I squinted in the sunlight, my dress shimmering at one-hundred-million megawatts.

I hopped over to a slice of shade, the soles my feet burning on the concrete. I never got any shoes, just a shove out the door. Glancing back at the FBI field office, I flipped it the bird, knowing full well I was on the security feed.

What now? I supposed I had to walk through the street looking like I was doing the ultimate walk of shame until I found a telephone. Shit, I didn’t even know anyone’s cell number. Who memorized those these days? Not me.

Sitting on a ledge that ran around a flower bed full of cactus plants, I rubbed my eyes. My makeup was well and truly smeared by now. Thinking about King’s deal, I longed for a shower to wash the slime of his gaze from my body. He’d been almost… I couldn’t think of the right word. A psycho bad guy from a comic book? Maybe. He was right about one thing. I secretly enjoyed the power trip of taking my father’s life.

That’s what Chaser was afraid of, I thought. I wasn’t facing what I’d done. My indifference was something to worry about. I am my father’s daughter.

What now? I had a piece of paper shoved in my bra with a number to call when I was ready to make the deal. Deliver Chaser or else.

Why King didn’t just track me and snatch Chaser the moment we were reunited, I didn’t know. It didn’t make any sense to me. What his twisted game was, I had no idea, all I was certain of was he wanted everyone to suffer while he basked in the glory of all his perceived power. Knowing I was suffering over my choice made the asshole hard.

Staring down at my dirty feet, I felt hopelessness smack me in the face.

“Sloane.”

I shot to my feet and glanced toward the parking lot.

“Chaser?” My voice sounded child-like, and my heartbeat sped up. Had he come for me?

I spotted him between some parked cars, and I darted across the molten concrete to meet him. I flung myself into his arms, buried my nose into his shirt, and breathed deeply. He held me tightly, his embrace feeling different somehow. More…intimate.

“You came,” I whispered.

“Of course, I did,” he replied. “I’ve been searching for a way to get you out since your arrest, but I see they let you walk.”

“They didn’t have enough evidence to charge me,” I said. “But I’m still a suspect. I was given the ‘don’t leave town’ speech, but fuck ’em.”

“Are you okay? Did they…”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m okay. Just…shaken, I guess.”

He ran his hands over my body, which I assumed was so he could see if I was all in one piece. “Where are your shoes?”

I shrugged.

With a frown, he grasped my hand and led me away from the field office. It wasn’t exactly an inconspicuous dart to freedom, considering my current blinged-out state.

The car was at the far end of the lot, which was bad news for my bare feet. I winced as I stood on rocks and zigzagged from shadow to shadow. He could’ve carried me. Chaser unlocked the doors, and I threw myself inside, my feet so sore they felt as if the flesh was melting down to the bone.

“Sloane. Are you really fine with this?” He grasped my shoulders and studied me. He’d had the same look in his eyes when he’d asked me about killing Marini.

“I guess I’m indifferent as always,” I muttered. “Do you think that makes me like him?”

“Like…” Chaser shook his head. “No. No, I don’t.”

“The deeper we get, the more unsure I become.” I rubbed the sole of my foot, the flesh tender from the scorching concrete. I didn’t feel much of anything.

Chaser didn’t say a word. There was nothing left to talk about when it came to our humanity levels. After a moment, he handed me my blue aviator sunglasses, and I shoved them on my face with a sigh. Bright lights did nothing for my retinas.

“What now?”

“We’re leaving Las Vegas,” he replied, starting the car.

The admission took me by surprise. I thought we would’ve gone at it, with or without my arrest, until we’d gotten what we wanted. King in a body bag.

“We’re leaving?” I asked. “Why?”

Chaser glanced at me, then back to the road. “We’re going to regroup with Gasket and come at this from another angle.”

“Gasket? You heard from him?”

He nodded. “Someone set you up, Sloane. It had to be someone from within Fortitude.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I murmured.

“Care to explain?”

“The agent who questioned me…” I sighed. “He didn’t seem to have anything that could pin me down. I think they got a tip-off and were counting on the dumb female to implicate herself.”

“And?”

I glared at him. “Give me some fucking credit.”

Chaser smiled and placed a hand on my thigh, giving me a squeeze. Letting me go, he shifted the car into reverse and backed out of the space. A minute later, we were on the road and leaving the FBI field office in our dust.

“So you’re not giving up on King?”

Chaser glanced at me with a raised eyebrow. “Of course not. I want to see his corpse as much as ever. Probably more, considering.”

Thinking about all the mistakes we’d made, I wondered if we’d ever get a break. King’s deal wasn’t ideal, but if I told Chaser now, we could devise a plan. He was going to use himself as bait anyway… I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

“Tired?” Chaser asked.

“Yeah. I feel like I’m dead on my feet.”

“We’ll find a place outside of the city. I’ll drive for now.”

“Is that code for ‘sit back and relax’?”

“Sure.”

“You’re getting soft, you know.”

He grunted, his shoulders tensing.

Maybe this was some of the old Chaser showing through. Gunnar Mason. The cold, asshole-ish, killer was a product of circumstance, so it stood to reason it wasn’t who he really was at his core. If we ever found a place at the end of this where we could be together, perhaps he’d settle into a meshed paring of his two identities.

Maybe was such a hopeless word.

Twisting around, I reached over to the back seat and found my boots. My bag was there, so I pulled out a fresh pair of panties and socks. Chaser raised an eyebrow as I shimmied out of my dirty underwear. I flicked the lacy strip of material at him for good measure before putting on my socks and boots. Shimmery stripper dress and combat boots. Even though I was exhausted, I felt a little more like myself.

“What do you want me to do with these?” Chaser asked, holding up my panties and keeping one eye on the road.

“You can sniff them if you like. They’re ripe.”

Smirking, he flung the lace over his shoulder and into the back of the car.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, studying his profile.

“Something doesn’t feel right about this.”

“Like what?”

“They only held you for twelve hours.”

“Really? That’s a long time.”

“No, it’s not. The FBI can hold someone for up to seventy-two hours if they’re suspected of a serious crime.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. That’s what happened.”

“I’m not blaming you, Sloane,” he said, a sharp clip to his voice. “I’m blaming the Hollow Men.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel, the force of his grip turning his knuckles white. “You witnessed how far their reach can go. Remember that train?”

“You think they’re inside the FBI…” I knew full well they were, but why the hell wasn’t I saying anything about it? My heart twisted as I realized I might actually want to take King’s deal. A clean record, a free life…all in exchange for the man beside me.

A life for a life…

“Of course, they are,” he declared.

Guilt began to fester in my gut, and rather than continue the conversation—which was brewing into an argument—I reached for my bag again and found my favorite American eagle T-shirt. I glanced out the back window and watched the Strip and downtown Las Vegas disappear into the distance. Perhaps it was a good thing we were getting out of the city. Once we were away from all this, I could think clearly, because I was beginning to doubt Chaser’s feelings. Screw his ultimatum.

The way he’d talked me into going into the Halcyon without discussing it beforehand didn’t sit well with me. I should’ve said no. I should’ve said no to a lot of things. Had my impatience to come to Las Vegas ruined us before we’d even begun? This whole story was one mistake after the other. A comedy of fucking errors.

I focused on a black SUV behind us and narrowed my eyes. When we turned, it turned. It was a few car lengths away, but it was suspicious enough for me to swallow my fear and tell Chaser.

“Someone’s following us,” I said, settling back into the passenger seat. Tackling our relationship problems would have to wait another day.

“I know.”

“You know?” I scoffed and rolled my eyes. First, his now or never ultimatums, and now this. Guilt was fast turning into anger. “Next time you have a grand plan, don’t tell me about it. Oh, wait. You already did.”

“This isn’t the time, Sloane.”

“Neither is thirty minutes before you want me to walk into a casino and offer you up as bait!”

“Sloane,” he barked. “Let’s fight about this later. “I don’t know who is tailing us, but we need to lose them before we leave the city, or we’ll never shake them.”

“I’m so tired of this shit,” I muttered, tightening my seatbelt as Chaser gunned the engine. “Real fucking sick.”