Audra had to choke back the bile rising up her throat. It was just like Jeremy, and although Audra didn’t know the details yet, she knew his commander had turned on him. He had killed Jeremy. And now Reaper was ready to do the same to Diggs for rescuing an innocent animal. It was too much.

The entire room fell silent, and even though she’d thought the men had been standing immobile before, it seemed as though they were frozen in place now. Even Reaper was unmoving.

They were all staring at her like she’d just spoken the greatest blasphemy in the world. But she didn’t care. She couldn’t stop the words from pouring out any more than she could stop the constant aching void in her chest. “All you do is take and take from everyone. You don’t care who gets hurt in your path of destruction as long as you’re following orders.”

Diggs’ hands tightened on her shoulders and she flinched instinctively, but he didn’t pull away. He turned her around to face him, his deep brown eyes filled with compassion, not disgust or anger. “Audra, take a deep breath. No one’s hurting anyone today.”

“He is.” She pointed at Reaper. “He wants to punish you. He’s the one who needs to be punished. If it weren’t for you Trigger would be dead, and why we’re even having this conversation is beyond my comprehension.”

His gaze held her steady and his eyes seemed to be bottomless, full of calm strength. If she wasn’t so upset, she could focus on that and rein in her emotions.

“He’s my commander, and he’s right. I did disobey his direct order. But he’s not going to hurt me because of it. We don’t do that.”

“Look at him! Of course, he would hurt you. They all would if it served their purpose.” Audra threw an arm out uncaring that the men were hearing every word. There was a sick satisfaction in knowing she was flinging their disgrace in their faces. And she was so beyond the point of caring about her own safety.

“No.” Diggs spoke just as calmly as he had before, and she got the feeling he was trying to probe inside her mind and help bring her down. “These men would give up their lives for me, and I would give up mine for theirs. He’s angry because I did possibly put them in danger.”

“To save a dog from being beaten to death.”

He nodded in agreement, taking a little bit of her fury away. “You’re right too. I did what I did, and I would do it again.”

Audra sucked in a breath, finding it hard to believe her own ears. “You would?”

Before Diggs could respond, Reaper’s grating voice filled the room, “Enough. We have to figure out what we’re going to do. Diggs, go to the war room. Now.”

His tone left no room for disobedience, but Audra pointedly kept her back turned to him and stared at Diggs, willing him to stay with her. Maybe she could persuade him to leave with her. Diggs didn’t seem as bad as the rest. He really did care. He’d done nothing but put his life on the line for Trigger. He didn’t belong with these people.

Yet, he snapped his feet together and saluted his commander. “Yes, sir.” And with that, Diggs stalked from the room.

Audra felt the fear come crashing down, pummeling her senses. Reaper was now staring at her, his expressionless mask firmly in place. “You will stay here with your dog until I determine what we will do after speaking with Diggs. You are not to leave this room. Is that understood?”

Audra threw her chin up in the air and stared at him defiantly, praying he couldn’t see the terror inside her.

One of the men behind him finally broke rank, leaning close to his commander to say in a low tone that was still loud enough to carry across the room, “I’m not sure she heard you, Top.” Then the guy winked at her, stepped back in line, his expression falling flat so fast she thought she must’ve imagined his wink.

“She heard me,” Reaper said, “and if she’s smart, she’ll do what I told her.”

As if she would leave Trigger’s side for a second. These madmen would throw him out back like trash, she knew it. But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of responding like one of his mindless men, following orders without question.

“Dr. Averton, can you check on my fiancee? She didn’t feel well this morning. She’s lying in bed now, but only because I made her.”

Audra had completely forgotten Melissa was standing behind her. She was too stunned by hearing the monster had a fiancee, but not the least bit shocked that he forced her to stay in bed. The man seemed to think the entire world needed to do as he said.

“Already on my schedule. I peeked in on her a little while ago, but she was asleep. I’ll check on her as soon as I finish here.”

Then Reaper lifted his finger in the air and made a circular motion. “With me.” He turned and walked from the room, the three men behind him filing out, the one who’d winked at her casually strolling as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

As soon as they were gone, Audra rounded on Melissa. “Can I move Trigger without hurting him?”

“With the amount of sedatives I gave him, he won’t wake up for at least a few hours, but I think it would be a risk. If he was moved improperly, his fractured ribs could break and puncture his lungs,” she said matter-of-factly.

Audra felt some of the hope drain from her. She wanted to take him right now and run from this place, before Reaper came back and threatened their safety and before Diggs came back and threatened her resolve.

He made her want to stay here with him and never leave, even though his military connections couldn’t be denied. But no matter how sexy he was, she couldn’t stay here, not if she wanted to live. Jeremy’s commander would find her, she knew that for a fact. If Reaper and his team found out who she was they’d report her and take Trigger.

She didn’t trust Reaper in the least.

If he was in any way, shape, or form connected to Jeremy’s old commander and had even the slightest inkling that she knew anything about Jeremy’s death, he’d turn her in in a heartbeat. All the men in the military knew each other, they were the same heartless and cruel monsters. All of them except Jeremy. And maybe Diggs.

She had to get her brother’s belongings and find somewhere to hide. Somewhere no one could ever find her while she figured out how to get vengeance for Jeremy.

But she had to get the hell out here first.

Audra leaned down as if to pet Trigger, studying Melissa through her lashes. Could she convince her to help her escape?

“I think it would be better if I took Trigger and we left. I don’t want to cause Diggs any more trouble,” Audra said carefully.

Melissa’s expression softened with sympathy. “Audra, I know Reaper looks scary, but he’s just worried. He’s not really going to do anything to harm anyone in this house. He wants to keep all of us safe.”

Audra bit her tongue to keep from calling her a liar; instead she kept her head angled toward Trigger, thinking as fast as she could. “He didn’t sound like it, but I guess you know him better?”

“I owe him my life,” Melissa said just as quietly as before. “He means well. Just give him some time to figure out how to safely move you and your dog.”

Audra knew she was acting like an insanely over protective mother. Not that she could help it. Trigger needed her as much as she needed him. If they were going to survive the situation, she had put on her big girl panties and think with her head instead of her heart.

“I’ve always had a soft spot for dogs.”

“Me too,” Melissa said with a small smile of understanding. “I understand why Diggs did what he did. And I’m sure Reaper will too after they talk.”

“So, when we are able to move him, how am I going to take care of him? I mean, does it take a long time for fractured ribs to heal?” While she was here she needed to find out as much information as possible from the doctor about Trigger’s care taking. She could easily make it sound as though she were going to willingly stay until Melissa deemed him healthy enough to move and Reaper allowed her to leave. But once she had the information she needed, she was escaping today.

“You’ll need to get a cage, a really big one for an extra-large breed dog. He doesn’t need to be allowed to move around very much, at least for a couple of weeks. I’ll get you some meds together that you can take, some painkillers and anti-inflammatories as well as some sedatives if he gets too anxious.” Melissa began to pace back and forth on the other side of the table, focused now on Trigger’s medical needs.

Audra watched her carefully, trying to think one step ahead. She needed those drugs, and she needed them now, but how could she get them from Melissa without making her suspicious? “What kind of drugs? I didn’t know dogs could take that kind of medication.”

“Dogs can take almost all the same meds as humans. Just regular painkillers and anti-inflammatories, which I keep in our medicine cabinet down here.” Melissa kept pacing.

“How do you know how much to give him?”

“It’s all based on weight. Trigger, I’m guessing, weighs about eighty-five or ninety pounds. It’s a healthy weight for a German Shepherd despite his injuries. He’ll take a pretty heavy dose—one ml for every thirty pounds ought to do it. I also want to keep him on some antibiotics for a couple of weeks too. His front leg looked worse than the rest of him did. It’s obvious that whoever had him before now didn’t even try to keep his wound clean.”

Another gut punch of pain. Her father had probably forced him to stay outside in the elements unprotected; she doubted he’d even fed him more than once every couple of days. Bastard. “You have all that stuff here? Is this like a hospital or something?” It was certainly set up like one. With the beds and monitors and a real live doctor walking around.

Melissa paused and finally turned to face her, “No, it’s not a hospital. But we do keep certain medical supplies on hand, so you can relax. I promise I will take care of Trigger and he will get better. Even if I have to sit with him twenty-four/seven, he’ll be okay.” Melissa drifted over to the table and ran a hand down Trigger’s body. “Poor guy has already done enough service for his country; he deserves to be taken care of.”

Melissa looked up at Audra then, her intense gaze boring into hers, and Audra got the distinct impression Melissa saw everything she was trying so desperately to hide.

“I will take care of him,” Audra said truthfully. “Trigger’s going to live like a king for the rest of his life. I swear on my life.”

Melissa studied her silently for a moment longer. “Audra – “

Audra’s breath caught. Had Melissa figured out her plan to escape?

Shifting uncomfortably and needing to get free of Melissa’s penetrating stare, Audra picked up her own pacing alongside the table. “So, nothing against you or this place, but I really don’t want to stay here for two weeks. Would it be a problem to leave before then if he continues to heal properly?”

The cold hard tile seemed to bounce up between her sneakers, the lights overhead pressing down as if the full weight of the earth overhead wanted to keep her inside.

“Well, we’ll have to carry him out on one of those.” Melissa pointed to an oblong, blue-shaped thing that looked sort of like a surfboard propped against the far wall. Only it had cutouts along the edges and thick black straps hanging from its sides.

“What is that?”

“It’s a mobile papoose we use to transport the injured. The straps are to keep them still so they don’t fall off or jar too much to reinjure themselves.”

The board was as tall as she was. How the hell was she supposed to carry a hundred-pound dog on one of those out of this lab by herself? Even if she managed to drag it down the hall, dragging it up the stairs it would surely break Trigger’s ribs and possibly puncture his lungs. Hopelessness curled around her, slowing her steps, as she continued pacing back and forth.

Melissa continued as if completely unaware of Audra’s inner turmoil. “The guys can help carry it. I imagine Diggs will want to make sure you make it home safe. He can help you move the dog, no problem. How far from here do you live?”

“A couple of hours.” When she’d graduated from high school she’d moved as far from her father as humanly possible, but somehow over the years, she’d gravitated back toward her hometown and wound up living only a few cities away. Jeremy’s house sat a few miles from hers and she kept it up while he was gone. Not that she needed to worry about that anymore…

“So, what brings you out here?” Melissa asked.

Audra froze, realizing Melissa was trying to pry information from her. No matter how sympathetic or caring the woman might seem, she was still ultimately on Reaper’s side. “Just passing through, that’s all. I need to be back at work next week, so I’d like to leave before then if possible so I have enough time to get Trigger settled comfortably.”

“What kind of work do you do?” Melissa continued, still stroking Trigger’s fur but staring up at Audra all the while.

“I’m an accountant. Boring job. I promise you this has been more excitement than I’ve had in my entire life.” That part was very, very true. The past two weeks had been so tumultuous, she could barely find her footing. Even now, she struggled for sanity in all the unfairness.

“We’ll see how Trigger is. If you really need to get back to work, he can stay here until he’s well enough to be moved.”

“No,” Audra responded sharply and then had to bite her tongue. “I mean I can call in, if I need to.”

Shit, she sucked at lying big time. She always had. Jeremy used to tease her when they were teenagers that he could never use her to cover for him when he snuck out to see his girlfriend or hang out with his baseball team. And it wasn’t because he didn’t trust her, she just tended to blabber everything. That was a skill she was going to have to change if she wanted to survive in her new life.

“You don’t happen to have a shower down here, do you? I’d really like to get cleaned up, and I don’t want to go too far from Trigger.”

“I’m afraid we don’t have showers down here, but there’s plenty of them in our living quarters. If you’d like, I could show you to the guest room and get you some clothes. You could meet Reaper’s fiancee.”

No way! If she did that, she’d have to leave Trigger down here with those men. Even if Diggs was ultimately on her side, he couldn’t fight them all off. “I really don’t want to go that far from Trigger. Is there any way that you and I could carry him up there with us?” Audra thought frantically trying to come up with a plausible excuse. “If I’m going to be staying here at least for a few more days, I’d like to keep him with me, if that’s okay.”

Melissa tapped her chin, her all-too-knowing eyes studying Audra thoughtfully. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

Desperation urged Audra’s feet around the table until she was standing right next to the doctor. “Please. I really am scared to leave him. I know you say Reaper’s harmless, but that’s not what I saw. I want to trust your judgment, I really do, but what would it hurt for Trigger to come with me and stay in my room?”

Melissa pursed her lips together, refraining from answering for so long that Audra was ready to scream. If she said no, she would really have no choice. She’d have to go upstairs, take a shower, and rethink her escape plan. But then, that would give Diggs and his team time to regroup and maybe even figure out more about her.

“Okay,” Melissa said finally. “I understand that you just met all of us, and that the team can be a little scary looking. I guess we can move him upstairs. But we have to be very careful, do you understand? If we jar him or drop him we really will hurt him.”

Good, Melissa was shifting back into doctor mode, something Audra noticed she seemed to do without thought or awareness. “Of course. I can carry him, I swear.”

Audra rushed to get the carrier before Melissa could change her mind. Then she just stood there, completely unsure what to do next. Were they supposed to roll him?

As if sensing her hesitation, Melissa said, “Put it on the table beside him. Then we can use the sheet to move him over. Like this.” Melissa gestured at the table, and moved to the head and picked up the two corners of the sheet. “Like a sling.”

Bunching the material around her fists, on the count of three Audra helped lift Trigger over onto the carrier. Melissa strapped him down with the brisk efficiency that clearly spoke of her skill and within minutes they were ready to go.

“I’ll carry the front; you take the back.” Melissa wrapped her hands around the handles on the carrier.

Crap! They were going to leave without the meds! “Umm, where did you say the antibiotics and anti-inflammatories are? I’ll carry them up for you so you don’t have to keep coming back down here.”

Melissa paused before lifting Trigger. “I’ll get them, you stay here.” She moved to the back of the lab where the stainless steel and glass cabinets stood and opened the doors, pulling out three large bottles and three small ones. She carefully counted pills from each of the large ones and placed them into the smaller bottles, writing on them with a Sharpie that she had produced from her lab coat pocket.

When she returned, she held them out to Audra to show her. “The first one is an antibiotic—he’ll need to take one pill twice a day. Anti-inflammatories are the same. Pain meds he can have every four to six hours if he starts getting too restless.”

“Got it.” Audra held out her hands, but Melissa dropped the meds into her pocket.

“Okay, remember we need to not jostle him as much as possible. Try to keep the carrier flat, without tilting it.” Melissa grabbed the front handles and Audra did the same at the back, casting Trigger a worried look.

I’m sorry, boy. Sorry, I wasn’t here sooner. I promise you I’m going to get you out of here. You’ll be safe with me.

Audra tested his weight, not surprised to find it heavy. German shepherds were not small dogs, and Trigger had trained as much as her brother, until he was pure muscle.

Audra tried to keep up with the maze of hallways as they wound their way out toward the exit, but after a while all the walls and doors looked the same. When they reached the exit, Melissa put her hand on the scanner and entered a code, and Audra realized if she’d allowed them to keep Trigger down there, she would’ve never been able to get him out on her own. There was no way she would’ve been able to find her way out of here, and she sure as hell didn’t know anything about technology. It was obvious this place was locked down tighter than the Pentagon.

The door opened, and they began their ascent quietly up the stairway. Before Audra had descended into the darkness with despair, recklessly following a stranger in the hopes of saving Trigger’s life. Now she was ascending the same steps with a half-baked plan for escape from her own personal hell. Of all the places she could’ve ended up, a secret military compound was the absolute worst.

And the first man she’d been attracted to in years turned out to be a soldier, of all things. Why couldn’t Diggs have been a normal guy, just some Joe Blow working in an office somewhere? They could have met in a bar, had some drinks, and fell madly in love. Moved into a suburban house and raised their two children and lived happily ever after.

But for some heinous reason, God seemed intent on punishing her very existence. First, by taking away the one person she loved more than anything in the world, second, by handing Trigger over to her dad and then thrusting this Greek God in her face, a man that she could never have.

She could never fall in love with anyone in the military. Since they were responsible for Jeremy’s death, and she was on a mission to convict those responsible, Diggs would probably end up hating her before it was all over. Being with him was a hopeless pipe dream and one that she needed to give up on fast, whether she wanted to or not.

Melissa opened the door at the top of the stairs, and they moved Trigger out into the hallway. Audra’s arms were aching from keeping the carrier lifted level so that Trigger didn’t slide backwards on the climb up. Now that they were in the flat hallway, she was able to let him hang down a little bit and give her tired shoulders a break. “Where to?”

“Second-story, I’m afraid. We gotta go up some more stairs.”

Crap, she hadn’t thought about that. She needed to keep Trigger on the first floor—she wouldn’t be able to carry him down a flight of stairs on her own—but for the life of her, she couldn’t think of a reason to keep him on the main level that would make any sense to Melissa.

They started their journey down the hallway in the mansion, Audra chewing her bottom lip until it almost bled as she tried to figure out a solution. By the time they wound around the corner and through the foyer, they were standing at the base of the grand staircase and she still hadn’t come up with a plan.

Once they reached the top of the steps, she’d have to have help to get him back down. This was her last chance. But she didn’t know what to do.

“I…I think he’s waking up,” Audra said quickly.

“Set him down, gently. I’ll check him.”

With Melissa’s back still facing her, they knelt in formation on the floor. And then she turned and checked over Trigger, all the while Audra was scrambling to come up with anything to get them out of having to go upstairs. All she could come up with was some diehard move of cracking her knuckles over Melissa’s head and knocking her out. But she couldn’t stand the thought of committing violence against someone who had helped both her and Trigger. And she seriously doubted she had the strength to pull it off anyway.

“I think it must’ve just been a muscle twitch, he’s still out pretty good,” Melissa said in a reassuring tone. She stood up and Audra was forced to stand with her, her plans clattering around her feet.

Suddenly, there was a loud feminine scream from up the staircase. “What was that?”

Melissa paled, her dark blue eyes growing wide behind her glasses. “Caroline.”

“Is that Reaper’s fiancee?” Audra asked.

“Yes,” Melissa said.

“Go! Go check on her; I’ll stay right here with Trigger.” Audra knelt down next to Trigger, praying Melissa couldn’t see the excitement building inside her.

But apparently Melissa wasn’t even worried about them anymore, she was already running up the stairs, shouting as she went, “Caroline, I’m coming!”

Audra waited until the doctor disappeared up the next flight of stairs, and then she latched onto the handles at Trigger’s feet and began dragging him across the smooth polished marble floor to the grand double doors. Unless someone had moved it, her car would be parked just outside. All she had to do was get Trigger over the threshold and into the back seat. Thank God, he was still knocked out.

By the time she reached the front door she was wringing with sweat from the effort and her adrenaline was pumping through her veins. There was no scanner or key code or any of that here, just a simple deadbolt, which she unlocked easily and pulled the heavy door open wide.

Her car still sat, as beautiful as ever, waiting to take them from this place.

Audra managed to get Trigger out of the door without jostling him too much and then opened the back door of her car, cringing when she saw the bloodstains on the cushion. Not because she cared they’d stained her car. Because it was Trigger’s blood. “It’s okay, boy, I’m not gonna let you down again. I swear.”

He continued to breathe evenly in his sleep, and Audra could only pray the painkillers continued to hold until she could find another way to replenish them. There’s no way she could have taken them out of Melissa’s pocket without her noticing. She’d get him to a veterinary clinic, make up some story about his injuries and get some meds. It wouldn’t be easy but she could do it.

Carefully, she lifted the front of the carrier onto the cushion in her car and then got at the other end and lifted his feet up and slid him slowly across the backseat. The carrier was so long she was scared for a second her door wouldn’t close, but it shut with a couple of inches to spare.

Audra cast one last look at the giant mansion, swallowing back her regret at leaving Diggs without his knowledge, after all he’d done for Trigger. But if he knew the truth, there’s no way he’d let them go. She didn’t have a choice. She and Diggs could never be a couple. As soon as he started digging into the truth, there’d be a target on her head bigger than the size of the state of Texas.

Resolutely, she marched around to her front seat, got in and hit the start button. Then she quietly pulled out of the drive, circled around, and headed back down the long, overgrown driveway, realizing now they probably kept it that way on purpose for camouflage.

Before she knew it, the gate was looming up ahead, dark and insurmountable. She slowed as she got closer, her hands gripping the wheel so tight the blood couldn’t get to her fingertips. There’s no way this thing wasn’t locked. Diggs had to punch in some long code on the outside to get it to open. She seriously doubted ramming her smart car into it would even put a dent in the thick wrought iron, plus that would surely hurt Trigger.

She kept driving forward, even as the tendrils of despair wound their way into her heart and robbed her of hope. They would all know something was up if they caught her here. There was no way around it. She was sneaking out like a criminal.

She was within about 30 feet of the gate when she spotted the small silver box. She rolled down her window and pressed the button in the center. The gate started to slowly open, and Audra had to blink, not even believing her own eyes. It was impossible. This place was locked down so tight you couldn’t squeeze a nickel out of it, and yet here she was, driving through the gate, pulling out onto the highway with no one to stop her.