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“Thank you, gentlemen.” The man who’d requested the meeting with Cade’s team rose to his feet. “There are a few of the logistics we discussed that I’ll need to go over with my people, but I’m sure we’ll be talking again soon.”

Cade and the others followed the man’s lead, and after another round of handshakes, their soon-to-be client bid them farewell and exited the room.

“I think it’s safe to say that went well.” Brody pushed the red leather chair he’d been sitting in back up to the table.

His short, dark hair and matching beard gave the former Navy SEAL an even deadlier look.

“Agreed.” Christian nodded from his place at the head of the table. “I’ll have Amy send the usual follow-up first thing tomorrow. But listen. Before y’all head out for the night, there’s something I need to run by you real quick.”

“What’s up, boss?” Cade asked, using his right hip to roll his chair into its rightful place.

“I got a call from McQueen just before this last meeting.” The man’s dark brown eyes scanned the room. “He said to tell y’all hi, by the way.”

Jake McQueen was the man behind R.I.S.C. The former Delta Force operator started the private security company in Dallas, Texas after his time in the Army.

Together, with Trevor Matthews—McQueen’s best friend and former Delta Force teammate—the two special ops badasses put together a six-man team known to the world as R.I.S.C.’s Alpha Team.

Technically, Alpha Team was five men and one woman. McKenna “Mac” Cooper was one of the team’s two snipers. And from what Cade had heard, the petite woman was every bit as lethal as any of the men on her team. Including her husband, Sean “Coop” Cooper, who also happened to be Alpha Team’s other sniper.

In fact, every member of Alpha Team—and Bravo, and Charlie Team, for that matter—was married. Just like half of Delta. Only Cade, Liam, and Jagger remained bachelors.

Who knows? You play your cards right with Kerrigan, then maybe you’ll be the next member of the team to walk down the ? —

“What else did Jake have to say?” Liam’s voice sounded from Cade’s left. “He finally decide to quit playing Mr. Mom and go back in the field?”

The room filled with several low chuckles as Cade gave a mental shake of his head. Later. He’d think about Kerrigan and how much he fucking loved spending time with her later. For now…

“I’d like to see you ask that question to his face the next time you see him, Cutler.” One of Brody’s dark brows arched high.

“Oh, please ask him that question,” Jagger drawled to Liam from behind the chair three spots to Cade’s right. “But you gotta promise to wait until I can be there to witness it.”

“Me, too.” Rocky chimed in with a subtle smirk. “I’d pay good money to see that.”

“So anyway… ” Christian regained control of the room. “Jake said Matthews and West finished putting together their final candidate list for Echo Team.”

“Sweet.” Jagger nodded. “When do we get to meet ’em?”

“Funny you should ask, Brooks.” The man in charge smiled. “The new team is going to be based out of D.C. Of course, Charlie Team will be close by, in Richmond, so if something comes up and Echo needs backup, odds are it’ll be them. However, Kellan and those guys are slated to leave for an OCONUS op in a few weeks, so McQueen asked if we would be willing to do a sort of on-the-job assessment next time our number comes up with Homeland.”

OCONUS referred to being outside the continental United States. Kellan McBride was the leader of Charlie Team…and one helluva guy.

“So what you’re really trying to say is that Jake wants us to babysit the Echo Team newbies to make sure they can hold themselves up to the company’s high standards,” Jagger surmised.

The smile and nod coming from Christian gave the man’s answer away before he ever spoke. “Pretty much,” their team leader confirmed. “Basically he just wants our opinion on how well those guys fit within the R.I.S.C. family.”

“Can’t argue with that logic.” Rocky shrugged one of his broad shoulders.

“Any idea when our next Homeland op’s gonna be?” Cade looked to Christian and waited.

“Last time I spoke with Talia, she said there was something brewing, but her team was still in the gathering intel phase. Sounds like it’ll be a few months yet, but don’t worry, Ellis. Soon as I know something more, the team will know, too.”

“Copy that.” Cade gave the other man a nod.

“Anything else?” Brody asked. “’Cause if not, I’m gonna scoot home. I promised Ro I’d take her out to dinner the next time I had a day where we got done here at a decent hour. And since we all know that’s never a guarantee…”

“Go.” Christian grinned. “Take your wife out on a date. In fact, I may do the same.”

“You’re gonna take King’s wife out on a date?” Jagger joked. “Damn, boss. That’s a brave move, even for you.”

Their team leader flashed Jagger the bird. “You’re just jealous ’cause you don’t have a wife to take out on the town.”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Jagger drawled sarcastically. “Because I’m such the marrying type.”

All eyes turned, taking in the former Marine’s deadpan expression. A beat later, almost as if they’d rehearsed it, every man in that room began to laugh.

Including Jagger.

“Dude, I would pay to see your ass get married,” Cade teased.

Jagger Brooks was a lot of things, but the settling down type, the man was not.

The group laughed and taunted each other some more as they began filtering out of the conference room overlooking downtown Chicago. God, he loved his job. Loved these guys and all they stood for.

It was moments like these when Cade was reminded of how damn lucky he really was.

He smiled, glancing down at his watch as he followed Jagger out into the hall. It was almost six, which meant he still had an hour before the end of Kerrigan’s shift. If he hurried, he could make it to the store and back to his apartment in time to throw together a romantic dinner for two.

After everything that had happened lately, the amazing woman deserved a night to relax. Good food. A glass of wine. Something sweet for dessert and maybe some candles.

He picked up the pace as he walked back to his office. He finished up a few last-minute things, made sure the client files he’d been working on earlier were locked safely away, and less than twenty minutes after he’d first entered his office, he was shutting down his computer for the night.

Cade was halfway between his and Liam’s offices when the phone in his back pocket began to ring. He pulled it free and glanced down at the device, pleasantly surprised he saw the name written across his screen.

“Hey,” he greeted Detective Hansen. “You get a lead on the break-in?”

“No.” The other man answered him point-blank. His tone sounded serious when he added, “That’s not why I’m calling.”

Liam stepped out of his office at the same time, giving him a questioning stare. Cade mouthed Hansen’s name and pointed to his phone. Both he and Liam—who appeared to be the only ones left in the office—listened closely as Cade put his phone on speaker.

“Are you going to keep me in suspense, or should I guess?” He prompted Hansen to reveal the reason behind the call.

“I’m at UMed.” The other man used the nickname often used for the University of Chicago Emergency Department and Trauma Center, where Kerrigan worked. “I need you to get your ass down here. Now.”

Cade’s chest tightened as he shared a look with Liam. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Just get down here, Ellis. And hurry.”

Ah, fuck. This couldn’t be good.

“Dammit, Tyler, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck is going on!”

Please don’t say it’s Kerrigan. Please let her be okay.

“Brayden Walsh was found stabbed to death in the hospital morgue.”

Brayden was dead? What the fuck?

The man was an arrogant prick, and he fucking hated what Walsh had done to Kerrigan back when those two had been dating. But still. Stabbed to death?

“Jesus.” Cade’s gaze met Liam’s once more. “I just saw the guy last night.”

“That’s not the worst of it, Cade.”

His stomach dropped when he realized there was more Hansen hadn’t said.

“Just tell me.” He held his breath and waited, praying the growing knot in his gut was wrong.

A second later, the man on the phone confirmed his greatest fear.

“It’s Dr. Rawlins, Cade.” Detective Hansen’s exhale filled the phone’s speaker. “She’s missing. And I’m pretty certain whoever killed Walsh is the same person who took her.”

Cade’s ears began to ring, and the world around him began to spin. Liam’s face filled his vision, and the man’s lips were moving, but the ringing blocked out whatever he was trying to say.

Kerrigan was missing. Fucking missing. And the person who had her?—

“Goddammit, Cade, snap out of it!”

Liam’s barked order came with a hard shake of Cade’s shoulders. And just like that, he was back and everything around him was crystal clear.

“I’m on my way.” Cade didn’t bother waiting for a response before he hung up the phone.

“I’ll drive,” Liam offered as the two men began running down the hall.

He wanted to puke. Wanted to shout out at the top of his lungs and punch every fucking wall he passed. But none of those things would bring Kerrigan back to him.

Information and planning. That’s what he needed to focus on most. Because his gut was fucking screaming that she’d been taken by the Omega Killer. And he wasn’t about to let her fall victim to the same fate as Julie Mays or the other five women the bastard had already killed.

Not her. Not his Kerrigan. She would not be victim number six.

Cade was going to find the woman he’d only just fully realized he loved. And then he was going to either kill Morales or die trying. Those were his only options.

Kerrigan’s eyes fluttered open to the sound of a car’s engine as the loud rumble forced its way into her sluggish mind. She blinked against the utter blackness that surrounded her, and innately knew she’d been placed inside the trunk.

Her face throbbed, and she could tell from the way her eyelid felt that she was already swollen and most likely bruised. But a black eye was something she could easily survive. The alternative, however…

She started to move, to do whatever was necessary to get herself free. A frantic heartbeat later, however, Kerrigan froze in place when she realized her wrists were bound tightly together.

Plastic ties, from the feel of it, and the more she struggled against them, the more their sharp edges cut into her skin. Not wanting to waste precious energy or time, Kerrigan tested her ankles next.

She was surprised to find they’d been left unbound. Of course, the asshole who’d taken her probably assumed she’d remain unconscious for much longer than she actually had.

His mistake.

A sliver of satisfaction mixed with her anxiety and fear because Morales had no way of knowing that her system wasn’t like everyone else’s. In addition to the whole thing with her memory, Kerrigan’s doctors had also discovered that she metabolized narcotics and other types of medications at a much higher rate than the average human being.

It wasn’t nearly as rare as HSMA, but uncommon enough it wasn’t something most people would even consider. Not even a man who’d outsmarted the cops as long as Morales had.

He outsmarted them because he’s one of them. But arrogance can also lead to more mistakes.

Feeling a boost of hope that she might have a chance to gain the upper hand, she bent her legs at the knees and tried to roll over. She froze, realizing something was all around her, preventing her from moving the way a normal car trunk would allow.

She felt the smooth, pliable plastic, her heart dropping when she realized what it was. Morales hadn’t just put her into the trunk of a car. He’d put her in a fucking body bag.

Oh, God!

Panic didn’t just settle in, it slammed into her in waves.

She saw Julie Mays lying in the grass. Her body covered in a thousand different cuts. Kerrigan’s mind conjured up the image of Brayden, whose violent and untimely death she couldn’t even begin to understand.

Her chest heaved in and out with quick, shallow breaths, and her heart felt like it was going to explode. If she didn’t get herself under control and soon, it wouldn’t matter if the drugs were out of her system or not, she’d be just as passed out as before.

You’re hyperventilating. You need slow, deep breaths.

Her lips felt full and tingly, and her fingertips had become filled with thousands of teeny tiny needles.

Smell the roses and blow out the candle. In through your nose and out through your mouth.

It was something she’d heard Gemma once tell a patient who’d become overly excited during a particularly uncomfortable procedure. Kerrigan had asked her about it later, and Gemma had explained she’d learned it from one of her professors in college.

Smell the roses, blow out the candle. Smell the roses, blow out the candle.

Before long, the tingling had vanished, and she felt as though she was back in control, body and mind. Freaking out may be fully warranted given her current situation, but it wouldn’t do a damn thing to help her figure out a way to break free.

The first thing Kerrigan did was check to see if she still had her cell phone. It became evident fairly quickly that she hadn’t gotten quite so lucky.

She blinked against the darkness, using her bound hands to feel around the inside of the bag. Her fingertips hit the inside of the bag’s long zipper almost immediately, and she followed it all the way up above her head.

There was no internal pull tab, which made sense, given the bag’s usual contents. Most dead people don’t typically try to escape, so the manufacturer didn’t need to waste money and resources on something that would never be used.

Never say never.

She pressed her fingertip against the zipper’s end, working the tip of her short nail between the metal teeth and slider. At first, she thought her efforts were futile, but then the zipper began to move.

It took a few tries, but Kerrigan finally managed to push the slider down. The teeth began to separate inch by torturous inch. But she didn’t give up. She couldn’t give up. If she did…

The top portion of the bag’s two halves fell open, and it was only then that she realized she’d been holding her breath. Kerrigan sucked in as much air as her lungs would allow, uncaring that it was thick and tasted of dirt and exhaust.

After smelling a few more roses and blowing out a handful of metaphorical candles, Kerrigan finished working the rest of the zipper. She stopped when it was undone enough to allow her feet to break free.

Slivers of light from the car’s taillights barely made it possible to make out the trunk’s interior. She quickly scanned and searched, using her hands and feet to sweep around the rough carpet and metal frame to look for something—anything—to use as a weapon.

There was nothing. Just her and the bag.

Kerrigan had to admit, it was a brilliant way to get her out of the hospital unnoticed. No one would think twice about a doctor pushing a body out of the morgue.

You’re going to end up right back in the morgue if you don’t figure out a plan to get away from the knife-happy freak. And next time, there will be no chance to escape.

She drew in another long, deep breath, exhaling slowly as she cleared her mind and began to come up with a plan. Calling for help was out, as was the hope that the police could somehow track her location. So unless a miracle happened and this guy got pulled over for speeding, Kerrigan acknowledged and accepted the fact that she was one hundred percent on her own.

A man’s face filled her terrified mind. One that instantly put her more at ease.

Short, brown hair. Strong cheekbones and jaw. Lips she loved to devour, and eyes she could stare into forever.

Cade.

A tear fell before she could stop it. Then another. And then another. Soon her temples were soaked from the proof of her heartache and regret.

Her heart was being ripped to pieces at the thought of never seeing him again. Her mind filled with regret for not having reached out to him months ago. For being too afraid to put herself out there. To trust in herself enough and know Cade wasn’t the kind of man to ever hurt her.

He didn’t lie. He wasn’t a cheat. He was a good, sweet, caring man who knew her better after a few glorious days than any other man she’d taken the time to date.

Their romance had come and gone on the tails of a maddening wind. A storm filled with a lifetime of passion and love.

And Kerrigan did love him. She did. As crazy as it may seem, there was no denying what she felt inside her heart.

I love him. And by God, I am going to find my way back home.

A surge of renewed determination began racing through her veins. It was almost as if Cade were lying right beside her in that trunk, urging her to fight. To never give up.

I won’t give up, Cade. I promise I won’t.

With nothing more to do until they got to wherever the son of a bitch was taking her, Kerrigan dried her tears and cleaned her lungs once more. And then, she began to plan.

She wasn’t sure how long she lay there, thinking and scheming, and envisioning the many ways her various plans could play out. In her mind, she went through every step. Every motion.

Then she calculated all the ways each potential plan could go awry.

By the time the car began to slow, Kerrigan had decided on her means of escape. It wasn’t perfect, and it sure as hell wasn’t as good as if she had an actual weapon. But it was the very best, most logical solution she could conceive with the time that she’d been given.

And now…

Time’s up.

The car slowly rolled to a stop. The engine was cut, and she could hear Morales exiting the vehicle. Kerrigan’s body shifted slightly with the movement as the driver’s door was slammed shut.

She steadied her breathing, refusing to let her fear take over while keeping her feet in their new position. Her plan relied solely on the element of surprise. If she moved too much before he opened the trunk, Morales would hear her, and her chances of escaping would be slim to none.

The trunk’s latch popped free, the sound nearly sending Kerrigan’s heart straight out of her chest. But she somehow managed to remain perfectly still.

This was it. The next few seconds would most likely determine whether she lived or died.

Kerrigan sent a quick prayer up to God and both her parents, begging them to watch over her so she could still have the future she hadn’t even realized she wanted.

She and Cade. Together forever. That was the future she was begging God to give her. And as she stared intently at the thin sliver of moonlight cutting a horizontal line from one end of the trunk to the other, she felt a sense of peace knowing it was a future worth fighting for.

Even if it meant dying in the end.

She held her breath as Morales’s fingertips curled beneath the trunk’s barely opened lid. Kerrigan used those last, precious seconds to pull upon every ounce of inner bravery and strength she possessed.

The trunk opened. Morales started to lean in as if to pick up the bag with her still lying limp inside, and that’s when she put her plan into action.

With an animalistic growl, Kerrigan slammed the heels of her shoes upward, striking the asshole just under the chin. As she’d hoped, his head snapped straight back with a crack, and her abductor’s eyes rolled into the back of his head.

He fell backward, hitting the ground without the ability to break his fall. Though she wanted to cheer when she heard the smack of his head, she didn’t dare waste the time. Morales may be out, but he wouldn’t be down forever. And once he woke back up, there was no telling what he would do.

So with hurried movements that were far from graceful, she clambered out of the trunk and fell to the ground inches from where he lay. Kerrigan used her bound hands to push herself back up to her feet.

Her frantic gaze swept the area, and she realized she was still in the city, though she wasn’t sure where. It was dark, and the parking lot she was standing in looked old and decrepit. As did the small, abandoned warehouse behind her.

She pulled her wrists as far apart as the plastic ties would allow. Using a move she’d once seen on TV, Kerrigan brought them down as fast and as hard as she could, keeping her hands on each side of her elevated knee.

The plastic snapped, and her wrists were suddenly free.

Holy shit! It worked!

But she didn’t waste time celebrating the win. Instead, she took off in a dead sprint toward the road up ahead. If she could follow it to someplace where there were actual people, then she’d finally be home free.

Her ponytail flew from side to side and her leg muscles burned as the soles of her shoes smacked the pavement below. Kerrigan pushed herself harder. Forced her feet to move faster. She started to turn onto the road and?—

A loud boom filled the air as a flash of white-hot pain seared across the skin just above her left hip. She cried out, losing her footing and tumbling down to her knees. Her teeth came together with a bone-jarring thud.

Before she could react, Kerrigan felt herself being thrown over onto her back. She looked up, but all she saw was the barrel of Morales’s gun.

“Go ahead,” she dared the man as he straddled her legs and held her hostage with his weapon. “You’re just going to kill me anyway.”

“True. But whether or not I kill your boyfriend, well…that’s entirely up to you.”

He can’t kill Cade. He can’t!

“You killed Brayden,” she reminded him. Though she still had no idea why.

“I killed Dr. Walsh out of necessity only. The man was a ticking time bomb who didn’t leave me any other choice.”

“Why him? What did he have to do with you and your?—”

“I promised I would answer all your questions, and I will. But first, you’re going to stand up and do exactly as you’re told.”

“And if I don’t?” She did her best not to let him see just how terrified she really was.

“You saw what I did to your ex-lover.” He gave a slight tilt of his head. “Just think of what I’ll do to the man I’m guessing you’d give your life to protect.”

He was right. She would give up her life in an instant if it would guarantee Cade’s would be saved. Only there was no guarantee. Not when it came to someone as truly psychotic as Vince Morales.

But even so…

“Okay.” Kerrigan nodded, the back of her head scraping against the rough pavement. “I’ll do whatever you say. Just please…don’t hurt Cade.”

“Good.” His smile sent a line of shivers racing down her spine. “That’s very, very good.”