to babble on about her plans so that Jenna could understand how truly crazy she was.
Jenna took it all in, peppering Abby with questions. Jenna was playing it just right—not panicked, not fearful, not whiny. When had that adorable rich girl he’d married turned into this strong, capable woman?
Must’ve been when she had to.
“So, what’s the upshot, Abby?” Jenna rolled to her back, toward the edge of the bed, giving Cade a hard stare.
His pulse leaped. Could she roll off the bed toward the wall and cover Gavin with her body while he tried to take down Abby? What happened if he missed? What happened if Abby shot him?
Jenna and Gavin would be at her mercy with nothing standing between Abby and whatever evil plan she concocted next.
“The upshot—” Abby straightened her spine along with her aim “—is that I’m going to call my contact with Zendaris and tell him his hostages are waiting. Then I’m going to sell the plans to the highest bidder.”
Jenna scooted closer to the edge of the bed. “What’s the point of that now? When Zendaris has me and Gavin in his clutches, it’s not like Cade is going to run to your arms for comfort.”
“But you’ll be out of the way.” Abby’s brow wrinkled. “Cade will need someone, and Beth will be there for him.”
Cade tensed every muscle in his body. “Beth or Abby?”
“B-both of us.”
Jenna whispered. “You killed Beth.”
Abby’s hand began to tremble for real this time. “No. I did this for Beth, and Beth is part of me. She’ll never die.”
As a sob wracked Abby’s body and the gun wavered, Cade yelled, “Now!”
He ducked and charged at Abby. The thump from the other side of the bed told him Jenna had rolled off the mattress.
He drove his shoulder into Abby’s midsection while grabbing for her gun hand.
She wailed and got off a shot. Cade smashed her body against the wall, his fingers encircling her wrist. She yelped in pain but wouldn’t release the gun.
He twisted her hand so that the gun was pointing away from him. Slowly, slowly, he turned the gun toward Abby.
Her panting stopped. Her dark eyes bore into his, and then she squeezed the trigger.
Through the blood spattering his face, he watched the light die from Abby’s eyes.
Jenna screamed. “Cade? Cade?”
“I’m okay. It’s Abby. She’s dead.”
Epilogue
Cade grabbed the chains of the swing to slow it down so Gavin could jump out of it for about the hundredth time that morning. When Gavin’s legs got closer to the ground, he launched himself out of the swing, flying in the air for a few seconds before landing in the sand.
Cade grinned at his son rolling over and over in the sand. Daredevil. Like father, like son—and this time, that was okay.
Gavin hopped to his feet and scampered toward the yellow plastic slide to join another boy heading down on his stomach.
Holding up his hands, Cade yelled, “I’m taking a break.”
A woman sitting near the slide looked up from her book. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“Thanks. I’ll be right over there.” He pointed to a picnic table with Jenna sitting on top and J.D. straddling the bench.
He joined Jenna on the table. “I think the SEALS could adopt some training from the playground.”
J.D. punched him in the leg. “Man, you need to get in shape. All that lolling around in hotel suites has made you soft.”
“Ah, I think we were in that suite for maybe six hours.” Jenna grabbed Cade’s hand. “You owe me some pampering. I had to wear flea market clothing and makeup from the drugstore.”
“There’s the girl I married.” He kissed the side of her head.
“You’ll get lots of pampering where you’re going. Wish I could get an all-expenses-paid trip to Europe.” J.D. reclined on the bench and folded his hands behind his head.
“I wish we could go home.” Jenna squeezed Cade’s hand tighter.
“We will. I can feel it, right, J.D.? This old cowboy’s going to pick up where we left off and if he doesn’t nail Zendaris, Gage will.”
“Damn straight.” J.D. crossed one booted ankle over his knee. “We’re getting close, and now that Zendaris knows Abby Warren had the plans, he’s going to get sloppy in his haste to get them back.”
“But what did she do with the plans?” Jenna waved at Gavin playing with his new friend. “Maybe she already sold them.”
Cade shook his head. “No way. That girl was nuts—brilliant and calculating, but nuts. She didn’t know what to do with the plans once