I slept surprisingly well in that strange place, surrounded by strange noises. When I woke, it was pitch dark save for a small light coming from a lit vent near the floor. I stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom, admiring the deep tub tucked into the corner of the room as I used the facilities. I could imagine myself in there with a generous supply of sweet-smelling bubbles. Better, I could imagine myself in there with Brent warm and naked behind me.

I shook my head, splashing cold water on my face as I had to remind myself that this was not a normal day and this wasn’t the time for such erotic thoughts. Working at that stupid club had turned me into some sort of sexual deviant, I think.

I did take a quick shower, though, and changed into a pair of yoga pants and a long t-shirt that were in my bag—it was sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. Brent must have had someone bring some of my things over.

I was tying my hair into a long ponytail as I left the room, walking down another hallway with doors that opened onto more bedrooms and a storeroom that held enough food to feed a large family for months. I followed the sound of voices and that led me to another large room that looked like the sort of control room that I’d seen in dozens of war genre movies over the years. Brent was sitting in a chair in front of a bank of computer monitors and his brother was standing behind him, his hands behind his back as he studied the video playing on the largest screen.

It took me a second, but I recognized the footage as security video from the elevator at the hotel. My own face was pointed straight at the elevator doors, barely visible to the cameras, my body tense as a man stood close behind me, clearly whispering near my ear.

“Where’d you get that?”

Brent stood so fast the chair he’d been in skittered back over the floor.

“Hey,” he said, coming toward me and then pushing me backward out of the room, “I didn’t realize you were awake.”

“Where’d you get that video?”

“Dane, we—”

“Let her look at it,” Jack demanded. “Maybe she’ll see something or remember something that’ll help us.”

“I’m not going to put her through that.”

Brent was clearly annoyed by his brother’s suggestion, his eyes narrowing slightly even as he focused on me.

“I’m not going to do that to you,” he said softly.

“No, he’s right. If it’ll help you find this guy quicker…”

“You’ve been through enough already.”

And that brought back memories I was pretty sure I’d never be able to shake, namely the image of Brendan being shot.

“How is Brendan?”

“He’ll be okay,” Jack said, moving up behind his brother. He looked exhausted, dark rings under his eyes that spoke of the stress he’d been under these last days. He also seemed concerned. There was something cautious in his eyes when he glanced at Brent, something not meant for Brent to see. “He’s already awake and asking for food.”

“That’s good.”

Jack inclined his head slightly, his eyes moving slowly over me. That look of concern grew deeper as he studied my face, as though he saw something in me that set alarm bells off in his head. Or maybe it was just the way Brent was looking at me.

“Let her come look at the footage, Brent.”

“I’m okay,” I said, resting a hand on the center of his chest. “I promise.”

Reluctantly, Brent nodded. “But the second you feel uncomfortable—”

“I’m sure you’ll know.”

He still hesitated, but eventually stepped back and gestured for me to lead the way. Jack pulled up a second chair and gestured for me to sit in it, pushing it close to the largest monitor.

“We’ll take it back to the moment you boarded the elevator and let it play until the moment you’re alone with that guy, okay?”

I nodded, studying the screen as he turned a dial and the playback quickly reversed itself. Then, suddenly, there I was, rushing onto the elevator and pressing my back against the cool wall, stepping forward only long enough to shove my keycard into the reader so that I could push the appropriate button for my floor. Then I was back against the wall, watching as the doors closed tight.

I felt my shoulders tense as my muscles remembered that moment.

“They backed off about a block from the hotel, but I was convinced they were going to come back after me. I didn’t feel safe until the doors closed.”

Brent laid his hand on my shoulder and I reached up to slide my hand into his.

The footage continued, showing the elevator stop at the lobby and allow a half dozen people on board. I recognized the man immediately even though he was careful to keep his face turned from the security camera. As the elevator ascended up the floors of the hotel, stopping every minute or two to let people off, we could see the man slowly making his way behind me. And I was oblivious, focused on the numbers moving above the doors, anxiously awaiting the moment when the door would open on my floor.

And then the last hotel guest got off and we were alone.

Jack stopped the playback. For a moment, the room was completely silent, not even the hum of machinery to break the heaviness that lay on my shoulders. But then Jack leaned back against the counter, resting his hands on either side of him as he regarded me.

“What do you remember about this moment?”

I shrugged. “I remember looking up at the numbers, thinking I was almost to the safety of my hotel room.”

“Were you aware of the man standing behind you?”

“Only in a vague sort of way.”

“Didn’t you wonder why he hadn’t gotten off? He’d have had a keycard that allowed him to the top floors if that was his destination.”

I tilted my head slightly. “No, I didn’t.”

“She’d just been through an ordeal, Jack,” Brent pointed out. “She was chased down the street by half a dozen motorcycle gang members!”

Jack ignored his brother.

“Did you see him push a button? Did you hear him mention his floor?”

“No.”

“Did he have anything in his hands?”

“Jack…”

It was clearly a warning from one brother to another, but Jack continued to ignore his brother. He was focused on my face and only my face. As odd as it might sound, his intense focus helped keep me calm, helped me focus on the facts and not the panic that I felt in those moments.

“Was there anything in his hands?”

“Not when I was looking at him.”

“When was there something in his hands?”

“When he started talking to me. He had a gun pressed to the small of my back.”

Brent suddenly erupted in curses, the pop of his hands slamming together making me jump. I started to turn, but Jack grabbed the corner of my chair.

“Focus on me,” he said, his voice a deep growl.

Jack tapped the monitor that showed me and that man on the elevator. “Are you sure it was a gun?”

I nodded. “Positive.”

“Did you ever see it?”

“No. I just felt it. But I know what a gun feels like.”

Jack tilted his head slightly as though acknowledging what I’d said. “Did he have anything else?”

“I don’t think so.”

Jack sat back, resting against the counter again. “What, exactly, did he say?”

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to remember. His words had become part of my panic, part of the intense fear that was still there, locked away, deep inside of me. But if I concentrated really hard, I could pull them out.

“He said that he knew who I was, that he knew where I worked and that I went to visit Rachel every day.”

“Rachel?” Jack interrupted.

“One of the victims from Highland.”

Jack nodded, rotating a finger to indicate I should continue.

“He said that he’d been watching me and that he was glad that Brent and I were together. Then he said that if Brent didn’t back off him and his brothers, he would do to me what he’d done to Rachel and that Brent would have to pick up the pieces with a shovel.”

I shuddered at that last part, the image almost more than I could take. Jack sat back and crossed his arms over his chest as he contemplated what I’d said. Brent moved up behind me, taking my hand again.

Jack pushed a button that allowed the footage to move forward, but very slowly. I watched as the man moved closer behind the image of me, his body so close to mine that the angle from which the security camera looked down on us, we couldn’t see a gun. We couldn’t even see whether his hand was near my body. All we could see was how close he was to me, how his lips were so intimately close to my ear.

It killed my soul to watch it. I knew I walked away, but the reality of what could have happened played through my mind at a speed much faster than the video played. And then the doors opened and he was pushing me out.

“There!”

Jack tapped the screen with one finger while his other hand was stopping the movement of the video. Brent leaned over me to look at what seemed obvious to me.

The man’s hand had slipped under his jacket. He was putting a gun back in its holster.

“He did have a gun.”

And that’s where I lost it.

I jumped up and ran down the hall to the same room where I’d taken my nap, diving onto my knees in front of the toilet. I hadn’t eaten in hours, so there was little in my stomach, but what there was came up. And when it was gone, my body continued to convulse, my muscles painfully tight as my stomach threatened to turn itself inside out.

Brent was there, pressing a cool cloth to the back of my neck. The spasms eventually stopped, but I was sore and exhausted again when it was over. I lay my cheek on the cold porcelain for a long moment.

“I’m sorry. I have never done that before.”

“You’ve never had some crazy son of a bitch pull a gun on you.”

Brent ran his hand slowly down my back as he dropped to his knees behind me. He slipped his hands around my waist and tugged me back against his chest. He cradled me there, holding me like I was a child.

“The first time I pulled my gun in the line of duty, I was shaking so hard that I couldn’t have hit the side of a barn even if it was less than a foot away.” He kissed the back of my neck. “And the first time some ignorant perp pulled a gun on me? I was kissing the porcelain throne for hours afterward.”

“But this isn’t my first time. You have no idea the things Curtis did while we were together!”

He was quiet for a second. “Yeah,” he finally said, “but it’s different when it’s a stranger. When you can’t look him in the eye and see his intentions written there.”

I nodded.

We lay there for a while longer, then I pulled away, needing to get the taste of bile out of my mouth. I brushed my teeth quickly with my own toothbrush and toothpaste that had also been in my bag. When I stepped into the bedroom, Brent and his brother were both there.

“Sorry about that,” I said for Jack’s benefit.

He studied my face for a second, his own expression unreadable. Then he shrugged.

“You handled it much better than most people would have. And, thanks to you, we have more information to go on than we had before. Evidence we can hand over to the police when—or if—it comes down to that.”

It felt like a big compliment coming from him. I inclined my head in gratitude.

“What happens now?”

“We get to work. You stay here and try not to go stir crazy.”

Brent took my hand and pulled me against his side. “What he means is: don’t try to leave these rooms the way his girl did when we brought her down here.”

“No. I’m saying don’t make me change the codes and hold you prisoner.”

“I’m already prisoner. But I’m okay with that.”

Brent made a face at his brother. Jack just shook his head and spun on his heel, leaving the room.

Once alone, Brent turned me around and stole a hard kiss. I melted against him, pressing the curves of my body against the angles of his. We stood there like that for a long moment, enjoying that simple touch more than we probably had the right to under the circumstances.

“I’ll be back in a few hours. We just want to check out a few leads.”

“Be careful.”

“Always.” His eyes sparkled as he looked down at me, almost like there were tears in them. “There are books on that shelf over there and plenty to eat in the kitchen. If you need anything, there’s a communication system you can use in the control room.” He touched one ear, turning so I could see a teeny earbud stuck inside. “I can hear you with this. Just keep in mind that so can Jack and our men.”

“Okay.”

“When I get back…”

He touched my face again, drawing me close to him. We kissed again, a long, lingering kiss like the ones I couldn’t quite get enough of.

He walked away without looking back. I closed my eyes and prayed a silent prayer.

Please, God, bring him back to me.