LUKE STARED AT the offering fate had brought him. Maybe his luck was turning around?He'd come here to see about making a penny and found the other De Jong.She'd changed for the better since their high school days. Gone was the scrawny girl and in her place was a shapely woman with shoulders that would carry the world.Back then, he'd first noticed Coco in a science class. It was impossible not to notice her with the way the teachers always called on her to give the correct answers, and she never failed. With his grades slipping, he'd sought her out, trading snacks for tutoring. He'd liked her, but at that early age he'd let the social opinion of her cloud his advances.Except for their last year. He'd given in and asked her out. But like so many other parents, hers had intervened, telling him to stay away because his last name was Nodorf.And his parents thought he could escape that? That if he worked hard enough, studied enough he'd be able to be his own man?That was the lie.
COCO STARED OUT at the private pool outside Lacey's honeymoon villa. Guilt ate at Coco for begging off the spa treatment. She couldn't relax and the thought of someone leaning into her personal space made her want to crawl under a table and never come out."Here." Lacey pushed a cold bottle of water at her."I'm really sorry," Coco mumbled."Stop." Lacey grasped her by both shoulders and turned Coco to face her. "Do not apologize, got it?"Coco stared miserably at her best friend."Talk to me. Tell me what's going on." Lacey nudged Coco toward the sofa. "Lunch will be here any minute."She retreated, sinking onto the cushions and curling her legs under her.Where did she start?"How can I be mad at people like Ebrahim for poaching when what happened to them was equally bad?" Coco asked."Two wrongs don't make a right. Before you say anything else, yes, I realize this is a complicated situation. We've been over that. The darts were there. That means Ebrahim is probably also beh
MIA HELD TIGHT to Patrick and James, her heart pounding against her ribs.This was not what they'd discussed. This was not the plan.The hours ticked by. The shed grew hotter, the boy's skin was sticky with sweat. They'd stopped asking her questions, which was a relief. It wasn't like she could explain what the plan had been to them without incriminating herself.The less she said the better. She knew she was going down. Whatever Luke was doing, someone had to take the fall, and she still owed him. Hell, she deserved to go down for what she'd done to Cane.She bent her head and kissed the top of James' head. He was the same age as her oldest, and it was easy to envision herself sitting in the dark with her own babies trapped in this nightmare."Someone's coming," Patrick whispered."Stand. Come on." Mia pushed to her feet, helping both boys up.She took their hands, holding on tight, and stared at the line of light under the door. First one shadow bisected the line then anothe
PAXTON TOOK CANE'S phone from him, the call end screen going dark. He turned toward Zain tapping furiously at his laptop. It was a minor miracle they'd all been at the grill grabbing lunch at the same time."Did you get anything?" Paxton asked."A lot." Zain's tone didn't mean anything good."The vote happened this morning." Cane's voice shook.Paxton glanced back at the man. He could see the resemblance to Coco in the cheek bones, nose and mouth.Cane stared at Paxton from where he sat at the conference table that was now their war room."What do you mean?" Coco asked. She sat next to her brother, her hand on his arm, proving that she wasn't quite done with him yet."I mean..." He turned to look at her. "So many of the things we need to do get stalled or warped because of special interest groups. Lobbyists are polluting the process and we can't get things done that are in the best interest of the everyday man and woman. The reason I've been traveling back and forth between here
EBRAHIM PULLED HIS baseball cap low on his face.This was too easy.The security around Mlilo was focused outward, not inward. All he'd had to do was hop on a delivery truck, keep his head down and ride it on in. Once inside, so long as he kept his hat and sunglasses in place, no one recognized him. There were enough research teams working alongside each other that it was possible to stroll the grounds and be completely anonymous.Where was the bitch?She'd had the audacity to come to his home after what she'd done to him?His family were practically forced out of their home from being harassed by the cops. Ebrahim couldn't hardly show his face anywhere. If it wasn't for Bekker offering him a job if he jumped ship, Ebrahim didn't know where he'd be. He owed that man a hell of a lot.But this?This Ebrahim was doing for himself.The harassment would never end until he made it stop.Today was that day.Coco wasn't the only person who had it out for him, but she was the one who
THE ATMOSPHERE IN the van was tense.Paxton tipped his head back, his gut knotted up, and wished he could call Coco for some wisdom. Right now he just didn't see a good way out of this."Fifteen minutes out," Zain announced.As soon as they'd loaded up from Mlilo and left the park both of the cell signals moved. For almost an hour the signals were in transit, working their way west into Soweto.Each time Zain updated them the lower Paxton's gut sank.The signals had come to a stop inside the open-air market, in the heart of the Bekker crew.Paxton had no problem going after Luke Nodorf. The guy was scum of the worst kind. Paxton knew Bekker's guys were criminals. Most of them weren't anything close to what could be called good people. But then Paxton recalled seeing Cameron there, the pangolin thieving kid backed into a corner. How many of the people who worked for Bekker were like that kid? How many didn't have a choice?There were a lot of things Paxton could say about his dad
COCO LEANED AGAINST the front passenger seat, her arms tied to the headrest with a collection of zip ties that were cutting into her skin.Ebrahim was quiet now. He'd spent well over half an hour yelling at her as he drove the stolen car toward the city.If she'd just gone to check on the pangolins by herself like she'd wanted to, maybe this wouldn't have happened. In the split second when she'd first seen Ebrahim, she hadn't thought about herself. No, she'd first thought about Lacey. How she'd confided that maybe she wasn't as anti-baby as she'd been. That maybe her and Shane would start a family. Then there was Cane. He was her twin and regardless of what he'd done to her, he did good things. People believed in him.Coco could not risk their lives.There'd been no choice for her except to go with Ebrahim, for their sake.From the man's ranting, she'd gathered she was the source of all his life's problems. From why his family had been forced to move to why his plans hadn't worked
PAXTON SPRINTED PAST the perimeter, past his friends.Coco had been taken by the very man who'd already tried-and failed-to kill her. That time Paxton had been there to save her. This time he hadn't been there for her."Pax? Pax!" Silas bellowed.Paxton ignored him and kept going, past the cop cars.He caught sight of Zain standing behind a police van speaking with two officers. A short distance away the SUV Zain had ridden in idled, the windows down, one of the fresh meat guys at the bumper watching the crowd.That was Paxton's ride.He changed his course and in three strides he was at the driver's side door. He pulled it open and climbed inside, pausing only to unclip his rifle from his vest and slid it into the passenger seat.Silas ran straight into the hood of the SUV, staring at Paxton.He leaned out the window and yelled, "Move."Silas shook his head and Paxton didn't have to hear him to know he was cursing a blue streak, probably in Spanish. Silas always did go bilingu