“Oh, thank Christ,” he said, standing up and pulling me against his chest. He kissed my hair, breathed me in, and then held me at arm’s length.

I cringed, knowing what he would say.

“What the fuck were you thinking, Ellison? I mean … what in the actual fuck?”

“Not here,” Trex said, holding open the front door.

Tyler grabbed my hand and pulled me through, following Trex down the sidewalk to an Audi much like my father’s. Trex opened the back door for me, and I sat, sliding over when Tyler began to climb in next to me. Once the door shut, the yelling began again.

“Do you have any idea how scared I was when I got the call?” he seethed. “Do you have any fucking clue how much trouble you could have been in—how much trouble we all could have been in—if Taylor hadn’t gotten Trex involved? Do you know what that would have done to me if something had happened to you?”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t trying to get you fired.”

Tyler grabbed my shoulders. “Fired?” He shook his head, releasing me before sitting back against the seat. “Goddamn it, Ellie, I thought you were dead.”

Guilt overwhelmed me, and the past six hours of wandering in the black, slightly intoxicated, and then getting fully booked into the system after my arrest finally hit me. “I’m really, really sorry. That was so stupid. I wasn’t thinking.”

“That tends to happen when you’re drunk,” he snapped.

“I’d only had two drinks,” I said, immediately feeling guilty for lying. It didn’t take long for me to resort to old habits.

Tyler raised an eyebrow, dubious. “You’re really going to lie me? After I just pulled a hundred strings to get you out of jail?”

“I’m not.” I paused, shrinking from Tyler’s glare. “Lying.”

“Wow. Okay, then,” he said, facing forward.

“Technically, I was the one who pulled all the strings,” Trex said.

I frowned at Tyler. “How did you get him to do it?”

Tyler looked down, frustrated. “Don’t ask how, Ellie. Just say thank you.”

“To who? The FBI? I want to know. What’s in it for you, Agent Trexler?” I feared the worst: that Taylor or Tyler had agreed to share information about their brother in return for Trex’s help.

“It’s not agent anymore,” Trex said. I wasn’t sure if he sounded deflated or relieved.

“What?” I asked.

Tyler nodded. “He’s serious. He no longer works for the bureau. Apparently his boss is a real dick.”

Trex breathed out a laugh, somehow finding humor in the situation.

“How did he pull strings, then?” I asked.

Tyler sighed. “He just did, Ellie.”

“Why?” I insisted. “What did you do in return, Tyler?”

“It’s what you’re not going to do,” Trex said.

“All of us,” Tyler said.