So as far as Trees was concerned, there was no reason the op wasn’t a go.

  “No,” Johnson grumbled.

  “Oh, you should meet them. Nice folks. They started our service last month. Jessica swears nothing else worked before, but their roach problem is practically nil already, and she’s seeing far fewer spiders.”

  “We don’t have an insect problem.”

  “You do. You haven’t been here long, right?”

  “A couple weeks.”

  “Then trust me, you do.”

  Zy had to smile at Trees’s schtick, then he turned to motion Tessa inside, nudging her behind a big leather sofa on the right side of the room, where she wouldn’t be visible if Johnson turned.

  As Trees droned on about the gross habits and unsanitary conditions of roaches—displaying a surprising knowledge of insects—Zy began easing the sliding door shut. It squeaked. He winced and dove behind the sofa, eyes on their target.

  “What the hell was that?” Johnson tried to turn around.

  Trees grabbed the man’s arm, signaling to Hector that this part of the pitch was urgent. “See? Insects. We’re half swamp out here, so they’re big. If you weren’t used to that where you came from… Um, where was that?”

  “I didn’t say and I’m not interested.”

  “I don’t want you to regret passing up this deal. Have you asked the missus if she’s seen any insects? I’ll bet she has.”

  “No.”

  Zy held his breath as he leaned back and slid the door down the rest of the track without incident before joining Tessa behind the sofa again.

  They were safe…at least for now.

  “You know how women are these days. Trying to be all independent. My momma would shriek to high heavens every time she came across a spider in her kitchen, but my sisters—I’ve got three of them—they just whip off one of their ridiculous high heels and whap the spider out of existence. Your wife like that?”

  “No. I said I’m not interested.”

  See anyone else? he mouthed to Tessa.

  She pointed to her ear, then to the right.

  On the far side of the unit, he saw a sliver of the kitchen. Dishes clanked and a radio pumped out deejay chatter. A vertical half wall dividing the living room and kitchen cut off his sight lines, but clearly someone was in there. Cash?

  He would have to get closer for a better vantage point, and that meant moving.

  “Listen, Mister…” Trees frowned. “What did you say your name was?”

  “I didn’t.”

  Still squatting behind the sofa, Zy edged along its back, holding up a hand to stay Tessa.

  She looked breathless and afraid, eyes wide. But she nodded, unmoving, watching nervously as he crept across an open space, then ducked behind a matching black recliner.

  Suddenly, Johnson whipped his head around, as if he’d caught movement in his peripheral vision. Zy pressed himself against the back of the chair and held his breath.

  “Anyway”—Trees went on—“I’m up for a promotion. If I can sign three people up this morning, that would look real good to my boss. He knows I’m a go-getter, but he wants to see more hustle, so if you could help a guy out…”

  Zy tuned out Trees’s spiel. He’d heard enough to know they were running out of time. He had to get the lay of the land and figure out how many people were in the house and where everyone was located so they could game plan accordingly.

  From his current position, he had a better view of the kitchen, but half of it still wasn’t visible. He saw an open cabinet door and heard footsteps, but that didn’t tell him who he was dealing with.

  Still crouching, he eased into a shadowy corner of the living room, pressing his back to the wall, then craning his head around the remaining obstructions.

  Bingo! A woman with long brownish hair swishing down her back and wearing tight black yoga pants emptied the dishwasher, skinny ass swaying to some R and B tune. But that wasn’t the only thing that interested him. In the very edge of his view, he caught sight of what looked like the leg of a high chair.

  Damn it, another six inches and he’d be able to tell if his eyes were correct and if Hallie was in there.

  Suddenly, he heard a baby peal unhappily. His heart leapt in his throat.

  “If you want more Cheerios, you’re going to have to wait, kid.”

  So they did have a baby here. He glanced back at Tessa. Her eyes had gone wide. Hope lit them. She trembled, looking anxious, sleep-deprived, and near tears. And he wished like hell he could stop everything, comfort her, and lend her the strength to finish this op. Instead, he had to press a finger to his mouth for quiet.

  She flattened her lips together like she was holding in a sob and nodded.

  The brunette in the kitchen cracked a little window over the sink and lit up a cigarette, blowing the smoke through the screen. The baby Zy couldn’t see let out another howl.

  “Shut that damn baby up,” Johnson yelled at the brunette across the house, suddenly very tense. “Look, I said I’m not interested. I don’t care about your promotion, your sisters, your knowledge of roaches, or your bullshit. Go the fuck away.”

  When he tried to slam the door in Trees’s face, the big guy pressed a palm against the sturdy fiberglass and shoved. The foot he’d already wedged onto the threshold kept Johnson from shutting him out. “C’mon, you don’t mean that.” Trees laid on the aw-shucks charm. “We’re getting to be friends here, I think. We’re having a moment.”

  They weren’t, and Zy knew Trees’s cover couldn’t last much longer. He had to make a move, figure out if the baby in the kitchen really was Hallie and whether he should neutralize the woman while Trees dealt with Johnson on his own terms or abort altogether. But where the fuck was Cash?

  “What the hell? The noise level around here…” A man emerged from the other side of the house in a pair of boxer shorts, pulling a T-shirt over his head.

  Speak of the devil.

  Tessa’s eyes widened in panic. Once Cash yanked the dirty tee down and finished rubbing at his bleary eyes, he would be looking right at her.

  Fuck.

  Zy risked poking his head above the chair to catch Trees’s attention and zipped a finger across his neck.

  His friend bobbed his head, then sent his widest smile so far to Cash. “You a friend of the family, sir? You’ve got to tell your pal here that he’s missing an opportunity if he doesn’t sign up for Pest-Away’s platinum-level service.”

  “I don’t fucking want it,” Johnson exploded. “Get your foot out of my house.”

  Trees went on as if he hadn’t spoken. “Here. Let me get you my card and…”

  As he pretended to dig in his pocket, Cash lost interest in the sales pitch and turned toward the kitchen. He zeroed instantly on her and stopped in his tracks. “Tessa! What the hell are you doing here? Get the fuck out.”

  When she didn’t move, Cash dashed straight for her and grabbed her arm viciously, tugging her toward the back door.

  Zy saw red and pulled his Glock.

  On the other side of the room, Trees turned back to Johnson—not with a business card but the business end of a Sig. He planted it right in the man’s forehead. “Hands up. Just like that. Now step back, motherfucker. Nice and slow.”

  Hector held up his hands and retreated to the middle of the living room. As Trees kicked the door shut behind him and turned to lock it, never taking his stare off Johnson, Zy stepped out from the corner and aimed his barrel right at her ex’s forehead. “Let her go.”

  “Fuck you.” Cash glowered.

  “You don’t want to give me a reason. I’m already half inclined to blow your worthless brains out.”

  Wisely, Cash stopped running his mouth and released her.

  “Now get your hands up.”

  Grinding his teeth together, Cash did, muttering curses.

  “Tessa, in my back pocket are a couple of pairs of cuffs. Get them out. You”—he told Cash while she did as he’d asked—“get to the middle of the room, by your buddy, Johnson. No. You can walk with your hands in the air.”

  Trees nudged Hector back toward Cash until they bumped into one another. “Stand back to back. Now!”

  Zy motioned Tessa over and took the cuffs from her. Then he handed her his gun. “If either one of them moves, aim in their general direction. This sucker is loaded with hollow points, so whoever you hit, we’re talking maximum damage.”

  “O-okay.” She nodded, looking so brave and resolute as she took the weapon and aimed it directly at the two men.

  “You’re doing great,” he told her in a low murmur. “I’m going to cuff them.”

  Then they could start asking questions. And find out if the baby in the next room was Hallie.

  “No, you’re not,” said the woman from the kitchen. “Let them go.”

  Zy turned and his heart fell to his knees.

  Aspen stood in the opening between the kitchen and the living room with Hallie braced on one bony hip—and a Glock pointed against her defenseless little head.

  Tessa did her best to hold the gun steady and not fall apart, but the sight of that woman threatening to end her daughter with one squeeze of the trigger nearly had her unraveling. Anxiety sat like a thousand-pound boulder, crushing her chest. “Hallie, baby girl…”

  Her daughter caught sight of her and started wriggling and screaming, kicking and bowing her back.

  “Stop it!” Aspen hissed, shaking Hallie.

  If Tessa had any idea how to fire a gun without hitting her daughter, she would have turned it on Aspen.

  But she didn’t.

  Zy came to her rescue, holding up his hands and slowly approaching the other woman. “All right. Let’s not be hasty. You don’t need the kid. You need information, right?”

  Aspen scowled suspiciously. “Yeah.”

  “Okay, let’s make a trade.” Zy turned to Trees, who still had Johnson dead in his sights.

  What the heck was Zy up to? Tessa didn’t know, but she needed to do her part.

  She jerked the gun back to Cash. She might not be able to fire on Aspen and risk hitting Hallie, but if it would save her baby she had no compunction about blowing her ex away. He’d obviously had a hand in kidnapping their daughter and he deserved whatever he got.

  “What do you mean?” Aspen asked.

  “Give Tessa her daughter. A baby doesn’t belong in this situation, and I know you don’t want to kill her.”

  The woman screwed up her face like he was an idiot. “I don’t give a shit. She’s just a whining, crying kid.”

  Tessa seethed. Her daughter was wonderful and precious. Totally innocent and sweet. It took everything inside her not to stomp over there and beat the shit out of the bitch.

  “But Hallie can’t give you information. I can. I know everything you want to know. Every. Single. Thing. So let the baby go, and I’ll come with you in her place.”

  Tessa gasped. “Zy!”

  Did he know that meant certain death? Was he really willing to do that, sacrifice himself to save Hallie?

  “It’s okay, baby.” He put a reassuring hand over his heart.

  Then she understood. He wasn’t trading his life for Hallie’s simply for her baby’s sake. He was doing this for her.

  To atone? To prove his love? She didn’t understand, but she loved him. Still. No matter how difficult things had become between them. No matter how dark and ugly his interrogation in the bunker had turned. She’d said less-than- words to him in anger, too. But he was the kind of man who’d helped her when she’d been overwhelmed with a newborn. He was the kind of father who had calmed Hallie by letting the baby sleep on his chest. He was the kind of lover who had touched her with his heart as much as his hands the very first time he’d taken her to bed.

  And now he was willing to risk his very life to keep her daughter alive.

  Against her will, tears welled in her eyes. She couldn’t tell him not to trade himself for Hallie, but it was breaking her heart. “Zy…”

  “Shh.”

  “Why should I take that deal?” Aspen grabbed a squirming Hallie viciously and poked the side of her little head with the barrel again, her finger wrapped dangerously around the trigger.

  Tessa’s heart lodged in her throat and she died a thousand deaths, worrying that Aspen’s finger would slip and end her baby girl forever. It was killing her that her daughter was mere feet away, but it might as well have been half a world.

  “Because it’s a good deal,” Zy pointed out. “You let Tessa, her daughter, and my associate”—he gestured to Trees—“go. I’ll stay here with you three and tell you all the secrets EM has been keeping.”

  “Or your two cohorts could simply put down their weapons and I can take all of you prisoner while I extract the information I need from you. If not, I’ll off the baby. You’ve got ten seconds to decide.”

  “Hey!” Cash piped up. “This isn’t what we talked about.”

  “Shut the fuck up, pip-squeak,” Hector growled at him. “You don’t get a say in this.”

  Aspen turned to Tessa then. “Drop the gun. Or the kid loses her head.”

  She froze. If she let go of the weapon, she had no illusions. These people didn’t play by any rules, so Hallie would still die. So would she, Trees, and Zy. But how could she help this situation if she refused?

  Tessa turned to Zy with a questioning stare.

  “Don’t do it, baby.”

  “You better fucking do it,” Aspen shouted. “Five seconds.”

  The situation was escalating too quickly. Tessa didn’t know how to stop it and she couldn’t think. A thousand thoughts raced through her head. She swallowed. Shoot Johnson? But what if that startled Aspen and she pulled the trigger? She’d already been over the reasons she couldn’t shoot Aspen, and she didn’t see how shooting Cash did any good now except to make everything more tense. They talked to him like he was expendable.

  “Now, bitch,” Aspen insisted. “Five, four, three…”

  “No!” Cash stomped toward the woman. “That’s my daughter, too.”

  “Now you care? You were the one who suggested kidnapping her.”

  He stopped in front of Aspen, who gripped a screeching Hallie. “But you promised we’d give her back as soon as you got the information you wanted.”

  “Are you living in dreamland?” Aspen rolled her eyes. “How the fuck did you think we were going to give back a baby?”

  “Y-you planned to kill her all along?”

  Aspen sighed and glared over at Johnson. “Bringing this idiot in was your worst idea ever.”

  “Hey, it got us information,” he shot back.

  Aspen scoffed. “What a pain in the ass…”

  Cash lunged in her face. “Answer me. You planned to kill my daughter?”

  “Duh.”

  “The hell you are.”

  Cash reached for Hallie and tried to yank her from Aspen’s grip. The woman didn’t let go. A tug-of-war ensued. Hallie shrieked even louder. Tessa’s heart pounded. Anxiety for her baby gnawed her stomach.

  When Hector tried to break free to help Aspen, Trees cocked his weapon and stepped in his path. “Give me a reason, motherfucker. I would love to pull the trigger.”

  Finally, Cash’s superior strength won out and he pried the little girl from Aspen’s grip, holding her tight against his chest. “Don’t you dare touch her again.”

  “Or you’ll do what?” Aspen pointed her gun at him. “Never mind. I’ll just bury you both together.”

  Tessa gasped. She had to get her daughter out of the middle of this—somehow. But she wasn’t trained for these situations…

  Cash’s eyes widened, and he finally grasped that Aspen was both totally serious and fully prepared to kill both him and Hallie. Suddenly, he swung the baby onto her feet and started backing away.

  “Hallie!” Tessa held out a hand to her daughter, thrilled when she came running, her little arms flailing and her chubby legs chugging. She looked dirty and dehydrated, but she seemed otherwise unharmed. Tears threatened to spill as her baby took the last few steps to reach her.

  Then a deafening gunshot filled the air. With her eyes locked on Hallie, she feared she’d see her baby stumble and fall any second, hit and bleeding and dying. But Hallie threw herself against her leg and wrapped her arms around her tightly. It was the sweetest touch she’d ever felt.

  Tessa ached to lift Hallie up and hug her tight, but she still held a weapon. The situation was too tense. So she tucked her daughter behind her, then looked up to see Cash on the floor. He lay ominously still, a hole in the middle of his forehead, blood slowly seeping all over the beige carpet.

  Cold fear chilled her. These people were every bit as dangerous as she feared.

  “Tessa!” Zy held up his hands.

  She tossed the gun in his direction. He caught it as she scooped Hallie into her arms, clutching her daughter’s head to her chest and holding her securely while she tried to keep herself together. It felt so good to finally hold her baby…but she didn’t know how they’d get out of here alive.

  “Go!” he demanded.

  But when she reached for the back door, Aspen raised her gun. “You’re not going anywhere, bitch!”

  Tessa’s heart clanged. She turned her body to shield Hallie, hoping it would be enough to spare her baby girl as the next resounding shot echoed in the room.

  But the bullet didn’t rip through her.

  Instead, Zy fired on Aspen, who gasped and recoiled, then looked down at the blood spreading across her pale T-shirt from a wound in her left shoulder.

  “Honey!” Hector lurched for her.

  “Stop!” Trees growled at him.

  The man didn’t listen, racing across the room. Before he could tackle Zy, Trees shot Johnson in the back, sending him sprawling face-first into the carpet inches from Cash’s lifeless body.

  Aspen gasped, crying out in shock and pain as she fell to her knees. But when she lifted her head again, she had murder in her eyes. And she trained her gun on Tessa once more, glaring at Trees. “Drop it or she’s as good as dead.”

  “Stop,” Zy snapped, gun pointed her way as he barreled down on her.