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That wiped the attitude right out of her voice. “Aw, shit. What happened? Is she all right?”

“She’s fine. I’m fine too, in case you were wondering.”

“You wouldn’t be calling in the middle of the night if you weren’t. Who’s trying to kill you? And why?”

“Long story; I’ll fill you in next time I see you. Right now I need new contacts for Dorcas. Or glasses if you can’t get the contacts.”

His sister made a rude noise. “Yeah, sure, no problem. It’s only two in the morning. I’ll pull a pair right out of my butt.”

“I’m serious, Larissa. The woman can’t see more than a foot or two in front of her face without them.”

“She doesn’t have an extra pair?”

“Yeah, maybe at her apartment. But with everything going on, that isn’t a viable option.”

There was a long pause, followed by another sigh. “What’s her optometrist’s name?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps you could hack into her email or phone for the info.”

Nate could have sworn he heard her teeth grinding.

At last, she said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Great! Thanks, sis. You’re the best.” He threw every ounce of enthusiasm he could muster into his voice. “How soon do you think you can get them?”

“That depends on how quickly I get the baby back to sleep. If I were you, I wouldn’t expect anything until tomorrow morning at the earliest.” She said something, presumably to her husband, Shane, but it was too muffled for Nate to make out the words. An audible yawn came over the phone, and he felt bad about disturbing her sleep. “I’ll call you when I have news.”

“Thanks, sis. I owe you big time.”

“Damn straight you do. I see a lot of babysitting in your future.”

Nate inwardly groaned. It wasn’t that he disliked kids. On the contrary, he loved spending time with his niece, Emma. She was a bright and inquisitive little girl, and a whole lot of fun to be around. But he wasn’t sure how well he could handle a newborn. All that crying and spitting up. And the thought of changing dirty diapers made him shudder. But if that’s what it took to get Dorcas new contacts, he’d suck it up and take it like a man.

“How much babysitting are we talking?”

“I don’t know yet, but it’ll have a direct correlation with how hard I have to work to get your girl’s contacts. Let’s set the floor at three times and go from there.”

He was going to insist that Dorcas wasn’t his girl, but he was too tired to argue, and a part of him kind of liked the way it sounded. For the time being, he was going to add that to the not-looking-at-it-too-closely column. “You drive a hard bargain, sis.”

“You’d be disappointed if I didn’t. I’ll let you know when I get the contacts. If you need anything else, send a text. My fee triples if you wake the baby again.”

Larissa disconnected before he could respond. He grinned, thankful she hadn’t threatened to make him watch while she breastfed or something equally horrifying that would have resulted in many years of therapy. Growing up with five brothers, she’d learned at a young age how to inflict maximum damage without ever raising her hand. He loved her for it, and he was happy she’d found a guy who was worthy of her.

Not that he’d ever admit Shane was worthy—at least not to his face.

An hour later, Nate turned onto a quiet two-lane country road and parked along the soft shoulder long enough to send a text:B there in 2. Coming in hot. He pulled back onto the road, which eventually went from asphalt to dirt, with deep enough ruts to wake Dorcas.

“Where are we?” she asked as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. She straightened in her seat and peered out into the night.

“Osteen. A couple of guys who work at Six Points live out here.” The car hit another rut in the road, hard enough to make him bounce in his seat. This part of Volusia County didn’t have much in the way of development, mostly because a lot of it was swampland bordering the St. Johns River.

He doubted anyone would look for them here, and if they did, they’d have to contend with Jackson and Navarre. The guys had served in the Army together, and now they both worked for the Flint family at Six Points. Not only were they fiercely loyal, they were armed to the teeth and knew how to fight. So if anyone managed to find them out here, they’d be in for a world of trouble.

As they rounded the bend, a house came into view, a simple one-story ranch with a small front porch and a two-car garage. The guys had bought it at a foreclosure auction and were in the process of renovating the property. In the darkness, it was hard to spot the details, but Nate saw Jackson’s truck, a late model Mazda, another pickup that looked familiar, and a small motorboat on a trailer all parked along the side of the house. The guys must have been watching, because the garage door rolled up at their approach.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Dorcas asked.

“They’re solid. I trust these guys with my life.” He parked in the garage, right next to Navarre’s fully restored Plymouth Barracuda. “We’ll get some rest, and then we’ll plan our next move. Now come on, let me introduce you to the guys.”