Trevor sat with his arms folded while Roman lacerated him for giving Zara the gun. He was livid because they'd just had a fight over the matter yesterday. Trevor didn't flinch. After letting Roman explode he said low and calm, "You will thank me when she survives." Roman threw his hands in the air then flung himself into a seat across from Trevor. He knew that he was right, but would never admit it.

"But we talked about this yesterday."

"No, we yelled about this. I don't recall telling you that I wouldn't do it. We shot through 30 rounds yesterday, she can handle the gun."

"I expressly told you not to do it."

"I probably would have listened until I found out that Judge Tolliver is dead."

The color drained from Roman's face. This kicked up the dangerous stakes. This wasn't betrayal and a crazy game of destroying lives anymore. They'd now stepped over into the darkest elements – murder. This was more than Roman had planned for. Knowing that Ethan was capable of murder, to knowing that he'd committed murder were two different levels. He stared at Trevor in disbelief. "What?"

"When you told me that she had already prepared Zara's legal catastrophe I had her tracked. My men have already removed our surveillance from the house. We're not getting involved in that, but her body is still on the floor."

"What happened?"

Panic absorbed Roman's mind, his body shook from fear and anger. He'd known that Ethan was a suspected killer but to have it confirmed gutted him. The team had the entire scope of the conversation between Ethan and Judge Tolliver. Since they monitored both locations. They had even more than that; they had what led up to the incident.

Ethan felt slighted by Judge Tolliver calling him out at the meeting. So he set up a hit, after making it seem like he'd acquiesced to her demands. In fluid deception, he called and said that he'd wired the extra money to an offshore bank account. Knowing full well that he'd reverse the transaction once she was dead. They conversed by speakerphone. Then with sickening betrayal, he had her favorite flowers delivered...

***

"Thank you for the wire transfer, Ethan. I do want to apologize for my outburst."

"No need to apologize. Sometimes our negotiations can get a little edgy. You'll get to meet Zara soon. I hope that you can detect some weaknesses that we can exploit."

"You know that I always do."

"Good."

Judge Tolliver glanced outside her window and saw a truck coming up her driveway. "Ethan, let me call you back. There is a flower truck pulling up in my driveway."

"Oh, yes, I forgot I sent you some flowers. That's my way of saying that all this is over. I know that you love pink roses - had the freshest flowers sent overnight from China."

"That's sweet, Ethan. I'll see you at the gathering."

"Good-bye, Tolliver."

Tolliver smiled as she opened the door, looking at the beautiful pink flowers. The sweet aroma saturated the air. "He's never done anything this nice for me before."

"Delivery for Judge Tolliver."

Her eyes widened as she saw the gun behind the flowers. Two silencer-shots to the head followed.

***

"Oh my God," Roman said, rubbing his head. "I apologize. You were right to give her the gun. What have I gotten her into?"

"Stop it. This is what you do every day. I'm here to keep you balanced."

He shook his head, feeling his nerves in spasms.

Trevor nodded toward the monitor. "Look, she's fine. They are having an ordinary evening. She's cooking and he's watching the TV. I've got to get back. Hang in there. We only have one more day and then it's go time."

Roman got up and walked Trevor out to his car - something that he never did. He was too consumed with watching Zara on the monitor. It didn't go unnoticed by Trevor, as he arched his eyebrow. The chilling night breeze wrapped around them making Roman wish that he'd worn his coat outside. Rock salt crunched under his feet as he made it to the car.

"There is something else, man."

"I knew it. What?"

"I got a strange call from Calista's sister yesterday. She said there is something that I should know but they haven't gotten to the point where they can talk to me about it yet."

Trevor ran his hands through his hair. He gulped the frigid air, blowing out in heavy puffs that crystallized. "You haven't heard from them in five years and sure as hell don't need any further drama right now. Did she give you anything?"

"I've tried to get something out of her but whatever it is disturbed her so that she couldn't talk about it. " Roman pressed his fingers into his temple. "I told her that I was on an assignment right now and would follow up when I get back."

"This is crazy. What could she possibly want?"

"I don't know. She was very upset. But I can't handle it right now."

Trevor placed a comforting hand on Roman's shoulder. It tore at his heart to see him so troubled. Roman was the best friend that he'd ever had. It was hard watching him go through this. They stood silent for a long time as the wind whipped around them. Grief radiated off of Roman. Trevor racked his brain for something to say. But he knew that he'd had no guarantees on anything. Finally, he said. "Has God ever left you in trouble?"

"No."

"Then all will be well." He patted him on the back and then got in the car. Ice crunched under the tires as he backed out of the driveway. Roman stood there feeling numb; his eyes trailed the car until it faded in the distance. He went back into the house and grabbed his coat, deciding to run to clear his head.

***

Several hours later

Roman fell asleep in the chair in front of the monitors and got jarred awake by one of the team members, named Eric. The man looked frantic, he waved his hands about pointing to the screen. Roman's eyes dragged open and saw Ethan in his office flipping things over and cursing. Roman snatched up – ramrod straight. "What the hell?"

"The pen," Eric sputtered, "He was looking for his pen and found it on the floor."

"Shit!" The boom in Roman's voice woke everyone up. They'd been taking shifts watching the monitors. Now everyone buzzed about the room coming up to speed with the happenings. "Find the footage where Zara was in the office. I watched her she didn't miss anything. Find the damn feed!"

Eric scrambled through the footage. "Sir, I've watched Ethan for several days, he always taps a pen when he's thinking. He has pens all over the house. He sat behind his desk and..."

"Okay, just find the footage or we will have to get her out of there." Roman knew full well the paranoia of bad men. They were always suspicious of the slightest thing. "Call Trevor," he barked. "Tell him he might have to get her out of there!"

Several members of the team went through the video feed. They located the clip and watched. There was a sigh of relief when they scanned the desk and saw the pen. Zooming in closer they saw the dust prints. Roman stuffed his face in his hands feeling the weight lift. Eric kept his eyes glued to the screen and groaned as he watched Zara leave. Everyone jerked towards the video as they heard him. With wide eyes they watched Zara close the door. The vibration tipped the pen and it fell to the floor. Tension was thick as sludge. They patched Trevor through.

"Do you want us to go get her? She's sleep."

Roman held up his hand. "Just wait – we've come too far too abort this prematurely. Let me see what this asshole is going to do."

They all held their breath as Ethan searched the room. The way that he went through every inch with scrutiny let them know that he'd been spied on before. Perhaps it was in that office. He crawled on the floor seeing if the furniture got moved. He moved curtains back eyeing anything that indicated movement. Roman knew exactly what he was doing. They played the same game in espionage; only he was on the good side. From the way that Ethan strip-searched the room, he was good at his evil.

Everyone sat on the edge of their seat until Ethan exhausted himself. He picked the pen off the floor twirling it between his fingers. "What is wrong with me? I've got to stop being so suspicious. She's clueless."

People had belittled Zara her entire life. Those words were like tossing acid in his face. As long as he had breath in his body no one was going to hurt Zara ever again. "Clueless! Let me get my hands on that man." Just as he snatched out of the chair, he heard a unified gasp. He spun around and combusted as Ethan eased into Zara's bed.