He was going crazy thinking of her out there alone. If she had taken off thinking she didn’t belong here anymore—
His mind went darker than he liked and faster than he could stop it. He forced the thoughts back and locked them down.
He swung toward the tree line, scouring the area for movement and saw none. The wind teased the branches and he heard the whisper of leaves falling.
He turned to look at the road for the twentieth time in as many minutes.
Then headlights broke the darkness.
His muscles locked, every sense snapping to attention as the lights of a truck rolled down the dirt road.
Not his truck, he could tell by the look of the headlights. His pulse kicked up and he took a step into the shadows to watch first. The set security would handle a visitor. His job was to guard Miss Collins.
The truck came closer. And kept coming.
He rushed forward as he realized it wasn’t planning to stop in the parking lot. Then the production lights illuminated the windshield and the people inside.
Everything inside him went cold.
Zee sat in the passenger seat, her eyes wide and fear carved into her features. Across her mouth was a black strip.
Tape.
He jerked his gaze to the driver and the ice in his veins turned hot and lethal.
His vision narrowed to her and the man beside her.
Lucian Pike.
A man Church had led into battle, who he trusted with his life. They’d eaten together, trained together. Bled in the same dirt.
They’d been brothers…once.
His fingers flexed into fists at his sides and he was already calculating distance, speed, angle, timing.
Driver’s side. Lucian would be armed like a SEAL—but so was he.
He could break the window and open the door, drag her out before Lucian had time to react.
For half a heartbeat, the world seemed to stop. Sound silenced. Nothing moved.
Church’s jaw locked until his teeth ached.
The truck kept coming, and two of the security team started forward, thinking their size and strength would be enough to stop him, but Church knew better.
He sliced a look at Zee’s face again. Her eyes were even wider, and her terror hit him like a punch.
He’d sworn never to let anyone touch her, and he’d failed.
But at least she was here, he told himself. Here where he could protect her, not gone forever—kidnapped, or worse.
His gut bottomed out as he met her stare through the glass.
Help me.
He may never hear his late friend’s voice, but Zee’s came through loud and clear.
He let that connection steady him as he tracked every detail. Lucian’s posture, the control in the set of his shoulders.
