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“What’s the point of all this?” Nicco asked. “Ralston has his father’s church, and it seems like the congregation is growing. Certainly, people like Bryce Iverson seem happy enough to throw a ton of money his way. Why pollute his home well with drugs?”

“I actually think I can answer that one…” Jinx said, his tone one of distaste. “He’s trying to expand the church. He’s been buying up land and buying out large churches throughout Montana and beyond.”

“At what point does it stop being a church?” Ash asked. “And start being…”

“A cult?” Hanna interrupted. “Whatever that point is, we’ve passed it.”

“We need to focus,” Nicco said. “It explains why he’s raising money, though.”

“Actually, I think it explains more than that,” Hanna replied. “If Montana is struggling with an epidemic, people feel lost and hopeless. He can come in as their savior, especially since he can stem the source when it suits him.”

“Fucking devious,” Ash bit out. “But it does make sense. We do need to prove it, though.”

“And we need to get Grace back,” Hanna said. “She is our number one priority.”

“Okay, Iverson has it on his calendar to leave town tonight,” Jinx explained. “He’ll be in Texas for two days, so I think we strike while the iron is hot.”

“That’s it, then,” Ash said. “We’re breaking into his home. Tonight.”

Hanna considered that for a long moment. Her father had been a tried-and-true cop to the very end, instilling her with a sense of righteousness and justice that fueled Hanna’s own passion to protect and serve. She knew some cops made their own way in the world, but she had never thought she would be one of them.

Then again, she had never thought she would have a corrupt cop in her department. It was the reason she had called in The Princes’ help in the first place. She had no doubt that Iverson had kidnapped Grace and was holding her somewhere until he got the information he needed out of her, and if Hanna went through all the traditional channels, she would be tipping him off before she even realized it.

Breaking into his office at the gala had pushed the line of what she felt comfortable doing. Breaking into his home with the hope that they would find Grace felt like something else entirely.

But Hanna couldn’t bring herself to care. She had seen Grace’s hospital records and the dark smudges under her thick makeup. She had seen the safe house where Grace had been taken from, the wound Frankie had suffered trying to protect her. There were no rules when it came to men like Bryce Iverson, and the most important thing was getting Grace back home. Alive.

“You don’t have to do this, Han,” Ash said quietly. “Nic and I can go. Xander and Gray, too. Keep your nose clean.”

Except how could she uphold a system that continued to protect men like Iverson, leaving Grace as collateral damage?

“No way.” She shook her head. “She’s going to need a friendly face when we find her. She’ll be terrified if the cavalry shows up and she doesn’t recognize any of you.”

“She has a point,” Nicco murmured, his voice low, like he was trying to assuage some of Ash’s agitation. They complemented each other that way, Ash the protector, the loyal companion, the one who would do anything to keep his captain safe. But Nicco protected Ash too, in subtler, more nuanced ways, kept him from taking things too far, from letting him give into the white-hot anger that could have consumed him long ago. She felt as if she and Nicco were somehow on the same team, the team dedicated to protecting Ash from himself.

“Okay, you two go over everything Gray and Xander have found,” Hanna said, standing from the stool and walking over to the sink. Outside the window, the sun was turning from soft cream into a burning blaze of yellow, the color of campfires in the mountains, and a wash of nostalgia crashed over her.

Rose should be here.

Not for this. She wouldn’t have wanted Rose to know a damned thing about what she was doing, about what laws she was breaking. But how many mornings had Rose thrown frozen waffles in the toaster and sipped at coffee with a half-dozen sugars while she helped Hanna get ready for school? How many mornings just like that one had Rose walked her to the bus or helped her with last-minute homework, or braided her hair just the way Hanna liked it?

And how few mornings, in the grand scheme of all things, had Rose gotten to have?

Hanna dumped the dredges of her coffee down the sink and picked up the phone. “Jinx, I’m going to need some of your skills for this next part. I’m still trying to figure out exactly who in my department is sharing information they shouldn’t be sharing…”

* * * *

The day passed quickly, and all too soon, the small group of them was gathered at Hanna’s dining room table, Jinx, Xander, and Gray over comms.

“Once again, I must strongly protest to being involved in this.” An unfamiliar voice came over the line.

“Oh, come on, Doc,” Jinx cajoled. “You love us.”

Doc, whoever he was, let out a small huff. “I love being a doctor, Jinx. I don’t mind helping your crew on occasion when you really need it. But I don’t want to be caught up on charges for not reporting what is obviously a premediated B&E.”

“I promise not to charge them,” Hanna said drolly. Everything felt a little funny, because they were about to break into the house of one of the most powerful men in town, which truly was the opposite of everything she had promised to do, and no part of Hanna felt even an iota bad about it.

“See, Doc, Sheriff’s on our side,” Jinx said. “Hanna, meet Doc Royal.”