He knew she had been confused, afraid, all of the things that go along with the fear of being emotionally wrecked. He recognized those same emotions in himself. Instead of pulling her into his arms and admitting he felt all of those things, too, he’d made sure she’d never want anything to do with him again.  Pushed her away with lies.

He looked around the room, every trace of her removed except her scent.  It was hours away from sunrise, he should go to bed, but he knew he wouldn’t sleep.

He grabbed his cell phone from his nightstand.  There was a text from Maddox:  Package safely delivered.

Thnx Flynn texted back.

When Maddox had called him over an hour ago and told him Pink had called, begging him to pick her up, Flynn stood down and let him.  Away from him she was safe from him hurting her more.

As he poured himself a cup of coffee, Flynn looked down at the trashcan.  The pink daisy he had bought when he thought he’d never see Pink again was in pieces at the bottom where she must have thrown it on her way out. He reached down and picked up the fragments of the clay pot and wilting petals.  Gently he set them down on the buffet.  There was no putting them back together.  The pot was in too many pieces and the stem torn from the root base.

The irony struck him and with it he made a decision.  Once this case was closed and Pink no longer in danger, he was putting in for a transfer.  He was due.  He’d spent the last several years in the Oakland field office and had begun to feel antsy since last year.  Meeting Pink had put the brakes on his urge to move on, but for both their sakes it would be the best thing.  Out of sight, out of mind.  He would do his thing and she would go to law school and do her thing.

Why, he wondered as he sat down at his desk, didn’t that make him feel any better?  Booting up his laptop, Flynn sipped his coffee.  He trusted the task force guys to do their job, but he didn’t trust them to watch out for Pink like he would.  To that end, he would watch over her, but from afar and she would never know.  There was peace for him in that.

When his cell phone vibrated, his stomach flipped. Was it Pink?  Had she changed her mind?

It was Maddox.

“Ryker,” he said.

“Miroslav Bushnik just touched down at a private airstrip in Marin.  Word has it he’s meeting up with Sorlov at the club tonight to pick up girls. I’m telling you this, Flynn, as a courtesy because Miss Fuentes has agreed to go in tonight and plant the bug on him.”

Flynn clenched his phone so tight his knuckles hurt.

“You there, Ryker?”

“I’m not sitting this one out,” Flynn said.  The last thing Flynn wanted was for Pink to go back to Surf’s Up.  Maybe if he hadn’t let her go, she’d listen to him, but he knew how determined she was to find her sister and how stubborn she could be. He didn’t stand a chance.  All he could do was stay close and protect her.

“As long as you don’t make her, we welcome the extra eyes and hands.”

“Any evidence that the sister was shipped off?” Flynn asked.  It was his worst fear.

“A few bits of info trickling in, but nothing concrete. In all probability she went out with the shipment three months ago.”

“So what’s the plan to get her back?”

“We’ve got eyes and ears everywhere, Flynn, but we keep hitting walls. Sorlov’s network has infiltrated every department in the state. He’s got more money than the California budget.”

“I think Chastain’s daughter might have seen or heard something she shouldn’t have. If that’s the case, she wasn’t shipped off, she was offed.”  As Flynn vocalized what had been niggling at him from the beginning, his stomach churned.  How could he tell Pink her sister was dead?  He wouldn’t, unless he had indisputable proof.

“You’re probably right.  It makes Miss Fuentes all the more valuable to us. She’s smart, Flynn, and willing to do what has to be done to see this thing through.”

“And you’re just chomping at the bit to throw her to the wolves, aren’t you?”

“Have some confidence in me, man.  I care about what happens to her just as much as you do.”

“Not even close, Maddox, not even close.”

Flynn hit the end icon and tossed his phone onto the desk.  Jealousy and worry ate at him.  Had Pink gotten under Maddox’s skin, too?  Was he there with her now?  Consoling her?

Swiping his hand across his face, Flynn headed down the hall to his gym.  The heavy bag had Maddox’s name on it today, and it was going to get its ass kicked.

Later that evening when Izzy stepped out from the hotel, she was surprised to find Maddox leaning against a concrete column near the roundabout.

“I thought I was supposed to go about business as usual?” she said. “For me that’s taking BART into the city.” Not that she was complaining. The minute she laid eyes on him, relief flooded her. She was still emotionally raw from her encounter with Flynn. Shaky and unsure of herself in a way she had never been before.

From the day her mother died, Izzy knew exactly what she wanted.  With tunnel vision focus, nothing had gotten in her way of achieving her goal of a degree, then getting accepted to Stanford Law.  Once she made the decision to find Alex, nothing had stood in her way.  Until she met Flynn.  Then everything she had worked so hard for didn’t seem to matter any more.

Part of her was so angry she could spit; the other part of her was so depressed she didn’t care if she woke up tomorrow morning.  She’d never felt more alone than she did when she’d gotten into Maddox’s car this morning, looked up and saw Flynn’s silhouette in the window.  He knew she was leaving him and he let her go.  All hope was gone.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight, so get used to seeing me,” Maddox called to her.

Izzy couldn’t help but smile.  He looked funny in the black spike wig and bright Hawaiian shirt.  He was also wearing white shorts and tennis shoes.  She gave him a long appraising look.   “It’s a good thing you have nice legs, otherwise you’d totally look redic.”

“I’ll fit right in with the regulars.”  He escorted her to a nondescript Taurus.

As they drove over the bridge, Izzy said, “I appreciate the ride, but I could have taken BART.”

“It’s no problem.  I live in Berkeley and was going your way.”

She was more than a little nervous about tonight.  Not only would she have to face Andre for the first time in nearly a week, but she also had to get close enough to a very dangerous man to plant a listening device on him. “Are you going to be there all night?”

“I’ll be watching you like a hawk over a spring chicken every second you’re in there.”

“Thank you.”

Pointing to the cup holder, Maddox said, “The bug is in that envelope.  All you have to do it take it out and slip it into Bushnik’s pant’s pocket.”

Izzy picked up the postage-stamp sized white envelope and slipped it into her bag.

“Before we get there,” Maddox continued, “I’d like to go over a few things with you so we’re on the same page.”

“Okay,” she said, keeping her voice casual. It was hard not to let the fear creep into her voice.  She could admit to herself she was scared.  No, more like terrified being a pawn in this subtle game of cat and mouse, in which if she made the wrong move, she could be off the board.  Permanently.

“First, let’s establish a distress signal.”

“A sign for when I feel threatened?”

“Exactly. It also applies to any info you think I should immediately be made aware of. For example, if you recognize any of the men in the photos we went over earlier, including Bushnik, I want to know pronto.”

“Okay, how about if I rub the back of my neck like this?”  She rubbed her right hand behind her neck and realized as she did that it was shaking.  Making a fist, she set her hand in her lap. If Maddox knew how nervous she was, he might pull her and that was the last thing she wanted.