“No,” I said, shaking my head. “A few days isn’t good enough. You’ll tell us now. Do you have any idea who I am? Surely you did a little background research on me, Lukie boy.” I grabbed the chair and spun it over the floor, parking my ass in front of him.

“I know who you are.”

“So you know my family, right? One call. That’s all it will take for you to disappear forever.” I stared deep into his eyes, almost begging for him to doubt me.

He dropped his gaze. Sweat trickled down his forehead. “I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t compromise a federal investigation.” His voice was panicked.

I narrowed my eyes, my teeth clenching together. I nodded at Ben, who took a step toward Luke.

“Okay,” Luke cried, holding his arms up in defeat. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

Fucking useless sack of shit. It had taken him less than five minutes to crack.

“Tell me about the website. Who owns it?” I asked.

“I don’t know names. Two guys.”

“And the rest?” I pressed.

“What, like you?”

I tensed. I hated being included in that description. “Yes,” I said through gritted teeth. “Like me. And buyers. Like you.”

“Guys like you, maybe ten? Buyers, it depends. In the last month, maybe thirty?” I heard Leeta gasp behind me. I’d almost forgotten she was there. “What do you think you’re going to do? Bust your way in there? And then what?”

My fist connected with the side of his face. He glared at me, his nostrils flaring.

“What’s your involvement? Besides testing the stock,” I spat.

“I’m basically just muscle. Disposable.” In other words, useless to me.

“Then why did we trace the IP address to here?”

“Because…” He shrugged again. “Because I’m expected to participate. The same as you are.” He shot me a look.

Yeah, only the difference is, you thought it was real.

“How do buyers find you? I’m guessing you’re not listed in the Yellow Pages.”

“Word of mouth. You’d be surprised how many sick people there are in the world.” He grinned. I punched him again. His eyes clouded over as he swayed, the blow almost rendering him unconscious.

“Mace.” Leeta grabbed my arm, pulling me back. “He’s no good to you dead.” Her voice was soft. She was right. I turned around and walked to the front door, Ben and Leet at my heels.

“You’re just letting him go?” Ben asked, surprised. “Dude, he obviously knows something.”

“I know, but we weren’t going to get anywhere with him,” I muttered, climbing back into my car. I waited until both Leet and Ben were in.

“What’s the plan, then?” Asked Ben.

“We’re going to sit here until he moves. These guys don’t do cell phones—they don’t want anything to track Luke back to them. If he is going to try and warn them like I hope he is, then he’ll do it in person. And when he does, I’ll be ready.”

“And if you’re wrong?” asked Leeta.

“Then I have no idea what I’ll do.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Leeta

Five hours had passed. Five hours of the three of us sitting together in that car, and nothing had happened. Luke was still inside, and we were still sitting here in complete silence. Five freaking hours of me sitting in a car with my boyfriend and my ex. Total nightmare.

“This is ridiculous.” I sighed, throwing my head back against the seat. “There has to be a better way than this.”

“Yeah? If you have something else in mind, I’d love to hear it,” Mace growled. That was just it. I didn’t. Sighing, I shifted in my seat, wrapping my jacket tightly around my body.

Ben sniggered in the back, mumbling something under his breath. I could make out what he was saying, but I got the feeling he was enjoying our bickering.

“It’s just we’ve been waiting for hours.”

“Yeah, and I seriously need to piss,” muttered Ben, hanging over the back of my seat.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re a guy, Ben.” I yanked my arm in the direction of the park opposite us. “Just run over there, and use a tree for God’s sake.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” he said. He jumped out of the car and disappeared into the darkness.

I stared out the window, trying to ignore the intense stare Mace was laying on me. I could feel his eyes burning into me. Turning around and acknowledging that would mean talking to him, which would probably end up in another argument about Ben and why I’d called him.

“Are you okay?” he asked. I jumped as his hand touched my thigh. Oh god. The feel of his hand I liked much more than I wanted to.

“I’m fine.” I swallowed, peering at the house, trying to pretend I was looking at something. Then I saw it. I blinked and looked again. Was I seeing things?

“Is that him?” I asked, pointing to the front of the house. A hooded figure walked across the lawn to the car parked in the driveway.

“That’s the same car he met me in at the roadhouse,” Mace said after a moment.

I guess that’s a yes, then.

“Here we go,” muttered Mace. “Where the fuck is Ben?”

I squinted toward the park, trying to spot him among the dense row of trees, but it was so dark, I had no hope.

“What do we do?” I asked, panicked as Luke began to back out of the driveway.

“We can’t lose him, Leet. He’s my one and only link to these guys.”

“We can’t just leave Ben here.”

“Don’t really have a choice.” Mace started up the car and drove off. I narrowed my eyes at him. He seemed way too happy about it.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I accused, retying my hair in a ponytail.

“Leet, if you’re asking me if I’m glad to be leaving your ex-fiancé behind to find his own way home, then yes. What I’m not happy about is following this asshole with you as my only backup,” he growled.

My mouth dropped open. Had he really just spoken to me like that?

I narrowed my eyes. Of course he had. This was Mace. He had done a lot worse than that before.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mace

From one of Melbourne’s best neighbourhoods to one of the worst. This was the kind of place I expected lowlife scum to live in. We followed Luke, staying back a few cars, to an industrial area on the outskirts of town.

“What are you doing?” Leeta screeched as I flicked the headlights off.

“It’s him and us in this street. Don’t you think headlights kinda make it obvious he’s being followed? And if he’s being followed, do you really think he’s going to stop?”

Besides, we were barely even moving. It’s not like we were at risk of having an accident.

She didn’t reply. We crept along the street, waiting for him to do something. Up ahead, Luke turned into a driveway. Bingo. My heart pounded. For the second time that day, I could smell victory.

“What now?” Leeta asked.

“Now I go down and check things out while you stay here.”

“What?” she hissed. I winced. I should have known that one wasn’t going to go down well. “Mace, you are not going down there alone.”

“Relax, I’m not going to do anything stupid. I just want to check the outside, try and get an idea of what we’re dealing with. Then I’ll call for some help.”

“Help?” she asked suspiciously.

I sighed. “Don’t ask, Leet.” She shut her mouth, instantly getting my meaning: family connections. What happened from this point on Leet was better off not knowing. In my world, getting help for a problem such as this meant only one thing.

“Can you call for your backup before you go off leaving me all alone? Please?” she asked, frowning. Shit, she’s really scared.

“Okay. I’ll call now,” I said, touching her arm.

I scrolled through my contacts until I found Micky’s number. Dad had arranged everything—all I needed to do was say the word. I closed my eyes and listened as it rang. God, I just hope that I’m right.