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They’re all on duty tonight. My friends.

And what if it’s a resident who comes in? What if Mrs. Marooney comes looking for me?

“Smart.” He reaches up and grabs a tissue from the box beside Mr. Prescott’s bed. “Clean yourself up.” He throws it at me, so I wipe my chin as I’m yanked to my feet.

I can’t even feel the pain of my hair being pulled because my entire focus is on Mr. Prescott and what is likely his final moments.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper.

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” He offers me a simple smile, then turns back toward the other man. “You will not get away with this.”

“I already have.” He turns toward me. “Now we have to deal with you, Dear Dahlia,” he says with a sneer. “I have to say, what luck⁠—”

Fire blazes in my veins. I slam my heel down on top of José’s foot, then throw my elbow back into his nose. Bone crunches, and he mutters a string of words my grandmother would have washed his mouth out for.

But I don’t wait to hear the rest of them because I’m already sprinting toward the door.

I rip it open and rush out into the hall, but before I can scream, something hard slams into the back of my head. White-hot pain shoots through my skull.

Limbs weak, I fall to the ground—and everything goes black.

Chapter 2

Ryker

Rain pelts my windshield, making it nearly impossible to see the yellow dotted line in the center of the road. Around me, it’s pitch black, and the wind has decided to fight me for control over the direction of my truck.

The idea of a frozen meal eaten at my tiny table is sounding better and better by the minute. Although making it back in time to eat at Mrs. Knox’s house with the rest of my team would have been a whole lot better.

I take a deep breath and roll my neck, muscles still aching from the last mission. I ended up going through double-paned glass when the man who was stalking my client decided to try to grab her from a crowded lobby.

Of course, he looked a whole lot worse when I was done with him, and he will now be serving quite a few years in jail for his trouble. Doesn’t mean I didn’t take my own licks, though. And the closer I get to forty, the more I feel them.

My cell rings, so I press the tiny phone emblem on my steering wheel. “Granger.”

“Hey, Tank, you back in town yet?” Weston asks.

Weston Hayes has been a close friend of mine ever since we were assigned to the same Navy SEAL team. Add to that the time we spent working off books for a secret government agency, and he’s become an integral part of my life, along with the other members of our team, Zane Knox, Sawyer Maddox, and Garrison Holt.

“Landed about an hour ago. Trying to make it home now, but the storm isn’t letting up.” Even as I say it, a gust of wind nearly rips the steering wheel out of my hands.

“It’s nasty out there,” he agrees. “Just a precursor for what’s coming tomorrow, though, if the news is even close in their predictions.”

It’s one of the reasons I came home when I did rather than spending another day or so wrapping up paperwork on site. Stormwatch Landing, South Carolina, is predicted to get slammed with a category two hurricane.

Quite a few people left just in case, but I’d wanted to be here to help those who might need it. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve spent a few days driving around and helping to board up windows or clean up debris.

“So I hear,” I reply.

In the background, a baby coos, and I smile.

“How is my girl?” I ask. Weston’s daughter, Violet, named after his late sister, is six months old now, and an absolute ray of sunshine.

Since having children of my own is just not in the cards, getting the opportunity to be around her, Garrison’s two kids, Grace and Thomas, and Sawyer’s newborn son are the closest I’ll ever get.

And we’re about to add two more babies to that once the head of our team, Zane Knox, and his wife, Tessa, have their twins in a few months.

One big happy family.