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Kathy:Two hours and twenty-five minutes. See you soon.

Emmett inhaled sharply. “Let’s make sure this goes down without any casualties.”

* * *

Trinity staredout the front window. Five cars had driven by in the last twenty minutes, but not one had been Kathy.

She was fifteen minutes late.

Another vehicle slowed in front of the driveway before turning in.

“She’s here.” Trinity rubbed her hands on her thighs to keep them from shaking. But it didn’t help. Every muscle vibrated from the inside out. Working in the ER, she was used to her adrenaline going from zero to sixty and then back to zero in minutes.

This was nothing like that.

“Do you think she’s alone?” Trinity asked Emmett, who wrapped his arm around her waist.

“It appears she is,” he said. “Rhett is on the roof. My mom is on the north end of the property, while my brother, Nathan, is at the south end. Emmerson is in the back. Cotania sent a SWAT team to the neighbor’s. Robash rolled over, so we’ve got her. But we need to find out where Bugsy is. He’s dangerous.”

Trinity nodded.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes,” she said with a long breath.

He kissed her cheek. “I’ll be in the next room and will make my appearance when appropriate. You’ll be fine.”

“Easy for you to say.” She shook out her arms and stood in the foyer by herself while Emmett ducked into the den.

She waited for what seemed like an eternity for the front bell to ring. Closing her eyes for a few moments, she did her best to calm her nerves and channel her inner actress.

Pulling open the door, she plastered a smile on her face. “Oh, my God. I’m so glad you’re here.” Trinity yanked Kathy in for a big hug, kicking the category-five door so it slammed shut.

Emmett had told her that she needed to make sure Kathy came inside the house and that she closed the door. She tried to make sure she did it in a genuine fashion.

“This isn’t the bed and breakfast you were staying at,” Kathy said with a hint of annoyance.

“No. It’s actually Emmett’s mother’s house. Emmett moved me from the other place when he”—she held up her hands and made air quotes—“found out that Bugsy was the killer.”

“Where is Emmett?” Kathy asked.

“He had an errand to run, but I’m sure you saw the cop car down the street. He’s got someone watching me all the time.”

“Well, we’ve got a bigger problem.” Kathy looked around nervously. “Is anyone here?”

“A couple members of his mother’s and her fiancé’s staff, but no one else.”

Kathy stepped into the great room. Quickly, she peeked down the hallway. “It turns out that FBI agent, the one I wanted us to go see? She’s in on it with Emmett.”

“No way.” Trinity did her best to make her eyes go wide and look as shocked as possible. “How did you find that out?”

“I thought I’d better call her, but I was redirected to another agent, who informed me. It’s not safe for you to go there right now. I don’t know who we can trust, but my cousin hooked us up with some of his friends. They will know what to do.”

If Trinity didn’t know better, she’d have to question the lie. What FBI agent would tell a random citizen that another agent was on the take? That made no sense. Did Kathy really think that Trinity was that foolish? “I need to go get my things,” Trinity said.

“We don’t have time for that. My cousin is waiting for us.”

“Where are we meeting him?”

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