I could no longer see the person he was. I look at him and all I see is a fallen angel because, in many ways, he is.

“One way or another, we are getting my daughter back tonight,” Keenan announced. “So here is the plan.”

* * * * *

“I don’t feel good about this,” Lake said for the thousandth time as she paced back and forth. The guys minus Dash and Jesse had taken off for a town about three hours away where John had first found Sophia and Keiran.

If I weren't so afraid, I would have laughed at how life could come full circle when you least expect it, but nothing about this night was laughable.

Keenan and Keiran had chosen to go with their gut with only just a few hours left. If they were right, Kennedy would be back in my arms tonight. If they were wrong…

“I feel like I should be doing something.”

“There’s one little detail your boyfriends seemed to have forgotten about,” Jesse quipped without taking his eyes from the computer. He had been silently working on pulling up a satellite feed of the house.

“What’s that?”

“The FBI,” he spelled out slowly. “Has anyone bothered to fill them in?”

“Believe me, they didn’t forget,” Dash stated. “If Kennedy is in that house, then no one involved will be walking out alive. Besides, the FBI hasn’t been too helpful and neither have the private investigators my father hired.”

“I think the only thing left to do was to deny their services after Keiran bludgeoned one of them, don’t you think?” This came from Lake, who had now taken to jamming her fingers through her hair.

“It’s going to be okay, Lake.”

“But what if it isn’t and Keiran goes away forever? God, he was finally shedding the slave and becoming his own person, but then suddenly someone comes back to finish the job.” She sunk down the wall until she reached the floor. “Even if he doesn’t die or isn’t sent away forever, what if this resets him? We all saw what happened in the hospital.”

“What I saw was someone who would do anything to protect his loved ones. That’s who he is today. He’s able to love and you have to believe that it’s the only thing motivating him. If you can believe in anything, believe in love.”

She seemed to be thinking it over before she locked her gaze with mine. “Will you be able to do the same?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

KEENAN

“WHAT DO YOU see?”

We made the three-hour trip in half the time and had been staking out the house for the last thirty minutes. The house was average in style and size and wasn’t a place anyone would expect an abducted child to be held making it the perfect spot.

“Nothing. This is the place,” Keiran stated, echoing my inner thoughts.

“What are we going to do about the Feds?” Q asked from the backseat.

“Once we confirm Kennedy is here, we’ll report it, but not a minute before. I want the motherfuckers who took my little girl to suffer.”

“How do you want to do this?” Keiran asked.

“Hot and fast. There’s no way of telling where Kennedy is in that house. I don’t want to give them a chance to have the advantage. We make quick work of it. Sheldon said there were two men who took her. There could be more, but we leave one alive for questioning before we kill him. John, do you remember how you got in before?”

According to John, the locks were designed to keep anyone who didn’t have a key from getting in or out.

“I’ve got it covered, son.”

“Good. Once you get us in, Keiran and I will take the lead. You and Quentin will pull up the rear. There are four rooms plus the common areas. Kennedy is likely being held in one of the rooms.”

There was a fifty percent chance we’d fail and lose everything including our lives, but I owed it the child I created to try. It was more than my parents had ever given me.

“John,” I called back for my father’s attention.

“Yes, son?”

“I want you to know that if my daughter is in there, I will kill you myself.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Keiran turn his attention from the house and on me. I boldly met his gaze, daring him to protest, but when he simply nodded, I relaxed.

John wisely chose not to respond. Father or not, he had screwed with my daughter’s life to protect a man that didn’t deserve to live. I could care less what his intentions were.

We approached the house quickly, taking care to stay hidden in the shadows. I listened for voices, and when I heard the low but unmistakable sound of voices, I was ready to burst through the door. The reminder from my conscience that it could very well be a family having dinner was the only thing to keep me from ruining the entire mission.

John made quick work of the door, and in no time, we were through. The entryway was dark but empty, and as we moved deeper inside, I could hear deep voices drifting down from upstairs. We followed the sound to a door on a top floor.

“Do you think she’ll do it, Vick?”

Vick? I wondered how good of a chance it could be that this Vick was the same investigator the Chambers hired to find Kennedy.

“If the bitch knows what’s good for the little brat, she will. She’s only got a couple hours.”

“How are we supposed to know if she killed him?”

“We wait until we get the call.”

“But how will he know?”

“It’s not our problem. Once we get the call—”

His head was blown off before he could finish speaking. As soon as his body dropped, I trained my gun on the freckle-faced guy with carrot-colored hair. He didn’t appear old enough to even be out of high school.

“If you don’t stop screaming, you’ll join your buddy.”

He frantically looked around the room for an ally before he settled on Q as his best bet. “Don’t look at me, bitch.”

“Take anything you want, just don’t kill me.”

“Do you know what I’m here for?”

“N—no.” He shook his head hard for emphasis.

“Do you know who this is?” I asked pointing to Keiran. He blinked a few times, focusing his gaze on my brother and shook his head again.

“This is Keiran Masters.” Recognition had shone in his eyes before terror took over.

“If you’re Keiran,” stammered, “then who are you?” he asked.

“I’m the father of the little girl you took.” And that’s when the begging began. I had to hit him with the gun a few times to get him to shut up long enough. “I’m trying to have a polite conversation with you, but you keep interrupting me.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” His sniffling was starting to bug me, so I decided against torturing him.

“I’m only going to ask this once so pay attention. Where is my daughter?”

“She’s in the guest room down the hall on the right.”

Wow. That was easy.

I hoped the surprise I felt didn’t show on my face, but judging by the terror still evident in his eyes, I knew I still looked like a man bent on killing.

“Please, just let me go. I didn’t even want to do it.” He screamed hysterically.

“But you did, my friend.” I was surprised by the calm in my own voice even though every nerve, vein, and blood vessel inside me raged.

As soon as I walked out, leaving Keiran and Q behind with him, the screaming began again. John followed me, claiming he didn’t have the stomach for torture.

I followed the simple directions to a door just down the hall. I put my ear to the door and listened for voices just in case it was a trap. I heard the small sound of crying on the other side and threw caution to the wind.

I tried the knob, but the door was locked so I threw my shoulder against it. Eventually, the door gave way and I burst through. Wood chips fell around me and temporarily blocked my vision of the small bundle huddled on the bed.

“Kennedy?” her crying had become little whimpers. She tried to make herself appear small out of fear. I suddenly realized I didn’t make the greatest entrance into her life.