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“Bridget, what’s—”

“I just remembered,” she blurted. “I should have told the police, but with everything that happened, I didn’t think. It didn’t make sense at the time, and I don’t know if it will help now.”

He placed his hands on her upper arms, halting her rush of words. He waited for her wide eyes to meet his.

“Slow down and tell me what you’re talking about.”

“When…when Seth had me pinned…you know, against the wall…” Her throat flexed as she swallowed.

“Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”

She nodded. “He told me…you know, what he was going to do. I told him I…didn’t want to. He said for me to stop pretending. He said he heard I liked it rough. He said he heard it. Like someone told him. Who would tell him something like that?”

“You’re sure those are the words he used?”

“Yes. He acted like I wanted him to…to…hurt me. And that I wanted it…with…the kids there.”

She watched him, forlorn to have to recall what happened but desperate for him to understand why she thought the information was important. He smiled gently, running his hands up and down her arms in what he hoped was a calming gesture.

“I get it. I understand, and I agree. It’s important. You did good, Bridge. You’re amazing.”

Then he acted without thought, giving in to his urge before he thought better of it. He gently pulled her toward him and wrapped his arms around her. He held her close, her head resting against his chest, but he left room for her to pull away if she wanted to. His heart pounded when she wrapped her arms around his waist and held on.

“You did good, baby. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure this SOB doesn’t come near you or the kids ever again. I promise you. I never break a promise.”

Chapter Eighteen

Zane expected to be sore after his tangle with the doctor so soon after his release from the hospital. Instead, he strode across the lobby of Knight Security and Investigations without a stitch in his side or a hitch in his gait. The hour was late, requiring him to use his keycard for entry into the building. Jordan had already gone home, leaving the security desk unoccupied.

He took the elevator up to the second floor, impatiently waiting for the doors to open with a soft swoosh. His quick stride took him down the hallway toward the war room – a conference room equipped with everything needed for them to strategize an operation. The door was open, but there was no concern of someone uninvited walking in or of someone hearing conversations they weren’t privy to. KSI was closed, so only Tristin, Kat and the Alpha Team assembled in the room.

Zane settled in the first empty chair he came to, his eyes sweeping the room to note the person they waited for was Brennan Bennett, or BB as he was usually called. The youngest of their five-member team, BB was also known as the communications expert and their tech guru in the field. Zane wasn’t sure what was holding the other man up, but he decided they could start without him.

“What’s going on?”

“Kat, while we’re waiting for BB, fill Zane and the guys in on the lead you and Sydney found in Bridget’s case.” Tristin nodded for his wife to continue.

“I think Bridget was set up by someone to be attacked by Seth Masters, and I think Seth Masters was set up by someone to make the attack.”

Zane sat very still, his arms propped on the top of the conference table. Then he sat back in his chair far enough to make the mechanism creak under his weight. His anger started small as he registered what Kat was telling him, but then it grew into a ball of white-hot fire bouncing around inside him, setting his blood aflame.

“What. The. Hell.” His voice exploded in the room, echoing down the empty hallway.

“Stand down.” Jay was brusque in his command, but Zane responded as his military training dictated. He swallowed his anger and waited for Kat to continue.

“When Brick was installing the security cameras at Bridget’s house, he found a camera in the living room which wasn’t connected to her security system. It was pointed to the front door and was recording everything that happened in the front entryway. The footage was being sent using Bridget’s home WiFi connection to an off-site recorder. Usually this type of system can be accessed remotely from any device with the right system login.”

“Someone’s been watching her?” Zane slammed his fists against the table, unable to get a handle on his reactions.

“Brick did a thorough search of the house, inside and out. It’s clean except for the one living room and one on a nearby tree which provided a perfect view of the front porch.”

“So somewhere there’s footage incriminating Masters.”

“The thing is the recording is video, no sound. Depending on the angle, it could very well seem like Bridget came home from a date and was engaging in consensual rough sex. It could give the impression you were a jealous boyfriend who busted in to break it up,” Jay explained.

“No way in hell!” Zane exploded. “If the camera got a good shot of Bridget’s face, no way would anyone see her expression as anything but fear. I was there! I saw it.”

“The point is, without the footage, we just don’t know,” Kat continued gently. “I tried to trace the location of the receiver, but I couldn’t get closer than a fifty-mile radius. The signal bounced off a couple of towers to make it harder to track. So then I moved on to Seth Masters.”