Page 41 of Deliverance

“Okay,” Alexander said, attempting to get us back on track. “Where were we?”

I heard him, but I couldn’t move from the window as I watched the police car pull out of the parking lot. My heart dropped when it turned left and not right.

“Evelyn,” Izzy’s voice was careful. “It’s just a misunderstanding.”

“I know what he said.” The pit in my stomach grew bigger. My gut had never let me down before, and it was screaming at me that something was wrong. I pulled out my phone and texted Detective Patel.

Is there a warrant out for a Dominic Hayes? Impersonating a federal agent?

The response came back in under a minute.

Nothing in the system. Why?

The bottom dropped out of my stomach.

“Liam.” My voice came out steady even though nothing else felt that way. “Track his phone. Now.”

“On it.” Liam said.

I turned back to the room. My guys were staring at me, their faces concerned. They didn’t question me, just waited for my next order.

“He’s not heading towards the precinct.”

Fuck.

“Where is he going?” I asked, already moving towards the door. Chairs scraped against the floor as my guys rose.

“North. Outside the city.” Liam said. “And moving fast.”

“Let’s go.” The words weren’t necessary.

We moved as a group toward the elevator. My phone pinged with a link from Liam showing Dominic’s location. I kept my eyes on the screen as the dot on the map moved farther and farther from where it should have been.

Kingfisher had people everywhere. I knew that. But somehow, I had let myself believe that knowing it was enough protection against it. And now Dominic was paying the price.

The elevator doors opened, and we piled into two SUVs. I slid into the passenger seat, and Adrian took the driver’s seat. Sebastian slid in behind me. We peeled out of the SDS lot, Marcus and Alexander hot on our heels with the other SUV.

I gave Adrian directions as I watched the dot move on the screen. I tried to breathe through the cold, specific fear that had settled in my chest. If something happened to him because he was working with us, with me…

I pressed my fingers against my knee and focused on the dot.

He had to be okay. He had to be, because I wasn’t ready to examine what it meant that the thought of him not being okay felt like this. Like something load-bearing inside of me had been knocked loose.

I had told Adrian I needed time to think, to process the possibility of being with Dominic. But I was done processing. Done telling myself it was complicated or that I already had enough boyfriends or that wanting more was greedy.

When we got him back, I was all in.

Hold on, Dominic. I’m coming.

CHAPTER 18

DOMINIC

Ididn’t notice anything was wrong until the car turned left, not right. I hadn’t been in the city long, but the first thing I had done when arriving with the FIA was to memorize where the local police stations were. And we weren’t heading towards any of them.

Both officers were in standard navy blues, duty belts loaded with the usual equipment, and badges that had caught the lobby light as Roy handed them off to me. The police car was a standard white interceptor idling at the curb with the police department’s logo on the door. I hadn’t looked twice because there was no reason to. But now, as we were headed the wrong way, adrenaline flooded through my veins. Maybe this was all just a misunderstanding, but if not, I was fucked. They hadn’t cuffed me, but both were armed, and I wasn’t.

“Which precinct are we headed to?” I asked lightly.