He swallowed hard, emotion glittering in his eyes. ‘I messed you up. Your pretty dress is all sweaty now.’ He ran his hands up her legs, under the hem of her dress and over her bare skin to close on her butt. ‘I can help you take it off.’

Disappointment swirled with frustration as she mentally calculated how much time had passed. ‘As tempting as that sounds, we have to take a rain check. We have somewhere you need to be. Uncle Trace called. He found Mila and Erica. And they will only talk to you.’

His eyes widened in stunned surprise. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘Because when I came down here, you were in no frame of mind to be what those women needed.’ She kissed him hard and fast. ‘Are you now?’

‘Yes. Thank you.’

She pushed to her feet, almost whimpering when he removed his hands from her butt. Later, she promised herself. When this is over, we’ll have all the time we want. She stepped back, extended her hand and pulled him up. ‘To the shower with you. Hurry.’ She kissed his chest, right above his heart. ‘You’re all sweaty and you smell like a gym.’

He threaded his fingers through hers. ‘And you smell like me, so you need to shower too. I’ll wash your hair again, and put some conditioner in this time to get those tangles out.’

‘How am I supposed to resist an offer like that?’ she asked, stopping at the bottom of the stairs to scoop Zat into her arms, but Marcus beat her to it, cradling the dog much like he’d cradled little Malaya yesterday. And how am I supposed to resist you?

She couldn’t. But now that she’d learned his darkest secret, one that proved he was even more of the man she’d hoped for, she knew that she didn’t have to resist him at all.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Wednesday 5 August, 8.20 A.M.

Marcus ended his call and handed his phone to Scarlett to plug into the aging Audi’s old-fashioned cigarette lighter. He worried about the old car’s rattling engine, but knew better than to suggest Scarlett trade it in for a more reliable model. She fixed things. People too. And thank God for that. ‘No change on Phillip,’ he said with a sigh.

‘Tabby Anders is trying to wake up, according to Annabelle Church’s grandson, but she’s still not coherent.’ Scarlett had called Gabriel Benitez to tell him that they were en route to the missing Bautista women. ‘Mr Benitez said that he’s already called his immigration lawyer friend and they’re ready to meet with the family whenever we get them together in a safe place.’

‘I’ve got a place.’ Marcus had already reserved the penthouse suite at one of the centrally located hotels downtown. He hadn’t done it for the luxury, but for the security. Otherwise Isenberg would want to put the women in protective custody. After being held in slavery for three years, his gut told him the Bautistas would try to run if the police put them in any kind of custody, protective or not.

If they decided to go elsewhere, that would be their right, of course, but he was prepared in the event the Bautista women were willing to come back with them. Hopefully they’d have information about whoever had taken that bastard Anders from his home the day before. Because that person, whoever he was, could be the trafficker they were searching for. Trafficker and murderer and God only knew what else.

‘Everything else okay?’ Scarlett asked. ‘Your conversation with Stone sounded heated.’

‘We were arguing about our mother again. I want to push her to go to rehab, and—’

‘Stone doesn’t want her forced into anything,’ she finished sadly.

‘Exactly.’ He tried to smile. ‘I think he’s really pissed off that he’s back to babysitting Jill. We don’t know what to do about her. I’d ask Cal to take over when he comes in later, but he’s going to be busy doing his job and Phillip’s. And Lisette’s.’ He sighed. ‘And mine too, until this shooter’s dealt with.’

‘I take it that Cal runs the paper when you’re not there?’ Scarlett asked.

‘Cal runs the paper even when I am there. He’s forgotten more about newspapers than I’ll ever learn. He’s helped me in so many ways since my grandfather died, both with the day-to-day business of running the paper and in utilizing it to its fullest potential.’

‘Delivering justice,’ she said.

He winced. ‘Delivering justice along with newspapers? Pun not intended, huh.’

She smiled at him. ‘No, totally intended.’ She tipped her head, studying him, her smile disappearing. ‘Will you continue using the paper to its fullest potential when all of this is over?’

Yes was on the tip of his tongue, but he pulled it back to reconsider. ‘Will it bother you? Will you be able to look the other way, knowing we’re bending the rules?’

‘That wasn’t what I meant. I was thinking more about the risks. Last night you all agreed that what happened to Phillip was an acceptable risk. I’m wondering if you’ll think that in the light of day, especially if Phillip has any long-term physical issues . . . or dies.’

Again he opened his mouth to say yes, but again he paused to reconsider. ‘I don’t know about the others. I imagine they’ll still be gung-ho. And I’m still fully committed to what we’re doing. But I suppose I’m not making that decision for myself anymore. Yesterday morning I only had me to worry about. Now I have you. I don’t want you having to sit in a waiting room wondering if I’m going to wake up. So the risk will have to be evaluated by the situation.’

The smile she gave him made his heart stutter in his chest. ‘Thank you. I’m careful on the job, but I’ll be doubly so from now on as well.’ She worked out a few more tangles, then began to braid her hair. ‘You know, you never did tell me about the gun you’re so attached to.’

The one he’d hidden in her gun safe. He carried one of hers now.

She hesitated when he didn’t answer. ‘Is it okay to ask?’

‘You can ask me anything you want.’ He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. ‘I guess it’s easier to talk about now. The day after my father’s body was found, the doorbell rang. Gayle was with Stone and Mom was sedated again, so I opened the door and there he was – the scary guy. I thought, “Shit, he was lying after all”, and started thinking about where I could run.’

‘You’re kidding? The enforcer came back?’

‘He did. He told me not to worry, that he wasn’t there to hurt us. Then he said, “It’s done.” I told him I’d heard. I told him I felt really guilty, that I shouldn’t have told him where to find my father, but that I was glad my mother was safe. Then I asked him why he took him away from the cabin to the hotel and he actually looked embarrassed. Told me I didn’t need to know stuff like that. That I was too young. Which, you know, kind of blew my mind. I’d helped him kill my father. I was plenty old enough.’

‘You did not kill your father,’ Scarlett said patiently.

‘Yeah, well, the man said the same thing. Then he told me that my father used that hotel to meet “lady friends”.’

She winced. ‘Oh. So because your father had a history of going there to meet hookers, the police would buy the robbery setup.’

‘He told me this like he was giving me a gift. Looking back, I realize that the truth about my father’s role in our kidnapping would have whipped the media into a frenzy, and that would have hurt Stone, Mom and me, so it was for the best. There was a minor scandal and heads wagged, but it blew over quickly, mostly because my mother’s father stepped in and spread the rumor that she’d already filed for divorce before the kidnapping. He made sure that my mother was described as a divorcee in the Ledger articles, rather than a widow. Ledger articles were quoted in other papers and soon everyone believed my mother had been divorced. The power of the press,’ he added.

‘So your mother didn’t look like the pathetic cheated-on wife.’