Sorry.” Hannah bit her lip.

Bethany scowled. “I want to know about your source—the ‘happy’ one. I need to know what the hell is going on around here!”

She tapped her heel, the sound echoing across the hardwood floors.

“My source is good—everything’s fine.” Hannah’s brow furrowed into a deep v. “Why are you in the guesthouse? Are they having you interview Carey?”

“Jesus, you’re involved in this, too?” Bethany flung up her hands and issued another litany of curses. 

We probably should have had her interview Carey. Bethany could be little scary, and we hadn’t gotten that far with him.

Levi came out of the room then and closed the door behind him, the lines in his face etched deeper from lack of sleep. He looked wary when Bethany turned her scowl his way. 

“I’m hoping you have some kind of explanation?” she asked. “The kind that keeps my client out of jail for being a criminal accessory?” 

He held up his hands, as if in surrender. “Lauren’s not involved in any way—this is my company’s deal. She can’t be implicated whatsoever.”

“This is her house,” Bethany said. “What were you thinking?”

Levi stalked toward her, the muscles in his jaw clenched. “I was thinking that it’d be safer for Lauren and for everyone if we didn’t let Li Na’s little henchmen stalk, murder, or kidnap anyone else for a change. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and all.”

“Has he actually told you anything useful?” Bethany didn’t sound impressed.

Levi examined his knuckles, which were bloody. “Not yet. I’m working on it.”

Bethany shook her head.

“Why don’t you let us talk to him?” Hannah offered. “He might appreciate a fresh approach—one that doesn’t involve beating on him. We might be able to motivate him.”

I put myself between her and the doorway. “No way, babe.”

Hannah arched an eyebrow. “I didn’t ask you, babe—I asked your boss.”

Levi rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. 

Bethany crossed her arms. “I can only go in there if Levi’s my client. Otherwise, I can’t protect him from this mess—I need attorney-client privilege for that.”

“If you think you can get somewhere, I’d be happy to retain you. Maybe we can discuss it over dinner?” Levi chuckled darkly as Bethany’s cheeks flushed.

“I’ll get him to talk. Is there a guard in there?”

“Two.”

“Then we should be fine.” Bethany stalked around him, careful to keep her distance.

Hannah moved to follow, but I blocked her again. 

“Back off,” she said. “This is my company and my family, too, dammit. Don’t treat me like a child!”

I didn’t want to treat her badly, but I also didn’t want her anywhere near harm’s way. I took a deep breath, reconciling these competing desires. “Can I at least come in with you?”

Her face softened. “Of course you can.”

Levi motioned us toward the door. “I’d come, too, but I’m pretty sure Carey’s had enough of me for one night.”

“You don’t say,” Bethany muttered under her breath.

“Can’t wait to hear how it goes.” Levi smiled at her, largely undeterred. “I’ll be waiting right here so you can tell me all about it.”

Bethany just shook her head.

Inside the room, Carey appeared worse for wear. His jaw was bruised, and there was a fresh cut over his eyebrow. His hoodie was long gone, replaced by a rumpled, bloodstained T-shirt. He was handcuffed to the leg of a table and sat slumped over it.

I might’ve imagined it, but he seemed to perk up a little when Hannah and Bethany came into the room.

Bethany noticed it, too. “Don’t get too excited. We’re not going to hit you, but we’re not as nice as Levi.”

Carey slumped again. “What do you want? I already told them, I don’t know anything about the client. I only know the assignment came from China.”

Hannah sat down on the other side of the room, her pretty face scrunching as she examined his wounds. “Would your boss be able to tell us who the client is or confirm any information?”

Carey scoffed. “If my boss felt like it, sure. But being cooperative isn’t high on their priority list.”

Bethany sat down and crossed her legs. “Is federal prison high on their priority list? Because acting as a proxy for an international business partner and committing crimes for hire constitute federal offenses—the kind that can get you put away for a long time.”

Carey tilted his head. “I’m pretty sure my boss is aware of all that. And isn’t concerned.”

“All they care about is money?” Hannah asked. 

He shrugged. “I don’t care what they care about. I do my job and that’s it. I don’t analyze.”

“I get it.” Bethany adjusted her gold bangle. “You’re just a gun for hire—you go in and take care of your assignment, and you’re out. You’re a pawn.”

“I like to think of it as punching the clock, but sure. I’m a pawn. I can’t tell you anything because I don’t know anything. Like I said, I don’t care.”

“So you don’t have any loyalty to your boss, or to your client.” Hannah smiled. “Right?”

Carey looked from one woman to the other, clearly confused. “Is this going anywhere? ’Cause otherwise, I have a nap to take before that other guy comes back for my regularly scheduled beating.”

“We want you to work for us,” Hannah said brightly. 

Bethany whipped her head toward her, blonde hair flying. “That’s where we’re going with this?”

Hannah shrugged and turned back to Carey. “I’ll triple whatever they’re paying you if you can find out more information for me. I’ll give you plenty of cash so you can bribe sources on an as-needed basis. There’ll be more money after that. And I’m nice. I won’t even let Levi beat you up anymore.”

“It was the other guy I was worried about,” Carey said. “The one built like a boulder.”

Ellis.

“Ah,” Hannah said. “I’ll take care of it.”

“I’d make sure he can actually be useful first,” Bethany suggested.

Carey glared at her.

Hannah shrugged. “He’ll be useful, or he’ll get Ellis’d.”

I tried not to whine that she wasn’t offering to have him Wes’d. “Are we done here?” I asked instead. I wanted Hannah away from this scumbag.

“We’re going to get some details, and Bethany’s going to write up a little legal document for me and Carey so he knows this is legitimate. Okay, Bethany?”

Bethany fake-smiled at her. “Great. Just how I want to spend my evening: drafting an agreement between one of my best friends and a low-level assassin with questionable hygiene. Just perfect. I hope you’ll testify before the Board of Bar Overseers that the subject matter wasn’t illegal, or I’m going to be out of a license.”

“I’m not asking him to do anything illegal.” Hannah raised an eyebrow. “But if you’d rather go, Levi’s waiting outside—”

“Enough,” Bethany snapped, opening up her laptop and setting up shop across from Carey. “Let’s just get this over with.”

---

HANNAH

Wes came around the corner and handed me a glass of wine. “Honey?” 

“Yes?”

He sank down onto the couch next to me. “What the hell was that about?”

I took a sip. “I’m taking my own advice—throwing money at the problem.”

He scrubbed a hand across his face. “Huh?”

“It’s something I always used to say to Lauren: ‘Throw some money at the problem.’ She always tries to do everything herself, but once she got to a certain point in her business, it didn’t make sense anymore. Hiring the best talent she could find saved her from spreading herself too thin. I still have to remind her to hire help.”

Wes scowled. “Honey, if you think Carey is the best talent out there, I’m pretty sure you’re going to be disappointed.”

I nodded. “Yeah, he’s not that impressive. But he’s got the contacts, and he’s accessible, and he certainly wants my money—so I can motivate him. All I want is for him to keep tabs on his employer and to get me names when I need them. Trust me—it’ll all work out.”

He had a sip of wine, probably so he didn’t have to disagree with me.

“I’m doing the same thing with Biyu,” I explained. 

“I thought you threatened her.”

“I did, but then I also told her that the more information she got me, the more I could help her.” The idea had come to me after I’d spent too much time feeling terrible for threatening her family. Not all motivation had to be negative, I’d decided. “Her child’s going to have a trust fund now.”

Wes coughed. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“I just sort of came up with it.” I rubbed his back while he recovered. “The thing is, I made a lot of money from my Paragon stock. More than I’d ever thought I’d have in one lifetime. And I don’t need all that money. I figured this way, Biyu has a vested interest in helping me. She has a stake in the outcome, and she’ll be loyal to me because I’m going to help her, just like she’s helping me.”

“Is she actually helping you?”

“Yes. She’s confirmed that Li Na’s moving ahead. She’s building a prototype of the sensor.”

“Your plan’s working.” Wes grinned.

“So far.”

I tried to beat my anxiety back. Each step we took, we got closer to the end.

I just didn’t know how it was going to turn out.