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“Sunny, nothing’s going to happen to you.” She cupped my cheek. “Get in there, get this guy, and get out. I’ll be waiting right here. Come back to me.”
I kissed her palm, wishing more than anything that Baby Blaine wasn’t in the back seat and I could do sinful things to this woman while Masie watched.
“If he’s punctual, this’ll be over soon. Stay in the car—doors locked, lights off, engine on.” I bumped the dash. “Masie’s a tank. Solid frame. Tougher than steel. She’ll protect you, as long as you stay in the car. Do not open this door unless it’s to let me in.”
“Stay in the car. Got it.”
I kissed her, lingering a second longer on her soft lips. I tossed Baby Blaine a salute in the back and ducked out. Makai and Ryker emerged from the shadows, falling in step with me.
“Scoped the whole place out,” Makai said. “No one’s here. We’re good.”
“The three of us inside,” I said. “Liam and Bane’s people are watching the front and back. He does not get away from us.”
“We shooting to kill?” Ryker asked, trailing a finger along his handle.
“I want him alive. He and I have a lot to talk about.”
“Where we dumping the body?” Makai didn’t carry weapons... of steel. He flexed his fists, rolling his neck—a purist fighter. “Potter’s Field is getting full.”
I peered over my shoulder to Masie and the beautiful passenger inside. I smiled in case she was watching me. “There won’t be a body. When I’m done with him, the cops won’t have a toe to tag. He’s dust.”
Grins stretched their faces, their eyes glinting malice in the moonlight. “It’s good to have you back, boss.”
I couldn’t see where Liam and his people were, which was the point. Ryker busted the door’s padlock. We filtered inside pitch-black darkness, sensing more than seeing the rising shelves. My vision adjusted on India Market Basmati Rice. The logo stamped on every cellophane-trapped box on the shelves.
“What’s he coming here for?” Makai asked. “Is this place a front and it’s not bags of rice in those boxes?”
“Check one,” I ordered. “Ryker, make sure this place is empty. I’ll look around. Grant told him to come here for a reason.”
We split in different directions, me sinking deeper into the gloom. My penlight flicked on, sweeping the row. So far, that’s all it was—rows and rows, stacks on stacks of rice. Ahead of me there should be a warehouse foreman’s office. A faint squeak pierced the silence, alerting me Ryker was in the office.
A hand grasped my shoulder. I whipped around, my blade swinging.
Bane glanced the hit off his forearm. “Easy, it’s us.”
My light lit up Liam and Bane. “What are you doing? You’re supposed to be outside.”
“It’s ten minutes to nine,” Liam said. “We believe this guy almost killed my daughter. I’m not standing in the wind with my thumb up my ass.”
I jerked a nod. “This way. I think I heard something.”
MACKENZIE
Sienna climbed up front with me, moving me to the driver’s seat. Tense silence blanketed the car as the clock ticked down to nine.
“They’re going to be okay,” I said because I had to. Putting it out there—a demand to the fates—eased my anxiety a fraction.
Sienna didn’t agree so I looked at her, glimpsing her wince. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing— I mean, it’s not nothing, but...” Grimacing, she rubbed her temples. “Kenzie, I don’t think... that we should be here.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Something’s wrong. All of it wrong.” Her voice rose, pants coming faster. “Today at the café... Why didn’t he speak?”
“Why didn’t he speak?” I cast around, torn between watching for the guys and trying to understand Sienna. “I don’t know what that means. What are you trying to tell me?”
“The same vision,” she burst out. “The same moment over and over—trying to tell me something. Grant and the killer at the café. Why didn’t Grant tell him, Kenzie?”
“Tell him what—”
She flashed, grabbing my arms. “The guy was sitting right in front of him. They met to talk in the middle of the day at a busy restaurant. They didn’t care about being seen together, so why did Grant give him a piece of paper with this time and address? Why didn’t he just tell him where to go? Why didn’t he text him?”
Air punched from my lungs, leeching the warmth from my body as the same moment shown in my mind with sudden sharp clarity.
“Because he wanted whoever was watching to see,” I whispered through numb lips.
“It’s a trap.”
SUNNY
The three of us fell in line. Liam in the front, Bane bringing up the back, me in the middle—my ears cocked for that faint sound I heard after the office door creaked. It was something else that wasn’t metal.
My head snapped up. “There it is again. It’s coming from up ahead.”
