Cade sank down in his seat, out of sight. They didn’t know he was here. If they did, he’d be surrounded by police cruisers so fast he wouldn’t be able to blink.

Who was the kid? I should have asked that question a long time ago. Kids meant vulnerabilities. Especially a kid who was important to Dani Novak.

Still slouched in his seat, he put on his earphones and pointed his mike at the group. But they were quiet. Strangely quiet.

Yeah, it was the middle of the night, but Cade had expected to hear some murmured conversation. Something. Yet there was nothing. Only the panting of seven fucking dogs.

Then one of them murmured, “Far enough. They’ve all peed. Let’s go back.”

Cade scrunched his body, making sure he was not visible at all. He heard the door slam closed, but he didn’t relax. He half expected to see a face staring at him through one of the SUV’s windows, that the slammed door was a ruse to make him think he was alone again in the darkness.

But that didn’t happen. Nothing happened. He strained to hear the conversations inside the house, but he was too far away, dammit.

Pulling himself upright in the seat, he did a quick Google search on Dani Novak. Her picture popped up—her white streaks stark against the black of her hair. He expanded the search to include her family and blinked at the results.

Of course there were articles on her brother Deacon, but she had a second brother. Greg. Who’d been kidnapped along with Dani a few years ago.

Cade enlarged the photo so that he could study the young man’s face. Yeah, that was the kid he’d seen walking the dogs. He’d been wearing a ball cap, so Cade hadn’t noticed that the boy had white hair, too. And he was deaf.

Like Michael.

Stella Brewer had said that Dani Novak was the only emergency foster provider who knew ASL. That made sense now, knowing that Greg Novak was deaf. The lack of spoken conversation between Greg and the two men as they’d walked the dogs also made sense.

He wasn’t sure how he’d use the information, but it was certainly worth considering. Especially if Greg and Michael were friends.

If the “platoon” never went home, he’d need a way to draw Michael out of the house, and invitations from friends were a good way to do that.

Definitely something to consider.

Bridgetown, Ohio
Monday, March 18, 2:30 a.m.

Diesel’s arms tight around her, Dani rested her head on his chest, luxuriating in the feeling of being held by this man who . . . Loves me. Diesel loved her. She had seen it in his eyes as he’d worshipped her with his body.