“I know. It sucks.”

Tory laughed through her tears. “Oh God, sweetie. It really does.”

“Reese’s father was here?” Bri asked.

“Yes, he came himself to tell me what happened. He said he’d call me as soon as anything…as soon as… God, I don’t know what’s supposed to happen next.”

“Did he leave a number? Do you think he’d talk to me?”

Tory shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe he gave something to Randy. God, I was so rattled I didn’t think…”

“You’re not supposed to have to.” Bri kissed Tory’s cheek and stood. “I’m going to call my dad. He needs to know about Reese, and I bet he can find out what’s going on.”

Tory smiled, touched by the faith Bri had in those she loved. Warmed by it. “You go ahead and do that, sweetie. Thank you.”

“I’m just doing what Reese would tell me to do, if she were here.”

“She wouldn’t have to tell you,” Tory said. “You already know.”

Bri blushed. “I’m going to call Caroline, too.”

Tory nodded, understanding the need to touch the ones you loved in the midst of life’s pain.

Half a block down the street from Rica’s gallery, Carter sat in her parked vehicle with the engine running, wondering what was so important that Rica would have gone directly there from the clinic instead of home. Every few seconds she checked her mirrors and scanned the streets on both sides looking for anyone else who was also watching Rica. So far she hadn’t seen anyone, but she expected to at any moment. She’d been trying to puzzle out exactly what Enzo’s next move would be, but putting herself in the mind of a psychopath was difficult despite all the practice she’d had playing them on the job. She wasn’t as certain as Rica that Enzo would seek retribution, because the last thing a man who’d been embarrassed by a woman wanted to do was call attention to it. She doubted that more than a handful of people even knew about the incident, if that many. In all likelihood, Enzo had crawled off to lick his wounds, figuratively speaking. Still, she didn’t believe that Enzo would give up in his quest for Rica, especially not now.

“So all right, so maybe it wasn’t the smartest move to challenge him,” Carter muttered, hating to agree with Allen even obliquely. “It’s not like I had a choice.”

No man wanted to be bested in a competition for a woman’s affections, and Carter had known very few men in her life who could tolerate losing to a woman. Enzo was not going to let that affront go, and she didn’t intend to give him the opportunity to vent his bruised ego on Rica. Unfortunately, she hadn’t quite figured out how she was going to watch Rica twenty-four hours a day, especially now that Rica wanted nothing to do with her.

If you come anywhere near me again, I’ll do the job myself.

When Rica had said those words, Carter had no doubt that she had meant them. Her face had been pale, but cold and hard as marble.

“You fucked this one up royally.” Carter rubbed her face and stretched her cramped legs beneath the dashboard. It wasn’t Rica’s anger that continued to gnaw at her, but the memory of those few seconds of shocked hurt that she had glimpsed in Rica’s eyes before Rica had locked her feelings down. She’d proven to Rica that she was just like everyone else in her life…someone who used her, someone who lied to her, someone who pretended to care about her, because of who her father was. That’s what Rica believed. Ironically, that’s what Carter should have done, but she’d made a fatal error. She’d caught a glimpse of the woman behind the mask, and she’d wanted her.

Carter tensed as the door to Rica’s gallery opened. Rica came out, locked the door, and walked briskly to her car, which she had left with the hazard lights blinking in the loading zone out front. Grateful for any activity to take her mind off the hollow ache in the center of her chest and the sick feeling she got every time she remembered Rica telling her to get out, Carter eased into traffic five cars behind Rica. She followed her as Rica drove directly home, slowing when Rica turned onto her street and driving past until she could make a U-turn in a motel parking lot a few blocks away. When she turned into Rica’s street and passed her house, Rica’s car was nowhere to be seen.

Probably already in the garage.

She made a thorough survey of the street and saw no one. The few cars parked in front of houses appeared to be empty. She stopped three houses away and settled in to watch.

At 9:30 p.m., Tory opened the door to Nelson Parker. She put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Nelson said gruffly, bestowing a quick hug. He followed Tory into the living room and nodded in the direction of the others congregated there.

Pia was in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. Kate and Jean were upstairs with the baby. They had arrived at suppertime, insisting upon fixing a dinner that Tory had not been able to eat. KT, who had flown over from Boston as soon as her shift had ended at eight p.m, was outside on the deck. Bri and Caroline were on the couch. Bri was no longer in uniform but wore a skintight black T-shirt and jeans with motorcycle boots and sat splayed in one corner with Caroline curled up in her arms. They looked like young lion cubs, ready to fight or make love with equal fervor.

“Is there any news?” Tory asked, trying not to sound as anxious as she felt.

“Well,” Nelson said, turning his cap in his hands, “I got through to General Conlon. It took me a couple of hours. You’d think I was trying to talk to the president.”

Tory took one step forward and faltered, knowing from the look on Nelson’s face there was no good news.

“He wouldn’t tell me anything at first, but I finally got him to come across with a couple of things.”

“Let me get Kate and Jean,” Tory said.

“We’re right here,” Jean said as they came down the stairs. “Reggie’s asleep.”

Jean settled into one of the overstuffed chairs and Kate perched on the arm. KT came to stand in the doorway between the deck and the large living room. Her eyes drifted across the heads of those seated to where Pia stood in the kitchen. Pia smiled softly and tilted her head in Tory’s direction. KT nodded, walked to Tory, and took her hand.

“Why don’t you sit down, Vic.”

“I don’t want to si…” Tory stopped, hearing the anger at the same time as the panic edged a little closer to the surface. She squeezed KT’s hand. “Thanks.”

KT and Tory sat on the sofa, and KT kept Tory’s hand in hers. Nelson perched on a stool he pulled over from the breakfast bar. He looked at his watch.

“This is what I know. Reese has been missing for just about twenty-four hours.”

Tory unconsciously drew KT’s hand into her lap and clasped it with both of hers. Twenty-four hours. If Reese was wounded, twenty-four hours could make the difference between life and death. If she’d been captured, God, what could they do to her in that amount of time?

“Don’t start thinking about maybes, Vic,” KT murmured. “Let’s just deal with the facts.”

“Keep telling me that,” Tory said.

“No problem.”

“Do they know where she is?” Tory asked.

Nelson shrugged. “If they do, he wasn’t going to say. He did say that it was standard procedure to prepare an extraction team. They’re going to go get her…all of them…as soon as they get a fix on them. That message was clear.”

“Are they going to tell us when?”

“I don’t think so,” Nelson said. “That’s SOP, too.”

“So we wait.” Tory wondered how long she could stand it.

Bri unwrapped herself from Caroline and stood abruptly. “I’m going out for some air.”

“Don’t take that motorcycle of yours,” Nelson said automatically. “Not when your head’s not on right.”

“My head’s just fine.” Bri glared.

Caroline grasped Bri’s hand and gave Nelson a small smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll go with her. We’ll be back in a little while.”

Nelson watched them walk out. “Damn kid.”

“She’ll be all right, Nelson,” Tory said, knowing that he had never really gotten over almost losing her. “She’s been a rock, and now she just needs the chance to get a handle on being scared. Caroline will help her with that.”

“Good thing. I don’t seem to be able to.”

KT clapped him on the shoulder and caught Pia’s eye. “Some of us take longer than others to get the message.”

Nelson grinned and even Tory smiled. Then they all found seats and settled down quietly to wait.

Just before one a.m., the last light in Rica’s house went out and Carter decided she’d turned in for the night. There’d been no activity on the upscale residential street since shortly after midnight, when a car full of partygoers had tumbled out and weaved their raucous way into one of the nearby houses. If anyone was watching Rica’s house besides her, they weren’t doing it from a vehicle. Street surveillance in this part of town made no sense, because if Rica were to leave in her car, she’d be gone before anyone could make their way to a vehicle without being obvious about it. Carter decided Rica was safe until morning, started her car, and headed home.

Bone tired and emotionally worn out, she pulled her SUV into the alley next to her building. The building next door, a converted garage that was now the office for one of the whale watch concessions, was dark. Still in the clothes she’d worn to the party the night before, she was hungry, she smelled, and she needed a shower. She just made it to the bottom of the stairs leading up to her second-floor apartment when a blow from behind caught her in the kidney and sent her sprawling onto the stairs. As she fell, she yanked the automatic from her waistband and twisted, trying to land on her back so she could get a shot off at whoever had hit her. She landed hard on her shoulder just as a foot connected with her wrist. Her hand went numb and she dropped her gun. Two dark shapes loomed above her.