The idiots had failed.

But they weren't the only ones.

Rowdy Yates was alive and in police custody. That meant the cop had failed him, too.

Glancing around at the bodyguards who, through orders, had a certain look -a look that mirrored his own-Morton knew what he had to do now. It was inconvenient but not as much so as prison. He'd handle this as he handled everything else.

He would destroy the problem, bury it and move on.

LOGAN STARTED everyone walking again

while saying, "Pepper. Where are you?"

She ignored the question to say, "I'm really burning up the phone lines tonight, right?" She laughed, but he heard the strain and what sounded like fear. "I'm going to keep this really short and sweet, so pay attention. I'm going to the club."

"No, don't do that."

"Too late. If you want Andrews, get your behind over here and you can catch him in the act. Rowdy can tell you how to get in. But no fanfare, Logan. Do not send in your police buddies, or you could get me killed."

His heart lodged in his throat. While he walked fast toward the lot where he'd parked, he infused as much calm into his tone as he could drum up. "Listen to me, honey. Your brother-"

"If they hear you coming, I'm screwed. So seriously, Logan. If you don't want me dead-"

"You know I don't, damn it!" He swallowed the ferocity and tried for another dose of calm reason. "I want to protect you, I want-"

"Great," she said, cutting him off. "So don't screw this up."

And she disconnected the call.

His discipline shattered, Logan broke into a jog. "She's going to the club."

Both Rowdy and Reese kept pace alongside him as they maneuvered through the sally port and out to the lot.

Rowdy grabbed his own cell but muttered, "Damn it, she's not answering."

"For the love of..." Reese grabbed Logan's arm, pulling him to a halt. "This is insane. You go in through the park. I'll circle around from the other side.

Whoever finds her first can head her off from doing anything stupid."

Rowdy started to protest, but Reese said, "Not a word from you! We don't have time to argue about it."

Logan agreed. "It'll take twenty minutes to get there, but don't use your siren."

"Noted." And with that, Reese jogged to his car.

FORCING ASIDE ALL uncertainty, every

ounce of hesitation, Pepper studied the setting before her. She knew that guards protected Checkers not only from within but also from the exterior, every minute of every hour of every day. Morton Andrews spent a small fortune on security. Getting to him wouldn't be easy.

After shutting Logan down midsentence, she'd set her phone on vibrate. The last thing she needed was a call in the middle of her setup. She'd already felt her phone buzzing, so that had to mean he was concerned, right?

Fortified by that thought, she started forward.

She prayed that she hadn't entirely misjudged Logan, that deep down he was just a good cop trying to find justice.

She had to believe that, because anything else was unthinkable.

Anything else meant her brother might already be gone.

Several yards away from the club, she saw two goons, each wearing an earphone, no doubt armed, chatting to each other while keeping watch on all coming and going down the walk. In the business area, well-lit establishments lined the street, everything from liquor stores to tattoo parlors to restaurants and gas stations.

Neon signs flashed. Night owls laughed and talked, some outside their cars, others hailing cabs, a few just loitering. No one should have paid undue attention to a woman alone.

But with her gaze zeroed in on the men, they felt her approach-as she'd intended.

Without glancing away, Pepper walked right up to them. The one closest to her looked her over with appreciation. The other faded back a little, probably to keep the advantage.

Like a woman without a care, Pepper stopped before the biggest goon. "I need to see Morton."

A mean smile curled his mouth.

"Yeah, you and a dozen other women."

Now, that was funny. Pepper copped a stance that she hoped hid her jitters. "I seriously doubt any of them see him by choice."

The condescending arrogance darkened to irritation. "Get lost, honey."

"Here's what you'll do, honey. Inform Morton that Pepper Yates is here, and if you behave, I won't tell him that you tried to send me packing. Because you know, if he found out, he'd probably kill you for being so incompetent."

Skepticism showed, but it couldn't win out over the guy's healthy respect for Morton's ruthlessness. He gave a slight nod, and his buddy made the call.

He spoke so softly that Pepper couldn't hear him over the human congestion spilling out of the club, but she knew he spoke to Morton's number one guy.

And judging by the look on his face, Morton had agreed to see her.

Few at the club had ever noticed her while she worked there, and the only photos available were the same that Logan had. Morton might not recognize her, but he knew the name.

Because she was Rowdy's sister.

And Rowdy had set himself up to be the snitch.

Too many people wanted her brother, all because he'd tried to protect her. She had to do this.

"Let's go," the big goon said. He reached for her arm, but Pepper stepped back.

"Morton is inside?" She assumed he was, but she needed it verified. If she'd miscalculated, if they tried to stuff her into a car to transport her somewhere else, she'd scream bloody murder.

It might not save her, but at the very least, others would notice.

"He's in his offices."

"Above the club?"

Impatience shortened the goon's temper. "Are you coming along or not?"

Pepper got her stiff lips to form a smile. "I am." She stepped ahead of the guy and marched toward the club. Her heart beat in time to her every footfall.

The closer she got to the hubbub around the club, the sicker she felt. Nausea churned in her stomach and her temples throbbed, making her almost light- headed.

In an iron grip meant to hurt, the goon took her arm to steer her around to a back entrance. Breathing too hard and too fast, Pepper willed her feet to keep moving, one in front of the other. She didn't want to be dragged. She wanted, needed, to do this on her own terms.

Morton Andrews had plagued them long enough. If Logan didn't get there in time, well then, she'd find a way to end the miserable cretin one way or another.

At the back of the building, beneath bright security lights, he stopped. One of the additional guards, stationed to keep anyone from intruding, scowled. "What are you doing? You can't bring her back here."

"Andrews's orders."

"Ah." There was a pause as the men looked at her with carnal assumptions.

They chuckled in shared appreciation of the situation.

The bastards.

Pepper didn't look at any of them. She didn't look at anyone until the goon turned to her.

She saw his slack-jawed expression, the intent in his gaze; he would frisk her, and she knew he would make it as unpleasant as possible.

Raising her chin, she feigned indifference-and suddenly a deafening boom sounded above the clamor of patrons, music and conversation.

Gunshot? Where? Who?

Glass exploded from third-story windows, raining down around them.

Acrid smoke clogged the air, burning her nostrils. No, not a gunshot. Then...?

Before that thought could fully form, a shrill alarm cut through the night.

Covering her ears, confused by the commotion, Pepper cowered. At that first loud blast, her nerves had shattered.

A mingling of fear and confusion kept her heart racing double-time.

What had happened?

Weapons drawn, two other guards ran past them while talking into headpieces.

Screams sounded out front, followed by a stampede of bodies fleeing the building.

Shoved to the side, Pepper fell to her rump, then scampered back farther. She crouched there until in the midst of shouted orders she heard the word bomb.

Oh. Dear. God.

Everything suddenly made sense. She looked up to see smoke pouring from the windows. Someone had exploded a bomb on the third floor of the club.

The floor Morton Andrews used for his office.

The office...where he'd been waiting to talk to her.

"WE MIGHT NOT be able to find her."

Rowdy, who rode with him, got more uneasy by the moment. "She knows how to hide."

Logan had firsthand knowledge of just how adept Pepper could be at hiding.

Hell, he'd had sex with her and hadn't gotten a good look at her. "I hope you're right." Going a little too fast, he turned the corner. They were now only minutes from the club. "She can't very well launch an attack on anyone while hiding away."

A distant siren sounded, growing louder by the moment.

Rowdy sat forward. "Smoke."