Beyond the Blue Horizon (Moonlit Ridge #4)

1. Theo

ONE

THEO

“You have intel?” I asked into the Bluetooth as I wound my truck through the dense forest on my way back to Moonlit Ridge.

The sun had set about half an hour ago, and my headlights speared through the snow that came down in a blinding flurry from above. The gusts swirled in agitation as they blew through the trees that towered on all sides of the winding, two-lane road.

The storm wasn’t supposed to hit until later tonight, and I was thanking fuck that I was in my truck and not on my bike since I’d taken the three-hour trip into the city on a supply run.

Cash released a sigh that echoed through the cab’s speakers. It was the type of sound that warned I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “Piece of shit is definitely hunting. His search history shows he’s digging deep into ways someone might choose to make themselves disappear.”

And after years of abuse, that’s exactly what his wife, Alicia, had done. She’d packed up her daughter and disappeared.

Only she’d done it with the help of my crew, Sovereign Sanctum. Alicia and her daughter were currently staying at The Sanctuary, the motel I owned that we used as a cover for the women and children we helped start new lives.

Up to this point, our obscurity had been ironclad. Not one of those twisted fucks had ever found anyone that we kept protected, but I wasn’t about to get complacent.

“Think he knows she split, and their disappearance wasn’t due to nefarious circumstances,” Cash surmised.

“Only thing nefarious is that motherfucker.” It ground off my tongue as I focused out the windshield and took a sharp curve up the mountain, squinting as I tried to see through the blanket of white that clouded my vision.

Cash scoffed. “Such a good fucking guy out there in the media, pleading for the safe return of his wife and daughter.”

Fury clutched my chest, and I couldn’t stop what amounted to a growl that crawled up my throat.

Scumbag acting the victim after every atrocious act he’d inflicted.

Took everything I had not to go rogue and show up at the motherfucker’s house and put an end to his threat. Save Alicia and Lucy the fear that one day he might catch up to them.

But it wasn’t Sovereign Sanctum’s way.

Yeah, we protected—by any means necessary—and we’d put plenty of sick monsters six feet underground.

But violence only came as a last resort.

Too bad I was always itching to get violent.

“Don’t worry, brother,” Cash said. “Their tracks are buried. You know there’s no chance he’s going to find them.

Just think as an extra precaution, we need to keep them sheltered at The Sanctuary for a bit longer before we get them to their new home.

Gonna bring it to a vote at the meeting on Saturday, but I wanted to give you a heads-up on what I was thinking. ”

Cash knew the way I got whenever I was sheltering someone at the motel.

Too fucking invested.

But I didn’t know how to be anything else.

Not after the sins I’d committed. Not after the way I’d ruined and destroyed.

This life was the only penance I had, and I planned on paying it completely.

“You know I have zero issue with that,” I grunted.

The longer they were at The Sanctuary, the longer I could guarantee they were safe.

“Figured as much.”

The powerful engine of my diesel truck roared as I maneuvered around a hard bend that cut through the deep, dense woods, the snowbank quickly gathering higher at the edge of the road.

With each second that passed, the terrain was becoming more and more treacherous.

“Sounds like a plan. Would guess the rest of our crew will be in agreement, but we’ll make it official on Saturday,” I told him.

“Sounds good,” Cash punted back.

He ended the call without further discussion.

No surprise, considering the guy was typically short on conversation.

Sovereign Sanctum’s hacker and the recluse of our crew.

Good to the bone but so fucked up by his past he didn’t know how to see beyond it.

I scoffed at myself as I held tight to the steering wheel. Guess that’s why I understood Cash so well. Got him on a brutal, abhorrent level.

Guilt fisted my stomach, and old rage clamored around inside me. I didn’t try to quell it. I simply held it tight as a reminder of who I was and what I’d done and the bare purpose that remained. Let it feed the thirst for vengeance.

Vengeance I wouldn’t stop seeking until it was obtained.

I rounded another sharp curve.

The squall of snow came sideways across the road, the gusts of wind howling through the trees as the storm pounded its fury out on the earth.

I was barely able to see a hundred feet in front of me, which was why I was squinting extra hard as I tried to make out the faint glow of red up ahead.

Taillights.

Another vehicle was traveling through the hazardous blitz.

Didn’t know why that bothered me so much, but worry suddenly blistered up beneath the surface of my skin.

Maybe it was instinct.

A sixth sense when things were about to go to shit.

Because the car started to take a curve that eased a bit to the left—one I knew like the back of my hand considering I normally flew along this road on my bike.

Only the lights suddenly whipped harshly to the right then gave into a full spin. A flash of color and a shockwave of disorder that I could feel diffuse across the space.

“Shit.” It left me on a ragged breath.

Sweat instantly slicking my palms, I gripped tight to the steering wheel as I sped toward the car, heart fuckin’ pummeling my chest in a riot of dread.

Took me all of three seconds to travel the distance, and I came skidding to a stop off the side of the road, angling a fraction behind it so the car would be protected if someone came blazing around the bend, unprepared and unaware of an accident.

It was a small gray sedan that had taken a nosedive into a ditch.

I didn’t take the time to drag on my jacket. I tossed my truck into park, flipped on the hazards, and jumped out.

The pelting snow felt like tiny, fiery darts that impaled the bare flesh on my arms.

I ducked down against the frigid ferocity of the wind, blood sloshing in my veins as I ran up to the car, terrified of what I might find.

Never could stomach it when something happened to an innocent.

I ran up to the driver’s side door and jerked the handle.

Locked.

Alarm twisted through my insides, and I smacked my palm against the window. “Hey, are you okay in there? Can you hear me? Is anyone hurt?”

I could feel the energy radiating from the cab.

Disoriented fear.

Like whoever was inside might be in shock and unable to process what was happening.

Didn’t relish the idea of breaking the glass, but I’d do it with my bare hands if I needed to.

“Open the door. I’m here to help you,” I shouted, barely feeling the frigid cold that howled through the forest.

A fire lit through my being.

Fuck, please be okay.

I breathed out the smallest gush of air when the door finally clicked open, and the light inside the cab flicked on to reveal a woman in the driver’s seat. An older woman was in the passenger seat, but what sliced through me like a blade were the cries erupting from a small child in the back.

The airbags had deployed, and it looked like the windshield was busted to shit.

A scourge of distress poured out, and I bent at the knees so I could better assess the situation.

“Is anyone hurt?” The words scraped up my throat.

The driver finally shifted her face in my direction, giving me a look at her for the first time.

In an instant, I was nailed to the spot.

Held by these fucking giant blue eyes that stared back at me in shock.

The same color as the arctic lake that The Sanctuary was built up against.

Just as fuckin’ deep.

The kind if you even dipped your toes into it, you’d slip right in and drown.

But it was the stream of blood coming from a gash on her temple and running down her cheek that sent worry screaming through my body. Slammed with a rush of protectiveness so severe that I didn’t know what hit me.

I ground my teeth against it. Only I was fucked up enough to be thinking about how gorgeous this woman was when she was in the middle of a calamity. Wanting to sink my fingers into her flesh all while I wanted to make sure she was whole and complete.

Never claimed not to be a sadistic bastard.

“Are you okay?” I forced my voice into calm as I tried to break through the daze that had taken her hostage.

Attempting to get her to focus on me when I could see her spellbinding gaze whirring with confusion.

“Hey, I’m right here. We’re going to get you help. I just need to know if anyone is hurt.”

She blinked through the havoc, words breaking on her tongue. “I…my son.”

Rattled cries of terror were coming from the backseat.

“It’s alright. Just stay calm. I’ve got him.”

I pressed the locks on the inside of the door. They clicked, and I hurried to the back driver’s side door, pulling it open to expose the car seat that sat directly behind the driver’s seat.

It faced backward, and a toddler who I’d guess was maybe two was buckled into it. His blond hair struck in the bare glow that rained down from the cabin light. Fat tears ran down his chubby cheeks, and he pointed his little index finger toward the front.

“Mommy!” Fear distorted his face, his mouth tipping down deep on the sides.

Distraught and still cute as fuck.

“Hey, buddy.” It was impossible to keep it light and easy with the dread that barreled through, my words gritting against the thickness that held the air. “Your mommy is right here. She’s okay. You’re okay.”

At least, I hoped to God they were.

From where I stood, I couldn’t see any visible injuries on the child, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t suffering something internally.

“Does anything hurt, little man?” Tried to inject lightness into the question, hoping not to freak the kid out any more than he already was.

His head swished erratically in his seat, and he pressed his chest up against the restraints. “I not hurt. I want my mommy!”