She kept her head down, unperturbed and not noticing Baer behind her. Then she leaned into her station wagon and… didn’t get back in. Instead, she emerged with a purse the size of a Humvee and a hat pulled over her hair.

Is that…? Nah. She looked like Brock’s wife, but that wouldn’t make sense. Either way, she didn’t look like the women who frequented GUNS. Those ladies defined “rowdy.” One of those ladies would crack a beer bottle on a dude’s head if he gave her the wrong pick-up line.

Volvo lady wasn’t one of those ladies. She was in the wrong place and couldn’t have picked a worse time. But damn if she didn’t look like Sarah Gamble. If only she would look up.

Baer took another step forward, craning his neck to inspect the woman. Fuck. Buck Baer blowing away a random bystander wasn’t in the game plan, and Jared wasn’t in a position to handle a hostage.

“Closed?” Volvo lady asked, fiddling in her monster bag. Her voice shook, and Jared had a bad feeling. “I’m here to see Sugar.”

“She’s not here. Time to go.” Get your ass in the car and leave.

One hand still lost in her purse and the other on her hip, she glanced up, her face unmistakable. Sarah Gamble.

“And why are you telling me and not Sugar?”

“I’m trying to save your life. Go home to Mayberry.” Jared kept eyes on Baer in the periphery while he studied the back of Sarah’s floppy hat. Baer wasn’t stupid. If he hadn’t figured out who she was, he might recognize Sarah’s voice.

Rocco barked in Jared’s ear. “Brock, hold your position.”

“Sarah,” Baer’s slick voice slithered across Jared’s skin.

Her head snapped to look over her shoulder. Her petite frame pivoted, partially obscured from Baer’s line of sight by her station wagon.

Fuck.

“Goddamn it, Sugar’s on the move,” Rocco growled. “Winters, get in there and hold her ass down if you have to.”

If she was watching the security feed, she had surely seen Sarah roll up. Only a titanium will kept Jared’s head trained forward, to avoid alerting Baer before Sugar burst through the front door.

“Sarah.” Jared took a step forward, his hand on his holstered Glock. “Get in your car and leave. Now’s a bad time, sweetheart.”

She looked from Jared to Buck, then back again. The woman had been abducted, her kids had been endangered, and only the Lord knew what she thought about Brock. She needed a Xanax far more than she needed to confront two men who were about to duel.

Jared pressed her. “Everything’s all right. But you have to go.”

She took off her sunglasses, squinting despite the dull early evening light. “You’re going to kill Brock, my husband, if you haven’t already.”

“Where the fuck is Sugar?” Winters barked in his earpiece.