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O n the fourth day post-captivity, I’m woken by a stream of golden light. “Christ, make it stop.”

“Morning, sunshine.” The blinds lift all the way, blasting through my eyelids like fire.

“Mother of… fuck.” I pull the pillow from behind my head and throw it in the direction of the voice. Nine weeks and three days trapped in that windowless room have given me a new appreciation for sunlight, but?—

“Nice to see you, too, Luke. Chipper as always.”

I’m significantly less enthusiastic about Nurse Rebecca.

“It’s oh-stupid-thirty in the morning and I feel like I’ve been hit by a train,” I grumble. “My chipper is hibernating. Forever.”

“Mmhmm.” She moves away from the blinds and strides to the bed, prodding the tubing connected to my hand. My new torturer may wear pink scrubs and a smile, but I swear she still likes to make me suffer. “How are we feeling today?”

“ We are feeling like we’re trapped in a tiny room with an intrusive person who won’t leave us alone…” Why does this seem familiar? “Never mind. I’m going back to sleep.” I roll to my side—scratch that, I try —but after doing an award-worthy impression of a turtle stuck on its back, I lay there cursing, instead.

My caregiver stands over me, her expression lacking sympathy. “When you’re finished trying to rip your stitches open, take those.” She nods at the horse pills sitting next to a plate of scrambled eggs and fruit on the bedside tray. “And eat your breakfast.”

After more than sixty straight days of similar breakfasts delivered by the ogre, I don’t want to see another scrambled egg as long as I live. I’ve made this no secret. “You’re a sadist, Rebecca.”

“And you’re a ray of sunshine, Mr. Tanner.” After raising the bed to a sitting position, she breezes toward the exit, giving the man entering a long-suffering grimace. It quickly turns to a melting smile as he greets her with his dimples on display.

She’s got no idea she’s having heart palpitations over the real Mr. Tanner.

I roll my eyes. “Your natural charm is nauseating.”

“It’s probably not a great idea to make the nurses hate you.” Tanner stops by the side of my bed, his leather briefcase in tow. “Just saying.”

“Technically, it’s you the nurses hate.” I grin with a full show of teeth. “And that one is a monster; don’t let her fool you.”

“She’s actually very nice; you’re just a miserable patient. Now, I’d appreciate you not ruining my good name, thanks.”

“It’s like you’ve never met me.”

He raises an eyebrow.

I shrug. “I’m not sure what you expected, tossing me in here under your name…but I’ll do my best.”

In this case, my best is nothing.

“So, I should expect the nurses to start cursing the name Luke Tanner. Got it.” He glances at the untouched plate of food and back at me. “How are you holding up?”

“It’s better than my previous accommodations, I suppose.” That’s all I can give him for now. “I’m alive.”

There are no chains, cuffs, or continual threats of death here, but I’m still a prisoner—both in this bed, and my own mind. The bastard that eluded me is living rent-free in my head, taunting my helplessness while he gets farther and farther away. Meanwhile, I’m bored out of my skull. It turns out I actually miss having an incessant conversationalist in the room next door.

I wonder what she’s doing right now. If she thinks I died in there.

Dammit, stop thinking about her.

Throwing my head back against the pillow, I exhale. “I’m about to lose my shit in here.”

After Tanner and the FBI busted the ring wide open, I spent the night combing the woods, hunting futilely for my sister’s murderer. My old partner finally found me the next morning, face down on the side of a road. When I woke, I was in a medical facility, groggy from anesthesia after undergoing surgery to repair my broken body.

And the man Everly dubbed The Timekeeper?

He was long gone.

Interestingly enough, my old friend had me discreetly transported to a private medical facility under his name. Aside from him, no one has come to visit or question me, which means the authorities don’t know I’m here.

Obviously, he has something up his sleeve, but he isn’t sharing. Granted, I haven’t been in the best shape. In the beginning, I was so delirious that hearing medical staff call me by the name Luke sent me into an identity crisis, triggering dreams that I was a mild-mannered man named Luke Tanner, who had a dissociative personality named Isaac Porter, a vigilante who spent his nights fighting supervillains with his sidekick, a shapeshifting songbird named Jewel.

It’s possible I got a little violent…

I earned myself a heavy sedative and a long nap, which I don’t have time for.

“I figured you were a little stir-crazy.” Tanner brings his briefcase closer, flicking the latches open. “Now that you’ve had a few days to recover, I thought you might be interested in the information I’ve pieced together.”

“It’s about fucking time.” So far, he’s told me nothing, except that Everly Cross and her husband are alive and well, and the leader of the ring is in the wind. Wincing, I shift higher on the bed. Tanner snags the paper cup from the table, offering me the pain medication, but I knock it out of his hand, desperate to be lucid for the first time in days.

“Don’t be dramatic. You’re no good to anyone until you’ve recovered.” Handing me a file, he sits in the chair next to the bed. The vinyl creaks beneath him. “I’m not sure how much you already know, but you were being held in a wilderness area, in an abandoned lab once used for?—”

“Animal testing,” I finish. That became obvious once I saw outside the room I’d been locked in.

“Right. It hadn’t been used since the late ‘80s—until your black-market kingpin found it several years ago and set up shop.” He nods at the file in my lap, and I open it. A glossy black-and-white photograph sits on top.

My blood pressure rises. “The bastard has a professional headshot?” I look up, incredulous, though I suppose I shouldn’t be. “Does he have a resume, too?”

“Of sorts.” He leans over and taps the next page. “Your guy’s name is Leonard B. Vincent. Once had a failed stint in the fashion industry, then tried his hand at being an actor. When Hollywood didn’t embrace him, he got a master’s degree in business and followed his true passion: black-market trafficking. He’s good. No police record, genius IQ, sociopathic tendencies, et cetera, et cetera. Seems he found a niche filling special requests for the very rich, dealing in anything he could get paid for: illegal adoptions, egg and organ harvesting, the sex trade.”

I hear an echo of Everly’s voice through the wall.

“I think they take my eggs.”

“…and then there was you,” Tanner finishes. “That was creative.”

“Leonard B. Vincent.” I growl the name through my teeth and push the picture away. “If the B stands for Bruce, my life is ruined.”

“Your Batman thing is weird,” he deadpans.

“Spoken like a Captain America fan.”

He gives me an exasperated sigh. “Listen, the Captain represented the American dream during a tumultuous time for the country. He’s an icon. Do you really want to have this argument right now?”

“No argument to be had; I already knew you had terrible taste.” Suddenly exhausted, I lean back onto the pillows and exhale. “I guess I should be thanking you.”

“For saving your ass before you ended up on the wrong end of a big-game hunt? Or for that time I found you on your face on the side of the road?” He lifts his finger like he’s had an epiphany. “Oh wait, that was the same day. ”

“Point taken. You’re my hero.”

“You know what they say: every brunette needs a blond best friend who has their back. Even Batman.”

“That’s what people with vaginas say on Instagram.” I glare at him. “How’d you find me, anyway?”

“Lucky break, mostly. Some rich high school kid was overheard bragging about his dad setting up the ultimate big- game hunt. The prey sounded…suspicious. You’d been gone several weeks, and, well…you’re not the only one who gets gut feelings.”

“Guess I’ve finally rubbed off on you.”

His lips twitch. Fortunately for me, Tanner is really fucking good at his job. Most people would have assumed that kid was full of shit and ignored the report until it was too late.

“The kid’s father was so afraid of losing everything, he made a deal to help us bust the operation. The Feds showed up, and you were a hundred miles outside our jurisdiction, but since I was the original point of contact with our informant?—”

“You talked your way in.”

“Couldn’t let someone else take the bragging rights for saving you, could I?”

Silent laughter twinges my ribcage. “God forbid. So, what do we know?”

“Well, while you’ve been playing Sleeping Beauty, I’ve been conducting interviews.”

I tap my fingers on the tray next to the cold eggs. “And?”

“For one thing, Everly Cross is as worried about you as you were about her.”

My heart thumps in a way I don’t appreciate at the sound of her name. “I wasn’t worried.”

Shoving the file back in his briefcase, Tanner raises an eyebrow. “Bullshit. You don’t send me to check on someone personally if you’re not invested.” He ignores my glare. “Also, during my five-minute briefing with her, she said your name at least ten times. She was very insistent. Frantic, even. She was convinced she killed you.”

“Isaac. Please, please forgive me.”

My mood darkens. “She has a husband to comfort her. She’ll be fine.”

There’s a knowing glint in his eye. “Ah, it was like that , was it? I didn’t think you’d admit it.”

“I didn’t admit anything, jackass.”

“Come on, no one would blame you. That woman is hot, even after two years locked in a room.”

“I’m about to punch you in the fucking throat,” I growl. “What did you tell her about me?”

He laughs until I nearly get out of bed and throttle him. Then his smile drops. “Absolutely nothing.”

“Oh, come on, I’ve seen you spill your guts the second a pretty woman bats her eyelashes your way.”

“Not this time, my friend.” He shakes his head. “As far as we’re concerned, there was no evidence of a person named Isaac in the building.”

“So, the department?”

“Doesn’t know you were there. Same with the Feds.”

“Well, shit.” A spontaneous smile overtakes me. I’d been wondering if there would be repercussions for going in there without police jurisdiction, since I’m no longer employed. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Listen, Porter.” He braces his elbows on his knees and leans closer. “When you dropped off the radar after our conversation that night, I had a bad feeling. Rumors on the street said something went down between Dolph and Nick Ford, but the trail dropped from there. When the report came in about that kid running his mouth, my instincts said you’d found a way in undercover and ran into trouble.”

My chest warms. I’m a jackass, but Tanner looked for me anyway.

“Once I interviewed the father and we traced other disappearances to the same ring, I was able to get in while keeping your name out of it. And now, with the guy still out there, it’s helpful if you can trail him as covertly as possible. Let him think you died back there.”

And there’s the plan. “Fuck, I guess you really are my hero.”

“The only time the name Isaac has come up was with Everly Cross, and since you’d already mentioned her, I made sure I was the one on her interviews so I could find out how much she knew. Turns out, it was next to nothing.”

I rub my overgrown beard, anxious for a shave. Honestly, I told her more than I’ve told anyone—I just didn’t give her anything that could be easily traced. Thank God.

Regret softens his eyes. “She’s pretty upset. Kept insisting that she didn’t make you up. That we must have missed getting someone out of the building. I hated lying to her.”

For a split second, I feel a twinge of guilt…until I remember the way she said Jasper’s name.

She has a husband, dumbass. What did you think was going to happen?

Since I haven’t been coherent enough before now, I give him the rundown on everything I gathered about Vincent and his mind games, and the details of what went on in that building.

Then, with an ache in my chest, I tell him about Sara.

He’s quiet after I tell him about the video. Horrified. Apologetic. We sit there in silence for a while.

In mourning.

An incoming call breaks it. He answers, leaning back in the chair. “Hey, Mom… Yeah, I’m with him now.” He moves the phone to his chin. “My mother says she’s glad you’re okay, and she’ll send some of her turtle brownies with me next time.” He mouths sorry with a shrug.

I laugh quietly. Guess he’s not hiding me from everyone. Setting all mama’s boy jokes aside, the woman’s brownies really are the best, and she’s a steel trap when it comes to secrets. I can respect that.

“Wait.” Tanner hops to his feet, tension entering his voice. “She’s in our town? Where did you hear this?” Wide-eyed, he paces the floor. “I’ll see what I can find out, but unless something has changed, she’s not going to be happy about it.”

He looks up, catching my raised eyebrow, and answers it with a frustrated shake of his head.

“Don’t worry, Mom. It’s not you she hates. I’ll find out what I can and come by later. Isaac says hi, and he’ll take a double batch of brownies. Love you, too.” Shoving the phone in his pocket, he exhales harshly. “Fuck me.”

“Everything okay with the family?” I push the eggs to the far corner of the small table. The smell is killing me.

“The family is fine. I guess Shay is back in town.”

“Oh, shit. Finally came back to kick your ass after all these years?”

“Not funny. My mother was heartbroken. Wants me to check on her.”

I don’t see that going well. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“I’d love to, but you don’t exist, remember? And the sooner you get better, the sooner you can go after the bastard.”

A smile spreads as the implication sinks in. I was always going to go after Vincent, but I wasn’t sure whether I’d have Tanner’s support. “Frankly, I thought you’d tell me to leave it to the Feds.”

“But we both know you won’t.” He packs the papers back into the briefcase, exchanging them for a laptop, which he sets on the end of the bed. “Might as well embrace it. This way, I can help you. If you want to go about it officially, or need funding, I might be able to hire you as a subcontractor due to your expertise. But then you’d be on the books, and there would be questions.”

“I have a good amount of savings. I’d rather do it on my own until we’re forced to cross that bridge.”

“I figured as much.” He nods toward the laptop. “There’s a file on there, containing the details I’ve compiled on Vincent’s operation and everything else I’ve found. I might be able to get you some extra cash. Just don’t go dark on me, okay? I can’t do that again.”

“Sure.”

The look he gives me is dubious. “Try not to get me fired,” he adds. “And if you trust the girl, I can let her in on it.”

“I don’t.”

But Tanner is like a dog hunting a bone. He senses one buried in the vicinity, and he doesn’t let up. “She’s scheduled to come down to the station when she’s out of the hospital. I could tell her the minimum.”

“I said no.” It’s forceful enough to stop one of the nurses in her tracks as she passes by my door. “I don’t trust her, got it? She can think I’m dead for all I care.” Blind trust ends badly. I still can’t believe I let my guard down. I look away from his curious gaze, knowing he’s too astute. I’m not giving him an invitation to probe further. “Go ahead and tell her that.”

Tell her she killed me. Let her stew on that while she’s beneath her husband.

Fuck, I’m petty. My head falls back on the pillow.

“How about I just stick with the original plan? There’s no evidence of a man named Isaac.”

I try to swallow, but my throat is too dry. “Fine with me.”

We’ll pretend I was never there. That I never laid myself bare before Everly Cross. I’m a figment of her imagination. A story.

A ghost.

“Okay then, I’m going to head out.” He taps the top of the laptop. “I’ve left you plenty of reading material when you’re up for it. I mean it, though—if we do this, you have to stay in contact. You cannot go dark on me.”

I shrug. We both know what I’m like when I isolate, and I don’t make promises I’m not sure I can keep.

Basically, I don’t make them at all…except one.

I will kill you. Consider that a promise.

Tanner pauses like he can read my mind. Like he might already suspect this is a bad idea. But it’s better he stays in the loop by helping me than wasting his breath telling me to stay out of it.

“Rest up.” With one last look of caution, he hands me a bottle of water from the bedside table and heads for the door. “I’ll be back later.”

There’s an unwelcome pressure behind my eyes as I watch him go. It’s the realization that I would be dead now if my friend hadn’t moved heaven and earth and gone into hell to find me. It compels me to stop him.

“Tanner?”

He pauses in the doorway. Turns.

Exhaling through my nose, I dip my chin. “Thank you.”

A grin curls at the corners of his mouth. “You’d have done the same for me.” With a half salute, he walks out the door.

Yeah…

Opening the laptop, I glance at the file titled, “Saving Porter’s Stubborn Ass. Again.”

I would have.