The three of them laughed, but my heart stopped.

"You have bombs in here?" I quickly lifted my hand, trying to balance myself without touching anything.

Holy shit. What were these people up to? Why was Broadrick involved?

"The boss is so going to reward us for getting all this shit," a woman's voice on the far side of me said.

I guess at least the criminal empires weren't discriminating based on gender.

"Is this going to be a long drive?" I asked, trying to find a small section of the truck to stand and not draw attention but wanting to prepare.

"Shut up," the guy next to me said and struck me in the side with the butt of his gun.

He was definitely going to end up shooting himself one day. I hoped he took out his balls.

I didn't expect them to tell me where we were going, but I needed to know how long I had to prepare. They were heavily armed, and I didn't have a weapon-certainly not a freaking machine gun-but I had a stun gun. Sadly, I had one stun gun with one charge, and three of them had machine guns.

I was outmanned and outgunned.

My best chance would be to make a break for it once we stopped, but if I didn't know when or where that might be, I might run into something worse.

I was only halfway through figuring out my options when the truck stopped and the excitement in the back ratcheted up. The three wanna be bank robbers ripped off their black masks and high-fived one another.

"Job well done, ladies," the woman said. Her brown hair fell in ringlets around her shoulders. She didn't fit the criminal henchmen stereotype image.

I rubbed my hands together and stretched out my legs by standing on my tiptoes and getting ready to make a run for it, but when the back of the truck opened, we weren't looking at blue skies but a dirty warehouse. They'd driven us right into another building.

Damn it.

Did nothing go my way?

"Let's go," the gun-happy guy to my right said, grabbing on to my arm with one hand and positioning the machine gun with his other. Except he wasn't very good at it and I closed my eyes, hoping he wouldn't shoot me.

"I'm really okay here," I said, trying to grind my heels to the floor.

He glared at me, his bright blue eyes drilling into mine. "And I said move it."

"Right."

I sat on my ass and then scooted out of the truck, allowing them to walk me to the far end of the warehouse and shove me into a tiny room. It was mostly empty with only one tall filing cabinet that was gunmetal green and then a desk of the same metal and color. They looked like they were all constructed from the leftover ammo boxes they'd been loading onto the moving truck.

"Get comfy. It will probably be a while before Bruno collects you," he said before shutting the door and audibly locking it.

Wonderful.

Actually, no. It was wonderful.

It gave me time to escape.

A small window-but one I'd be able to slide through-broke up the wall on the far right. I pulled a chair against the wall and stood on it, trying to pry the window open.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said to the empty room with a swear.

Someone had padlocked the window. I might break it, but the noise would alert anyone close to my escape.

After another minute, I gave up the idea and returned to the desk, rummaging through the drawers for anything that might help me get out of my current predicament.

I came up empty-handed. Mostly.

Files were stuffed in the unlocked filing cabinet. Receipts of different shipments, which must have moved through this warehouse when it was in regular operation. They were all dated 2001 or earlier.

I abandoned the filing cabinet and returned to the desk, looking for something to pick the padlock. Katy's insistence to always carry a lock-pick set no longer sounded like an unrealistic precaution.

The locked door jiggled. Something scraped on the knob.

"Shit," I whispered and grabbed the closest heavy object as a weapon.

Bruno had come back way sooner than I expected.

I braced myself against the far wall, planning to fight my way out. No matter what, I couldn't leave this building with Bruno or I'd never make it.

My life flashed before my eyes, the things I hadn't done on repeat in my memories. Who would catch Brent, find Jalinda's killer, and feed Not Brent if I died?

The door opened, and I raised my stapler in front of me, ready to chuck it or slam it against someone's face.

A head popped through the opening and smiled. He fucking smiled. "Who are you going to hurt with that thing?"

"You." I chucked the stapler at his head.

He ducked, and it slammed against the back of the door. "Fucking hell, Vonnie. Do you want everyone to know I'm rescuing you?"

My eyes widened, and I searched for something else to throw. "You're rescuing me? I'm in this mess because of you."

Broadrick entered the room and closed the door behind him. "Really? I'm the one who told you to go poking around the woods and sneak up on armed men during a weapons exchange?"

"Basically."

Broadrick closed his eyes-not smart when I was still looking for a weapon-and spoke to himself or the Big Guy above for a moment. When he finished his private moment, he said, "I'm here to rescue you."

"Yeah, why?" What was he? Only a part time bad guy?

"I have no idea," he said with a shake of his head.

"What are you even doing here? You're working for the bad guys now? Turned on the government? What the hell, B?"

Broadrick was always a model soldier. I'd never believe he'd sold out the military if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

He looked at the ceiling again. "I can't explain, but it's not what it looks like."

I scoffed. "That's what they all say."

"Can't you just appreciate that I'm here to save you now? You know, so you don't die. Or worse, end up in Bruno's harem."

Could I?

Probably.

But only until we made it to safety and then it was back on.

"Fine." I stomped toward him, but he didn't move for the door quick enough. "I guess this is a perk of no one believing you exist."

"What?" his forehead furrowed.

"None of my friends believe you're real." I shrugged and pointed toward the door, reminding him we were escaping.

He didn't make a move toward it. "Of course, I'm real."

Oh, my word. Were we really going to do this now? "I know, but they've never seen you."

And now they never would because I'd never admit I once dated a criminal.

"I'm right here, Vonnie."

"You're impossible." I motioned to the door, and this time he turned, seeming to remember where we were. I reached down and recovered my weapon. "Let's go so I can beat you with my stapler."

I followed Broadrick out of the room and we hugged the far wall, keeping our eyes on the main floor of the warehouse, though it looked to be deserted. The big truck hadn't moved, and while I heard two people talking, the three machine guns and their handlers were missing. Also gone were Big Pappa and Bruno.

A door at the far end of the warehouse closed with an echoing thud, and two people walked in. They were too far away for me to see their faces. As I stared, trying to figure out who they were, Broadrick yanked me through another door and outside.

I never unzipped my jacket, but the winter wind beat against it, where it created a tornado pocket on the far side of the warehouse. I shivered.

Broadrick and I paused, leaning against the wall as he scanned the area, looking for threats.

"Let me have your phone," I whispered and tapped him on the arm.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved a black-cased phone, handing it to me without a word.

"Hey, this is mine."

I dropped it in the woods after Bruno sent Big Pappa after me.

"We don't have time for a phone call. Bruno is finishing now."

The video had been still recording when I dropped the phone, but I hoped I still had enough battery for a call. "This is an important call."

Even I admitted it when someone outmatched me in a battle. It was time to bring in the police. Or better, the security group of former SEALs based in Pelican Bay. Ridge loved to save the day.

I found the contact for his wife Tabitha, but before I hit send, Broadrick picked me up and draped me over his shoulder.

"Hey!"

"Shhh," he said, making a run for the tree line.

A shot rang out, tearing bark from the first tree when Broadrick ran past it.

"Run faster!" I yelled to motivate him.

Another blast and more bark flew in front of us as Broadrick made a hard turn right and then darted to our left. We had to get the hell out of the woods.