Lisa

"Hello, Dad."

"H-hi, Lisa."

The phone line went silent.

Before I'd made this call, I'd decided on what to say to my father, but the sound of his stunned, deep voice—a voice that sounded exactly like my own—had blanked my mind.

"You there?" he asked.

"Yeah." I cleared my throat and sucked some oxygen into my lungs. "How are you?"

"Good. You?"

"Doing good."

"Your sister tells me you're in Montana."

"I am. Looks like I'm going to be moving here."

He hummed. "Never been to Montana."

"Maybe one of these days, you and Mom can come up for a visit."

"I'd like that." There was a smile in his voice. "I'd like that a lot."

"That'd be nice." My shoulders fell from my earlobes.

This phone call had become a massive obstacle in my mind. With so much pressure from my mom and sisters to reach out to Dad, I'd built it up to be something huge.

But it was just a phone call to my father, like the hundreds I'd made before.

We didn't have to talk about the past. We didn't need to hash out why I was still disappointed in him and would be for a while.

It could just be a phone call to say hello.

Hello was often monumental in and of itself.

"How about this spring?" Dad asked.

"I'll go through my calendar and shoot some weekends over that would work for us."

Dad didn't ask who us was. Matine had likely filled my parents in about Jennie too. "Sounds great."

"Okay. Good to talk to you, Dad."

"You too." His voice cracked. "Thanks for calling."

I hung up the phone and set it aside on the couch, dropping my face into my hands.

Then I breathed.

My heart was racing, and I was sweating. A two-minute phone call had drained my energy faster than the one-hour workout I'd done this morning.

Since I'd left the garage after my visit with Jennie, I'd thought a lot about what she'd had to say. I'd thought a lot about what we'd decided.

Jennie wanted to live in Montana, so we'd live in Montana.

We'd build our life together in Black Point.

This was home.

I wanted to share it with my family, and to do that, I had to let go of the resentment I held for my father.

Jennie was right about him. He wasn't an evil man. Dad's crime didn't seem all that important in the grand scheme of life. He'd made a mistake. He'd owned it. He'd suffered the consequences.

He'd weathered the media storm without a word or complaint, something he wouldn't have had to do if I hadn't been famous. He'd never once made an excuse as to why he'd taken that money.

Dad didn't deserve a life sentence. He wasn't Avery Wales.

There'd been a time when I'd wanted to sit across from Avery in prison, but that didn't matter now.

I didn't give a fuck about Avery Wales's motives. He was as dead to me as he was to Jennie. I'd made the movie, I'd uphold my obligations to promote it, and once it was done, I'd simply be grateful that it had led me to Jennie.

I was moving to Montana. Hell, I'd moved to Montana. My assistant would take care of the address changes.

Jennie's family was here, but I wanted her to be a part of mine too. She'd love my sisters—the four of them would commiserate and tease me relentlessly. My mother would adore her, and my father would cherish a witty, kind daughter-in-law.

I wouldn't deprive Jennie of those relationships, so it was time to heal the rift.

Once I'd made the decision to call Dad, it was astonishing how quickly the anger had just . . . melted away.

I stood from the couch, lighter than when I'd taken the seat, and walked to the living room window, glancing outside. Jennie's Jeep was in the driveway. I'd seen her roll in, giving me a little finger wave before she'd parked.

She'd been home for an hour and night had fallen. My stomach growled, but I didn't want to eat until I'd heard from her. I was hoping maybe if I showed up with a pizza later, they wouldn't kick me out.

Was an hour enough time for the sisters to talk? My stomach growled again. I didn't want to rush Jennie, but I also knew this wasn't going to be an easy discussion. Abandoning the window, I shot her a quick text, then flipped on the TV and found a basketball game.

Fifteen minutes passed on the game clock, and I gave in to my stomach, eating a granola bar and sending another text as I chewed. Ten minutes later, when it went unanswered, I called and got her voicemail.

Dread settled in my gut.

Something was wrong.

I didn't care if Jennie and Irene wanted to be alone, I was checking on them. I pulled on my shoes and a jacket, then opened the front door just as the screech of tires on pavement filled the air and a streak of white whipped around the corner.

Ten's truck skidded to a stop in front of Jennie's house.

Another cruiser flew down the street, parking beside him. No lights flashing. No sirens wailing. Two others stopped at the mouth of the cul-de-sac, forming a blockade.

My feet flew.

I leapt down the stairs and sprinted for Jennie's house. Blood rushed in my ears, drowning out the sound of a shout at my back, but my legs kept pumping.

"Lisa, stop!"

I didn't stop, not until a pair of arms wrapped around me and tackled me to the snow.

"Get the fuck off me," I shouted and fought, throwing elbows and writhing to be free.

"Calm down," Ten barked. The bastard pinned me with his knee in my spine.

"Get off me!" I roared.

"Just listen," he shouted in my ear, making me wince. "You can't go in that house. Get it together."

"She's in trouble." My gut was screaming that I get inside her house.

"You go in there, the risk that this goes bad skyrockets. We both know that."

The truth sobered me up, chasing away the instinct to fight. "Let me go."

"Not until you're calm."

"I'm fucking calm. Let. Me. Up."

Ten hesitated but finally stood and held out a hand.

I ignored it, jumping up and turning to Jennie's house, but my feet didn't move. I stayed rooted, long-forgotten training winning out over panic. "What's going on?"

"We got a 9-1-1 call ten minutes ago. An armed man is holding Jennie and her sister."

My stomach dropped. "Who?"

"We don't know."

"Fuck." I spat on the ground. My jaw had taken the brunt of the impact when Ten had tackled me and a tinge of blood spread across the snow.

There were eyes on us as I took in the yard. Five of Ten's officers were standing nearby, their mouths hanging open. None of them looked to be more than thirty years old.

Ten had mentioned over a beer that after Avery had been removed as chief, there'd been some older officers who hadn't liked Ten being appointed his replacement. He'd been slowly encouraging them to retire early and replacing them with younger officers.

We did not need young tonight. We needed experience.

"Go home," Ten ordered.

"No."

He blew out a frustrated breath. "I don't have fucking time for this. Go home. Stay out of the way."

I crossed my arms over my chest, planting my feet. "No."

"Lisa—"

"Chief." One of the officers caught his attention and pointed down the street.

Three men came jogging down the road, the headlights from the cruisers illuminating them from behind.

"For fuck's sake," Ten muttered. "I don't need this."

Kyungsoo, Kai and Chanyeol marched across Jennie's yard, bracketing me as they stood across from Ten.

I didn't know how they'd known something was wrong, and I didn't care. Those three would do anything for Jennie and that was all that mattered.

"What are you doing here?" Ten asked through gritted teeth. "All four of you need to disappear. This is not a civilian matter."

"I've had extensive SWAT training," I said. "I've been in more hostage recovery situations than you and your men combined. Let me help."

"No." Ten shook his head. "You're not a cop."

"Don't be an arrogant asshole," Kyungsoo said. "This isn't about who's wearing a badge."

"Get off this property, Slater." Ten glowered at Kyungsoo. "My men have more important things to do than haul your ass to jail right now. You're civilians. I can't—"

"Please." I held up a hand, my voice dropping to let the fear racing through my heart show. "Please. She's my life. If you ever cared about her at all, let me help. We'll stay out of your way. We'll follow your lead. But use me. Use my experience. Please."

Ten's shoulders fell. "We don't even know what we're dealing with. We need to assess the situation. All I have right now is an eleven-second 9-1-1 call."

"Can I listen to it?" I asked.

Ten's jaw ticked. "Fine. But just you."

"That's bullshit, Lee," Kai said. "She's one of ours. You want information? The best way of getting it is to let us help."

Ten's molars grated together, loud enough for us all to hear. He glared, then shot his gaze past us to the house. "This is wasting time we don't have."

"Agreed." I unplanted my legs and walked toward his truck. "Let's start with the call."

Ten grumbled something but his footsteps crunched in the snow as he followed. Kyungsoo, Kai and Chanyeol were on his heels.

"Set up a perimeter around the house but stay back." Ten pointed to his officers as he walked. "No one goes in. No one gets out. All units are headed here. I want no one coming or going in a three-block radius. Understood?"

Heads nodded as the officers sprang into action.

Ten took the lead, passing me to reach his driver's side door first. He picked up his radio and called dispatch, requesting the emergency call be replayed.

9-1-1, what's your emergency?

A female's voice whispered through the radio. He's got a gun. Help us.

The operator asked some questions, but none went answered. In the background, there was a muffled noise and a woman's cry, then the unmistakable sound of fist hitting flesh before the line went dead.

My heart plummeted.

Ten shut off the radio. "That's it. That's all Jennie said. We traced it here from her phone number."

"That's not Jennie," I said. "That's Irene."

I knew the sound of Jennie's voice and even terrified, it wouldn't be as raspy as Irene's.

"Her sister?" Kai asked. "When did she come here? How did we not know this?"

"She told me today," Kyungsoo said.

I waved it off. "It's not important. Who would come after Jennie with a gun?"

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol shared a look, then Kyungsoo lowered his voice. "Taehyung?"

"Her ex?" Ten asked.

"Fuck." I rubbed my jaw. It was almost always someone close to the victim. "Makes sense."

"Any sign of Warrior trouble?" Kyungsoo shot a look at Chanyeol and Kai.

"I haven't heard anything," Kai said quietly.

Chanyeol shook his head. "Me neither."

Given the Jennie-Irene-Taehyung triangle, it could not be a coincidence that this was happening three days after Irene showed up in Black Point.

Unless . . .

Could the he inside be their father? Could he have come looking for both his daughters and Irene had led him right to Jennie's door?

But my gut . . . "My gut says it's the ex." It was almost always a current or former lover in these situations. And in this case, Taehyung counted double. "Irene and Taehyung were together once. Maybe he got wind that she was here. Maybe he brought a gun because the last time he visited Jennie, she slammed the door in his face."

"What?" Kyungsoo asked. "He was here? When?"

"This summer, before I left town. Jen didn't let him talk much so I don't know what he wanted. She made it clear not to come back and as far as I know, he hasn't."

"You didn't tell us," Kai clipped.

"Because the guy showed up, Jennie ripped him up one side and down the other, and then he was gone. It was a nonissue. Let's discuss that later." I aimed my stare at Ten. "What are you thinking?"

"We need to make contact," Ten said. "Find out if it's him and what he wants."

"Your men don't have tactical gear. You have no snipers. You can't just waltz up to the door. That's a good way to get yourself shot."

"No shit," he deadpanned.

"Chief?" One of his officers approached. He wasn't wearing a stocking cap and the tips of his ears were red. Hostage situations could take hours to resolve and by that time, he'd have frostbite if he didn't find a hat. "We've got the perimeter set up. Should we evacuate neighbors?"

"No, but one of you needs to go door to door and tell everyone to stay inside. Give me a second." Ten held up his finger, then turned to us. "I need to get my team in place and secure the neighborhood, then we can talk through a plan. Stay away from that house or I'll put you in cuffs."

His parting comment was aimed my way.

As Ten turned to address his officer, I walked away from the cruiser, the guys following. I stopped in the center of my yard, where I could get a clear look at Jennie's house.

Every light was off. If it was Taehyung inside, he'd shut them off and probably had Jennie and Irene huddled together. There was faint movement by the living room window, like a breeze had picked up the curtain.

That motherfucker was inside, watching.

Ten waved two other officers over, huddling with them in the middle of the street, and pointed to houses around the block.

He was doing his job. He was following protocol. Ten had been in some tight situations before when he'd been a cop in Bozeman, and though I trusted his skills, his team was too green for this.

There was no way I was letting some rookie with a twitchy trigger finger walk inside that house and put Jennie in danger.

"Like hell he's keeping me out of that house."

Three pairs of eyes turned my way.

"Us," Kyungsoo corrected. "Like hell he's keeping us out of that house."

"No." I huffed. "You're mechanics."

"Mechanics with more hours in shit situations than any officer here besides Ten. Mechanics who know how to fire a gun and take a life when it means protecting those we love." There was no shaking in Kyungsoo's voice. There was no question that he'd killed before. His eyes were hard and calculating.

If Jennie's life was on the line, he'd do what needed to be done, no hesitation.

Given the nervous energy pulsing off Ten's team, I didn't trust them to do the same.

"I don't suppose one of you has a spare gun handy."

Kai lifted up the hem of his coat, pulled out a Glock 22—the same handgun I'd carried as a cop—and handed it to me.

I checked the magazine—loaded—then tucked it into the waistband of my jeans, the weight familiar and comforting. "Ten can call the shots. But if he does anything that I think will put Jennie in danger, I'm going inside."

Kyungsoo nodded. "We'll be right behind you."

I looked at the house again and my stomach pitched.

I'd seen this situation too many times. This was one we'd trained for often because domestic abuse was appallingly common. Every move, every decision, was a wild card. Most of the time, it ended well. Most of the time, the victim walked away unharmed and the assailant was taken into custody alive.

But I'd seen three hostage situations end badly.

Two of them had ended with the shooter killing his captives before taking his own life. One, the victim had already been dead. Her husband had killed her an hour before the cops had shown up, but the bastard hadn't been paying enough attention to realize she'd bled out from the stab wound in her abdomen.

It was hard to remember the good cases, the successful outcomes, when the woman on the other side of the locked door was mine.

I shoved the fear down deep and took a calming breath to slow my racing heart.

She was my life.

Like hell I wasn't going in to save it.