My husband was cutting my birthday cake while everyone sang—then his mistress walked into our house, smashed that same cake into my face, and announced she was pregnant with his baby.

The next three days were a blur.

Police interviews.

FBI interviews.

Lawyers.

Accountants.

Reporters camped outside the gate.

News helicopters circling overhead.

The story had gone viral.

Nashville socialite outwits cheating husband and mobsters.

Read all about it.

My face was on every news channel.

Every website.

Every gossip magazine in the country.

People were calling me a hero.

A genius.

The woman who got revenge.

If only they knew how scared I had been.

How scared I still was.

Because the two men from the van—Anthony Gallo and his nephew, Vincent—had started talking the moment they were in custody.

And they had names.

Lots of names.

Local politicians.

Business owners.

Police officers.

It turned out Daniel hadn’t just borrowed money from two-bit loan sharks.

He had borrowed from a full-scale criminal organization.

One that had been operating in Tennessee for thirty years.

And the authorities wanted to use Daniel’s case to bring the whole thing down.

Which meant Daniel was more valuable alive than dead.

At least for now.

He was being held in protective custody.

Isolated from the general population.

Because Gallo’s people had already tried to kill him twice in lockup.

Once with a shiv made from a toothbrush.

Once with poison in his food.

Both times, he had survived by pure luck.

His lawyer was negotiating a deal.

Testify against the Gallo organization.

Provide full disclosure of every financial transaction.

Every meeting.

Every name.

And in exchange, he’d get ten years.

Possibly seven with good behavior.

Seven years.

For everything he had done to me.

It didn’t seem like enough.

On Thursday night—three days after my birthday, one day before the original deadline for the money—I got a collect call from the jail.

“Sarah?”

It was Daniel.

His voice was thinner.

Weaker.

“Hello, Daniel.”

“They’re going to kill me in here,” he said without preamble. “You have to help me.”

“I don’t have to do anything.”

“Please,” he said. “I know you hate me. I deserve it. But I made a deal with the DA. I’m testifying. If I get seven years, I’ll be out before I’m forty-five. I can start over. But only if I live long enough to get to trial.”

“What do you want from me, Daniel?”

“Put in a word with the DA,” he said. “Get me into witness protection. Move me somewhere else. Another state. Another prison. Gallo has people everywhere. I’ve already seen three guys I know from his crew in here. They’re just waiting for the right moment.”

“Why would I help you?”

“Because Lauren is missing.”

I sat up straight.

“What?”

“Nobody has seen her since Monday night,” he said. “She left the apartment with a suitcase. Told the landlord she was going to her sister’s in Atlanta. But her sister says she never showed up. Her phone has been off since Tuesday morning. The police aren’t taking it seriously. They think she just ran away because of the scandal. But I know Gallo. He took her. To get to me. To make sure I don’t testify.”

“Or maybe she just left you,” I said. “Can you blame her?”

“It’s not like that,” he insisted. “She took nothing but clothes. Her wallet is still on the kitchen table. Her car is in the parking lot. She wouldn’t leave her car. She loved that car. And she wouldn’t go anywhere without her ultrasound photos. She carried them everywhere. They’re still on the fridge.”

I was quiet.

That did sound strange.

“Sarah, if they have her, they’re going to hurt her,” he said. “And the baby. Five months along. It’s a boy. We were going to name him Jackson. Please. You’re the only one who can make the DA listen. You’re the victim. The star witness. Your word carries weight. Tell them to find Lauren. And tell them to get me out of here before I’m next.”

I thought about it.

I hated Daniel.

Truly hated him.

But Lauren?

She had smashed a cake in my face.

Announced her pregnancy to my family.

Helped him plan the theft.

But she was also pregnant.

And if what Daniel said was true, she was in danger.

Nobody deserved what Gallo’s people did to people.

Not even her.

“I’ll talk to the DA,” I said.

“Thank you,” he breathed. “Thank you, Sarah. I knew—”

“Don’t thank me,” I said. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it because no one deserves to be hurt by those animals. Not even your mistress. And if you think this means I’m going to go easy on you in the divorce, you’re sadly mistaken. I’m taking everything. The house. The cars. the retirement accounts. Every fork and spoon. You’re going to get out of prison in seven years with nothing but the clothes on your back and a felony record. Do you understand me?”

“I understand,” he said. “It’s more than I deserve.”

“One more thing,” I said. “When you testify, you tell them everything. Every last detail. If I find out you held anything back—any name, any date, any dollar amount—the deal is off. I’ll personally make sure you spend the rest of your life in maximum security. Cellmate named Bubba who thinks you’re pretty. Do we have an understanding?”

“I’ll tell them everything,” he said. “I swear to God.”

“Goodbye, Daniel.”

I hung up.

I sat there for a long time, staring at the phone.

Lauren missing.

Gallo’s people inside the prison.

This was getting worse, not better.

I called the DA.

He took my call immediately.

“I just got off the phone with Daniel,” I said. “He says Lauren is missing. And that Gallo’s people have made two attempts on his life in jail.”

The DA was quiet for a moment.

“We know about the attempts,” he said. “We’ve increased security. And we’ve been looking for Ms. Jennings since Tuesday. Her sister filed a missing person report yesterday afternoon. We just didn’t want to alarm you unnecessarily.”

“Did you find anything?”

“Her apartment was undisturbed,” he said. “No sign of forced entry. No struggle. But Daniel’s right—she left behind her wallet, her car, her medication. She’s asthmatic. Hasn’t refilled her inhaler in two weeks. That’s not someone who planned to leave town. That’s someone who was taken.”

“Where would they take her?”

“We’re looking,” he said. “Gallo owns several properties in the area. A warehouse out in La Vergne. A farm in Cookeville. A couple of empty houses. We’re getting warrants now. But these people are careful. They’ve been doing this a long time.”

“I want to help,” I said.

“Mrs. Carter—”

“Sarah,” I corrected. “And I’m serious. Daniel told me things. Names. Places. I have all the financial records. I know how the money moved. I can help you follow the trail. And I want in on the witness protection discussion for Daniel. Not because I like him. But because if he’s dead, he can’t testify. And I want these people put away. All of them.”

The DA was quiet again.

Then he sighed.

“Come to my office tomorrow morning,” he said. “Nine o’clock. We’ll talk.”

I hung up.

My parents were in the living room, watching the news.

“Who was that?” my mother asked.

“Daniel,” I said. “Then the DA.”

My father muted the TV.

“What did Daniel want?”

“Lauren is missing,” I said. “He thinks Gallo took her. And he’s scared for his own life in prison. I told the DA I want to help with the case.”

My mother’s hand flew to her mouth.

“Oh, that poor girl. And the baby.”

My father frowned.

“Sarah, these are dangerous people. You’ve already done enough. You testified. You gave them the money as evidence. Let the professionals handle it from here.”

“I can’t,” I said. “Not when Lauren is out there somewhere. And not when Gallo is still running his operation from a jail cell. He has to be stopped. Before he hurts anyone else.”

My father looked at me.

Really looked at me.

“You’ve changed,” he said. “Since the party.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No,” he said. “It’s just different. The little girl who used to be scared of her own shadow is gone. In her place is someone I don’t entirely recognize. But I’m proud of her. Very proud.”

He reached over and squeezed my hand.

“Just be careful,” he said. “Promise me.”

“I promise.”

That night, I couldn’t sleep again.

Too many thoughts.

Too many what-ifs.

I went downstairs to the kitchen.

Got a glass of water.

And that’s when I heard it.

A soft sound.

From the back of the house.

Near the laundry room.