Her phone vibrated against her leg, and she carefully looked at the screen, taking great pains to hide any flash of light from reaching the huddle of men. It was from Cara, a group text to both Molly’s phone and Norah’s.

I’m in.

Molly squeezed her phone so hard her fingers ached. Her thoughts spun, bombarding her with half-assed plans and impulses, but she forced herself to focus on just the next step, her fingers trembling as she typed out her text.

John’s here. Tied. Sonny +3

In just seconds, a response popped onto her screen.

What’s the plan?

After a short hesitation, Molly sent just the word hold. Although she didn’t know if her sister had spotted John and the four goons yet, Molly wasn’t sure how to direct her to this spot. She hated to see John being hurt, but she knew if she messed this up, then she and John and very likely Cara could be captured or hurt or killed. Her stomach lurched at the thought. It was so much easier to come up with risky plans when it was just her safety on the line. When it was people she loved, it got a whole lot harder. In case Cara disregarded her message, Molly typed Watch out for traps!

Squeezing her eyes closed, she let out a silent, shuddering breath. She could do this. All she needed was a plan. Opening her eyes again, she took in the horrifying tableau in front of her. She needed to even the odds so it wasn’t four with guns against two without—plus a taped-up John. As she forced her thoughts into some sort of order, she slipped closer, using the partition to hide her movements from the group and watching out for trip wires.

In her new spot, huddled behind a stack of cobwebbed pallets, she could hear what the men were saying.

“Who are you working with?” the tall guy asked. Molly recognized that voice from the phone, and she peered around the edge of the pallets, trying to get a glimpse of his face. The sliver of his profile was of little help in identifying him, but the familiarity of his form and that voice itched at the back of her brain.

“I told you.” Even though John’s voice was rough and nasally from what looked like a broken nose, hearing it sent shaky relief through Molly’s entire body. “I work by myself. Why would I want to split the bounty?”

“Liar,” Sonny spat out, and Molly barely kept herself from surging from her hiding place to tackle him. The explosive-loving bastard was the reason they were here in the first place, the reason John was trapped and hurt. Sheer willpower kept her still, but she vowed that she’d drag Sonny back to jail if it was the last thing she did. “You and that nosy bitch were working together. I saw you at Dutch’s.”

John scoffed, the sound wet from the blood that ran from his nose over his mouth. “We don’t work together. She tries to steal my skips, that’s all.”