Denise pulled into the Walgreens parking lot and drove around to the back of the building. Leaving the engine running, she set the brake and took a small flashlight from the center console. She got out and scanned the area. Clicking on the flashlight, she dropped onto her hands and knees and shined the light under the front bumper. She repeated the process for the rear bumper and the wheel wells. Tucked into the rear passenger wheel well, she found what she was looking for.

She pushed up from the ground and got back in her SUV, locking the doors. Sprocket hung her head between the seats as Denise examined the small device she’d found. The GPS tracker was about the size of a large key fob with three LED lights on the front. The middle yellow light was lit, possibly indicating that the battery was dying. She flipped it over, trying to find a power switch. Not finding one, she pulled out her knife from the console and flipped it open. She ran the edge along the seam of the small box, separating the two halves. Slipping the knife under the wires, she flicked the tip and detached the ends of the leads. She checked to make sure no light was showing and threw the pieces onto the passenger seat.

Assholes had tagged her car.

Denise released the brake and shifted into gear, heading to back to the house. She had to talk to her parents—they needed to decide on a course of action for protecting the kids. An FBI safe house might be the logical solution, but it didn’t feel like the right one and it would cut her off from her support network. She might be able to trust Chris, but she didn’t know his coworkers and, more than that, she needed her parents and Bree around her.

Pulling in beside her dad’s extended-cab pickup, she shut off the engine and gathered up the pieces of the GPS. She let Sprocket out of the back and thumbed the lock on her doors out of habit. It wouldn’t stop anyone from breaking in, but that was no reason to make it easy on them.

She unlocked the door and pushed it open with her shoulder. Sprocket glanced up at her and then made a beeline for the couch and Kimber and Kaden. They’d had a bath and were in their pajamas watching cartoons.

No sooner had she thrown the dead bolt than Sprocket let out a short woof and looked at the door. A brief knock followed. She checked the peephole and opened the door for Chris.

“What—”

He grasped her face and kissed her. His mouth held an edge of desperation, as if he was trying to pour all his anger and worry into the kiss. She stiffened and pushed against his chest.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry.” He rested his forehead against hers. “It took everything I had not to do this when we walked into that room, but I can’t chance being taken off this case. There’s too much riding on it.”

Her emotions clashed inside her like Titans battling for Olympus. Hope and defeat. Her heart screamed that he was apologizing, but her mind had kicked her feet up on the desk and was filing her fingernails, wondering so the fuck what.

She wanted this and if she were honest with herself, she’d wanted it as soon as he’d walked into that interrogation room. Care. Comfort. Support. Someone to stand beside her and guard her back if she needed it. Someone who knew she could handle herself, but still worried enough that the first thing he did when he saw her was devour her in an effort to prove to himself she was safe. But what did she have to do before someone just supported her when she needed it instead of assuming she had things covered?

Giggling reminded her they had an audience. “Now’s not the time to talk about this.”

“Denise—”

A throat cleared behind her. Chris raised his head and searched her gaze before turning to look at her father.

“Son, I’m going to have to ask what your intentions are toward my daughter.” Her father stood with his hands on his hips, feet braced apart. She knew that stance. It was the one he’d taken when she was growing up and had to explain herself when she’d done something he thought she shouldn’t have.

She forced a smile. “Why don’t you ask me what my intentions are toward him?” She tried to move back a step, but Chris kept his arm wrapped around her.

Her father shifted his piercing gaze to her, not missing anything, and playing along anyway. “Good point. Denise, what are your intentions toward this young man?”

Denise rolled her eyes. “Pretty sure I’m never sharing any of my intentions with you.”

Kimber, now peeking over the back of the couch watching the show by the door, giggled again. “I told you he was her boyfriend.” Kaden scrunched his face up as if to say “ew, gross” and turned back around to watch the TV.

“We did agree to go steady,” Chris said.

“I agreed to go on a date,” she replied.

He shrugged. “Same thing.” He released her, but kept one arm around her waist. “Sir, I intend on dating your daughter.”

“Ha! Good luck with that.” Her father dropped his hands and went back into the kitchen, passing her mother on the way.

Denise rubbed her eyebrow. How the hell had she gotten into this mess? More importantly, how could she get out of it without causing a scene?

“Leave her alone, Frank.” Her mom smacked her dad on the stomach. “It’s good to see you again, Chris.”

“You too, Mrs. Reynolds.” He released his hold on Denise’s waist.

“Karen, please.” She wrapped her arms around Denise and hugged her tight.

Denise closed her eyes and breathed in the muted scent of her mother’s perfume. She needed this. It brought back memories of sitting on her lap as a little girl, wishing her nails were long and elegant like her mom’s, and that she liked the things her mom liked. She’d never been that girly-girl and she’d always worried she disappointed her mom, right up until she was thirteen years old and she overheard her mom bragging to one of her friends about how she was the only girl to make the Little League team.

Jeez, where had that come from? She needed some couch time with Dr. Tailor. Her whole sense of balance was out of whack.

Her mom rubbed her back and let her go. “I saved you some dinner. It’s just spaghetti, but I wanted to make something quick the kids would eat.”

“Did they eat already?” Denise asked.

“Yes. I told them they could stay up a little longer and wait for you to come home.”

“How are they doing?” She dropped her voice to barely a whisper.

Her mom glanced at them. “They seem to be doing okay. They were worried about when you were going to be home,” she said in the same whisper.

Denise nodded and glanced at the clock above the television. They were already thirty minutes past their bedtime. She needed to make sure they kept their normal schedule. Normal was important for all of them. “Alright, monkeys, pause your show if you want to save it. It’s time for bed.”

“Can Grandma read stories with us tonight?” Kimber asked.

“I want Aunt Denny to read to us,” Kaden said.

She could see the fight brewing. “How about if you read to Grandma while I eat dinner and then I’ll read to you?”

They looked at each other as if having a silent conversation. “Okay,” Kaden said.

“All right. Teeth. Bathroom. Bed. Ready? Break.” Denise clapped her hands and the kids scrambled off the bed, racing each other to the bathroom.

“We’re reading The Magic Tree House series,” she told her mom. “It’s on the table between their beds.”

“Sarah loved that series.” Her mom’s eyes grew teary.

Denise kissed her on the cheek. “I’m pretty sure they're the same books.”

Her mom wiped a tear away and took a deep breath. Pivoting toward the bedrooms, she called out, “All right, kids, let’s check those teeth.”

She smiled after her mom for a moment, before pulling herself back to reality. “Let’s go in the kitchen.”

Chris stayed close behind her with his hand low on her back. Her dad leaned against the counter in front of the sink with his arms crossed. She went to him and he wrapped her in his arms. It was different than her the way her mom had, but it was just as comforting.

“I liked it better when I didn’t know the shit you were getting into,” he said, gruffly.

She huffed out a small laugh and raised her head from his chest. They’d never talked about what she’d done in Iraq or Afghanistan. He simply told her he was there if she needed to talk to someone who’d been there, too. She loved her dad, had been a daddy’s girl growing up, but there were some things she hadn’t been able to share with him.

“How’d they find you?” he asked when she pulled back.

“I wondered the same thing,” she said. “There was no way they should have known where we were going to be and I never spotted anyone following us. The trip to the new school was a spur of the moment decision and it’s not like I’m on a bowling league.” She pulled the disabled GPS from her jeans pocket and held it out in her palm. “Found this in one of the wheel wells.”

Her dad took it from her and turned it over in his hands, examining it then passed it to Chris.

She didn’t know what to make of her dad including Chris in the discussion. Because he was FBI or for other reasons?

“How long do you think it’s been there?” her dad asked.

“No idea. It didn’t even occur to me to sweep my car.”

“It looks off-the-shelf. Battery probably wouldn’t last more than ten days—maybe a couple more if it wasn’t on all the time,” Chris said.

“There was a yellow light lit when I found it.”

“Probably indicates the amount of charge.” He tossed the device on the counter. “I think you should reconsider the safe house.”

“I can’t cut myself off from parents or Bree, which I’d have to do going into a safe house.”

“Cabin?” her dad asked.

She shook her head. “Not unless we absolutely have to. Kaden and Kimber have been through enough already. I don’t want to disrupt their lives any more than necessary.”

“You want me and your mom here at night?”

Denise smiled at the image of her dad trying to get comfortable on Sarah’s Goodwill couch. “There’s no room for you here. The FBI is going to put surveillance on us, anyway.”

“Denise, they probably know where you live. One team isn’t going to do much if they decide to raid this house.”

True, but she also had Graham’s team. Since she wasn’t ready to share that information yet, she tried to reassure him. “I know. I’ll talk to Bree and see if we can move to her house sooner than we planned. The alarm system she had installed is state of the art. In that neighborhood, someone will call the cops if they see something out of the norm. Unlike here, where Eddie and his friends blend right in.”

“You need to tell them about Eddie,” her dad said.

“I know, but not tonight. Tomorrow after school, when we have time to explain and answer all their questions. I need you and Mom there with me.”

“Whatever you need,” her dad promised.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“I’m proud of you, baby girl.”

The backs of her eyes stung and she blinked to stop the tears from forming. She hadn’t been the easiest person to deal with when she’d gotten out of the Army and had put her parents through some serious shit. Cutting herself off from them had been easier than admitting she needed help. She’d come a long way since then and it meant a lot for her dad to say that.

Afraid if she tried to say anything she’d choke on the tears sitting in the back of her throat, she nodded.

“I’m gonna go say goodnight to the kiddos.” He kissed her on the forehead and patted her hip. “Let your mom know when you want us here.”

“Will do.”

Chris tried to pull her into his arms and but she side-stepped to get a glass from the cupboard.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

She filled the glass with water and took a long drink. She could talk to him about her plan. For whatever reason he was there—the job or her—she needed to air her concerns. It wasn’t weakness to admit doubts or question the chosen course of action. A good leader listened to advice and took counsel from others.

“Wondering if I’m making the right decision by not tucking them away somewhere. Going over the defenses of the house.”

He leaned a hip against the counter and crossed his arms. “I’m not going to lie—I want to put y’all in my truck and drive you as far away from here as I can.”

“It’s not your decision.”

His eyes darkened and he looked down, then back up. “This house isn’t very safe.”

“No. Their room especially. Single story, low window with flimsy locks.”

“You sleeping on the floor in there tonight?”

“I’m going to move them into my room after my parents leave.”

He nodded. “I’ll sleep on the couch again. Phil’s in a car one block over. There’s another team set up at the top of the subdivision.”

“Seems like an awful lot for one guy,” she said.

Chris rubbed his hands over his face. “The Southern Anarchists ran guns and drugs for years. About two years ago, they branched out into human trafficking. Kids, Denise. Girls as young as twelve. Some of the shit I saw when I was undercover… And they assassinated two of our people.”

Jesus, she felt like a cold-hearted bitch. It was easy to think she couldn’t do anything about those kids, but that wasn’t true.

She could.

She could make it easy for Eddie to get close so the FBI could grab him. But that meant putting Kaden and Kimber in harm’s way and she wouldn’t do it. As horrible as it made her, she wouldn’t put her kids at risk for a faceless, nameless stranger.

“Why do you think Eddie is the key to this?”

He shook his head. “Honestly? I don’t know that I do, but right now he’s the only lead we have. The group broke up and spread out after the bust. Our intel tells us he’s gathering all the squirters back together. Whether he’s going to continue where they left off or take them back to what they were doing when he was VP or in a different direction, we don’t know. But we can’t risk them getting another foothold in this area and reestablishing their distribution lines. There’s too much at stake.”

This was important to him and she knew why, but there were chances she wasn’t willing to take again. “Are you mad I won’t go along with what the FBI wants?”

He moved closer and put his hands on the counter by her hips. “No. I know why you’re doing what you’re doing and I don’t fault you for it. Do I want to bundle you up and put you all in the safe house so you’re protected? Abso-fucking-lutely. But this is my job—not yours.”

She held his gaze, wanting to believe what he said was true. To believe in him, but he’d said it himself. It was his job.

So much of what was happening now echoed what had happened in Iraq it was hard not to draw parallels. To not think the universe was doling out one major mind fuck. Maybe it was giving her a second chance to do it right this time. What if she made the wrong decision, though? What if she was making the wrong decision now?

No, she was in a better position in familiar territory than someplace she didn’t know with strangers whose motives she didn’t understand. She’d chosen a plan and she’d stick to it until she had to adjust course.

“I’ll take the kids to school and pick them up. No more riding the bus. They’re with me, my parents, or Bree. I know Bree will let us move in this week, even if it’s just clothes for the moment.”

He held her gaze for a moment. “When were you planning on moving?”

“At the end of the school year to make it easier for the kids to adjust, but they really liked the school we toured and they can start next week.”

“They okay with that?”

Denise smiled a half smile. “After what happened, yes.”

“Denise, honey,” her mom called from the living room, snapping her out of her thoughts. “They’re ready for you to read to them.”

“Be right there,” she said over her shoulder. She pushed against his arms to move away from the counter. “I’m going to walk them out, then read to the kids.”

He followed her into the living room and shook hands with her dad. He got a double clap on the shoulder, which surprised her. That was her dad’s signature I like this guy gesture usually reserved for old Army buddies.

She hugged her parents and told her dad to stop somewhere along the way and check for a tracking device.

“Who taught you what you know?” he asked.

All she could do was roll her eyes.

“We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon,” her mom said. “We can stay with the kids if you need to go back to work.”

Damn. She’d forgotten about work. Something else she needed to talk to Bree about. The rescue needed help. An office manager wouldn’t be a bad idea. They’d gotten big enough that she was having a hard time keeping up with the paperwork and the training.

She waited in the doorway until her parents turned the corner. The deadbolt seemed to echo when she turned it, locking Chris in the house with her. Even with all her doubts, it felt right having him there with her at the end of the night. If only she knew for sure he wasn’t there out of obligation to his job.