Prologue

      MADDIE GRIFFIN STOOD on her tiptoes to peek through the grimy window of the double-wide trailer. She saw green shag carpet on the living room floor, a centerfold hanging on the wall, and a shotgun propped in the corner—right next to the young man sprawled in a recliner with a can of beer in his hand.

      He was tall and wiry, with fuzz on his chin that barely passed for a goatee. Not more than eighteen, he wore ragged denim cutoffs and a sweat-stained gray T-shirt with a gaping hole under one arm.

      Maddie moved away from the window, her heart racing in her chest as she prepared to put her plan into action.

      Retrieving a smoke bomb from her bag, she lit it, then rolled it underneath the souped-up green Chevy Nova sedan parked in the gravel driveway. Plumes of thick grayish-white smoke soon swirled up through the grill and around the front tires of the vehicle.

      Crouching behind a dented aluminum trash can, Maddie pulled out her cell phone and dialed up the occupant of the trailer.

      After three rings, a sluggish voice came over the line. “Yeah?”

      “Hi, this is Tina, your next-door neighbor.” Maddie held her breath, hoping she sounded like the blond bombshell who lived in a nearby trailer. She’d never actually met the woman, though she had nosed through her mailbox to discover her name.

      “Hey, Tina,” he said, sounding surprised. “What’s up?”

      “Well, I just looked out my window…and I think your car is on fire.”

      A moment later, Maddie saw a shadow at his trailer window, then heard a crude oath explode over the line. The telltale squeak of the trailer’s front door told her he’d taken the bait.

      Obviously, he fit the young and stupid category, as did most of the bail jumpers who kept the Griffin Bail Enforcement Agency so busy.

      She stood up and pulled a canister of pepper spray out of her pocket. Her prey raced down the concrete steps toward the car, completely unaware that his freedom was just about to come to an end.

      Suddenly, someone tackled Maddie from behind, knocking her into the dirt. The pepper spray went flying as she gasped to regain her breath. She lay flat on her stomach, the crushing weight of the body still on top of her. Before she could scream, a beefy hand clamped over her mouth.

      “Shut up or you’ll ruin everything, you nitwit!”

      Tate. Her big brother had lousy timing. White-hot fury rolled through her as she lifted her head just far enough to see her other brother Ben apprehend the fugitive. Her fugitive. The takedown was quick and easy, just as she’d known it would be.

      By the time the kid was