“This is it,” Molly says, her voice thick with more emotions than I could know what to do with. “This is the lakehouse up ahead.”

We’re coming up to a small road that leads to a lakehouse that’s only modest by LA standards. It’s still clearly a vacation home close to home--spacious and modern, minus the addition of an old-fashioned dock and wooden shed.

And Eddie’s car is parked outside it already.

I turn the lights off as we turn onto the road.

“He beat us here,” I say in a low growl. “He’s probably ready for us.”

“I swear to god,” Molly says through gritted teeth, leaning forward against the dashboard, “if he hurt one hair on Andie’s head, I’ll kill him.” Her voice tells me she means it, and I don’t blame her.

“I would bet she’s relatively safe,” I say. “If Eddie has any idea what he’s doing--and I think he does, to some extent--he won’t have done anything to her. I think he still has some twisted idea in his mind of you two being together, and he’ll do anything it takes to make you cooperate.” I hold back from saying that he probably won’t kill Andie for that reason, because the last thing Molly needs right now is a mental image of that happening.

“Okay, so, crazy aging agent is holed up inside the house with my sister, he’s probably armed, and he’s definitely expecting us. Got a plan?”

“You know this place better than I do,” I say as I bring the car to a stop by a small tree, looking to Molly. “What’s the layout?”

Molly bites her lip, thinking a few moments. “Okay, there are two big windows in the living room, so we shouldn’t go in through the front--he’d see us immediately. The kitchen door is loud, unless he’s had it replaced, so that’s no good.” She clenches her eyes shut, thinking hard. “I remember a window in the bedroom. I wasn’t allowed to go in there, so I tried to catch a peek as much as I could.”

“Obviously,” I say.

She smiles. “I think that might be our only way in.”

“It’s big, but there are only so many ways to get into a house where someone’s expecting you and we don’t have the benefit of noise to cover us,” I say, loading my guns and making sure I’m ready for a fight. Before I strap them onto me, I pause, then hand one of the guns to Molly. She takes it and nods resolutely.

“I don’t know what we’re going to be going in for, but I know I couldn’t keep you back here if I tried,” I say with a lopsided smile. “So I won’t.”

“You learn fast,” she says with a wink. I put my hand on the door handle, but she stops me with a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, Wes?”

I raise my eyebrow. She hesitates.

“I...I know things got a little tense on the way here, but...I’m glad I hired you.”

My turn to wink. “I’m still on the clock, sweetheart.”

We get out of the car and make our way toward the house.

After what feels like an eternity, we come up to the docks, moving as quietly as possible. Along the way, we pass the little shed, its door hanging open and creaking in the breeze.

I exchange a glance with Molly, then move toward it, gun raised. I stick my head in.

Nothing.

There are a few big plastic kayak paddles hanging up, along with a few pieces of boating equipment and lifejackets that haven’t been touched in ages. I notice Molly staring at them a while, and it hits me that these are parts of her childhood we’re looking through, now untouched and covered with grime from the years.

It must be hard to see, on top of everything else.

I nod for her to follow me, and she gets a hold of herself and gets moving.

There are no lights on inside. I don’t like that. We stalk around to the side of the house, Molly leading me to the bedroom she was talking about. Indeed, there’s a window just big enough for me to get into.

While I’m looking at the window lock, I see Molly put a hand to her mouth, and I quirk an eyebrow at her. She points inside the house.

It’s hard to see inside, because the only natural light is the sliver of the moon above, but it’s just enough to be able to see what’s clearly a small woman’s figure in the room.

She’s sitting down in what looks like a chair, in total darkness, and I don’t need good lighting to tell that she’s tied up.

That’s Andie.

I watch intensely for a few moments and see that her chest is rising and falling--she’s alive. I reach over and give Molly’s hand a squeeze, and she squeezes back. Hard.

I tug her downward, and we crouch low to the ground so that I can whisper to her. “I go in first. You after.”

She nods.

I stand up and carefully remove the window screen. Houses are a different beast to break into, compared to apartments, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. Silent as I can be, once the screen is off, I start working on the window, gently pushing the frame back and forth until the motion pushes the simple hinge-lock open.

Eddie clearly keeps his windows oiled, which works to our advantage. Old and rusty windows creak like the devil when broken into.

It couldn’t be more silent as I slide the window open. I see Andie’s figure tense up, but she doesn’t move a muscle. She knows I’m here, but she’s smart enough not to make noise. That must mean that Eddie’s in the house, waiting for us.

I haul myself up and crawl into the window, and just like that, I’m inside the house.

Once inside, my eyes adjust, and I can see that Andie is gagged, too, her bindings tied to the bed. She looks terrified, a blindfold stained with tears as she sits there, nearly shivering with fear.

I’m going to make Eddie pay for this.

I take a step forward, and as soon as I do, a voice to my right makes my hairs stand on end.

“Gun down. Hands up.”

Fucking hell.

I freeze. Slowly, I start to turn my head to the closet, but Eddie saves me the effort by stepping forward, and the gleam of his pistol catches the faint moonlight just enough to tell me what it is.

“Did I fucking stutter?” Eddie snarls, holding his pistol with both hands, training it on my head. “Gun. Down.”

My face twists into a grimace, but I slowly hold my gun out and lower it to the ground, then stand back up, putting my hands behind my head.

“That’s more like it,” Eddie says, kicking the gun toward the wall.

I hear a sob come from the chair, and I look over to see Andie shaking, fresh tears streaming down her face. She must have heard Eddie come in to lay his trap and been helpless to stop it the whole time--she’d have been killed if she said anything.

But my thoughts are on Molly, heart pounding.

I can’t show any sign of worry now, though.

“Into the living room,” Eddie orders, “now.”

“You got it, Eddie,” I say. “You’re the boss.”

“Don’t fucking condescend me you piece of shit,” he barks, and he kicks the back of my knee, making me grunt as I nearly fall down, but I start moving down the hall.

I have to be careful here. My own life is at risk, sure, but one poorly aimed bullet could mean Andie or Molly could get hurt. I won’t risk that for anything.

I’m marched into the spacious living room, a big place with large couches, a massive television, and a coffee table.

“Cozy place,” I say dryly.

“Yeah, real fuckin’ lap of luxury,” Eddie growls. “On your knees.”

I obey, but I need to keep Eddie talking. “You’re really going to do this?” I say as I kneel down, hands still on my head. I hear Eddie approach me from behind, and I know there’s a finger on his trigger, about a millimeter away from ending my life.

“I don’t know where Molly found you,” he says, “but you’re more trouble than you’re worth. Because of you, everything is fucked. Don’t even try to bargain. Face it, kid, you just picked a bad job for the wrong actress.”

“No bargains,” I say, keeping my voice calm. “You and Molly go hand-in-hand here, I know that,” I lie. “And things are messy enough as it is, you said so yourself. Think hard, Eddie: do you really want to have to deal with a body if you’re about to get Molly to come back to you?”

“Nice try, kid, but that won’t matter,” Eddie says with a chuckle. “I’m already way ahead of you.” There’s an edge to his voice that tells me he’s off the deep end. Maybe he’s tweaked-out on something, but he’s jumpy and liable to do anything. But I have to keep him talking. Every second bought counts.

“How do you figure? The way I see it, you could skip town right now and nobody would know where you went. Guy like you must have friends in high places.” I don’t let it slip that I know those friends are crime lords in New York--that would make me a loose end. “Things don’t look good right now, Eddie, you could start over somewhere fresh real easy.”

“Sure will--once I have Molly,” he says in a gravelly voice. “You think I haven’t thought on my feet before? I put a bullet in your head, then one in Andie’s, set the place up to make it look like you kidnapped her for ransom and the two of you killed each other in a struggle.”

My gut wrenches. This guy has no conscience.

“Then,” he continues, “I get some guys with more stones than NSS to grab Molly, and the two of us fly home to Italy where I’ve got some family that will treat us right, make her warm up to me while straddling my-”

CRACK.

I whirl around to the sight of Eddie staggering down before Molly, who just whacked him over the head with a red paddle from the shed out back, hard.

I take my chance and lunge at Eddie, bowling him over and pinning him to the ground. He grunts as his back hits the floor, and I punch him across the face, sending teeth flying onto the carpet. He brings a knee up to try and strike me in the balls, but I wrench him to the side.

He struggles in my grasp, but not against me--I realize he’s going for the gun he dropped when Molly hit him.

His fingers brush against the handle, and the paddle comes down hard on his hand, and this time, I hear the crack of breaking bones.

He shrieks in agony, and I lunge forward to grab the gun. The next second, I put it against the back of Eddie’s head as he groans in pain under my weight.

“Fucking son of a bitch,” Molly snarls at him. A moment later, I see a freed Andie appear behind her with a face as white as a ghost.

I pause with my gun to Eddie’s head, the pathetic worm of a man breathing heavily under me, glaring up at Molly with pure hatred.

“You seething, ungrateful bitch,” he croaks. “I could have given you everything, but you’ll always just be a spoiled fucking brat.” He tries to struggle under me. “Go ahead, pull the trigger you piece of shit!”

I cock the gun, my face locked in a scowl.

Once again, I have someone’s defenseless life in my hands.

My finger on the trigger.