32. Blaze
BLAZE
Cabin.
The word echoed through my head like a gunshot.
Not apartment.
Not fire.
Cabin.
Only a handful of people knew about the cabin outside San Angelo.
My pulse slowed instantly.
Cold.
Deadly calm settling over me piece by piece.
Across the tavern floor, Vaughn realized too late what he’d said.
Fear flickered hard across his swollen face.
Good.
Wolf saw it immediately.
“So the cabin wasn’t random,” he said quietly.
Vaughn stayed silent.
Trigger pushed away from the bar slowly. “Oh, that’s bad.”
Very bad.
Behind me, I felt Flick step closer.
Not backing away.
Not hiding.
Closer.
Her fingers brushed lightly against my back like she already knew I was holding on to the last thread of control I had left.
Tate folded his arms. “Who gave the location?”
Nothing.
Vaughn smirked weakly through split lips.
“Ain’t gonna matter soon.”
I crouched slowly in front of him again.
Every instinct inside me had gone razor sharp now.
No anger.
No shouting.
Just focus.
“You knew where they kept her.”
Vaughn swallowed once.
“That cabin exploded over a year ago,” Ava said carefully from behind us. “That address was sealed under witness protection.”
My eyes lifted toward her slowly.
“And yet he knows it.”
The room fell silent again.
Because everybody understood what that meant.
Federal leak.
Inside help.
Someone sold her out.
Flick’s breathing changed behind me.
Small.
Shaky.
I hated hearing that sound.
Vaughn laughed softly again.
“The senator pays very well.”
Trigger’s jaw ticked hard.
“You dirty little?—”
Wolf caught Trigger’s arm before he launched himself across the room.
Barely.
Tate looked ready to help.
“Hersh.”
Flick’s voice.
Soft.
Careful.
I looked back at her instantly.
And damn—that hurt.
Because she wasn’t looking at me with fear.
She looked heartbroken.
For me.
For us.
For sixteen stolen years followed by this nightmare.
“You okay?” she whispered.
No.
Not even close.
But I stepped toward her anyway.
Always toward her.
My hand slid gently along her jaw.
Warm skin trembling beneath my fingers.
“They touched your life twice,” I said quietly.
Her eyes shimmered instantly.
Once sixteen years ago.
Again at the cabin.
And God help anyone involved because I finally understood something now:
This was never just about silencing a witness.
This was about taking her from me.
Again.
Behind us, Ava exhaled slowly.
“If the senator has someone inside the system, we have a serious problem.”
“We already had a serious problem,” Trigger muttered. “Now we got a hunting list.”
Wolf nodded once.
“Question is how long they’ve been watching Eagle River.”
Silence.
Then—
Vaughn smiled.
That ugly little smile again.
“Long enough.”
Every Ranger in the room went still.
I turned back toward him slowly.
“What does that mean?”
Vaughn leaned his head back against the floorboards.
“Took you long enough to figure it out.”
Ava stepped forward sharply now. “Figure out what?”
Vaughn’s eyes slid toward Flick.
“Your little girl friend wasn’t found.”
The tavern went dead silent.
Flick stiffened beside me.
My pulse dropped straight to lethal.
“What did you say?” I asked quietly.
Vaughn grinned through blood.
“She was relocated.”
No.
Flick’s breath caught sharply.
Tate swore under his breath.
Wolf’s expression darkened instantly.
Trigger looked ready to kill somebody with his bare hands.
But all I heard was the roaring in my own head.
Relocated.
Not hidden.
Placed.
My eyes locked onto Vaughn’s.
“Who sent her here?”
His smile widened slowly.
“That’s the fun part, Ranger.”
Thunder exploded outside hard enough to rattle the entire tavern.
And Vaughn whispered:
“Somebody you trust.”