25. Gerald
GERALD
The lights glowed from the ranch house.
Warm.
Safe.
Protected.
Gerald hated it.
He sat inside his truck on the ridge overlooking the property.
Watching through binoculars.
Waiting.
The same thing he'd been doing for weeks.
The same thing he'd done long before anyone noticed.
Long before Beast McCoy showed up and ruined everything.
His jaw tightened.
The giant Ranger was the problem.
Not Sadie.
Never Sadie.
Sadie just didn't understand.
Yet.
She would.
Eventually.
Once Beast was gone.
Once everyone stopped interfering.
Once she remembered who she belonged to.
The thought made him smile.
Down below, movement caught his attention.
Three men stood outside the ranch house.
Not Beast.
Other Rangers.
Gerald recognized them immediately.
Wolf.
Trigger.
Saint.
More problems.
More obstacles.
More people standing between him and what was his.
The smile vanished.
His grip tightened on the binoculars.
For weeks he'd tried being patient.
Tried waiting.
Tried convincing her.
Then warning her.
Then frightening her.
Nothing worked.
Because Beast kept getting in the way.
Always Beast.
Always watching.
Always protecting.
Always there.
The obsession burned hotter.
Angrier.
More dangerous.
A second truck sat hidden behind Gerald's.
Its occupants remained inside.
Waiting.
His new friends.
The men Beast hadn't seen.
The men who'd helped in the woods.
The men who understood how things worked.
One of them stepped out.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Scar running across his cheek.
His name was Darren Pike.
A drifter.
A criminal.
A man who would do almost anything for money.
Exactly the kind of help Gerald needed.
Darren approached.
"Still watching?"
Gerald lowered the binoculars.
"They've got more guards."
The man shrugged.
"Then we hit them another way."
Simple.
Brutal.
Criminal.
Gerald liked it.
"What are you thinking?"
Darren looked toward the ranch.
Then smiled.
Not a pleasant smile.
"We don't take the ranch."
"What?"
"We take the girl."
Silence.
Gerald considered it.
The idea settling into his mind.
Growing.
Expanding.
Until it became the only thing he could think about.
Sadie.
Away from the ranch.
Away from Beast.
Away from everyone telling her what to do.
Somewhere private.
Somewhere, she could finally listen.
Finally understand.
His pulse quickened.
Darren saw it immediately.
"Now you're getting it."
The criminal nodded toward the property.
"You're never getting past four Rangers."
Gerald knew that.
Especially Beast.
The man was like a damn guard dog.
Always near her.
Always watching.
Always protecting.
"But everybody leaves eventually."
Gerald looked back toward the ranch.
Toward the woman he wanted.
The woman who should have been his years ago.
And for the first time...
He stopped thinking about revenge.
Stopped thinking about threats.
Stopped thinking about Beast.
A new plan began forming.
A darker plan.
A more dangerous plan.
One that ended with Sadie disappearing.
The realization made him smile.
Below, one of the porch lights switched off.
The ranch settling for the night.
Unaware.
Unprepared.
Exactly how Gerald wanted it.
Darren headed back toward the truck.
"We'll do it soon."
Gerald nodded.
His eyes never leaving the ranch.
Never leaving Sadie's window.
"Yeah."
Very soon.
Later That Night
Far below, Wolf Maddox walked the perimeter.
Alert.
Watchful.
Professional.
The Ranger paused.
Looked toward the ridge.
Frowning.
For a second, he felt something.
A sensation.
The feeling of being watched.
His instincts stirring.
Wolf studied the darkness.
The trees.
The hillside.
Then slowly rested his hand on his sidearm.
Because after years in Special Operations...
He had learned something important.
When your instincts start talking?
You listen.
And right now...
They were screaming.