He turned to Ben, ready to dump his ass and leave him behind, gun or no gun. “What is so important?”

Ben hung up. The strained look on his face suggested the news he received wasn’t good. “I called yesterday to check on Evan’s status.”

Connor didn’t have time for a play-by-play. He was too busy plotting out the next ten minutes and trying to figure out how fast Ben’s car could go.

They sprinted to the vehicle. Connor asked his question on the way. “Status of what?”

They slipped in and Ben had his keys out. “I couldn’t figure out how he could be here unless he was taking vacation to come see Maddie.”

“And?”

Ben started the car. “He’s been on administrative leave for four months.”

Connor heard a thunking sound in his brain. Too late. He’d messed up last time and this looked like a repeat.

He forced his brain to focus. “What? Why?”

“No one will say but whatever he’s doing here, it’s not for WITSEC.” Ben backed out and entered Whitaker’s version of traffic, gliding in and out of the few other cars on the road. “We need to get to Maddie.”

Only one word registered in Connor’s head. “Now.”

Chapter 31

Maddie waited for Evan to laugh after his weird comment . . . to do something. As far as jokes went, this one sucked. Her stomach dropped when she saw the anger in his face. Okay, yeah, she got it. He didn’t like it when she didn’t listen to him. But he’s the one who said the danger had passed.

Since he dropped her arm, she backed up, trying to angle her way toward the butcher block. A knife was the closest weapon and, unlike the gun, not locked down. She really hoped she was overreacting and didn’t need either.

The other weapon she had was her. She’d been trained to talk to attackers. Humanize. Stall. Do whatever was needed to gain the upper hand.

One problem. Evan had taught her all that.

She fell back on reason. Maybe they could talk this out. “Tell me what is going on.”

“What’s the fastest way off the island without being seen?”

“Water taxi.” Even Dom would get a distress signal. She had to believe that.

He grabbed her again and pushed her against the edge of the kitchen island. Fingers dug into her arm and his expression, utterly without emotion, suggested she listen.

“Are you really going to risk your beloved Connor’s life by lying to me?”

Guilt smacked into her. Evan would do it. He never hid his hatred for Connor. She didn’t understand but she didn’t have to. Hate could be irrational. And Evan could kill without blinking. He’d told her that a thousand times over the years. He believed she could kill the same way, but he was wrong.