A shadow appeared between the jambs. She tensed, but then Hunter materialized in the opening. “It’s safe. Come on out.” He stretched out a hand to her, palm up.Her gaze locked onto that strong, capable hand. Khalia shoved away from the wall and lunged for it. The moment their palms touched he curled his fingers around hers and pulled her outside. Blinking in the glare, she instinctively shielded her eyes with one hand as she followed Hunter at an unsteady jog. A wall of men appeared in front of them. Black uniforms, blue ones, military fatigues. They descended upon her and Hunter, surrounding them, everyone shouting at once.Someone grabbed her around the waist and ripped her from Hunter’s hold. He wore a police uniform but that meant shit to her right now. She twisted and kicked out, felt a sharp twinge in her back where she’d been hit earlier. A scuffle broke out in front of her and she could hear Hunter yelling her name, swearing. She whirled and struggled, casting a frantic glanc

Excitement ignited in his blood. “Let’s nail the bastard.” He glanced back at Khalia, who stood watching them, just as Tom pulled his vehicle up behind Ellis and Dunphy. Hunter watched her eyes shift from him to Tom and back, and knew the instant she realized what was happening. Her face crumpled. The devastation in her eyes hit him like a roundhouse to the gut. Christ, she thought he was deserting her. It was all over her face.Baby, no. He closed the distance between them with four limping strides and pulled her into a hug, careful of her bandage. She was stiff in his arms, but thankfully didn’t pull away.“Hey,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, but we have to act on this right now.” She gave a jerky nod, refused to look up at him.Hunter sighed. This timing was shit. She needed him and he wanted to be there for her, but this lead trumped everything else because it was perishable and every second mattered. “You know I have to do this. It’s my job, and I want this guy. I’m gonna get him and

PrologueEthan had never cut it this close on a job before. His face and arms were covered in black paint. The black shirt and pants he wore were one of his standard uniforms, one he’d been wearing for as long as he could remember.As he crouched down behind the small air conditioning unit next to the recently renovated house, he swore he’d never cut it this close again.He watched as the four men argued over the small body. Was the kid still alive? Even though it wasn’t part of his guarantee for the job, he hoped so.He had less than five minutes before the final call that would decide the fate of the boy. It was now or never. Rushing from his position, he scaled the side wall in a blink of an eye, then quickly made it around the small house until he was standing at the back door. It took less than thirty seconds to open the locked door and even less time to make it to the end of the hallway. Since he was in all black, he doubted the four kidnappers could see him in the darkened room.

He watched silently from the crowd as her blond head disappeared into the masses. How could he lose sight of her so quickly? She’d been an easy target to follow the first night he’d been here. The fact that he had a dozen men out looking for her assured him that she’d be easily found by the morning. There was no place she could hide for too long. She didn’t know anyone here and there wasn’t a place that would take her in that he didn’t have eyes or ears on.He wanted this all tied up nice and clean by the time he had to go back to the States tomorrow afternoon. He couldn’t afford to be out of sight for too long. He needed to be seen, to be in the public eye, where he belonged.He spotted one of his men across the crowd and watched as the man crossed the crowd to meet him.“Have you spotted her?”“No. Somehow I lost them after they entered the street. We’ll find her; she couldn’t have gotten that far.”They were supposed to have her in their hands before the explosion ripped through th

Ann walked into the dark room and felt around for a light switch. When the room flooded with light, she gasped. It was full of tall shelves stocked with everything from flashlights to rubber hoses. She almost tripped over her backpack as she started walking the aisles. Why would Javan have all this stuff? Who was he? How did Nathan know him?Taking the bag, she started walking the aisles, grabbing a flashlight, grabbing a handful of batteries, a box of matches, and other basic items. When she reached the back, her bag was heavy with stuff she thought she’d need. She’d spent four years in the Brownies growing up and knew what it took to go camping.She spotted a small silver box on the top shelf and took it down. Inside was a silver .45. She reached in and felt its weight, knowing she had to make room in her bag. She grabbed a box of bullets and before placing the gun in the small side pocket of the bag, she made sure it was unloaded. Her father had forced her to take gun classes a few