He had to go with her.
Cale lunged after Cassidy.
And that was the moment when the world exploded around him. They’d planned carefully, wearing bulletproof vests, putting Gunner up for surveillance... Even Mercer was staked out just a block away.
But they hadn’t counted on the bomb.
It lit the whole night.
The force from the blast lifted Cale up and tossed him back, away from Cassidy. He yelled her name, desperate, as he slammed back down into the earth.
But Cassidy didn’t answer him.
And as the flames flickered and spread, he shouted for her, again and again.
* * *
FOUR DEAD BODIES were recovered at the scene. Four men in black, men who’d been taken out by Cale and Gunner’s bullets.
Four bodies, but no sign of Genevieve or of Cassidy.
“You were supposed to protect her!” Mercer snarled, spittle flying from his mouth.
They were still at the scene. The heavy scents of ash and blood filled the air.
He’d expected Mercer’s fury. The same fury—and fear—were coiling dangerously within him. Where is Cassidy?
“Get Sydney to activate her tracking device.” That was the plan, right? He glared at Mercer. “This was your idea. You were the one who wanted—”
To use your own daughter.
But I was the fool who agreed to the plan. Because Cassidy had been so desperate to get her friend back.
Mercer glared at him. An ambulance’s swirling lights flashed. “You said you’d keep her with you every single minute.”
“Get the track going!”
He spun away from Mercer before he gave in to the urge to drive his fist right into the man’s face. When he turned, Cale saw Lancaster being loaded into the back of an ambulance.
“The track’s on.” Sydney’s quiet voice. Sydney’s here? He looked to the left and saw Gunner holding her within the protective circle of his arms.
“Cassidy is three miles over, heading east on Brookley.”
Hell, yes.
“We’ve got a link on her and—” Sydney broke off, frowning at the small monitor gripped in her hand.
“Sydney?”
She looked up at him, frowning. “We lost the signal.”
“Then get it back!”
She started typing quickly on the keypad. She tapped her transmitter, talking with her team back at the EOD office.
A heavy cold began to spread through his gut. “Sydney?”
She shook her head. “Her tracking device went off-line.”