The warm, happy bubble that’s been surrounding me since I woke up instantly bursts, replaced by a chilling dread. I stare at the sparse words on the page, my hands shaking slightly.
What does that mean?
Where did he go?
What is he planning?
My mind races with possibilities, each more terrifying than the last.
“DADDY!”
“DADDY!”
Mackenzi’s scream tears through the house, with enough terror to send goosebumps racing down my spine. The hairs on the back of my neck stand upright, as adrenaline detonates through my bloodstream. I drag my shirt over my head mid-stride, barely managing to shove my arms through the sleeves before rushing out of the door. The hallway blurs around me as I sprint down the stairs two at a time.
My thoughts immediately go to the darkest corners of my mind.
Intruder.
Threat.
Someone got through security.
I can’t get downstairs fast enough.
“Mackenzi!” I shout back as I descend the final steps fast enough to nearly miss them completely.
When I round the corner and the kitchen comes into view, relief slams through me so fast and hard, I nearly sink to the floor. Mackenzi is alone, standing before the refrigerator with a piece of folded yellow paper clenched tightly in her hand.
Her eyes snap to mine the second I cross the threshold. She looks petrified. It’s not the same panic I saw during the breach. This is different; she looks lost.
I close the distance between us in a few short strides. “What’s wrong?” Unable to answer, she hands me the paper with trembling fingers. I take it from her carefully, dread coiling low in my stomach before I even unfold it.
I’m sorry.
I made a mess of things. I can’t fix the lies, but I know what I need to do to keep you safe from the cartel.
Love, Dad.
My jaw tightens more firmly with each word, my pulse beginning to pound harder.Fuck.I drag a hand roughly through my bed-tousled hair. “Fuck. What the hell is he thinking?”
Mackenzi stares at me like she’s afraid to say the thought out loud. “He wouldn’t go… ” Her voice catches enough for her to have to force the next words out. “To the cartel?”
I don’t answer immediately because I don’t want to lie to her.
Right now? Yeah, I absolutely think her father would.
Desperate men do desperate things. The ambassador has spent the last twenty-four hours watching his entire life collapse around him. His secrets detonated before a live audience, lie upon lie finally catching up with him after years of pretending he could outrun them, leaving his only child unable to look at him. Men in situations like his start believing they can fix things alone. Only, they make stupid decisions that get themselves killed.
I step forward and pull her into my arms before the terror fully takes hold of her. She presses against me hard, her fingers twisting into the front of my shirt. “Hey,” I murmur, one hand sliding into her hair. “We’ll figure this out.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” I will not let this sweet girl lose the only family she has left, even if I have to tear apart half of Colombia to do it.
Her breathing shakes against my chest. “What if he’s already?—”
“We don’t know anything yet.” I cup the back of her head gently and force her eyes up to mine. “And until I know otherwise, I’m not assuming the worst.”
