27. Beast
BEAST
Someone pounded on the bedroom door.
Hard.
My eyes opened instantly.
Years of Ranger training.
One second asleep.
The next fully awake.
My hand automatically reached for the pistol on the nightstand.
The door opened.
Wolf stepped inside.
One look at his face told me everything.
Something was wrong.
I was already sitting up.
"What happened?"
"I think we figured out Gerald."
Every trace of sleep disappeared.
I stood.
Ignoring the pounding headache.
Ignoring the bruises.
Ignoring common sense.
Wolf noticed.
Of course he did.
"Sit down."
"No."
"Beast."
"No."
The Ranger sighed.
"Fine."
Smart choice.
"What happened?"
Wolf leaned against the door.
"I spotted someone watching from the ridge."
My pulse slowed.
Focused.
Professional.
The familiar calm settling over me.
"Gerald?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe isn't good enough."
"I know."
Wolf crossed his arms.
"That's not the important part."
That got my attention.
"What is?"
The former Ranger looked toward the hallway.
Toward Sadie's room.
Then back at me.
And suddenly I knew.
Before he even said it.
The realization hit like a punch.
"He's planning to take her."
Wolf nodded.
Once.
Slowly.
Silently.
Because there wasn't anything else to say.
The room went completely still.
My heartbeat became the only sound.
The only thing I could hear.
Take her.
Not threaten.
Not scare.
Not stalk.
Take.
Something cold settled inside my chest.
The kind of cold I'd felt before missions.
Before firefights.
Before violence.
The dangerous kind.
Wolf saw it happen.
Saw the switch flip.
"Easy."
I looked at him.
He immediately regretted it.
Because he knew that look.
Every Ranger knew that look.
The one that said somebody had just crossed a line.
A very permanent line.
"Easy?" I asked.
Wolf sighed.
"That's not helping."
"No."
"It isn't."
We both knew it.
Sadie
Voices woke me.
Low voices.
Male voices.
The kind men used when discussing something serious.
I slipped from bed.
Opened my bedroom door.
And froze.
Beast stood in the hallway.
Wolf beside him.
Trigger behind them.
Saint was coming up the stairs.
Every Ranger looked serious.
My stomach dropped.
"What happened?"
Silence.
Nobody answered.
Which was answer enough.
Fear tightened in my chest.
"Tell me."
Beast turned.
His eyes found mine immediately.
The anger there startled me.
Not directed at me.
At someone else.
Someone very unlucky.
"Gerald."
My heart sank.
"What about him?"
The Rangers exchanged looks.
Then Beast answered.
"He isn't trying to scare you anymore."
The words felt wrong.
Dangerous.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody spoke.
Not right away.
Then Wolf finally did.
"We think he's planning a kidnapping."
The floor might as well have vanished beneath me.
For several seconds I couldn't breathe.
Couldn't think.
Couldn't move.
The hallway felt smaller.
The air heavier.
Everything suddenly becoming terrifyingly real.
Not letters.
Not photographs.
Not threats.
Kidnapping.
Taking.
Disappearing.
The reality of it hit hard.
Beast took one step forward.
Then another.
Until he stood directly in front of me.
Close.
Protective.
Solid.
Safe.
His voice softened.
Just slightly.
"He's not getting near you."
The certainty in his words settled something inside me.
Not the fear.
That remained.
But the panic.
Because if there was one thing I believed absolutely...
It was that Beast meant every word he said.
Outside
A couple of miles away.
Hidden among the trees.
Gerald watched the ranch through binoculars.
A light turned on upstairs.
Movement.
People gathering.
Talking.
Planning.
The Rangers were awake.
His jaw tightened.
They knew something.
Not everything.
But enough.
Darren stepped beside him.
"We move tomorrow."
Gerald didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the house.
On the window.
On Sadie's room.
Tomorrow.
The thought sent excitement racing through him.
Tomorrow, she would finally understand.
Tomorrow, nobody would stop him.
Tomorrow, everything would change.
Beside him, Darren smiled.
A smile without warmth.
Without mercy.
The smile of a man who enjoyed hurting people.
Neither man realized they had made the same mistake.
The mistake predators often made.
They thought they were hunting prey.
They weren't.
Because somewhere inside the ranch house...
A former Army Ranger was loading magazines.
Checking weapons.
Making plans.
And for the first time since this began...
Beast wasn't waiting for Gerald to make a move.
He was preparing to hunt back.