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Zack Covington stepped forward, his expression gri from him in waves

"Beau and I will partner up Give us some locations and we’re out of here"

Dane nodded then looked to the rest of his asseht Eric, you take Dex and Zeke Capshaw and Brent, you tork together, and I want all of you to be on your toes at all goddamn times There has never been a more important mission than this one One of our own is on the line You ht in the line of fire and that you protect her with your lives Take Harrington out any way you can, as soon as you can, but e or I’ll have your balls"

Dane took out his phone and then looked to Wade "You want north end of town or south?"

"I’ll take north My men and I will spread out and cover as ive us an entire sector You and yourthe locations Quinn textedso we can take Eliza hoht It’s too easy, too obvious," Wade growled into the phone as soon as the call connected to Dane "We’reti a victim or lure Eliza to a place that a public record links hient and tense when he broke in

"I was in the process of calling you when you buzzed ical answer"

"Spit it out then We’ve wasted enough godda, praying that Quinn had coton’s prison records Visitor logs, correspondence His every move or anyone he had any contact with The cop who testified that he tampered with evidence had visited Thomas in prison just a week before the coppart When Quinn accessed records of all correspondence Harrington received while in prison, he discovered that the cop’s wife had been writing to Harrington for a long period of titon in jail and then subsequently confessed to a cri and most assumed he did so to avoid sanctions and possible jail time The wife, however, remained in Calvary and owns a house just north of town Not far from where you currently are Now, the woue with Thoical conclusion We’ve come up with jack shit on every other lead"

"Give me the address," Wade demanded "I can be there before you Get there as fast as you can, but I’"

TWENTY-FIVE

ELIZA pulled to a stop in front of a modest ranch-style home in the vehicle she’d hot-wired and stolen as soon as she’d slipped past Wade’s hbor had been a five-minute walk Eliza had made it in two at a dead run Since Thoiven her a deadline that forced her to drive like a de she wouldn’t be seen by a cop

She wiped her dalanced quickly at her top, praying it would be nice enough for Tho to look nice for him She’d quickly brushed out her hair and fluffed it out by bending over and tousling it with her fingers because Thomas like it that way Thank God he wasn’t a fan of makeup, in fact he considered women who "painted their faces" whores, which saved Eliza tiot out and sucked in several breaths to coest test of her strength she’d ever face One she couldn’t afford to fail A wo off the ultimate deception Eliza’s life depended on it And no doubt countless other wo

She walked slowly toward the porch and when she reached the first step, the door opened and Tho s, you have no idea how long I’ve hoped for this day How ain as ere always aze, careful to keep any hint of anger or disgust froo," she said quietly "I won’t set foot in that house until I see that she’s alive and is allowed to go free"

In a daring, calculating estare, her words an obvious taunt

"It’s not as though you should have any worry over letting her go free You canYou canAll you have to do is make her leave and plant a false et all about you"

Thoh he were proud of her "And yet you seeer now I can’t read you like I could before"

"I was a vulnerable, irl anyer now, and I don’t want us to be together because you s that aren’t real Is that really what you want? A puppet you control, knowing the entire tis for you are manufactured by you? Don’t you want to be wanted for who you are? Isn’t that e all want?"

Tholih she’d hit the nail on the head and had exposed a vulnerability he’d refused to acknowledge until now His features softened and then he abruptly turned, stepping just inside the doorway and called for the woman

A moment later, a pale woman in her forties stepped onto the porch next to Tho instruction

Thoaze in a fixed h she were in a co its master’s manipulation But then that hat Tho independent decisions