I dial Zach’s number, holding the phone to my ear as it rings.Once, twice.
“Daphne?”Zach’s voice comes through, alert despite the early hour.“Everything okay at the shelter?”
“Zach, it’s Xavier,” I say, keeping my voice casual with effort.“I’m with Daphne at the shelter.There’s a bit of a situation with her pregnancy.Could you come down?It’s pretty urgent.”
A pause.Zach knows me well enough to sense something’s off in my tone.“What kind of situation?”
I choose my words carefully, aware of Riggs’s father watching me intently.“She’s having some complications.Blood pressure issues.I could really use your help here.”The medical terminology is deliberately wrong, a red flag Zach will recognize immediately.I’ve never asked for his help with a medical situation before.
“X,” Zach says slowly, and I can hear him moving, the jingle of keys.“Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I reply, perhaps too quickly.“Just hurry.Room twelve.Come alone, don’t want to overwhelm her with too many people.”
Another pause, longer this time.“Room twelve.Alone.Got it.I’ll be there in ten.”
The call ends, and I hand the phone to Riggs’s father, praying Zach understood my hidden message.The fact that I mentioned blood pressure rather than nausea.The request for him to come alone, something I’d never ask given the security concerns of the past few weeks.
“Good boy,” Riggs’s father says, pocketing Daphne’s phone.“Now, we wait.”He gestures toward a chair in the corner.“Sit.And don’t try anything heroic.I’d hate to splatter the girl’s brains all over this nice, clean room.”
I sit, mind racing through scenarios, none of them good.Zach is walking into a trap, but he’s not stupid.He must have picked up on my signals.The question is whether he’ll bring backup, and whether they can get here in time.
Daphne’s eyes meet mine across the room, silent communication passing between us.She’s terrified but holding it together, one hand resting protectively over her stomach.I give her the smallest nod of reassurance, hoping it’s not a lie.
Now we wait, the silence in the room broken only by the sound of our breathing and the occasional creak as Riggs’s father shifts his weight.Ten minutes.That’s how long until Zach arrives.
Ten minutes to figure out how to save all of our lives.
* * *
Zach
The phone barely touches my ear before I’m barking orders, adrenaline flooding my system like a drug.Something’s wrong.Xavier’s in trouble at the shelter.
I’m already moving, grabbing my gun from the nightstand, checking the clip.My fingers fly across the phone screen, group messaging everyone I trust with Xavier’s life.
“Grey, Dad, Mom, Demon, Torch, Kyle.Emergency at the women’s shelter.Xavier’s been compromised.Riggs’s family.Full tactical, five minutes.”
I don’t wait for confirmation before dialing Vinny directly.“Vin, you back from Mexico?”
“Just rolled in last night,” he answers, voice instantly alert despite the early hour.“What’s happening?”
“Shelter’s been hit.Xavier’s there.Need you, Trey, and Liam at the north entrance.Sniper positions if you can get them.”
“On it.Fifteen minutes.”
“Make it ten,” I snap, already heading for the garage, keys jingling between my fingers.
My phone vibrates in my hand as I’m halfway out the door.I glance down, expecting Grey or one of the others confirming they’re en route.Instead, it’s Trenton’s name on my screen.Torch’s son.I hesitate for half a second before answering.
“Kind of in the middle of something, Trent,” I say, wedging the phone between my ear and shoulder as I continue toward my bike.
“Yeah, I figured.”His voice comes through, steady and focused.“Matthew and I just rolled back into town.Heard chatter at the gas station about some trouble brewing with Riggs’s people.”
Matthew, Jackson and Jean’s kid.Both of them Navy SEALs, both of them home at the exact right moment.The universe seems to be throwing me a bone for once.
“Where are you?”I demand, throwing my leg over my bike.
“Three minutes from your place,” Trenton answers.“Got our gear with us.Matt thought we might need it.”
