“I don’t like what’s happening here.” Cole did his best to control his anger. “Not one damn bit. I’m afraid for JL’s safety and for her work. But her safety first, definitely.” He shifted his gaze to her. “I’m not sure it’s safe for you here anymore.”

  JL had anxiety written all over her face. “I can’t stop my work, Cole. I’m really getting close.”

  “Then how about if we move the lab. I mean the whole damn thing. Maybe over to my place, in the parcel where we set up Lone Star Phoenix.”

  Her jaw dropped. “You mean yank everything out of here and set it all up again? Do you have any idea what that would entail? Not to mention the possibility some of the experiments in process could be damaged in the move.” She shook her head vehemently. “No. Absolutely not.”

  He set down his coffee and reached for her hands, taking both of them in his. “Darlin’, no formula is worth putting your life at risk for. No matter what.”

  “I can’t stop,” she insisted. “And I can’t move.” She turned to Dan. “This is your business, right? Security and protection? Can’t you beef things up, or whatever you call it, so I’m more secure?”

  Dan nodded. “I think we can make some adjustments. Let’s discuss how that can happen. Cole, you need to talk to the town about putting in those outside lights we asked about before. You told them we’d carry all the expense, right?”

  “I did, but I’ll hit them again. I’ll call first thing in the morning. They gave me a song and dance about ‘a negative impact on the ambience of the town’ when I asked about it before.”

  Dan made a rude noise. “There’ll be a far more negative impact if someone gets killed in their quaint little town. No offense, Cole.”

  “None taken.” He rubbed his jaw. “I might also mention the ‘negative impact’ a major crime in this little town would have on businesses and tourists. Plus I want more guards here. Two inside and one outside.”

  “Surely you don’t think they’d be stupid enough to try something again in broad daylight,” JL wanted to know.

  “I didn’t think they’d be stupid enough to try what they did tonight.”

  “I’m putting a man on each of the principals, too,” Dan added. “More, if need be.”

  “That’s getting very expensive,” JL protested. “I’d have to talk to Grant about it. I know our budget is really tight.”

  Dan gave her a warm smile. “JL. You’re part of the family now. We take care of our own. This is all on Phoenix.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing.” Ignoring the others in the room, Cole pulled her into his arms. “How much good do you think I’d be to anyone if something happened to you? Dan’s right. This is part of our commitment, so don’t argue with me.”

  “I don’t know . . .”

  He could see a million questions in her eyes and was sure she was about to make another protest. “But I do.” He touched the tip of one finger to her lips. “If you want to continue your work, then this is how it will be. Now. Let’s get on to what else we have to do.”

  By the time they’d finished laying out their new agenda, Andy was already enhancing the video on his incredible machine. Then he’d run it through facial-recognition software. The number of guards would be increased, and Cole would hit up the sheriff and the county early in the morning about the lights. Dan would get the order for them called in first thing so they could move as soon as they had the permits in hand. Even with all the secure measures in place, the code for the door would be changed every twenty-four hours. And at no time would JL be alone—Cole insisted on that. If, for whatever reason, he couldn’t be with her, a Phoenix security guard would be glued to her side.

  And Dan and Troy would handle selecting the agents to observe their three main suspects and anyone interacting with them who might be a problem.

  Cole sent JL back to his ranch in the helo with Ed, keeping her out of reach of any interested parties. He drove back, bringing Dan with him so they could work out any more details. By the time everyone settled in for the night, it was more like three in the morning. Cole stripped off his own clothes, then JL’s, and tugged her into bed with him.

  “Sleep, darlin’,” he coaxed. “We’re going to need it.”

  “You’re lucky you didn’t get your ass in a sling,” Damon Horner snapped. He glowered at Leo Guerra sitting across from him. “You told me all those fancy gizmos would pinpoint the danger spots around the building.”

  “I’m telling you, boss.” He rubbed his jaw. “I’ve never even seen or heard of the sophisticated stuff in there. You can’t prepare for what you don’t know.”

  “You should be fucking glad they didn’t catch you on their cameras.” He glared across the desk. “They didn’t, right?”

  “No. I checked out all the locations again and made sure to stay out of their view.”

  “So which asshole set off the alarm?”

  Guerra shrugged. “Sorry. I didn’t stay around long enough to find out. I barely slithered down that alley before two Phoenix agents roared into the parking area.”

  Horner wanted to bite nails. “If I could find a way to do it quietly, I’d eliminate Cass Grigsby and those brothers from Argentina in a heartbeat.”

  “Boss, I don’t think you ought to go around killing people.”

  Horner’s mouth curved in an evil smile. “I don’t have to kill them to get rid of them. I can cripple them economically. Then they won’t have the resources to fight me on this.”

  “You’re getting a little thin on those resources yourself,” Guerra pointed out.

  “There’s still plenty to dip from the barrel, but I need to figure out how to use it.”

  “So what now? I can’t try another break-in.”

  “That’s right.” He picked up one of his cigars and rolled it between his large fingers. He knew the habit drove people crazy but it always helped him think. “I have some other ideas.” He closed his eyes for a moment for a moment. “You still in touch with your friend Ed?” he asked, when he opened them again.

  Guerra’s eyes widened. “Damon, I don’t think—”

  “Yeah. Don’t think.”

  Guerra nodded.

  “Good. Call him. Bring him to my house tonight. I don’t want anyone seeing him around the office. Eight o’clock. Don’t be late.”

  As soon as Guerra left the office, Horner took out his cell, scrolled through his contacts, and found the number he wanted. This would take some planning, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Just this morning, he’d received a couple of phone calls with disastrous news. If this didn’t work, he wouldn’t be able to find a hole big enough to hide in.

  “Please tell me you didn’t do this yourself.” Cass Grigsby stared across her desk at Gene Dempsey.

  The man shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “We agreed it wouldn’t be smart to show my face there again, even at night. And certainly not for something like this. Besides, I needed someone who knew what he was doing.”

  “Which clearly this asshole did not.” She drummed her highly polished nails on the surface of her desk.

  “You knew who I tapped, and you had no objections.”

  “I thought he was a lot smarter than it turns out he is. Dumbass. This is a disaster of incredible proportions.” She shook her head. “Tell me he didn’t get caught by the cameras.”

  “He’s confident he detected their locations and avoided them.”

  “Good. All we need is for these people to have his face and somehow trace him back to us.”

  “No one knows of this connection,” Dempsey protested. “Anyway, I gave him money and told him to disappear for a while.”

  “What kind of fucking sensors surround that place that the usual equipment can’t pick up?”

  Dempsey shrugged. “They’re not like any I’ve ever heard of. But from what I’ve learned about the Phoenix Agency, they have stuff no one else in the world uses.”

  Cass made a rude sound. “I doubt that. Someone else has them, you can be sure. No matter. These people are turning out to be a royal pain in the ass.” She rested her elbows on her desk and leaned forward. “I need that formula, do you hear me? Without it, this company is on shaky ground.”

  “You’ve had hard times before,” Gene reminded her. “We’ve always weathered it and come out stronger.”

  “This is different,” she insisted. “If Damon Horner or those idiots from South America get that formula, they can run us out of business.”

  Gene frowned. “Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic here?”

  “I don’t think I’m being dramatic enough. I have to think.” She tapped her fingernails again.

  Gene sat quietly, waiting for her to speak again.

  “Well?” he said at last. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Nothing for the moment. We have to wait to see if anything can be traced back to us. Then I have some things to put in place.”

  “What kind of things? What are you planning, Cass?”

  The smile she gave him had little humor in it. “Perhaps it’s better if you don’t know. Go home, Gene. Take tomorrow off. And be sure your little friend stays well out of sight.”

  “Tell me you didn’t do something so stupid,” Thiago raged at his brother. “Tell me you didn’t hire someone to break into that lab.”

  “Shut up, idiot.” Thiago could hear the fury in Tomas’s voice. “If you had done your job properly, none of this would have been necessary. Let me think.”

  “So you did send someone. And now we are in a fucking mess.”

  “Do not take that tone of voice with me,” Tomas warned. “I should have taken the time to go up there myself. I would have gotten her to agree to our terms, and none of this would have happened.”

  “Exactly how would you have done that?” Thiago demanded. “She is very firm on keeping this out of commercial hands.”

  “I know how to coax people to my terms. Mierda.” He was silent for a long moment.

  Thiago swallowed hard. “What—what are you planning to do, Tomas?”

  “Nothing you need to concern yourself with. What you do need to do is check out of your hotel and get the fuck out of there. Go someplace else. Disappear before one of these Phoenix people comes knocking at your door.”

  “Mine? Why would they do that?”

  “Because, idiota, you were one of the three people the perra had lunch with and turned down. Don’t you think you’ll be high on the list of suspects?”

  “But—”

  “But nothing. Come home. Now.”

  In seconds, he’d disconnected. Cursing under his breath, Thiago tapped the icon on his phone and began looking for area hotels. He had a sick feeling something bad was about to happen.

  Cole leaned back in his desk chair and rested one booted foot on the handle of a desk drawer. He was in the middle of a Skype meeting with his partners, discussing the aftermath of the attempted break-in at the lab. They’d made slow progress during the past five days.

  “What have we got?” he asked. “I know Andy was able to enhance that video and run the images through facial-recognition software. And pinpoint them. So, any more luck in tracking them yet?”

  “You know we identified Leo Guerra right away,” Dan reminded him. “We’ve had a man on him ever since then. He can’t take a leak without us finding out about it.”

  “What about Horner?”

  “On him, too. If he sneezes, we can hand him a handkerchief. But he’s been very circumspect. Almost too much.”

  “Have we got a tap on his phones? His computer?”

  Dan’s laugh held only a touch of humor. “You know the old saying. If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

  “Good enough. And the others?”

  “The same. But these people are smart, Cole. They know we’ll be all over them like green on grass.”

  “Andy’s pulling as much as he can electronically,” Rick broke in. “I’ve been camped out with him at the office. Shit, that place is so dark you need a flashlight to find things in there.”

  “And?” Cole prompted.

  “If any of these people are making arrangements to try anything else, they’re either using burner phones or smoke signals.”

  “Shit. Goddamn it to hell.”

  “But they can’t move physically without our eyes on them,” Dan reminded him. “And I don’t plan to change things any time soon.”

  “We’re still trying to get a handle on one of the men at the attempted break-in,” Mark told him, “but we did identify a second one: Rod Vetter, the asshole who showed up in Clayton for no good reason a little bit ago.

  “Andy’s running deep searches for any link between him and either Cassandra Grigsby or the Cervantes brothers,” Troy added. “It has to be one of them, since Horner sent his right-hand man to do the deed.”

  “You can be damn sure they won’t try to hit the lab again,” Mark said.

  “Maybe, maybe not.” Cole shifted in his chair. “They may think we’ll let our guard down.”

  “Not them,” Dan argued. “If they come at us again, it will be from an entirely different angle. All right, everyone. Let’s be sharp on this. Cole, do you need more manpower?”

  “I think we’re good for the moment. I don’t plan to let JL out of my sight.”

  “Okay. We’re still all over this. We’ll feed you info as we get it, and keep up with daily reports on the three amigos.”

  “I’m not sure I know how to thank you,” Cole began.

  In the screen, he saw Dan hold up his hand. “Got everything covered. This is family. Go take care of your lady.”

  When everyone had signed off, Cole sat there a little longer in silence. How lucky he’d been the day he met Dan Romeo. When people said everything happens for a reason, they sure knew what they were talking about.

  He shut down Skype and turned out the light in the den. JL waited for him upstairs, and he couldn’t wait to get to her.

  “It’s been a week, Cole.” JL pushed a stray hair behind her ear and blew out a breath of exasperation. “Don’t you think if anything was going to happen, it would have already?”

  He hitched a hip onto a corner of her desk and pushed his Stetson back on his head. “We still haven’t been able to connect Rod Vetter to whoever employed him, and that makes me very nervous. It means he’s able to bury things almost deeper than we can dig. It also means whoever hired him is bound to be cooking up more trouble. Bigger trouble.”

  “You could say the same for all of them,” she pointed out. “Maybe knowing Phoenix is on the job has scared them all away.”

  “Not likely,” Cole growled. “Not these devils.”

  JL was right in the middle of a procedure she told him would take at least a couple more hours. He was considering getting some takeout for them when his cell phone rang. He frowned at the unfamiliar number on the readout.

  “Cole Martin,” he said.

  “Cole, it’s Tom Schrader. Got a minute?”

  Cole and Tom had grown up together, played football together in high school, and marginally kept in touch since Cole returned from the marines.

  “Sure. What can I do for you?”

  “I hate to impose on a friendship, but I’ve got a little problem here. I understand you’re with some new, hotshot super agency now, and the cops don’t seem to be able to help me.”

  Cole frowned. What could Tom possibly need that Phoenix could help him with?

  “Tell me what the problem is, and I’ll see if it’s something we can tackle.”

  He could hear Tom’s sigh across the connection. “Rustlers. And not the old-fashioned kind, either.”

  “Listen,” Cole began, “I’m not sure—”

  “I’m talking about more than cutting fences and herding the cattle into trucks,” Tom interrupted. “I’ve got a prize bull worth a fortune they’ve tried for twice and some other shit happening. These people can bypass security, electronics—whatever I set up. If you could just take a look and maybe give me some advice . . .”

  “This really isn’t a good time,” he said, trying to figure out whether he could ask someone else to go in his place.

  “I’m sorry, and I wouldn’t ask if this wasn’t about to be a crisis. I know we don’t see each other that much anymore, but I hear really good things about your new gig. I called your ranch, and your foreman gave me your cell number.”

  He really wanted to help Tom, but leaving JL wasn’t a viable option as far as he was concerned.

  As if she read his thoughts, she glanced up from the lab table where she was working and smiled. “Whatever it is, go.” She made a shooing movement with her hand. “I’m safer than the president the way you’ve got things set up.”

  “But—”

  She stepped up to him and touched a finger to his lips. “I’m telling you, go.”

  Cole rubbed his forehead. “Tom? You at the ranch?”

  “I am.”

  “Okay. I’ll get there as soon as I can. I’m in Clayton right now.”

  “Thanks, Cole.” He could hear the relief in the man’s voice. “I really appreciate this. I know you guys probably charge a fortune, but if you can help me, it’s worth every penny.”

  “Let’s not talk money until I evaluate the problem. See you in a bit.” He disconnected the call and turned to JL.

  “Whoever called you must be important. Otherwise, you would have put them off.”

  He nodded. “Not a close friend but a good one. An old one.”

  “Then you have to go.”

  “He’s less than an hour away.” He took her hands and tugged her toward him, ignoring Miles who, for his part, was doing his best to ignore them. “I don’t feel good about leaving you.”

  “Nothing will happen,” she assured him. “I’ll shut down for the night when the guard for the next shift arrives, and Van, my daytime babysitter, can drive me to my dad’s. That way, I won’t be alone. You can pick me up there when you’re finished.”

  “Let me get you some food before I leave. The Feed Me is still open. At least I’ll know you’ve eaten.”