Page 26 of Lost Hope

The man switched from brilliant strategist to tactical loose cannon without warning. His past haunted every decision, every interaction, and that issue with his brother ...

Lots of future therapy bills there.

Having grown up with her passionate, hard-driving father who lived to bend rules for justice, Maya understood exactly how things with a man like Ronan Quinn would play out. Dad’s intensity had driven Mom away before Maya turned twelve. His dedication to the job had shaped her childhood into a series of missed events and broken promises—all for good reasons, but still. She’d sworn she wouldn’t live that way herself.

Even if Ronan was on the right side of the law, he was exactly the kind of complication she didn’t need.

The memory hit without warning—Tom, floating face-up in that murky water at the boat ramp.

Her hands clenched. She shouldn’t have left him there. Her partner, her friend, deserved better than to be abandoned like evidence in a crime scene.

Her father.

The realization jolted through her like electricity. The BOLOs would have hit his desk hours ago. Those deepfake videos ...

She hit the hallway at a run, banging on Ronan and Axel’s door.

Axel swung it open immediately.

She didn’t bother with niceties. “I need a phone. Now.”

“Whoa, easy.” Ronan emerged from the bathroom in utility pants and a black tech shirt, hair still wet. “What’s wrong?”

“My father’s probably got half the LAPD looking for me already. He’ll have seen everything—the BOLOs, the videos, Tom’s murder. He’s probably calling in every favor he’s got.”

“No one outside law enforcement will have seen those alerts yet,” Axel added. “We should probably check with the team before?—”

“You don’t understand.” Maya fought to keep her voice steady. “My father?—”

“Will be fine until we talk this through with the Knight Tactical crew,” Ronan assured her. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt—” He stopped, finally taking in her expression. “What?”

Axel shrugged.

She stared at them. “You really didn’t do your research, did you?”

Axel was already typing on his phone. His eyebrows shot up. “Yikes.”

“Yeah.” Maya ran a hand through her hair. “Twenty-eight years with the LAPD. Currently Captain of Northwest Detective Division. Trust me, he’s seen the BOLOs. And he knows literally everyone in law enforcement on the West Coast. How long do you think it’ll take him to trace us here?”

Without another word, Ronan tossed her his phone.

Maya’s fingers trembled as she dialed, muscle memory taking over. The familiar number felt like touching a live wire.

Twenty-eight years of commanding officers, organizing task forces, and moving heaven and earth to protect his only child had honed Lawrence Chen into a force of nature. He’d take over, reorganize everything, call in every favor from San Diego to Seattle. The full tsunami of Captain Chen’s protective instincts was about to be unleashed.

And she needed to stop him before he destroyed both their careers trying to save her.

Her throat tightened. How many times had she sworn she’d never need rescuing? That she’d learned from his mistakes,would never put either of them in that position again? Yet here she was, about to drag him into the mess she’d made.

Her father answered on the first ring. “I’ve got three task forces running scenarios. Where are you? I’m sending a team. I’ve already talked to the DA and?—”

“Dad—”

“—called in markers with the FBI’s forensics lab. Those videos are obvious fakes. Just need forty-eight hours to prove it. You sit tight and let me?—”

“They killed my partner.” Her voice cracked, stopping his flow of words. “They knew we were called out to the scene—or they called it in themselves—and then they killed Tom. These people have reach inside NCIS. Maybe the Navy itself.”

“I’m not Benson, sweetie. I’ve got three decades on the force and connections he didn’t have. I can protect you.”

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