Lennon let out a breath, relieved. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem. But you, my friend, are going to the gate. Val’s orders.”

  “No,” Lennon said. All three heads swiveled to him.

  “No?” Anna repeated.

  “No. I still have a few hours. I’m going to get Maisie and help her secure the shipment, like I promised.”

  “We have the shipment.”

  “We have the shipment. Maisie doesn’t. I need to make sure it gets back to her so she can get it south.”

  “Thanks for the trust,” Beto said dryly.

  “Why would I trust you?”

  Queso nodded. “That is the right attitude.”

  “Hey!” Beto said, clearly insulted.

  “Beto and I will help her with the shipment after you’re gone. Trust me, she’ll understand,” Anna said.

  “She absolutely will understand. Answer is still no.”

  “Val’s orders are to—”

  “No disrespect to Val, but I don’t follow her orders. I’m helping Maisie. End of story.”

  Anna put her hands on her hips. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a pain in the ass?”

  “Just a few dozen times.”

  MAISIE

  “BOSS, THERE’S A problem.”

  Maisie perked up, leaning forward to look at Vic, still driving the SUV.

  Declan held up a finger, stopping him. “Not in front of her.”

  The SUV came to a sudden stop, and she grunted as she fell against the front seat. Declan hopped out of the van and then reached back in and grabbed her by the ankle.

  “Get off,” she said, kicking her foot and hitting him in the arm.

  “Damn, Maisie,” he said, rubbing it.

  She scooted out of the van, surveying the area. It was too dark to see much. The headlights of the SUV were pointed at a small wooden building with boarded-up windows. A faded sign said Bar. She spotted another van on the other side of the building.

  Declan and Vic spoke in hushed tones a few feet from her, and she turned in a circle, considering if she should run. From what she could see in the moonlight, the area looked pretty flat. If she took off, Declan could watch her run for quite a while before lazily climbing into his truck to follow.

  “All right, do you trust me?”

  Maisie turned around to find Declan’s attention on her. She gave him a baffled look. “Are you talking to me? Of course I don’t trust you.”

  “Maisie, come on, I’ve known you your whole—” He took a deep breath, shaking his head. “Never mind. Doesn’t matter. Just know that I’m coming back for you, okay?”

  “Coming back for me?”

  “We’ve had a situation with one of the other vehicles, and I can’t spare anyone to take you back right now. And I’m sure as hell not taking you with me.”

  He took a step forward, grabbing her arms. She immediately squirmed in his grasp, and then stopped.

  Wait. It sounded like he was going to leave her alone. He had to be, if he was saying he’d come back for her. She’d be much better off if he was gone, even if he was going to tie her up. She had a knife in her boot that he likely wouldn’t think to take from her. She might be able to get it and free herself from whatever restraints he was planning on using.

  He gripped her tighter and she let her shoulders slump like she was defeated. He marched her into the old bar, which had obviously been abandoned for years. The lights were on, so the electricity clearly still worked, but no tables or chairs remained, just the long bar on the far wall. There were clean square spots on the floor that dust had settled around, like something large had just been moved.

  He pushed her shoulders into a beam, and she almost laughed. That was just great. She wished Lennon were here so he could see how the tables had turned.

  He pulled out a zip tie and secured her wrists together behind the beam. He patted her pockets, but they were empty since he’d taken the gun.

  Just like she’d hoped, he did not check her boot for the knife.

  “No one comes out here,” he said. “If you need to pee…” He turned in a circle. “Shit. I don’t see any buckets. Whatever, I guess you couldn’t have used it anyway with your hands tied. I’ll just grab you some new pants for when I come back.”

  “Thanks,” she said dryly. “I’ll just wait here in my own piss, then.”

  “Happens to the best of us,” he said, clapping her on the shoulder.

  She didn’t try to hide her incredulous expression. “Declan, what—and I mean this with all of my heart—the fuck?”

  He laughed, looking at her with genuine affection. It was maddening how completely he didn’t see her as a threat.

  And maybe he was right. She’d posed a problem for him, very briefly, and he’d quickly scooped her up and dealt with it. She was a temporary annoyance, at best.

  She slid to the floor, careful to keep her arms away from the beam so she didn’t get splinters. She sat down and leaned against it.

  “I’ll be back…before dawn, probably? Maybe a little later.” He headed to the door, pausing to look over his shoulder at her. “I really will be back for you.”

  “I know.” It wasn’t even a lie. She was sure he would be.

  She just hoped that she’d be gone by the time it happened.

  He smiled like she’d said something kind. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

  He turned and walked out, leaving her tied to the beam, alone.

  * * *

  —

  She waited ten minutes after the sounds of the van faded to reach for the knife. The only way to get to it was to take the boot off and hope it fell out close enough to her.

  She carefully toed off her right boot. The knife clattered to the floor. She used the heel of her foot to slide it closer to the beam, giving it a tiny kick as she aimed it at her hands.

  It slid past them.

  She cursed, looking over her shoulder to see how far it had gone.

  She heard the sound of a car coming to a stop outside. Then, doors slamming. Yelling.

  She turned back toward the door, and froze.

  “They were here!” an unfamiliar voice yelled. “A bunch of southerners!”

  The beam dug into her back as she reached desperately for the knife. Her fingers closed around it. She angled it so the blade was against the zip tie and began sawing.

  “Check inside,” another voice said. “Send a bird down the road to look for cars.”

  She sawed as fast as she could, taking in a slow breath. Panic would not help right now. If she dropped the knife, she was done.

  Outside, footsteps drew closer.

  Pain slashed across her palm as the blade cut her, and she winced. She angled it back toward the restraints.

  The zip tie snapped off her wrists. She leapt to her feet.

  The door banged open.

  LENNON

  “IT’S STILL MOVING back toward the center of Northgate,” Anna said, leaning forward to talk to Lennon in the driver’s seat. “The SUV.”

  “How far are we from where they were?”

  “Only a couple minutes.”

  “Okay. We’ll see where they went, look for any sign of Maisie, and then double back to them if we don’t see her.”

  “You are literally going as fast as this van will go,” Queso said. He had one hand on the dashboard like he was bracing for impact and hoping for a broken arm. “We can’t double back.”

  “It’s an expression.” Lennon pressed his foot harder on the gas. “And now we’re going as fast as this van will go.”

  “I deeply regret letting you drive again.”

  Lennon let up on the accelerator a little as they approached a curve in the road. It was dawn, the first hints of light making it easier to see and reminding him that he was very quickly running out of time.

  Something smashed into the windshield.

  Everyone in the van screamed, and Lennon slowed, swerving as they rounded the curve. The van bounced as they rolled into the grass, and he swerved again, getting back on the road.

  A piece of a metal bird was lodged in the windshield. He could barely see through it now with all the cracks.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move, and he quickly turned to see a small figure running toward the road. Maisie.

  Two men were chasing her.

  He slammed on the brakes.

  “Oof,” Anna said as he felt her hit his seat.

  Maisie swerved, running in the opposite direction from the van.

  “No—hey!” He flung open the door and cupped his hands around his mouth. “Maisie!”

  She looked over her shoulder without stopping. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and he felt it deep down in his chest when her expression changed from fear to relief.

  He shot back into his seat, hitting the gas. She couldn’t change course again—the guys were gaining on her—so he was going to have to go to her.

  He raced forward, getting so close to the guys that he heard one thump against the side of the van. The other yelled, swerving to avoid them. He came to a stop, and Anna slid the van door open. Maisie leapt inside. Lennon took off again.

  “Oh god,” she said, breathing heavily.

  “Who was that? Are you okay?” Anna asked.

  Lennon glanced back to see Maisie sitting up, pushing her hair out of her face. She shot him a weak smile.

  “I’m fine. Some guys looking for us. They were talking about catching the southerners. Declan left me tied up there.”

  “He what?” Lennon tightened his hands on the steering wheel.

  “It’s fine, because he said he’d come back for me.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “I managed to get free right before those guys got me.”

  “That’s a relief,” Anna said.

  Maisie leaned forward between Lennon and Queso, doing a double-take when she saw the latter. “Hey! It’s your face.”

  “A very nice face,” Anna whispered.

  Lennon tried to pretend he didn’t feel a twinge of jealousy when Maisie looked back at Anna, the two of them sharing an expression he couldn’t see.

  “Did we get a name, too?” she asked.

  “No,” Queso said.

  “I mean, if my nickname was cheese, I’d probably be fine with keeping it too,” Anna said.

  “Wait, where is Beto?” Maisie said, a hint of panic in her voice. “He didn’t…?”

  “No,” Anna said quickly. “He’s fine. He’s with the shipment. Ivy didn’t…Ivy didn’t make it, though.”

  “Oh. I’m so sorry.”

  Anna cleared her throat. “Yeah, thanks.”

  Lennon glanced in his rearview mirror, but he didn’t see anyone following. No more birds, as far as he could tell.

  “They were looking for us?” he asked Maisie.

  “That’s what they said.”

  “They would have seen us crossing that field,” Queso said. “The birds have cameras.” He sighed. “I picked that field instead of the road because it doesn’t have cameras. So much for that plan.”

  “You really have no idea who they are?” Maisie asked. “You said the birds are messing with the Spencers, but does that mean they’re organized? Val said there was some mutiny here.”

  “I don’t know how organized they are, but those damn birds keep popping up everywhere. And they definitely don’t like the Spencers, whoever they are.”

  Anna kicked the back of Lennon’s seat. “Let’s get this idiot to the gate, and then we can all go home.”

  Lennon tightened his fingers around the steering wheel. The clock on the dash said 6:45. A little over an hour to make it to the gate. He didn’t know if this feeling in the pit of his stomach was because he was nervous he wouldn’t make it, or because he was dreading what waited for him on the other side.

  He wanted to see his family again. He really did. He wanted to have ice cream with Stella, and watch Caroline try not to look impressed when he told her about his solo skydiving landing. She didn’t approve of things that were “dangerous for no reason,” but she’d confessed once that she secretly dreamed about skydiving.

  And he wanted to congratulate his dad, and tell his mom about the Vals and reassure her that no, he was not deeply traumatized. (She would not believe him. There was more therapy in his future.)

  But the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach remained.

  “Yeah,” he said quietly.

  MAISIE

  LENNON DROVE THEM back to where Beto was waiting with the shipment, squinting in the early-morning light.

  She hopped out of the van behind Queso, who caught the keys Lennon tossed him.

  “My new life goal is to never get into a vehicle that you are driving, ever again,” he said.

  “I actually take it as a compliment that you hate my driving so much.”

  “You really shouldn’t,” Queso said. But he cast an amused look over his shoulder, and Maisie was struck by how Lennon so effortlessly put people at ease. Everyone he’d met—minus Declan—seemed instantly endeared to him.

  Queso and Anna walked ahead, but Lennon stopped, turning to face her. He scooped her into a giant hug, her feet practically coming off the ground. She circled her arms around his neck and held him tightly, her body relaxing against his.

  “I’m the only one here who is supposed to get kidnapped,” he said, the words muffled against her hair.

  “Sorry,” she said with a laugh.

  He held her for several more seconds, and she let her good hand linger on his neck as they pulled away. She might have kissed him, if they were alone. And the way he was staring down at her with those intense green eyes suggested he felt the same.

  She dropped her hand, forcing her gaze away from Lennon’s.

  Beto smiled as she headed over to him.

  “You actually look relieved to see me,” she said.

  “I am.” He shrugged. “Declan would never hurt you, though, so I wasn’t really worried about that. He’d happily murder the rest of us, but not you.”

  “Your ex sounds great,” Anna said with fake cheerfulness.

  “Please don’t call him that,” Maisie said with a moan. “But speaking of murder, we need to…” She trailed off, glancing at Queso. He had no idea what Declan was up to. She’d wondered if it was safe to tell him, but he kept proving himself.

  Lennon walked over to her, lightly touching her left arm.

  “Seriously?” he said incredulously. “Did you injure that hand again?”

  “Oh.” She laughed, holding up her left hand. There was a new shallow gash across her palm, up to her wrist. “I used the knife in my boot to cut my zip ties. I had to do it in a hurry, so I wasn’t exactly careful.”

  “At this point you might just want to get a new hand.”

  “Tempting.” She smiled at him. “Thanks for coming to get me.” She looked past him at Queso and Anna. “All of you.”

  “Anytime,” Anna said. “Now, can you finish that sentence that started with ‘Speaking of murder’? Because I’m getting kind of nervous.”

  “Right. Sorry. So.” She turned her attention to Queso. “Declan stole a bunch of explosives from the Vals. And he’s making a play for Northgate. That’s why he’s here. But he’s focused on Jonathan Spencer and his men, specifically. Killing them.”

  Queso went very still.

  “So?” Beto said. “Let him.”

  “If he kills Jonathan, he’s going to start a war,” Maisie said. “I came up here to get the shipment so I could stop that from happening. Now Declan is saying that he doesn’t care about the shipment. He wants to control the gate. And he’s going to do that by taking out—”

  She stopped abruptly when she saw the look on Queso’s face. He’d gone so white he was practically see-through. His gaze caught hers. She could actually see the panic unfolding on his face.

  “I…” He took a step back, taking in a huge breath.

  “What?” Anna asked.

  “I need to…” He couldn’t seem to finish a thought.

  “You know some Spencers you don’t want to see get hurt?” Maisie guessed.

  He hesitated, then nodded.

  “Maybe you know a lot of Spencers?” she guessed. The expression on his face. The way he had access to high-level information.

  Queso didn’t respond.

  “What’s your name?” she asked.

  He let out a sigh of defeat. “Ethan. Ethan Spencer.”

  “What!” Anna yelled.

  Lennon cast a confused look at Maisie.

  “Jonathan Spencer’s only son,” she said.

  “Yeah,” Ethan confirmed.

  LENNON

  “THE JONATHAN SPENCER who Declan wants to kill?” Lennon asked. “The one who runs this whole territory? That’s your dad?”

  “Yes,” Queso—Ethan—said quietly.

  Anna and Beto both pulled their guns out, but left them at their sides. Maisie held up a hand.

  “What was the plan?” she asked Ethan. “Are you screwing us, or your family?”

  “I—I don’t want to screw anyone. I wanted to help you because it’s not right that the people in the south should die for some stupid turf war.”

  “Oh, he’s noble,” Beto said with an eye-roll.

  “And you were willing to betray your family for that? For a bunch of people you’ve never met?” Maisie asked. “Why reach out to Hadley in the first place?”

  “Because I always listened to her program and when I found out that the shipments were being tampered with, she was the one I thought of. I don’t know, I guess I felt like I knew her.”