EJ wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as physical s.p.a.ce allowed.

"I have to be in on the raid-I want to see with my own eyes that he's caught and unable to get at you. But you'll be in the best of hands, completely under heavy guard. We think we have a decent idea of where Maloso is-Jennie made some contacts and has run some new maps." He looked at his watch. "They are supposed to send copies over here soon."

EJ inhaled the freshly washed scent of her hair, the well-loved muskiness of her naked body next to his, and swore on his own grave that he wouldn't let anyone lay one finger on her, ever.

"I can't bear the thought of you getting hurt, EJ. I can't stand to even think of it."

"Same back atcha. Which is why the best place for you is the safe house, until we have Maloso behind bars."

She turned her face upwards to his, lifting her hand to his cheek.

"I mean it. I couldn't stand it if you got hurt protecting me."

"It's my job, sweetheart. But I don't plan on getting hurt. With any luck, we can put this to bed with a minimum of bloodshed."

She burrowed against him. He said rea.s.suringly, "We're going to get through this, Charlotte. Things are going to be okay, and you have to believe that."

"I do, EJ."

She yawned, nestling against him, and feeling his heartbeat steady with his breathing as he fell asleep. She heard a strange noise, and perked up, realizing it was EJ's laptop. Sliding softly out of bed, she walked to the machine, and watched the bar across the center measuring the progress of the files being sent-this had to be the maps from Jennie.

She turned, opening her mouth to wake him, and then changed her mind, staring at the computer until it was finished. Her plan was not so much a plan as a spontaneous reaction, but this was her only chance to do things her way, and try to help her brother.

Reaching for the computer, she opened the downloaded files, and studied them closely-she didn't know the area, but she wrote down the information, and held her breath, looking back toward where EJ was still sleeping soundly.

Slipping the clothes she'd laid out over her head, she then grabbed her purse. She had to get by the guard. She'd try to claim female problems or something similar, that she needed a trip to the drugstore. Men were typically so uncomfortable with those things, and with any luck Officer Thomas was no exception.

Opening the door, she peered outside and stopped short, gasping but unable to scream as a hand clamped hard over her mouth. Officer Thomas wasn't a problem-and he wasn't any help, either. He was unconscious...or dead. Shot, he slumped against the wall at a sick angle, blood covering one side of his chest, and Charlotte started to fight against her captor, biting and kicking to free herself and yell for EJ, who was just yards away, but then something hard hit her and everything became dark.

12.

"THE HOUSE IS ABOUT twenty miles outside of the city, in a wooded area next to the Dismal Swamp. He's probably got her there. And maybe the brother, too," Ian said. twenty miles outside of the city, in a wooded area next to the Dismal Swamp. He's probably got her there. And maybe the brother, too," Ian said.

"If he hurts her, I'll kill him myself," EJ swore.

"We'll get her, EJ."

Ian drove the point home as EJ sat at the desk, his mind sifting through every detail of the plan for the thousandth time.

"I never would have pinned Thomas as the leak," Ian said.

"I wish they hadn't killed him-I would have liked my shot at him."

"You've got to get your head on straight, my friend. You won't be any help to her like this. How the h.e.l.l did she end up outside that room anyway?" Ian asked.

EJ shrugged, castigating himself endlessly for falling asleep. He hadn't heard anything, but had awakened hours later to find the body in the hall and Charlotte gone. If anything happened to her, it would be his fault for letting his guard down.

"I would have heard if someone knocked. They had to have lured her outside somehow," EJ said.

"Or she was trying to get out-maybe she is on the inside of this thing," Ian said pointedly.

EJ looked at Ian in surprise, and nearly lost it. "That's crossing the line, Ian. She's not in on this. I'd bet my life on it."

"Well, that's pretty much exactly what you're doing-and several other lives as well."

"If she was trying to get out of that room, it was probably because she wanted to save that brother of hers again. I know she's been upset that we haven't been concentrating on that."

"You think she was going to try to go after him herself?" Ian asked.

"Who the h.e.l.l knows? It wouldn't have been the first time."

Ian slanted him a look. "This is going to be a tough situation, so stay cool."

"Oh, I'm downright chilly."

"I was thinking the opposite." Ian pinned him with a look that saw to the heart of the matter. "You're in love with her."

"I don't know if I would go that far. I care about her."

Ian laughed, shaking his head. "I seem to recall, not so long ago, our positions were reversed, and you were making me face facts about Sage. We had a few tense moments back then, and that was mostly because I was being an a.s.s. But I've been where you are, bud. In a tense situation and not wanting to see the woman you...care about...in danger. It can push you into making bad decisions."

EJ remembered all too well when their team had just been forming, and Ian and Sage were struggling through their own troubles. Ian had called in EJ and Sarah to help, then changed their well-orchestrated plan to take off on his own.

Ian's rash decision to take on the situation alone, to spare Sage any more conflict, had ended up putting her in even more danger. Sage had been shot, though thankfully the wound hadn't been fatal, but Ian hadn't let himself off the hook for that for a long time. If ever.

EJ simply couldn't let himself so much as think of anything happening to Charlotte. "I hear you loud and clear, Ian. I'll stick to the plan. But if I find her hurt, or worse-" he could barely say the word, "-all bets are off."

"EJ..."

EJ met and held his friend's eyes, his voice raw. "She might be pregnant, Ian. She might be carrying my baby."

Nothing he could have said would have shocked his friend more, and what should have been a happy moment between them just raised the sense of urgency.

"You know that?"

"No, it's just a possibility. We, uh, got carried away. Once."

"Unlike you, my friend, to get carried away. But I think maybe it's about time."

"You can get all misty-eyed on me later, Ian. Time's short."

Ian looked outside the gla.s.s window where Sarah stood dressed in black night-gear from head to toe with a group of S.W.A.T. guys and federal agents. Everyone wanted in on this job; Maloso would be a big prize, but Ian was more worried about EJ, and now, about Charlotte. Thinking of Sage at home, very pregnant with their daughters, stiffened his resolve to end this soon, and well.

"Then let's go get her."

CHARLOTTE WISHED for the one millionth time that she never stepped foot outside that hotel room, as she sat tied and bound to a chair in the middle of the garage of what seemed to be a standard issue development house. Nothing stood out that she could use to identify where she was, and she'd been unconscious until just a short while ago. for the one millionth time that she never stepped foot outside that hotel room, as she sat tied and bound to a chair in the middle of the garage of what seemed to be a standard issue development house. Nothing stood out that she could use to identify where she was, and she'd been unconscious until just a short while ago.

Her head hurt, her heart hurt, and when she moved her jaw, something very unpleasant popped and shot pain up to her eye. So she kept her mouth shut.

In the end, all she could really be grateful for was that if the men who had grabbed her in the hallway had stormed into their room, they could have killed EJ before taking her. It was her only serious comfort to know that hadn't happened. And she knew, in her heart, that EJ wouldn't stop looking until he found her.

She hoped that was sooner than later.

There was the sound of a key in a door, and some men walked into the garage. They were well-dressed, casual but expensive, as if they were going out to play golf at an expensive resort. One man in particular watched her with sharp black eyes.

"So you are Charley, my little psychic."

She met his stare. "You must be Lou, my little mob guy."

The men laughed and Lou nodded. "You have guts, I'll give you that."

"Where's my brother?"

"You mean the other lying son of a b.i.t.c.h who stole from me? Don't worry, he's still around. I wanted to have you two thieves in the same place, so I could watch you both die. Family is important, after all."

Charlotte spit on the floor. "You are the son of a b.i.t.c.h, Lou. And you kill people, you steal from people, you sell drugs..."

"Whoa! I have never sold drugs. Ask my buddies here-Giacco, have I ever sold drugs?"

A big man by the door shook his head in all seriousness. "No way, Lou. Dirty things, drugs. Dirty money."

Lou nodded. "That's right. Technology, and working the stocks, that's more my gig."

Charlotte tipped her chin up. "You want to hurt me, hurt my brother. All he did was take some money, and we could give it back. You don't need to hurt us."

Lou stared at her for a moment, and she was sure she could see that he was empty inside-there was nothing there but cold emptiness.

"You don't tell me my business, lady. You screw me over, I screw you over harder. That's how it goes. That's business business."

She tried a different tack. "You don't have to do it that way, Lou. You end up just hurting yourself more in the end."

"Really? And how's that?"

"You build up bad karma-it will catch up to you, you know," she said.

"What goes around comes around is what you're saying?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess you could see me making things even with you and your brother as the same thing, right?"

"Good one, Lou." Giacco nodded heavily.

"Shut up, Giacco. What the h.e.l.l do you know?"

Lou turned back to Charlotte, giving her an evil smile.

"Anyway, you want to see your brother? Fine. We can arrange that."

Charlotte didn't say a word, but felt like she would burst from the chair, worried and elated all at the same time that either they meant to take her wherever Ronny was-which could be a bad thing-or that the police were wrong and Ronny was not dead already, at all.

Three seconds later she breathed a gusty sigh of mixed horror and relief when two men dragged Ronny through the garage door, his face bruised almost beyond recognition, and he couldn't step on one leg. His hands were bound, and they shoved him roughly to the floor at her feet, his face hitting the painted cement with a sickening thud.

"Oh, G.o.d. Ronny!"

Charlotte strained against her bonds, wanting to lift her brother from the floor, but she was tied too tightly. Ronny groaned, lifting his face up, and glared at Maloso.

"I told you, she had nothing to do with it. It was my game."

"Yeah, and I was born yesterday." Lou nodded to Giacco and the big man walked over, giving Ronny a solid kick in the ribs, and Charlotte screamed, begging them to stop.

Lou walked up to her, so close she could smell the overdose of aftershave he wore, and she almost gagged as he pinched her chin hard between his fingers and lifted her face to his.

"You worried, lady? You should be."

She shook her face loose of his grasp, feeling desperate. "What do you want from us? Tell me, just don't hurt him anymore!"

Lou made clucking sounds. "Oh, sorry. No go. You want to play in the big leagues, you play by our rules. But don't worry-" he dragged a finger down the line of her chin "-I don't plan on hitting your brother any more right now. Because I know that the best way to hurt him now, is to hurt you."

He drew his hand back and Charlotte braced herself for the pain but it didn't come. Someone was calling Lou's name, staying the swing of his powerful arm.

"Boss, there's a problem. You need to come in here."

"This can't wait? You see I'm busy here?"

"It's the New Jersey deal. Things are going bad. They want you on the phone now."

"Jesus, when it rains it pours! All right!"

He looked down in disgust at Charlotte and Ronny, and Charlotte let her breath go, grateful beyond words that the New Jersey deal was going bad.

"Looks like you two can have a little quality time together. But don't worry, this won't take long."

The men all filed into the house, glaring at Charlotte and Ronny in turn, and then the door closed behind them and they were alone.

"I told you to get out of town, Charlotte-how'd they get to you?"

"Long story. Ronny, how could you do this? How could you have gotten involved in something like this? And dragged me into it as well!"