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

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

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 STARED AT the old money houses. Each one was surrounded by a tall fence, some topped off with wrought iron spikes. Gaining access to the property where Luke was holing up would be their first problem. After that he was fairly certain it came down to available bullets and bodies to put them in.Brett broke the silence. "Johann Nodorf, up here on the left, that's the house where the cell signals are transmitting. All three of them."Paxton eyed the collection of guys from Henchmen R Us hanging out front of the Nodorf house. Getting in there wasn't going to be easy. The moment they made their move, if Luke was smart, he'd grab for Coco."Okay, how we doing this?" Silas glanced at the side of Paxton's head. "We aren't just going to roll up to the fence, get out and see what happens."Paxton wanted a perch and his rifle. He'd pick off the whole lot of them. But that was asking a lot."If it was me?" Vito shifted, leaning into Paxton's line of sight in the rearview mirror. "I'd t

PAXTON WAS THE first through the wall. He had his rifle in hand, a ball of coldness in his chest. His finger twitched to pull the trigger, but he wouldn't take that first shot. It mattered. He'd do what he had to so that Coco was saved, but he wouldn't fire first."The girl. The girl, where is she?" Silas bellowed, charging into the lush back yard of the Nodorf home.The man on the porch rolled to his back and lifted a gun."Do not shoot," Paxton roared.The man's arm flinched, and the muzzle lit up with the first shot.Paxton squeezed the trigger."Pax! Pax, the door!" Silas yelled.Paxton glanced at the door where a metal barrier was lowering into place. He could just barely hear the motors humming.A window to his left shattered, blowing glass and bullets.Paxton rolled forward, hiding behind a short stone wall surrounding the grill area."Go, go, go," Brett called out as he reached them. "I'll cover you."Paxton didn't hesitate. He shot forward, his gaze on the narrowing