To clear away that thought, he shook his head. "Luckily for you, she gave me a detailed description of the intruder- otherwise you might have found yourself staring down the barrel of my weapon."

So Reese had known it was him?

"And...what? You don't mind me visiting?"

"You have reason to be extra cautious." Reese loosened his tie and opened the top button of his shirt. "And unlike you, I'm not nearly so mistrustful."

Rowdy held up the file. "I'd say that's debatable."

"You read it?"

"The gist of it, yeah." Puzzle pieces came together. "Logan doesn't know?"

Reese worked his jaw. "I won't demolish a reputation lightly. I wanted solid proof before saying anything. A few secretive visits are nothing more than circumstantial evidence."

Suddenly Lieutenant Peterson stepped into the room, her gun already drawn.

"Would one of you care to tell me what's going on here?"

Shit. "Dude, you need an alarm system."

"Apparently so." Reese glanced at the lieutenant's gun.

Rowdy considered his options, but the idea of being caught by anyone other than Reese hadn't crossed his mind.

He'd known Reese was at the station, so he thought he'd have time.

He hadn't counted on his neighbor making that call.

And now the lieutenant had joined them. When the two of them only shared an accusatory stare, Rowdy asked her, "Why are you here?"

"So I need to go first? Fine." She motioned for Reese to step back. "He's been cagey, secretive. Before bringing you and your sister in, I thought I'd find out why." Her gaze went back and forth between the two men. "I didn't expect to find you here. Are you working with him, then?"

Rowdy didn't understand her. "Him who?"

"Reese." She nodded at the file in his hand. "The two of you have joined Morton's ranks?"

Slowly, Rowdy grinned. "That's what you think? Seriously?"

Reese didn't see the humor. "I would have loved to be wrong."

"You are wrong, Detective." Her gaze skittered over to him, and her eyes narrowed. "You really believed I'd let you get away with this? Not likely. I've known for weeks that you were up to something."

"He's been following you." Rowdy fanned the folder in the air. Because he believed it to be a misunderstanding, he gave her a verbal nudge. "Detective Bareden thinks you're the one who's been cozying up with Morton."

Her delicate jaw clenched. "Never."

"Bullshit." Reese took a forceful step toward her, drawing her aim. "You've kept your more personal association with Morton under the radar."

"What personal association?"

To free up his hands, Rowdy dropped the folder onto the nightstand. If anyone started shooting, he had to be ready. "It's all in there," he said, hoping to give them a chance to sort out the confusion.

"Dates and times documented."

Slowly, after an impressive visual standoff, the lieutenant lowered her gun.

"Seriously, Reese? That's what you've been doing?" She curled her lip in disgust. "All this time you were watching me? My God, are you an idiot?"

Reese frowned at her vehemence.

"No."

"The proof says otherwise." She holstered her gun. "I detest Morton and his ilk. Yes, I've had conversations with the man. But that's all."

"Why would you do that?" Rowdy asked.

"He tried to buy my involvement, and we both know what happens to those who deny him. So I met with him. He made veiled offers, and I strung him along. But I gave him nothing. "

"Yes, but you were quite charming,"

came another voice, "so I allowed you the ruse." Morton Andrews stepped into the room. He held a Sig Sauer 9 mm with a silencer attached. Beside him stood another thug, a big, bald, sweating menace, and equally armed.

"Fuck me sideways," Rowdy said. "Is there a damned turnstile on the door now?" Incredible that so many would come trooping in when he'd thought to be the only one.

"Give it time," Morton all but purred, "and I can guarantee you will be fucked in every way imaginable."

"Is that a come-on or a threat?"

Morton laughed.

He'd done what he could to change his appearance, but Rowdy would know those cold, dark eyes anywhere. "Gotta tell you, Morton, you look like shit."

"It's temporary." At his leisure, utterly relaxed, he stood blocking the bedroom door. He smiled at his cohort -who pointed the gun at Rowdy-then addressed the lieutenant. "If my business dealings hadn't gotten so complicated, I'd have tended to you next."

At that open threat, Reese tried to step in front of the lieutenant, but Morton wasn't having it. "Ah-ah, now. None of that." He aimed his gun at Peterson.

"Hand over the weapons, slowly. Place them on the floor and then walk to the other side of the bed. Make one wrong move, and I'll put a bullet through her brain."

Reluctantly, both Peterson and Bareden were forced to hand over their weapons. Morton used his foot to kick them across the hardwood floor, out of the bedroom and into the hall. He produced chain-lock handcuffs and tossed them onto the bed. "How convenient that you have a slatted headboard. Put one cuff on your wrist, thread the other through the headboard, and then she can cuff herself to you."

"On a bed?" Peterson said. "No way."

Reese gave her a quelling frown.

"You wish."

Morton sighed. "Do it now," he said as if reciting a boring litany, "or I shoot her in the head. Your choice."

"Great. Fucking great." Reese attached the cuff to his left wrist, threaded it through, and raised a brow at Peterson.

"I knew you weren't dead," Peterson grumbled while attaching the cuff to her right wrist. They were both forced to sit in the middle of bed, close together. "It couldn't be that easy to get rid of you."

"No, not easy at all. I'm here and I'll be here long after the rest of you are gone."

Both Morton and his man were watching Reese and Peterson. This might be his only opportunity. Sure, he'd probably get shot, but what did it matter when that's exactly what Morton intended anyway?

Masking his hatred, Rowdy started to move, and Morton said, "Try it, and after I've shot you, I'll rape her.

Detective Bareden can watch."

Impotent fury brought him to a standstill. Yes, Pepper was his number one priority, but he couldn't sacrifice another woman so easily.

Morton smiled again. "So the infamous Rowdy Yates is also a gentleman? Who knew?"

"Anyone who'd met him," Peterson said. "That is, anyone not too dense to see the obvious."

Reese spoke quickly, probably to keep Morton from reacting. "How do you expect to get out of here?"

The rage in Morton's gaze subsided.

"Don't look so hopeful, Detective. It's true, I'm not currently in contact with most of my staff, but hiring a man to guard the entrance of the apartment building was easy enough. Money talks -you should know that by now, given the cops I've bought."

"Not always," Peterson told him.

"You couldn't buy me."

"Ah, but you see, those I can't buy, I destroy."

"You still have the traffickers to deal with," Reese pointed out. "After the way you tried to cheat them, they're not feeling real understanding."

Peterson rounded on Reese. "You knew about that?"

"Of course."

Her exaggerated gasp nearly choked her. "But you didn't see fit to report it to me? "

"I didn't trust you, if you'll recall."

Rowdy could see that Morton disliked losing their attention. He spoke over them to regain center stage. "I'll be dealing with the traffickers next. They believe I'm dead, so they won't be expecting me when I show up."

"Show up?" Rowdy asked.

"After I take over, I'll reestablish myself under an alias and be more powerful than ever."

"The traffickers are close enough for you to just drop in, huh?" If they found the resources to get out of here alive, Rowdy would take great pleasure in destroying that operation.

Discounting any interference with his plans, Morton said, "They have absurd accommodations at a ramshackle house down on Third Ave. Filthy, really. Not at all up to my standards." He shivered as if repulsed. "I'll enjoy killing them all, but not as much as I'll enjoy killing you."

Reese said, "He's not the one who saw you kill Jack Carmin. All this time, you've been chasing the wrong person."

"Shut up, Reese." Whatever plan he might be forming, no way in hell did Rowdy want his sister's name bandied around in front of Morton.

"Had the incompetent fools questioned the reporter before cutting his throat," Morton muttered, "they'd have known it was his sister, not him, who'd snitched. But no matter. I'm told that Rowdy and Pepper are inseparable.

Find one, you find the other."

Every muscle in Rowdy's body went taut. "You won't get anywhere near my sister."

"Actually, men are seeking her right now."

"You don't know where she is,"

Peterson said. "Even I don't know."

"And you would have told me if you did?" he inquired.

"I would have killed you-when the time was right."

Rowdy knew he'd find a way to destroy Morton with his bare hands before he let him get anywhere near Pepper. If he died in the process, so be it.

LOGAN PULLED UP to Reese's apartment

and the first thing he saw was the woman with the midsize black dog held on a leash. She looked toward him, and misgivings kicked him in the gut.

"Something's not right."

Pepper looked around. "What is it?"

Just inside the front doors, a burly thug loitered. "They're here." He called Dash. Keeping his attention on the area, he said, "Pull up beside me. When I get out, switch over to my truck and get Pepper away from here."

Without question, Dash said, "You've got it." He pulled up alongside Logan as directed, but Pepper wasn't so obliging.

She locked both hands on Logan's arm. "Who's here? What's going on?"

She looked around the area.

Logan cupped a hand around the back of her neck. "Don't do that, honey. Just act normal so you don't draw attention."