“Vance is waiting for me to show up there to kill her.”

“If I go, I fall into his ambush.”

“If I don’t go, he realizes I saw through it.”

“Then let him realize it,” I said.

“Let him wait in the cold while the police head to Hensley’s home with a search warrant.”

Giovanni let out a long breath, the tension slowly draining from his shoulders.

“You have become stronger than me, Lauren,” he said quietly.

“I am just trying to keep my son alive,” I said.

“And his father.”

He reached out and took my hand, his grip tight but gentle.

“Alright,” he said.

“We do it your way.”

“I will call Detective Miller.”

“He is one of the few who cannot be bought.”

He walked over to the desk and picked up the secure phone.

I stood by the window, looking out into the dark, rain-swept grounds of the estate.

The tall pine trees swayed violently in the wind.

The security lights cast long, distorted shadows across the gravel driveway.

This place was supposed to be a fortress.