I check back in on Summer and Anna before I plan to slip out of the building. Standing behind the two-way glass, I watch as Anna continues to console Summer, all the while questioning her. It’s important that no stone is left unturned about Summer and Taylor’s lives. Even the smallest, seemingly inconsequential thing can be a key component in understanding why things happen and help figure out the best way to fix those things.

There’s a look on Summer’s face, a look I’ve seen countless times before. It’s the same look they always seem to wear, one of exhaustion and fear. A look of uncertainty as their world unravels around them.

She’s pale, beyond tired and probably hungry, but eating is the furthest thing from her mind. She’s wields the kind of next-door beauty and charm that’s capable of making the most hardened man’s heart race.

My heart races when I see her, though whether that’s born out of lust or empathy, I’m not quite certain. The only thing I’m certain of is that it doesn’t matter. If I’m going to have her sister returned to her unharmed, I have to keep all personal shit out of it.

I knock on the glass first, alerting Anna that I’m coming in before opening the door. “Can I have a word with Summer?”

“Sure.” Anna glances quickly at Summer. “We’ve just about went over everything I can think of, but if I have any more questions, I’ll come back to you.” Anna collects a stack of papers into a pile and shuffles them into one arm. “You did good, Summer.”

Anna exits the room, but leaves the door open behind her. When I hear the first steel door closing, I slide into the warm seat Anna left behind.

“How are you holding up?”

“I feel like I’m going to vomit,” she says quietly with a sigh as she sinks down into her seat. “I feel like the world is spinning faster and faster and I just want to jump off and go to sleep, but I can’t.”

“We have a lead—”

“Really?” She thrusts her body forward and narrows her eyes at me, dark orbs swimming with hope. “Did you find her?”

“Not exactly, but Marcus was able to follow their tracks to a garage downtown and I’m hoping I’ll be able to find some clues there.”

“You’re going there?” She clears her throat, wets her lips. “Alone?”

“I can handle myself.”

She nods her head slowly. “And what about me? Are you going to just leave me sitting in this hot room?”

“Of course not,” I say, almost letting a chuckle slip out of my throat. It’s no time to joke, but I can’t help that she’s so damn cute. As if I would just leave her to sweat to death in this hot room. “I’m going to take you back to your room before I go.”

“Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” I say, holding the door open for her as she climbs out of her seat.

She paces towards me and then stops right in front of me. She swallows a lump in her throat as her eyes tangle with mine. “Whoever you are, whatever you are, I’m going to say Thank You, and you’re going to accept it, understood?”

“Yeah.” I chew into my bottom lip and give her a careful once-over with my eyes. She’s a timid woman for sure, but there’s a streak of authority running hot through her blood that piques my curiosity. “Would you like something to eat?”

“I couldn’t eat if I wanted to.” She passes me and waits at the steel door for me to unlock it with my eyes. She watches me carefully as I stare into the retina scanner and cocks her head sideways. “Why do you so much security here? I mean, what exactly is it that you do?”

I purse my lips in contemplation, trying to figure out where to draw the line between the truth and what she’s entitled to know. “Let’s just say that some of us have some enemies.”

“Oh.” Her face turns a lighter shade of Casper. “Interesting.”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about, I promise.” I push open the door and gesture for her to be on her way.

She leads the way to her bedroom, taking the lead. It’s as if she’s already become accustomed to the layout of the basement level and she’s comfortable enough to venture out on her own.

Except she doesn’t stop at her room. Instead she keeps walking towards the front of the floor, towards the elevator shaft.

“Summer?” I question loudly and come to a stop right outside her bedroom door. She pivots to face me and slaps her hands against her hips. “Your room is over here.”

“Yeah, I know.” She nods before turning back around and continuing to pace towards the elevator. She says something under her breath but I can’t make out what, either because she’s whispering or because I lost twenty percent of my hearing ability in the war.

I race to her side right before she reaches the elevator. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Without so much as looking at me, she states with a high level of confidence lobbied in her throat, “I’m going with you.”

“Yeah. No.”

“Really?” She arches one brow and exhales a hot burst of air. “Why not?”

“Because it could be dangerous.”

“You said you could handle yourself,” she points out, which yeah, I can but that’s not the point. “So what’s dangerous?”

“I can handle myself and I can look after you, but it’ll be a lot quicker if—”

“Could you just move over here?” She reaches forth and places a hand on each of my hips. I’m distracted by the touch of her demure hands against my body, but do as she says as she positions me so that I’m looking straight at her and straight at the elevator.

I basically tower over her. Being a six foot something monster myself, I estimate that she’s just a few short inches over the five foot threshold. Not the point.

“As I was saying,” I continue, but I’m too distracted by the blue lights flashing overhead the elevator shaft to finish. It takes about two seconds to realize what is going on, and I only truly understand when I see her step into the open elevator with her back pressed against the concrete wall. “Did you just trick me?”

“Trick you into standing in the exact right spot so that your eyes would be level with the scanner?” She cocks a half-grin, the kind of grin where she might think she’s in trouble and doesn’t want to make matters worse but still can’t help herself. “Yeah, real secure building you got here.”

I lean forward, take a measured step so that I’m halfway in the elevator and halfway on solid ground. “Are you being sarcastic?”

She crosses her arms defiantly. “I’m being impatient.”

“I already told you that you’re not going.”

“Really?” She cocks a brow. “That’s an interesting perspective considering the only way I’m not going is if you drag me out of here.”

I narrow my eyes at her. She really doesn’t think I’ll do it, but she’d be wrong. I reach for her arm and drag her out of the elevator. She tries to fight me, tries to dig her feet into the metal plating beneath her feet, but she’s not strong enough to resist.

“Let go of me,” she demands and when I do, she breaks away from me and shakes her wrist. “Was that necessary?”

I contemplate the question, click my tongue against my cheek. “Yes.” I turn from here and enter into the elevator. I can practically feel the heat of her breath upon my back before I turn around and she’s standing right there. She reaches backwards and clicks the close elevator button with one finger and offers me a cocky smirk.

And I think to myself, Yeah, I let you win.

Truth be told, I’d love for her to come with me.

“It’s like this,” she says determinedly, her smirk fading into a flat non-descript smile. “You either let me go with you, or when we ascend to the ground floor, I take matters into my own hands.”

“Stay close to me,” I growl at her and shake my head, pretending to be annoyed. But I’m not annoyed, not even one bit. If I honestly believed for a second she was going to be in any danger, I wouldn’t have allowed her back into the elevator.