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"You make it easy."

Soren closed his eyes for just a moment. No one had ever trusted him this completely. He intended to spend the rest of his life proving she was right too.

His phone vibrated again, and Luca’s name popped up on the screen. Soren answered immediately. "What is it?"

The reply was only four words, but they made his blood run cold.

“We found Rachel's car.”

Soren's grip tightened around Lily instinctively.

"What is it?" she whispered.

He looked toward the bedroom window.

"It's abandoned,” Luca continued. "And there was blood inside."

He felt like his entire world was crashing down around him. He needed to move Lily now if he wanted to keep her safe. The question was—how long would she allow him to hide her away from the danger that was coming for her?

Soren convinced Lily to stay in his room and paint. She agreed, and he headed back to his command center to meet with Luca and his team. He stared at the crime scene photographs spread across the conference table in the command center. Rachel Monroe's abandoned sedan sat half-hidden behind an empty warehouse on the east side of the city. The driver's door hung open, one headlight was shattered, and dark stains covered the steering wheel and driver's seat. He was certain that it was blood. It wasn’t enough to confirm she was dead, but enough to know she'd been injured. Soren had always preferred certainty, but there was none to be found tonight.

Luca dropped another folder onto the table. "Lab just called."

Soren looked up.

"They matched the blood."

"Is it Rachel’s?" Soren asked.

Luca nodded. "It comes from a single source."

Soren rubbed a hand across his jaw. "So she made it to her car."

"And drove,” Luca added. "Until she couldn't."

His eyes drifted back to the photographs. There were no drag marks, no shell casings, and no body. Rachel had left that vehicle under her own power. The question was, where did she go?

One of the guards hurried into the room. "Boss." Soren looked up. "We recovered traffic cameras."

"Show me,” Soren ordered. The lights dimmed as footage filled the largest monitor. Rachel's sedan raced through an intersection, forty-three minutes after Collins' execution. Another camera picked up her sedan as it crossed the river. And a third showed the vehicle swerve sharply before disappearing from view.

Soren folded his arms. "Keep going."

"There isn't any more,” the guard said.

"Why not?” Soren asked.

"The next intersection camera was disabled."

Soren's eyes narrowed. "Disabled?"

"Someone shot it,” the guard said. The room fell silent. Someone hadn't wanted to be seen, or they hadn't wanted Rachel to be seen. Soren studied the map displayed beneath the video feeds. The missing camera created a blind spot nearly four miles wide, which was convenient.

"They planned this,” Soren said.

Luca nodded. "They knew exactly where surveillance coverage ended."

Soren hated organized enemies. Impulsive men were easy to predict, but prepared men required patience.