I step back before I do something that would ruin everything Marco is building.
Wolf appears beside me. “I’ve got him.”
“Good,” I say. “Because if he says that name again in my hearing, I’m going to break every bone he has left.”
I go back upstairs.
Laney is sitting on the bed, Emmy in her arms, Nora with her.
Laney looks at me like she’s trying to decide if I’m real.
I kneel in front of her.
“Look at me,” I say.
She does.
“You’re safe. She’s safe. That’s over.”
Her chin trembles. “They said… they said they wanted the baby.”
“I know.”
Rage tries to crawl back up my spine.
I crush it.
Not here.
Not in front of her.
I press my forehead to hers.
“I will burn this world down before I let anyone touch you again.”
She believes me.
That’s the part that almost breaks me.
I stand and turn to Wolf.
“Lock it down,” I say. “Full perimeter. No movement without my say.”
He nods. “Already in motion.”
I pull my phone out and call Marco.
“They made a grab,” I say. “They named Rourke Hale.”
There’s a pause.
Then: “Good. That gives me what I need.”
“It gives you a trail,” I say. “It gives me a target.”
“Don’t cross my lines,” he warns, “we don’t want to blow this.”
“I won’t,” I say. “But I will walk right up to them.”
