“Let’s go running again,” Maddie said, hugging the man she loved more than her next breath tightly. His delicious heated scent surrounded her, his arms tightened around her too, making her want to change her mind and stay right where she was for other physical activity.

“What about Sarah?” Hawk asked groggily, loosening his grip on her to rub his eyes.

“Susan loaned me her jogging stroller,” she replied, smiling as his eyes met hers. “The fresh air will do her good too.”

Sarah was growing so fast, Maddie needed life to slow down some, so she could memorize every moment and she was hopeful it would very soon. After Hawk sent the cartel location to the investigative team, he told her he was confident. It had been two weeks with no news, but she guessed no news was good news. Since she was trying to remain optimistic, like he requested, that is how she was viewing it.

Maddie hugged him again, slid her left hand under the covers then glided it down his abs. She curled her fingers around his hot, steely erection and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Are you sure you want to go running, sweet thang?” he growled, his eyes sparking and his nostrils flaring with his breaths.

“Can’t we do both?” she replied with a smile, squeezing him and earning a groan.

He growled as he rolled her on her back, shoved his hand into her hair and slammed his mouth over hers to devour her mouth. Fiery need swept through her and he swallowed her moan. His right hand traced down her body to jerk her to him as he ground his hips against hers.

“Um, Maddie?” Mickie’s voice over the intercom made her tense. Hawk stopped mid-motion too. Sarah cried in the other room. “There’s someone out here to see you, and I think you should call your attorney before you come out.”

“Who do you think it is?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

Hawk’s dire look told her he knew exactly who was out there waiting for her too. She reached for her phone on the nightstand to call Beaver and tell him she’d changed her mind, but her hand shook too badly to pick it up. After a second, she couldn’t see it because of the tears that streamed from her eyes.

“Promise me something,” she whispered, when Hawk put his arms around her.

“Anything, baby,” he said, his voice choked.

“Don’t let her forget me, but never tell her where I am. I died in Guatemala. Take good care of her,” she said, her voice trailing off as her airway closed off.

Hawk’s arms squeezed her so tightly, the steel bands forced the breath out of her. Maddie hoped it didn’t come back, because all she wanted at the moment was die.

“I’m going to fix this, sweetheart,” Hawk snarled, and hot tears scalded her shoulder.

“There’s no fixing it, Rhett. It’s over. I’m going to plead guilty to the lesser charges like Beaver suggested. I don’t want to spend my life in prison.” And she didn’t want him to wait twenty years for her. It was over for them, too. “One more promise.”

“What?” he asked, his body shaking as water slid over her shoulder to streak down her breasts.

“Don’t wait for me, and d—don’t come to see me,” she replied, and his arms became so tight her bones shifted. She kissed his forearm. “Know that I loved you with all of my heart, Rhett Hawkins, and am so thankful for all you’ve done for me. I’m sorrier than you’ll ever know that I turned you down. It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

With a shuddering sigh, Maddie peeled his arms away and sat on the side of the bed to get dressed in yesterday’s clothes and pull on her prosthesis, not her running blade. There would be no running today. Instead, she would be walking her last mile. Alone.

“I’m not giving up!” Hawk roared as he flew out of the bed to pull on his jeans and shirt. She heard him dial his cell phone as she stood, but didn’t wait. She walked through the bedroom door, and went to the second bedroom. After she kissed her daughter, who had gone back to sleep, she stumbled across the living room and stopped there for a second to compose herself.

Hawk walked up behind her, and his fingers dug into her shoulders. “Just wait a few minutes for Max to call me back,” he begged. “Please, baby.”

“Max can’t fix this either, Rhett. Just please stop,” she wailed, her hand on the knob. “You’re making this twice as difficult, and I can’t take anymore.” Maddie flung the door open, and gave up on trying to stop crying as she walked down the hallway.

Twenty steps later, the MPs and Warrant Officer told her she was under arrest. Ten seconds later, her hands were cuffed behind her back and she was being hustled out of the office to the black SUV parked in front of the office.

“Maddie!” Hawk yelled from the front porch, his voice tortured. “I love you, baby, and I will get you out of this!”

When they settled her in the back seat and fastened her seatbelt, Maddie forced herself to look out the side window, instead of at the porch. It was time for her to forget him, forget her baby and face the fact she was in captivity again.

This time she didn’t know if she’d survive it, though, or if she even wanted to.

In twenty years, both Rhett and Sarah will have forgotten her. When they released her, she knew she’d try to find them, to check up on them. To see what she’d missed and make sure they were okay. Seeing them, but not being part of their world would kill her. If she got weak and inserted herself into their lives then, she could hurt them.

Pleading to the higher crime, getting this over with, would be best for them all, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

It was time for the madness to end.