“If they do,” the super said, “I hope she’s got good insurance.”

“Will you please shut up and go away?” Cameron gave him his most sinister look until the guy did what he asked and moved away from Cam, saving the guy’s teeth. Right about now, he was capable of that and much worse.

He’d known something terrible was going to happen, but he’d let Gigi talk him into going forward with their relationship despite his fear that Jaycee wasn’t done with them yet.

A hand landed on his shoulder.

He startled and then turned to see Jeannie. “I came as soon as I heard. What’s the latest?”

“Waiting on SWAT. They’re taking their own sweet time.”

“They want to get it right.”

Cam knew that, but in this case, all he cared about was Gigi and making sure she was safe. He had a terrible, sick feeling in his gut. If she was hurt, he didn’t know how he would cope with knowing his ex was the one who’d harmed her. His knees buckled, and only Jeannie’s hands on his arm kept him from falling.

“Come sit,” she said.

“I don’t want to.”

“Don’t make me order you, friend,” she said with a kind smile.

Cameron let her lead him to a bench in a common area within sight of Gigi’s front door. Thanks to Jeannie’s radio, he could hear the chatter of the SWAT commander communicating with his team.

Gigi’s partner, Detective Dani Carlucci, came over to be with him, bringing Gigi’s sobbing mother with her.

“Everyone is in place,” the SWAT commander said over the radio. “Can we get the order to go in?”

“So ordered,” Jeannie said as the senior officer on the scene.

Cameron held his breath as the SWAT team blasted through windows and doors. What if he was wrong and she wasn’t in there? What if he’d overreacted and caused massive damage to her home all for nothing?

It wasn’t nothing. His gut was telling him it was definitely something. Gigi didn’t just fall off the grid. None of them did that. Their job required they be accessible all the time. The only time they checked out was when they were on vacation, and she wasn’t on vacation.

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

Every report was like a knife to his heart.

“Captain! Up here.”

Cameron took off running toward the front door.

Jeannie and Dani were right behind him, holding him back.

He fought against them with everything he had, desperate to get to Gigi.

“Call EMS. Tell them to hurry.”

Cameron’s knees buckled under him. “Oh my God. Gigi…”

Dani attended to Gigi’s hysterical mother while Jeannie kept her arms around Cameron.

“Breathe,” Jeannie said. “They called for EMS, not the ME.”

“Please, Jeannie. Let me go to her.” He pulled his arm free of her grip and ran for the door, flashing his badge at the officer who met him. “She’s mine. Please…”

“You need to prepare yourself…”

Cameron died a thousand deaths as he raced up the stairs to Gigi’s bedroom where the activity was centered. In the doorway, he stopped short at the sight of her, bruised and bloody, sitting on the bed, wearing a robe. Her big dark eyes shifted to him, but she barely reacted to him. Her service weapon was in her lap.