Page 137 of Played By Design

He’s conserving energy, letting his body rest while his mind works, trying to find a way out of this.

On the kitchen feed, the second intruder moves through the house. He’s taller than the one guarding Kain, with broader shoulders, wearing black tactical gear. He moves through the rooms with purpose, opening drawers and sweeping his flashlight around as he searches the house.

My streaming office is next.

The intruder shoves the door open with his shoulder and steps inside. His light sweeps the room, pausing on the bookshelf, the monitors, and the desk where my laptop sits in sleep mode.

The intruder crosses to my desktop. He cracks the case open with a flathead screwdriver from his pocket, rips out the hard drive, and smashes it against the edge of the desk.

Once. Twice. The plastic casing splinters. He drops the pieces and moves on.

His flashlight beam finds the digital frame mounted on the wall beside my desk.

The photo from Lantern Key glows in the dark room, showing me standing next to the life-sized knight. I was so excited the day Kain installed that in my office.

The intruder wrenches it off the wall, and the frame hits the floor screen-down with a plastic crack, the light behind the display flickering before it dies.

My jaw tightens, and the muscle in my cheek jumps.

The second intruder finishes his sweep of the office and heads back to the living room.

He stops beside his partner and leans close. Whatever he says makes the lead intruder’s head tilt.

The lead man points toward the floor, and his partner peels away again to search out the door to the basement.

My stomach drops. “Rowan, they’re going for the basement.”

Rowan’s engine roars in the background. “We’re almost to you.”

“The drives.” My fingers dig into the edge of the desk. “The Blue Note’s archive. Everything is down there.”

“We’re four minutes out,” Rowan says. “Stay put.”

“I can’t.”

“Reef.”

“They could be gone before you arrive.” My hand finds the gun rack on the back wall. “That’s every job, every name, every transaction you’ve ever run through the lounge. If they reach those drives⁠—”

“Stay in the room, Reef,” Rowan orders, an Alpha Command bleeding through.

“That won’t work on me,” I snap. “You’re not my Alpha.”

“Your Alpha would tell you to stay put,” he growls right back.

“I can protect our people, too, Rowan.”

On the monitor, the lead intruder stands. He pulls a knife from his belt and lays the flat of the blade to Kain’s throat, tilting his chin up.

Kain lifts his head enough to say something I can’t hear.

I grab a handful of zip ties and shove them into my pocket. I pull a compact 9mm from the rack, the cold metal settling into my palm. Muscle memory attaches the suppressor, and I check the magazine, rack the slide, and turn off the safety.

“I’m going,” I say.

“No headshots,” Rowan concedes. “We need one of them talking. Both if you can manage it.”

“No promises,” I say, and end the call before Rowan can push back.