It was probably for the best. There was already so much tension between them, and after his conversation with Terron and Cannon, it would've been worse. The b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were being tight-lipped with their plans for the party, only sharing that 'Ms. Harris's safety needs were being seen to.' When Jackson had pushed for more, he and Tucker had been informed they would be filled in later. That wasn't good enough.

Jackson stifled a yawn and resisted the urge to lay back and catch a nap. He'd stayed up all night studying the Hartwell estate, attempting to memorize every possible route the traffickers might use to bring girls in and out of the house. He had no doubt there would be live entertainment, and he intended to plant himself at the most probable location they would utilize to whisk Alex away-for certainly that was the intention.

He pulled his phone from its holder and punched Tucker's number in, frustrated that they were eight hours from show time and still in the dark. Hopefully, Tucker's DC informant would have something useful. For two thousand bucks he'd better. If the authorities weren't willing to play nice, they'd go around them.

The phone was on its second ring when the black Escalade with blacked out windows turned in the park entrance. Jackson shoved his cell in his pocket and rushed to his feet when the vehicle slowed as it approached the bend in the long drive close to the swings. On high alert, Jackson walked closer to Alex and Livy, waiting for the SUV to pull into a parking spot and for a mother or father to take their kids from the backseat, but the vehicle continued along at a crawl with its windows up, making it impossible to identify who was inside.

Jackson hurried to the bright blue swing and brought it to a stop. "We need to go." He scooped Olivia up despite her protests.

"Jack, what are you doing?"

"Let's go." He wrapped his arm around Alex's waist and tightened his grip on Olivia as she pushed at his chest, wild with tears.

"What is it?" Alex looked around.

He continued to study the Escalade, memorizing the plate number as it circled the loop and started toward the exit. "It's time to get home."

Her eyes darted about. "Did they find me?"

"I don't know. I can't be sure, so we're leaving."

She nodded as her hand came up to clutch at the hip of his jeans.

"I want to fly in my plane, Daddy," Livy screamed and kicked. "I want to play with Kylee."

"Later, Liv. We have to leave." He waited for the SUV to turn onto the main road before he walked them the rest of the way to the car. "Go ahead and get in."

"I'll help with Livy. She's hard to manage when she's out of sorts."

"I've got it," his voice sharpened, and he winced. "Sorry. Get in. I want to get out of here."

Alex nodded again and said nothing as she opened her door and took her seat.

"No, Daddy, no!" Olivia fought and squirmed as he struggled to secure the belt around her booster seat. " I want to play." She bowed her chest out so he couldn't lock the latch.

"Olivia, that's enough."

His terse tone made his little girl freeze. He sent the belt home when Olivia sat back, her lip trembling on a fresh wave of tears. G.o.dd.a.m.n, her sad eyes were breaking his heart. This was the first time he'd had to pull the 'authoritative dad' card. He would have to make it up to her when he was certain they were safe. Closing her door, he studied the area again.

The coast was clear.

Jackson got in on his side and started the car. They drove through the parking lot while Livy sucked in trembling breaths. He scanned the main road, keeping an eye out for the vehicle, and turned in the opposite direction of his parents' residence.

"Why are we going this way?"

"I want to be sure no one's following us before I head home. The last thing I want to do is lead them straight to the house." He checked the rearview mirror, the side mirrors, forever watching. The Escalade was nowhere in sight.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I just needed one more night," Alex said quietly.

He raised his brow in her direction.

"Tonight's it. I mean it. I want Livy safe. I want everyone safe." Her voice trembled, and a tear trailed down her cheek. "I don't know what else to do. She's my sister," she choked out and turned to the window.

Jackson glanced from Alex's hands clenched tight in her lap to Olivia's red-rimmed eyes staring at him form the backseat. The two people he adored most were in tears. Sighing, he took a back road to his parent's neighborhood, turning down several streets to make sure he was tail-free before finally they arrived home. He pressed the b.u.t.ton on the remote, opening the garage, and pulled in to the empty spot. As soon as the car came to a stop, Alex got out and hurried to Olivia. Before Jackson could close the garage door and circle around, Alex had their daughter clutched in her arms and was heading for the kitchen entrance.

"Wait."

Alex stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"f.u.c.king-A." Leaning against the hood of the rental, Jackson scrubbed his hands over his face. "Now what?" He'd never been in this situation before. He wasn't in the habit of upsetting little girls and making women cry. h.e.l.l, he usually made people laugh, and that was the way he preferred it. Weary to the bone, he pulled his phone from his pocket, went into the kitchen, and watched out the window, waiting for an Escalade to drive by. He dialed Tucker again.

"Campbell."

"It's Matthews."

"I have a couple of stops to make, and I'll be on my way back."

"Are you sure you weren't followed last night?"

"As sure as I can be. Why?"

"I took Olivia and Alex to the park. An Escalade pulled in about half an hour after we got there-black body with blacked out windows. It was impossible to tell who was driving. The vehicle never stopped-just cased and kept going. I got a plate number. I'll have Ethan run it and see what he comes up with."

"Let me know what you get."

"I will." He rubbed his throbbing temple. "Tonight's it."

The line stayed silent.

He sighed. "Alex said she's done after tonight. I think she means it. This little incident scared the s.h.i.t out of her. We're going back to LA tomorrow."

"Terron and Canon will be p.i.s.sed. Alex is their new way in."

"f.u.c.k 'em. Tonight's all they get. Even that's too much as far as I'm concerned." He opened the cabinet and found the bottle of Tylenol his mother kept on hand. He shook two capsules into his palm and swallowed them dry. "Did your informant have anything useful?" The pills stuck in his throat. He coughed and snapped on the tap, gulping down water.

"Could be. There's a house about five miles from Hartwell's. It's smaller, a bit rundown for the area. There's been some speculation that it's a stash house. The cops ran a raid on the residence a couple years back after neighbors complained about the sketchy characters coming and going, but they didn't find anything. I'll do a drive by and get my own impressions. We'll map it out when I get back."

"Sounds good." His phone beeped, alerting him to another call. "I've got another call coming in."

"I'll be back in a couple hours."

"See you then." Jackson clicked to the waiting call. "Matthews."

"Mr. Matthews, it's Agent Terron."

"What's the plan for tonight?"

"We're still hammering out all of the logistics, but-"

"Not good enough. You give me something right now, or Alex will be a no show."

"Ms. Harris has agreed to-"

"Don't push me on this, Terron. If you want Alex, you'll give me something her security team can work with. I want to know how you're going to monitor her. There's no way you're sending her in with a wire strapped to her chest." Jackson climbed the stairs and walked into his father's office.

"We have our boys in the lab playing with a couple pieces of jewelry. She'll be wired and wearing a GPS. Ms. Harris won't be taking a step we don't know about."

As he listened, Jackson opened his laptop and shot Ethan an e-mail with the Escalade's license number. "And what's the procedure if the s.h.i.t hits the fan?"

"We'll give her a phrase."

"So, you're telling me you're going to raid the place if things start to go bad for Alex?" He leaned back in the chair. "Won't you be blowing your whole case?"

"We're working on a tiered plan based on the level of threat to Ms. Harris. If she wants out, we'll get her out."

"And where do Tucker and I fall into the mix?"

"You don't."

He shot up straight. "Like h.e.l.l we don't. We've signed paperwork that makes us legally and ethically responsible for our client's well-being."

"And my authority trumps your legal contracts, Mr. Matthews. This is a federal investigation. It's obvious you're personally involved in this case. I won't have you s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g this sting up."

He pulled the phone away, hardly able to believe what he was hearing, then set it against his ear again. "Are you serious? You wouldn't even have a case without the man hours Ethan Cooke Security has put into it."

"Nevertheless, we won't have you distracting Ms. Harris or using your emotional pull to sway her in any certain direction."

"You mean like convincing her to sc.r.a.p the whole thing for her safety."

"Mr. Matthews," Terron warned.

"So, I'll back off." Like h.e.l.l he would. "Tucker's in or Alex is out."

"That's not your decision."

"I just made it my decision. I want something faxed over in writing in the next five minutes that says Tucker Campbell is in on this operation, or I can promise you Alex and our daughter will be on the next flight back to LA. I better hear my fax line beep, or we're done." He hung up and faced the window. "d.a.m.n it." He should've known something was up. Canon and Terron had been their new best friends when he and Tucker gave them several leads to follow-funny how things changed.

"'Emotional pull to sway her in any certain direction,'" he muttered with a clenched jaw. "What the h.e.l.l?" So, he was out. Tucker was in, of that he had no doubt. The authorities weren't about to blow their chance at taking down the Big Kahuna.

Jackson smiled when the fax line alerted him to an incoming transmission. He picked up the paper and scanned the doc.u.mentation. His smile faded and he shook his head as he read one of the contingencies. Mr. Jackson Matthews is to be at least 1,000 feet from the perimeter of the surveillance activity at all times. "You f.u.c.ker," he muttered.

He reread the same line several times, liking the idea more and more. He would be free to do a little surveillance of his own. As long as he and Tucker wore their earpieces, he would be kept fully apprised of Alex's situation. "Didn't mention anything about that. Nice try, b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

Jackson set the sheet on the desk and spotted Livy's stuffed frog in the corner of the couch. He sighed, knowing his next step was to make things right with his daughter-and hopefully Alex, too. He walked down the hall and knocked on their door. No one invited him in despite the murmurs he heard on the other side. He twisted the k.n.o.b and peeked in. Alex and Livy sat on the bed, snuggled together with a book, both with blotchy cheeks and watery eyes as they looked up at him. He swallowed, suddenly nervous. "Can I come in?"

"Daddy made me cry," Livy said as her lip wobbled.

"Liv." He walked in and shut the door, unsure of what to do. "I'm sorry I made you cry. I didn't mean to."

"You made me so sad, Daddy." She wiped at her eyes.

He sat on the edge of the bed. "I hate that I made you cry, Liv. I never want to make you cry. He held out his hands and relaxed a fraction when she crawled from her mother's lap into his. "I love you."

She sniffed. "I'm a bad girl."

He kissed the top of her head and hugged her tight. "You're not a bad girl, but I needed you to listen to me and let me buckle you in."

"I wanted to fly to Kylee and play." She burrowed her head against his chest.

"Liv." He looked to Alex for help, but she only stared at him. On his own, he eased Olivia away and dried her tears. "We'll go to the park again, but we had to go home. You can fly to Kylee's house another time."

"Okay." She nodded. "Do you want to read princesses with me?"

He blinked at her sudden change of mood. "Huh?"

"You can read princesses with me-the pink book."

"Okay. Sure." He crawled toward the head of the bed, realizing he'd just survived his first serious parenting situation. As he settled against the pillows and stared into Alex's miserable eyes, he knew it wouldn't be so easy to fix things with Olivia's mother. "We need to talk, Alex."

"Later."

"Here, Daddy." Olivia took the book from Alex's lap. "Read me the story."

Jackson lifted Livy up and plopped her in his lap, making her giggle. "I love you, Liv, so much."

"I love you too, Daddy. So much." She planted a sloppy kiss on his jaw.

He snuggled her closer and opened the book. "So, where are we?"

"This page."

Jackson picked up where Alex had left off.

Twenty minutes later Jack still sat against the pillows, watching Olivia prepare for the ball as the princesses had done on the final page of the story. Decked out in her favorite dress up gown, white gloves, and tiara, Livy ran the bright pink brush through the blond hair of her doll. "We're almost ready," she announced.

"You look beautiful." Alex gave Livy a smile, but it faded as she met his gaze. "I would like you to book our flights for LA. We can leave first thing tomorrow if that works for you and Tucker."

He nodded, relieved that she truly seemed ready to go. "Okay."

She traced her finger around the bold purple polka dots on Livy's blanket with small jerky movements. "I meant what I said. This is the last time. I know we can't stay here any longer."

He strained to hear her quiet voice over Livy's happy chatter. "I think it's a good idea, at least for a little while."

Her finger moved more frantically along the soft fleece as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Alex-" He brought his hand to her arm, wanting to give comfort, but dropped it, unsure if she would accept his touch. He hated this-the uncertainty of where they stood.

She rushed from the bed as another tear fell, and her breathing shuddered out. "I should-I should get some laundry done and start packing things up." She turned away and went to the closet, grabbing the small basket of dirty clothes. She slid the pocket door shut and stood motionless while her hand gripped the oak handle.