The fifth book in the series, Crossfire, was published on 8 August 2019.[1] Part of the book picks up months after Double Cross on Callie's birthday, exactly one year after Checkmate; the rest occurs eighteen years later.
Tobey's guilt over Rebecca's death leads him to believe he no longer deserves Callie Rose, estranging himself from her. Sephy and Nathan marry, and she's pregnant with a son, Troy, by Callie Rose's next birthday. During the party, Tobey and Callie Rose have a huge argument over his continued secrecy about his involvement in McAuley's death. He decides to end his and Callie Rose's relationship for good.
During the party, Tobey has sex with a woman named Misty, who becomes pregnant and gives birth to Tobey's daughter Libby. He attempts to have a relationship with her for their child's sake, but it falls apart.
In his resulting depression, Tobey briefly joins Nought Forever, the Liberation Militia's spiritual successor, but soon quits. Tobey pursues a career in politics and is aided and bankrolled by Dan, now a powerful gangster. He uses his growing fortune to financially support Misty and Libby, but Misty refuses to let him see their daughter and conceals his identity from Libby. She gradually spends Libby's entire trust fund, becoming an alcoholic and drug addict, and abuses Libby, who struggles with anxiety and self-harm.
Troy and Libby become friends, but after a brief romance, their relationship sours and they become bitter rivals. Callie Rose attends law school and later works for a prominent lawyer, becoming one of the best barristers in the country; Nathan is killed in a hit-and-run, leaving Sephy and Troy devastated. Over the next two years Sonny returns to Sephy's life and they resume their relationship, but Troy discovers what appears to be the same car that killed Nathan on Sonny's land, leaving him convinced that Sonny murdered his father.
With Dan's help, Tobey is elected as the first Nought Prime Minister, but Dan is later murdered at a party attended by Tobey, Sephy, and Owen Dowd. Tobey is arrested for the crime and enlists Callie Rose to defend him. The two go on to have a one-night stand, but Callie Rose is repulsed to learn of his past affiliation with Nought Forever. When she threatens to drop him as a client, he blackmails her into continuing to defend him by threatening to reveal their affair to her employers.
When she finally learns of her father's identity, Libby disowns Misty and contacts Tobey. Unwilling to lose the financial support Tobey has been providing, Misty abducts Libby and Troy, holding them hostage to extort more money from Tobey. However, several of Dan's former enforcers murder Misty and take the teenagers captive themselves, demanding that Callie Rose drop Tobey as a client and that he pleads guilty. In an effort to get Callie Rose to comply with the kidnappers' demands, Tobey tells her that Sephy murdered Dan, and that he covered for her by planting evidence to make himself appear guilty. Despite this revelation and the danger to Libby and Troy, Callie Rose continues to defend Tobey, who pleads his innocence as the trial begins. In response, the kidnappers decide to leave Libby and Troy to die, sealing them in their cellar prison.
