Zy pulled his Glock.

  Fuck. There went the covert operation, plan A. Plan Fucked it was. Trees hoped he and Zy could find a way to end this well.

  Hector, who had been watching Cash’s drama with Tessa, turned back to him with a threatening scowl. But Trees was one step ahead, meeting him with the business end of a SIG, planting it against his forehead. “Hands up.”

  Hector complied, wide-eyed with shock.

  “Just like that. Now step back, motherfucker. Nice and slow.”

  The asshole retreated to the middle of the living room. Trees kicked the door shut behind him, never taking his stare off Hector, while Zy emerged from the corner and aimed his barrel straight at her ex’s face. “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 Tessa.

  “Now get your hands up,” Zy insisted.

  Muttering curses, Cash did.

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

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

  Zy motioned Tessa to his side 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 resolute as she took the weapon and aimed it at the two scumbags.

  “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 a woman appearing from the kitchen. “Let them go.”

  Motherfucking son of a bitch.

  The woman was Aspen. She balanced Hallie on her bony hip—and pointed a Glock against her defenseless little head.

  At the sight, Tessa looked ready to unravel. “Hallie, baby girl…”

  The little one caught sight of her mommy and started wriggling and screaming, kicking and bowing her back.

  “Stop it!” Aspen hissed, shaking the baby.

  Tessa’s expression turned murderous. Zy rushed in to de-escalate the situation, approaching the other woman slowly with his hands in the air. “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 glance past Cash and Hector, brow raised.

  Trees met his friend’s stare. What the fuck was Zy doing?

  “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.”

  “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!”

  “It’s okay, baby,” Zy said to Tessa, laying a reassuring hand over his heart.

  Zy intended to trade his life for Hallie’s? Fuck no. Not if Trees had anything to say about it.

  Tears rolled down Tessa’s face like her heart was breaking. “Zy…”

  “Shh.”

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

  Instinct kicked in, and Trees started game-planning. No one was dying here today—except the fuckers helping the cartel.

  “Because it’s a good deal,” Zy argued. “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,” Aspen shot back. “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, pipsqueak,” Hector growled. “You don’t get a say in this.”

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

  She froze and turned to Zy with a panicked stare.

  “Don’t do it, baby.”

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

  The situation was escalating too quickly. Trees braced for the worst. He could shoot Hector, no sweat. He could probably even nail Cash, too. But he wouldn’t be able to shoot Aspen before she shot the baby.

  That outcome wasn’t acceptable.

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

  Was Cash really that naive?

  “Are you living in dreamland?” EM’s former temp 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 glared at Hector. “Bringing this idiot in was your worst idea ever.”

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

  Aspen scoffed. “But what a pain in the ass…”

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

  “Duh.”

  His face thundered over. “The hell you are.”

  Cash tried to pluck the baby from Aspen’s grip, but the woman refused to let go. Hallie shrieked in fear.

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

  In fact, he almost hoped the bastard fought back. Trees didn’t look forward to killing—but he’d make an exception for the man who had tormented and raped Laila for six fucking years.

  Finally, Cash managed to pry 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.”

  Cash’s eyes widened as if he finally grasped that Aspen wasn’t fucking around. He set the baby on her feet and started backing away.

  “Hallie!” Tessa called to her daughter, who went running, her little arms flailing.

  A deafening gunshot filled the air, and Trees was half worried that Aspen had followed through on her threat to off the girl, but Hallie threw herself against Tessa’s leg, seemingly unharmed. But Cash lay ominously still mere feet away. A hole in the middle of his forehead spilled blood all over the beige carpet.

  “Tessa!” Zy gestured her to toss him the gun.

  She did. He caught it as she scooped Hallie into her arms, clutching her daughter against her protectively.

  “Go!” Zy pointed to the slider.

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

  Another shot exploded, echoing in the room. Instead of seeing a hole in Tessa, Trees watched Aspen look down, seemingly shocked by the bullet Zy had put through her left shoulder and the blood spreading across her pale T-shirt.

  “Honey!” Hector lurched for her.

  “Stop!” Trees snarled, wrapping his finger around the trigger in warning.

  The asshole ignored him, racing toward Aspen—leaving Trees little choice. He popped off a shot at Hector without a second thought. It hit him in the ass and sent him sprawling face-first into the carpet inches from Cash’s lifeless body. The hit wouldn’t kill him, but it would sure as fuck slow him down.

  Aspen gasped in shock as she fell to her knees beside Hector. When she lifted her head again, she had murder in her eyes—and her gun trained on Tessa while she glared his way. “Drop it or she’s as good as dead.”

  “Stop,” Zy snapped, gun in hand as he barreled down on her.

  “Always did think you were an asshole.”

  Hector reared up and grabbed Zy’s ankle mid-stride, holding him back. Blood spread across the back of the bastard’s pants. Hate poured from his eyes.

  Zy nearly stumbled as he tried to pull free, but Hector refused to let go.

  Aspen waved her gun erratically. “Stop. Or I’ll kill all of you.”

  Was the crazy bitch not grasping the situation? Both she and Hector were shot, and Cash was dead. He and Zy were armed, uninjured, and ready to fight—to the death if needed.

  “No, you won’t,” Trees corrected her.

  Aspen turned her venomous gaze his way. “Before I kill you, I’ll shoot your balls off for shooting my husband.”

  “Your husband is a rapist,” Trees spat. “Let go, ‘Johnson.’”

  It was a fitting name for this tool.

  Predictably, Hector didn’t listen.

  “Fuck you,” the asshole growled, lurching up for his wife’s gun.

  “No. Fuck you.” Trees aimed, stared down the barrel, and looked right at Hector. “This is for Laila.”

  Nothing felt better than pulling the trigger again, straight at Hector’s head, and watching his shocked expression freeze.

  The bastard went limp, deader than dead.

  Trees roared in revenge, with relief.

  But he didn’t have time to celebrate before Aspen shot at Zy, plugging him in the arm. On his way down, his pal aimed and squeezed his trigger, hitting Aspen right between the eyes. Then Zy fell to the carpet, gun falling from his lax hand.

  With a snarl, Trees kicked Hector’s body to make sure he was dead, then did the same to Aspen, as Tessa dropped to her knees, holding Hallie against her, and applied pressure to his best friend’s wound.

  “Zy?” she sounded panicked.

  He didn’t answer. Fuck, had Aspen actually hit something vital?

  Trying to fucking stay calm, Trees dialed 911 and crouched beside Tessa, nudging her aside to look at the gunshot. Flesh wound. It wouldn’t be fatal, thank God. Had Zy fainted? If so, Trees would totally rib him about that later—as soon as he hugged the bastard.

  “He’s going to be okay,” Trees promised Tessa. “You have your daughter back. It’s over.”

  Tessa nodded, still looking terrified. He soothed her with a palm across her back.

  But his thoughts turned to Laila. How would she react once he told her that Hector couldn’t hurt her—or anyone—again?

  After a grim chat with the police about the gruesome scene at the mobile home and a wait in the ER with Zy, who seemingly had a mild concussion from his head hitting the table on his way to the floor, Trees drove for home. Along the way, he called Hunter, Logan, and Joaquin and advised the bosses that Hallie was safe again with Tessa. On Zy’s behalf, he also asked them why the fuck they had never once considered that their receptionist might be affected by the danger the team dealt with. Since the bosses admitted it had been an oversight, they agreed to provide her with a top-notch security system today.

  That was the easy part of the conversation. The next part…Trees doubted would end well.

  “Given what we found this morning, you understand that probably means Geraldo Montilla is keeping Kimber hostage?”

  “Yeah,” Hunter said solemnly. “If Cash was in cahoots with Hector Ramos, who was one of Emilo’s boys, and they took Hallie for leverage, it stands to reason their enemy has Kimber.”

  “Except…here’s what I don’t get,” Logan jumped in. “The note with the lipstick that Kimber’s kidnappers gave Dad as a warning? It seemed almost bitter about the fact Valeria escaped her husband. Why would Geraldo Montilla give a shit? Pride? Machismo? He’s probably full of those, but I don’t buy that he’d take this kind of action merely because someone hurt his little feelings. And sure, Jorge is his grandson, but it’s not as if ruthless drug lords are known for being family men. So why the hell does he want Valeria this bad?”

  Trees hated to admit that Logan had a point. “We don’t have another theory, except that Geraldo has no family left, other than the boy.”

  “As theories go, it’s thin.”

  “Can you think of some other reason for Geraldo Montilla’s behavior?” Trees challenged. “I mean, maybe Emilo’s former goon squad splintered and started vying for power amongst themselves, rather than banding together to overthrow Geraldo, but…”

  “That would be stupid and suicidal.” Logan sighed. “Then again, people have been known to be both.”

  True, and Trees suddenly realized a way they might settle this point. “We haven’t made any progress in identifying the three dead bodies left in our parking lot yesterday. Have the police?”

  “No. Most were either missing fingers or had their prints burned off. It’s going to take dental records. That takes time.”

  “Can you get me the pictures of the vics from the crime scene? I have a hunch.” He didn’t mention that Laila might know something. They would only find other ways to make her useful to their cause.

  “A hunch?” Logan scoffed. “You mean a petite Latina you’re trying to keep out of this. Is there something going on between you and Laila?”

  “I’m just saying I can research this digitally.” But he should have known they wouldn’t buy his deflection.

  “Uh-huh. I’ve heard you don’t want her used as bait to draw out Kimber’s kidnappers—”

  “Won’t have her used as bait,” he snapped. “Let’s be clear.”

  “Last I heard, she was open to the idea. And last time I checked, you don’t own her. Do we need to remove her from your place?”

  Trees didn’t have any illusions; they would do it. And he’d be terrified for her safety every moment. “Goddamn it, you’re going to get her killed. But I guess you think it’s okay to sacrifice her for your sister. No one will miss Laila. She’s not important or anything.”

  “That’s not true, and we’re not fucking amateurs,” Hunter snarled. “We’ll do everything in our power to keep her safe—”

  “Everything in your power isn’t a guarantee of her safety. You know what is? Leaving her at my place. I will protect her with my life, and—”

  “Son of a bitch,” Logan groused. “You’re in love with her.”

  “My feelings—whatever they are—have nothing to do with my ability to protect her.”

  “Bullshit. You’re compromised,” Joaquin butted in.

  “You’re wrong,” he snarled. “She finally feels safe for the first time in six years. You can’t imagine what she’s been through.” Hell, even Trees couldn’t because she hadn’t trusted him with her deepest, darkest secrets. But he had no doubt what she’d endured had been brutal. “Yet you want to use her—put her at risk again—by dangling her like a tasty treat in front of the very kinds of people who once abused and raped her. But I’m the misguided one?”

  There was a long pause. In the background, he heard a ringing phone and some mumbling. “We have to go. That’s Matt. He has an update. We’ll be in touch.”

  To try to take Laila from him. Fuck that.

  Trees stabbed at his phone angrily and floored it out to his place as the sun began to set. There was rarely anyone on these bumpy country roads, and the Hummer could take the beating.

  What mattered was Laila.

  He shaved seven minutes off what should have been a twenty-minute drive and pulled up to his place with a slam on his brakes and a kick up of dust. Then he ran to the back door, opening it and disabling his security system just long enough to let himself in before he locked up and set the alarm again.

  He’d been praying that Laila was all right. Had she felt safe in his secure, fire-resistant panic room? Or terrified because it doubled as a dungeon full of equipment she was likely to misunderstand?

  Trees tore into his closet, punched in the code to his underground lair, then breathed a sigh of relief when the door popped open and Laila appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

  “You are back.” She sounded relieved.

  She looked fucking beautiful, standing there in his overlarge sweatshirt, which made her look as if she wore nothing else except a pair of his too-big tube socks and a smile.

  “Yeah.” He sprinted down to her.

  She met him halfway. “You are safe.”

  Laila had been worried about him? “Not a scratch. Zy has a flesh wound and a mild concussion. Tessa got her daughter back, and they’re both fine.”

  “And Hector?”

  “He’s dead.”

  Laila gaped. “Are you sure?”

  “I watched the coroner take him out in a body bag, along with his wife and Tessa’s ex-boyfriend.” He cupped her face. “Laila, I wasn’t leaving until Hector was either behind bars or six feet under. I made damn sure he couldn’t come after you again.”

  Her soft expression looked both stunned and grateful. “Thank you.”

  “I don’t want you to thank me. I just want you to feel safe with me.”

  She didn’t reply. Trees tried not to be disappointed. Though Laila hadn’t told him that he made her feel secure, she hadn’t said that he didn’t.

  “You hungry, little one?”

  She shook her head. “I snacked on some of your prepackaged food. Is that all right?”

  “Of course. Let’s get you out of here.”

  Laila nodded, not balking when he took her hand and led her up the stairs. He shut the door to the dungeon behind him, helped her out of the closet, and moved his clothes to cover the keypad again.

  “Trees?”

  He turned to her in the shadowy room, lit by the last remnants of dusk. “Yeah?”