Katy laughed harder and kicked out a chair for me to sit in across from her. "I domesticated him."

I pulled out my phone and snapped a shot of NB in his lounger with the big floppy hat on top of his head. He popped his tongue out and slobbered it at me, making the hat tip to one side.

"Broadrick will love this," I said, sending the picture to him in text. "Thanks for keeping him safe for me. I don't know how he's getting out or why he always comes here."

It was starting to hurt my feelings a little.

"No problem," Katy said and gave him a scratch behind his ears after removing the hat. "He kept me company."

"The perils of being a well-kept billionaire's girlfriend," I said and scooped up NB.

She clucked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. "Ha-ha. I'm trying to behave so Pierce doesn't question me when I sneak out tomorrow to help the women's auxiliary protest at the latest apartment building construction. You should come. It's going to be a good time."

She might date the billionaire, but that didn't stop her from still messing with him.

I held NB and started back toward our place. "Sorry. I've got to finish working on this case at the high school."

Or clean, unpack, feed the dog, think about my cases, and the hundred other things on my list.

"I already made the signs." Katy waved goodbye. "If you change your mind, we're leaving at nine a.m. tomorrow. Or if you need help with the case, let me know what I can do."

I smiled back at her before letting myself out of the gate. "Thanks, Katy. I'll keep you posted."

"You are such a bad boy. What am I going to do with you?" I scolded NB when we were halfway across the road. I didn't like to yell at him in public.

He licked my elbow. So weird.

Something rang as I deposited him in the living room two minutes later. "Stay here."

What the hell was that noise and where was it coming from?

I spun in a circle, listening for the sound. It was me.

Oh. Ohhh.

I grabbed my phone from my back pocket as NB searched the kitchen for the dinner I hadn't had time to prepare yet.

Gina's name flashed on the screen, and I swiped the green bar to answer her call.

"Do I need to bring a shovel?" I asked rather than a standard hello.

Silence. "Vonnie?" Gina questioned.

"That's me."

"Why do I need a shovel?" she asked, but her voice waved a bit, putting me on edge.

I laughed to feel her out. "I assumed someone is dead."

No one besides my family called me.

Gina sniffled. No, she more sucked in a sniffle as if she did it hard enough that she wouldn't cry. "Only my relationship."

"Gina, are you hurt? Is everything okay?" I asked, even though I knew it wasn't. Something told me it was going to be long a long evening, so I walked into the kitchen and poured NB his bowl of food.

A gut-wrenching sob cut through the phone. "No, it's not okay."

"Tell me what happened." I placed the bowl on the floor and NB crashed into me to get to it. He shoved his face in and food pinged against the floor. You'd think I starved him.

"I just need to get out of here. Can you help me?"

Did I want to help Gina escape Dom's clutches?

Yes.

I also wanted to find out what happened. Just yesterday, she was all smiles and pink cheeks.

"Whoa. What happened?" I left NB to his dinner and headed to the bedroom to change clothes. I'd been in the black funeral pants all day and needed something loose and comfy for a reverse kidnapping.

Gina sucked in another sob. "Oh, nothing except me realizing Dominick will never love or trust me. I'm just a memory he needs to keep safe, so no one else has me."

Her voice shook with heartbreak. I wanted to give her a hug, and I wasn't a huggy person.

"You can't know that for sure."

"Yes, I can," she said with a sniffle as I pulled on my favorite pair of jeans. "He'll never want a family with me."

I cringed. Motorcycle leaders weren't really known for their family values. Still, I wanted to believe.

"Maybe Dom is different." My nail caught on the button as I did the jeans up, and I stuck it in my mouth to soothe the ache.

She wasted no time answering. "No, he's not."

"Did you tell him about the baby?" I asked in a whisper, even though NB didn't speak English and we were alone.

"No," Gina said and whispered, too. "He can't know. I decided to leave and raise the baby on my own. He won't care."

How did she know he didn't care if she didn't tell him? Also, something told me he'd definitely care.

"He'll find you," I warned. They always did. It didn't mean I wouldn't help her try, but she deserved to know the odds were not on her side.

She gave an irritated snort. "No, he won't. I told you. He doesn't care. He told me so."

He told her so?

"That asshole." Sure, so he was a big, tough biker dude. That didn't mean he had the right to go around breaking hearts. "What do you need?"

"A friend," she answered almost instantly.

"You've got that. What else?" I traded my black blouse for a T-shirt with Darth Vader on it. Above his head it said, "Who's the daddy?" Hmmm. Possibly not my best choice, but it was too late now.

"A ride out of town?" she asked hopefully.

This wasn't good. So, so, so not good. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

I blew out a breath. Only a stupid person kidnapped the pregnant "non" girlfriend of The Impaler. Broadrick would never trust me alone again. He'd have Tony moving in if he got word of this. Still, I couldn't say no. "Okay, I'll be there."

If Gina needed me, I'd help her. One BFF didn't leave another in a bad spot.

We hung up with a promise she'd see me in less than ten minutes, and I found NB still munching away on his dinner.

"Stay here," I said to him and pointed my finger for extra emphasis.

Since I had no desire to have an entire biker gang chasing after me, I met Gina at our normal spot a few blocks away from the compound. She promised that Dom and his crew were busy and wouldn't miss her for hours. I only hoped it gave us enough time to get far enough out of town.

And a dark, anxiety-filled something told me that once Dom found out I'd been the one to help her escape, I'd have to keep on driving and never return to Pelican Bay.

Gina approached the car wearing an oversized black hoodie with her hair in a ponytail high on her head.

I unlocked the door and moved the seat for her to throw in a medium-sized duffle. It wasn't even bulging at the seams. Where were all her shoes?

"Okay, let's go," she said once she had her seat belt buckled.

"That's all?"

She nodded. "Everything else Dom bought me. I don't want it."

Made sense... except. "That hoodie smells like him." Also, the big motorcycle logo on the front hinted at its original owner.

Gina glanced down at it and shrugged. "I wanted one thing to remember him by."

I bit my lips. She sounded so forlorn. Not at all like a jilted lover running for her life. Broadrick was so going to kill me when he heard about this. If Dominick didn't get to me first.

"Are you sure this is what you want? It feels like a bad idea to me," I said as I pulled away from the curb.

"It has to be this way," she said.

The sun turned a bright flame of orange as it began its first descent to evening. In another hour, we'd lose the sunlight completely, which would make hiding from Dom easier.

"Where do you want me to take you?" I asked, turning on my headlights just to be safe.

She sighed. "I can't go home. He'll look there and it's not a good place for me."

"They'll expect you to grab a plane." That's the first place I'd look. "Or a train."

She nodded. "I'm thinking of a bus to Chicago."

"Sounds good. The closest station is in Clearwater, but they'll look there. I'll drive toward Portland and we'll pick a random one on the way." If we made it that far.

"So that's the plan," Gina said, watching out the window as we drove out of town.

I kept my eye on the rearview mirror as we drove past the police station and the road that led to Dom's compound. "That's the plan."

We passed the wooden pelican sign, and I turned left rather than continuing on to Clearwater like I normally did on this road.

A few minutes passed with no one else on the road and then, from behind, a black SUV barreled closer and closer.

"Oh no," I said, keeping my eye on the approaching vehicle. Could it be a coincidence? We'd barely made it ten minutes. Maybe they had a SEAL emergency in the next town over and were rushing toward it.

It was possible.

Ants floated on water and that was far-fetched, too.

The SUV flashed its lights.

Damn it. Not a coincidence.

"We've got company."

"Who?" Gina asked, turning around.

"It's the wannabe fuzz."

A motorcycle engine zoomed in the distance, but the SUV would reach us first.