If only he could rewind the clock, refuse the lifeline that had been offered.

But desperation could short-circuit brain cells.

Logic should have told him that once his so-called savior had blackmail material, the persecution could go on forever. That he could be forced to continue aiding and abetting whatever illegal activity was taking place.

Making the lifeline he’d welcomed an ever-tightening noose.

“Will? You with me?”

He filled his lungs. “Yeah.”

“I can count on you?”

What choice did he have? He was in too deep to backtrack.

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

The line went dead.

After a moment, Will stabbed the end button.

What was he going to do?

If Suz ever got wind of how he’d managed to meet her ultimatum, she’d never come back to him.

And he couldn’t handle that. After twenty-six years of marriage, life without her was empty. Living in this cramped apartment, eating frozen dinners, going to bed alone night after night—it stunk.

Their six-month trial separation would be up in five weeks, and he couldn’t risk exposure at this stage or he’d lose her forever.

Meaning he had to do what his anonymous rescuer demanded.

And really, even with an added patrol, his part in whatever was going on was minuscule. How accountable could he be for the nefarious activity taking place? He knew nothing.

Except that a girl—and her boyfriend—were missing.

A tremor snaked through him, and he reached for the bottle of gin again.

Hesitated.

That might not be the best idea. It would be too easy to start relying on booze to smooth out the rough edges in his life.

And he sure didn’t need to add another vice to the one that had plunged him deep into the murky waters of deception—where he was sinking fast.

3

WHAT IN BLAZES was Cate Reilly doing at Ivy Hill Academy?

Sucking in a breath, Zeke took a quick step backward, around the corner in the hall. Dropped to one knee on the pretense of tying a shoelace. Leaned forward slightly until the woman with long auburn hair and her middle-aged male companion standing near the reception desk in the distance were visible.

Could his eyes be deceiving him?

Was that Cate?

He squinted at her profile, tracing the aquiline nose, strong chin, graceful neck.

She wasn’t wearing her usual ponytail—but yeah. It was Cate.

Eight years may have passed since he’d last seen her, but a man didn’t forget the only woman who’d ever managed to infiltrate his defenses and make him second-guess his choices.

But why had he run into her here, of all places?

And how was he supposed to play this?

“Everything okay, Zeke?” Richard clapped a hand on his shoulder as the other faculty members spilling out of the conference room detoured around them.