“You don’t want to be a billionaire when I pass on? Theo does.”

  “Yeah, well…I’m not willing to lick your ass for a pile of cash.”

  “God, you’re so stubborn, abrasive, not at all shy about being annoying as fuck.”

  It’s better than being a greedy, ass-kissing sellout. “You’re welcome.”

  “This conversation is going nowhere. Let’s end it.”

  “As soon as I’ve said my piece. In the course of an op, I intercepted a phone from someone in the Tierra Caliente cartel. Heard of them?”

  “Not really.”

  “Murderous, drug-running, lowlife criminal thugs.” Come to think of it, Dad would probably appreciate them. They shared the motto Anything for a buck…

  “Why tell me this?”

  “They’re using your fucking app to coordinate drug deals, abductions, and murders. You might want to put a stop to that before the press gets wind of it.”

  Phillip scoffed. “I know you didn’t call me because you have any interest in saving my ass or my business.”

  He was right about that. “I called because my bosses’ sister got kidnapped by these assholes, and maybe that wouldn’t have been possible if you’d stopped flapping your jaws on the financial cable shows long enough to enforce your terms of service.”

  His father fell quiet. “Can you prove this?”

  “I’ve got screenshots.” Trees had sent them not long after they’d hung up.

  “Send them to me. I’ll deal with it.”

  “‘Dealing with it’ doesn’t mean just erasing those posts or groups. It means obliterating their accounts and banning these people for life.”

  “I can’t take steps like that without careful consideration and investigation. I—”

  “Don’t start this bullshit. Why can’t you ever, just once, do what’s right?”

  “Stay out of my business and I’ll stay out of yours.”

  “I’d love to, but—”

  “What the fuck makes you think you’re better than me? You’ve done plenty of questionable things, like blowing up a perfectly good building that would have helped a whole bunch of poor people in a war-torn region.”

  “Because I consciously choose to do the right things for the right reasons. I kept that building from destroying more lives than it could ever have helped. I don’t shove my nose up a bunch of globalist tycoons’ asses for a buck. And I would never fuck my friend’s underage daughter for a thrill.”

  “It was consensual.”

  “Kendra was a minor. Legally, she couldn’t consent, and you goddamn know it. And it’s also possible that you not stopping the cartel from planning their illegal shit on your platform directly resulted in her being kidnapped once upon a time. How’s that for fucked up?”

  “I’m a grown man—and your father. I don’t need you telling me what’s right and what’s wrong.”

  “I think you do. You’ve gotten it wrong for as long as I’ve been aware you’re a shit. We can sit here and exchange insults all night or you can promise you’ll look into this and expunge these assholes from your platform.”

  “You realize they’ll just communicate in some other way you won’t be able to track?”

  Maybe. “But we won’t be making it easy for them, and it won’t be your liability.”

  His father sighed. “Where are you? Months ago, Dr. Waxman said he spoke with you at Kendra’s wedding in Louisiana.”

  “I’m not far from there.” And not for anything would he tell his father that he was planning to propose to the most amazing woman, buy a house here, raise her daughter and the other kids they would share, and have a goddamn happy life. Phillip Garrett would only laugh before he tried to shit on all that.

  “Making what? A lot less than the two million a year plus bonuses and perks I offered you before you left the Middle East.”

  Zy sneered. “I tried working for Daddy. It didn’t end well. I don’t need the money, and I’m not coming back to Cali. Anything else before I hang up?”

  “I don’t like having this enmity between us.”

  Wow. That was his dad’s form of an apology. Talk about way too little way too late. “We’ve all made our choices, and I sleep just fine at night with mine.”

  “Your mother would probably appreciate hearing your voice. She’s rented a house in Sonoma. I’m sure she loves it there since it’s so close to all the wine she uses to self-medicate.”

  And who do you think drove her to that? “I’m in a crisis right now, but I’ll reach out to her as soon as I can.”

  “You don’t have to keep risking your life for people who can barely pay you.”

  “You just never fucking understand. Not everything is about money. You’ve said before that you can’t figure out what makes me tick? There you go. Once you get that, maybe we’ll see eye to eye. Until then, I don’t have time for this insult-fest. Congratulations on your divorce.”

  “Chase, don’t you—”

  Zy hung up before his father could finish the sentence. What else could they possibly have to say?

  Shoving the unpleasant conversation aside, he gulped down his now lukewarm coffee, killed the lights, and headed out to run errands. A few phone calls and a few stops later, he managed to get everything set up in the temporary safe house, and Kane promised that he’d text when he, Valeria, and the baby got settled. Tomorrow, they’d figure out their next steps with the late drug kingpin’s estranged wife and how the hell to keep her safe until the bosses could return and resume the mission.

  When he finished everything, it was nearly one thirty in the morning. Zy would have loved to return to Tessa’s place, undress, crawl into bed with her, then slip inside her body until she wrapped her legs around him and came for him. But she deserved her rest, and he suspected she needed more time and space to consider his proposition.

  But tomorrow…he’d begin the first official phase of Operation Mrs. Garrett. Hopefully by then, he’d have a ring in his pocket and he’d be finding all kinds of creative ways to persuade her to say yes.

  Tessa rolled over as her alarm clock played a vaguely familiar ballad. The electronic digits told her it was time to start the day. Damn it, she’d been sleeping so well…but she would have slept better beside Zy.

  Well, if he’d let her sleep at all.

  With a little smile, she stretched and reached for her phone to see if he’d left a message. Nothing, but that didn’t surprise her much. Whatever he’d been working on last night had seemed both important and involved, and he probably hadn’t wanted to wake her up.

  As much as she’d love to hear his voice, she resisted the urge to call. She’d see him in the office soon, and if she got on the phone with him, she wouldn’t pull herself together for work on time. Hallie might be happy for the extra sleep. The child hadn’t stirred all night, but they had a schedule to maintain. Sundays were for lazy mornings. It was only Wednesday.

  She slid out of bed and showered, put on a light touch of makeup, then hopped into her slacks and a warm sweater. She was zipping up her boots when she frowned. Hallie was still asleep? By now she was usually either fussing or making noises in her crib as she played. Poor baby must have been really worn-out last night.

  Tessa gathered her phone and her purse, got all of her baby’s things together for daycare, so she’d only have to change and dress the girl before tucking her into her car for their short drive. As soon as she’d wrangled everything, she started the teapot and shoved a piece of bread in the toaster. If Hallie was going to give her a few extra minutes to eat, Tessa intended to take advantage of it.

  Five minutes later, she wiped her mouth and cleaned up her mess, tossed Hallie’s things into the car, then headed into her daughter’s room with a smile.

  Instantly, she knew something was wrong.

  It was freezing inside. The window was open. The screen had been slashed and was flapping with the wind. What the hell?

  Her heart began pummeling her chest as she groped for the light switch and flipped it up. “Hallie?”

  Nothing. The crib was empty.

  She blinked. No. This wasn’t happening. Her baby was here somewhere. She had to be. But Hallie was too little to climb out of her crib, much less open a window and cut the screen.

  Fear strangled Tessa. She couldn’t breathe. Terror burned her veins. Panic punched through her chest and ripped out her heart.

  She flung herself to the crib and looked for anything that might tell her what had happened. All she saw was the empty mattress. One of her daughter’s favorite stuffed animals had been discarded at the bottom of the crib. But no sign of her baby.

  Oh, my god… “Hallie!”

  But she heard nothing in return except the eerie echo of silence.

  Hallie was gone.

  No. No! There must be some simple, logical explanation.

  There was. Last night she’d slept like the dead, so she hadn’t heard a thing. And someone had taken her daughter.

  Who? And why would anyone want her baby?

  The dark-eyed man in the ball cap who had accosted her yesterday streaked through her memory. The one with the smooth voice, shrewd eyes, and repugnant words. Had he taken Hallie?

  We have ways of…persuading you to comply.

  Tessa screamed. Tears flowed. Irrationally, she yanked the mattress from the crib and tore away the blankets, hoping against hope that Hallie lay underneath. Instead, she caught sight of something flat and white that had blended in with the pale sheet.

  Shaking, tears stinging her eyes, she lifted the piece of paper.

  * * *

  We have your daughter. If you want to see her again, give us the information we want today. Tell no one or the girl won’t make it to her first birthday. We’re watching you. We will contact you with instructions.

  * * *

  Tessa gaped. Her gut told her that who or whatever that stranger yesterday had represented? Those people had kidnapped her baby girl. Lifted her through the window and stolen her to God knew where…and left everything behind except the pajamas she’d been wearing. Oh, god. They hadn’t even taken diapers, toys, or food with them. How would they take care of Hallie?

  Did they even intend to?

  Panic froze her, but she couldn’t stop shaking. Grief stabbed her chest. The pain was more than she knew how to bear. How could anyone do this? Hallie was just a baby. Innocent. Sweet. She hadn’t hurt anyone.

  Tessa’s stomach threatened to heave. She forced it back. Hallie needed her. She had to think. What was she going to do?

  Call the police? No. Officers would come. The kidnappers had said they were watching. They would know. And they would hurt her baby.

  What about Zy and the rest of the team? They could help. They handled situations like this for a living. She was lucky to work for people with the know-how to rescue her baby. They could end this nightmare.

  But before she even reached for her phone, she stopped.

  If the kidnappers were watching, was it possible they had eyes and ears everywhere, even inside EM Security Management? Oh, god, maybe they did. Several of the firm’s recent missions had gone horribly wrong. Zy had been injured just before she’d met him. One-Mile had been captured and nearly killed by a ruthless cartel. She’d overheard whispers that the enemy seemed to know in advance when, where, and how the operatives were coming. Was information somehow leaking from EM?

  It wasn’t impossible.

  Tessa wasn’t willing to take the chance that if Zy and the bosses planned a rescue for Hallie, the enemy wouldn’t find out and make good on their threat. And she would never see her precious daughter again.

  She couldn’t live with that.

  Besides, were there even enough operatives available to save Hallie? The bosses and most of the company resources were tied up finding Kimber.

  Oh, god. Had the same criminals who had taken her friend taken her daughter, too?

  Probably. These hard-core animals were willing to do whatever it took to get what they wanted. Hallie meant nothing to them. Her baby being at their mercy terrified Tessa.

  She didn’t dare cross them. She would never be able to live with herself if her failure to follow simple instructions resulted in her daughter’s end.

  Tessa was in way over her head. But she didn’t see any choice except to play by the kidnappers’ rules—at least for now.

  Sucking in a shuddering breath, she reached up to close the open window. Her hand shook uncontrollably. Despair threatened to close in. But she had to stay strong and keep it together. If Hallie had any chance of staying alive, and if she ever wanted to see her baby again, she had to make the right choices.

  That meant she had to stop the bawling threatening to take her to her knees. That meant she had to tell the daycare that Hallie was with family for a few days. She had to go to work and do her best to act as if her world wasn’t falling apart. She had to close herself off from everything and everyone. As of now, she only had one concern and one goal: to recover Hallie.

  Whatever these people wanted, Tessa vowed to give them. As long as she got her baby back alive, whole, and well, she’d do whatever they wanted.

  An hour later, Tessa stared at her computer screen, waiting for some word—any word—from the kidnappers.

  Around her, One-Mile was on the phone, his growl an indistinct mumble muted by the whirling of her thoughts. His voice was like sandpaper abrading her nerves. She wanted to curl into a ball and make the world go away.

  God, she couldn’t take this. The pain of missing Hallie was literally killing her.

  Pictures of her baby covered the walls and desk. Her daughter’s bright, smiling face and innocent eyes flooded her with anguish. Tessa barely managed to hold in her sobs. She’d already had a terrible cry in the car on her way to the office and had to repair her mascara so no one would know. But Zy had known anyway. He’d seen her puffy eyes and red nose. When he’d asked what was wrong, she’d said she had allergies and turned away.

  If she’d had any feelings to spare, she would have been gentler when she replied to him.

  But she didn’t. And right now, she didn’t have enough emotions left over to worry about his. All her concern was for Hallie.

  “I’m going to lunch,” Zy said. “I’d ask you to join me, but I need to run a personal errand.”

  Why was he telling her? Unless his errand was to bring her daughter back, she really didn’t care. “Okay.”

  “You want anything? A burger? A sandwich?”

  She shook her head because even trying to carry on a conversation was painful. “Thank you.”

  “Text me if you change your mind.”

  She wouldn’t. Food was the last thing she wanted.

  Tessa wished she could throw herself into Zy’s arms, tell him everything, and beg him to bring her baby back. He would do it—or die trying. He loved her and he adored Hallie, so he would give it his all.

  But she’d already been over this in her head. She couldn’t.

  Tessa knew her standoffishness might ruin the relationship developing between her and Zy. But she truly couldn’t look at him and pretend everything was all right. Worse, she felt useless because all she could do to save her daughter was sit and wait for her kidnappers to reach out. She had no illusions; if Zy ever found out she’d kept something as major as Hallie’s kidnapping from him, he would think she didn’t trust him. He would feel betrayed. There might not be any coming back from that.

  “I will,” she murmured.

  “Baby.” His voice dropped as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you sure you’re all right? Did I say or do something to upset you? I hated being away from you last night—”

  “It’s not that.” Her voice croaked.

  God, she was barely talking at him, and he was trying to take responsibility for her grim mood? If she didn’t already love him, she would love him so much more.

  But some irrational part of her wanted to blame him for Hallie’s abduction, too. If work hadn’t called, if Zy wasn’t so good at his job, if he hadn’t answered his phone, he would have been at her place last night. He probably would have heard someone rustling around her daughter’s bedroom and stopped them before it was too late.

  But that was unfair. Hallie was her responsibility—and her heart. She had been the one to fall down on the job by sleeping like she didn’t have a care in the world.

  How stupid she’d been. How reckless. Now she was paying.

  “All right. I’m a phone call away,” Zy assured. “Let me know if you need me.”

  I need you so much. “Thanks.”

  Then, with a last worried glance over his shoulder, Zy was gone. Tessa desperately gripped her mouse, as if it could keep her from falling into a black hole of despair, and tried to keep herself together. But she had no idea where her baby was or if she was okay. She would be starving by now. She was long overdue for a change. She wasn’t happy in unfamiliar surroundings and would need someone to comfort her. What if someone had left her alone in a room without any food or supervision or…

  “I’m out,” One-Mile said. “When my fiancée suggested we meet for lunch, I gave her the address of a motel. Once she figures that out, she’ll clobber me…or put me in a great mood. If I’m not back in an hour, you’ll know which.”

  Tessa closed her eyes. How great it would be not to have a care in the world. “Bye.”

  “Hey, you okay?”

  “Fine.”

  He frowned. “When women say they’re fine, men should watch their balls. What did Zy do?”

  “Nothing,” she said truthfully. “He’s great.”

  It’s the rest of my life that’s falling apart.

  The sniper snorted. “If you say so. Listen, I suck at commiserating. On a scale of one to ten, my ability to empathize is negative eight, but Brea is great. If you need a friend—”

  “There’s nothing she can do.” And Tessa doubted his fiancée would be thrilled that One-Mile had offered up her ear without her consent.

  “All right. But if you change your mind, let me know.”

  I can’t. “Thanks.”