She blinked. “Um, all right.” What in the world?
“I have your boyfriend cuffed in the back of my car, and I’m planning to put a bullet in his head unless you do exactly as I say,” the detective said slowly and clearly.
Zara stopped breathing. Her lungs hitched. “Wh-what?”
Heath turned around, his gaze intense.
“You heard me. I’ll let him go if you get me the package from Julie,” Norton said.
Zara’s mind scrambled facts into place. “Wait— You were seeing her? You’re the guy.” Shock coated her throat, with fear following. The cop had killed Julie, and now he had Ryker? Oh God, Ryker. She partially bent over to keep from passing out.
“You have twenty minutes to bring the package to me at your house. If you’re not here, or if you bring anybody with you, I’ll blow a hole in your man’s forehead.” While Norton sounded calm, a thread of pure panic had lifted his tone.
“Okay,” Zara said, her stomach cramping. “I’ll be there.” She clicked off, looking wildly around.
“What?” Heath asked, appearing big and broad.
Norton had said to come alone and not tell anybody, but that would get Ryker and probably her killed. She was smarter than that, damn it. Heath was probably as well trained as Ryker, and she needed his help. “Detective Norton has Ryker and said he’d shoot him if I don’t bring a package to him. He was the guy seeing Julie.” The words had burst out of her. If she was going to save Ryker, she definitely needed help. “He said he’d kill Ryker if I told anybody or brought anybody with me.”
Heath’s face hardened and he was quiet for two seconds, no doubt calming himself the same way Ryker did. “Do you have a package?”
She shook her head, panic swarming through her. “I think there was one in my mail that I picked up this morning, but it’s in Ryker’s truck. In the glove box.”
“Okay.” Heath grabbed both her arms. “Take a deep breath and relax. Norton thinks we have something he needs, and he won’t hurt Ryker until he gets it. You find a package or envelope around here that’s about the same size, and I’ll go grab Denver. Okay? Can you do that?”
She nodded.
“Good. I’ll be right back.” Heath turned on his heel and ran up the stairs.
She sucked in air and scrambled up to Ryker’s office, where she found a large padded envelope that kind of looked like the one she remembered. Quickly, she stuffed a book inside just as Heath and Denver ran from one of their offices.
“What’s going on?” Denver asked.
Heath quickly brought him up to speed and gave the lowdown on a plan he’d already put together. “I’ll take the package to the front door and Denver will come in the back. We’ll hit him from different directions.”
Zara held up a hand. “No. I have to go in the front. He’ll be waiting for me.” If he didn’t see her, he just might cut his losses and shoot Ryker before running. “If he sees me on the front step, then you two will have time to get into the place. It’s the only way. He’s a cop and he’s trained.”
Denver shook his head.
Heath blanched. “If we take you, Ryker is gonna kill us. You’re his heart, lady.”
Hearing the words from Ryker’s brother filled her with warmth. If she was his heart, then she had to save his ass. “I understand, but the best plan is if I’m there.”
Heath glanced at Denver. “We don’t need you to go, sweetheart. It’s better, much better, if you stay here.”
“Better for whom?” she asked, already moving toward the garage.
“Ryker,” Denver said.
“And us,” Heath added, loping into a jog. “If my brothers let my woman confront an armed man who’d already killed one woman, I’d rip their skin from their bodies inch by inch and then use a squirt gun to spray them with saltwater.”
Zara looked over her shoulder. “Dude.”
Denver snorted and hustled alongside her. “I agree with most of what he said. We can take the house without you.”
She shook her head. “Yeah, but he said he’d kill Ryker if I even told anybody else.”
“He’ll try to kill Ryker anyway,” Heath said curtly. “It’s better if we go without you.”
She shook her head. “Maybe, but with me there, Detective Norton will be distracted just long enough for you guys to get inside. You know that, or we wouldn’t all be moving toward the vehicles right now.”
Denver sighed. “Ah hell.”
“Exactly,” Heath said grimly.
Zara said a quick prayer in her head. Ryker had to be all right. He just had to be.
Chapter
31