A chill ran down her spine when she didn’t get a response. She backed up and rushed inside her room, grabbed her service weapon and crept back down the hallway. She paused at the top of the stairs.

“Missy?”

Seconds ticked off. Kat strained to hear anything below but it remained quiet. “I am calling 9-1-1 and I have a weapon!” she yelled.

“Hang up the phone or I’ll kill her,” a familiar voice threatened.

Kat’s knees nearly buckled. She had to be mistaken. “Mason?”

“You f**king bitch!” he shouted. “Get down here.”

Panic set in. Why would Mason be at her house? Obviously Darkness had not been paranoid by believing her ex-boss would come after her. She fought to remain calm. “I’m not doing anything until I know Missy is okay.”

“Talk,” he grunted.

“Kat?” Missy’s voice was soft and strained. “He’s got a gun to my head.”

“That’s enough,” Mason ordered. “Toss down your gun.”

Kat tried to think but all she could imagine was him shooting Missy. “Why are you here, Mason? What do you want?”

“This is your fault. I trusted you to do a job. What did you do instead? You screwed me over. You told those animals I sent you. You shouldn’t have f**ked me over, Katrina.”

She bit her lip. Normal tactics weren’t going to work with him. He’d had the same training, knew the same tricks. “That’s not true. Let’s talk about this, Mason. Okay? I didn’t do anything. I went to Homeland to look for that man you wanted me to find. I couldn’t get any information.” She tried to slow her hammering heart. “I went in to file a report and that’s when I learned you’d been replaced. What’s going on? They wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“I’m under investigation. I want you down here now, Kat. If I hear sirens or see cops, I’ll kill this bitch. I have nothing to lose. I want your gun or she’s dead.”

“I’m trying to figure out why you’re here.” That was honest. He could have gone after any agent but he’d chosen her. “Do you need help?” She changed tactics. He was apprehensive and hated the NSO. “Did those New Species find out we were trying to bust them and came after you?”

Silence. Kat prayed he’d fall for it. He had to be desperate to show up at her house. Was he seeking revenge? Just a random target for the shit storm he’d brought down on his own head? Missy’s life depended on being able to manipulate him.

She didn’t like the silence. “Who else knew you sent me in? It was just me that went in there, right? Nobody else? I sure didn’t leak anything,” she lied. She’d just enlarged the suspect pool to include the agents he’d sent in as the work crew. “Who did you tell about Homeland?”

“I want your gun.” His voice sounded calmer.

“Okay.” She ejected the clip and the chambered round and put on the safety. “I’m going to send it down.”

She flung the clip first, then the gun a second later, keeping close to the wall, protecting her body. She did glance down though, identifying Missy’s bare feet with Mason’s shoes right behind her. He was using her as a shield and kept them out of the line of fire.

“I want your backup gun too,” he demanded.

“It’s in my bedroom. I just grabbed my service weapon. May I get it?”

“Ten seconds.” He began to count.

Kat fled down the hallway and jerked her second handgun off the top shelf of the closet. She snagged her cell phone from the charger and hauled ass down the hallway. She made sure she made a lot of noise so he could hear her every movement and know where she was. The last thing she wanted was for him to get twitchy with a gun to Missy’s head.

She shoved the gun under her armpit and activated the phone. Her first instinct was to dial 9-1-1 but they might come in with sirens or lights. It was also possible her ex-boss was listening to their channels. “I have it,” she called out. “What is going on? Talk to me, Mason. I’m a little leery of sending my last gun down to you. You might kill my girlfriend anyway.”

She scrolled through numbers and found the one she’d programmed in when Mason had sent her on assignment. She hit the icon, using her shoulder to hold it against her ear as she gripped her gun.

“Send that gun down!”

“Not until I know you’re not going to kill us both.”

“You’ve reached Homeland,” a cheerful deep voice answered. “How may I help you?”

“I want that f**king gun,” Mason yelled.

“I know you have a gun to Missy’s head, Mason. Just tell me why you’re at my house. I only went to Homeland as Kathryn Decker under your orders. Let’s talk. I’m not giving up my gun until I know what you want or you could kill us both.”

“Shit,” the guy on the phone growled.

“I’m going to count to ten and you either toss down the gun or your girlfriend dies. One, two…”

“I know you record these things,” she whispered. “He’s going to shoot Missy if he hears sirens. Don’t call the police or she’s dead. Just mute your side and keep recording.”

“Nine,” Mason yelled. “Send down that gun.”

Kat shoved the phone down the front of her pants, into her underwear and removed the clip from the gun. “Here it comes. Clip first. Just calm down.” She leaned out and threw it. It bounced on the steps. “Gun next.” She pitched it.