34. Beast
BEAST
Ididn’t sleep that night.
And neither did half of Eagle River.
Because once Gerald got bond…
He got stupid.
So we got prepared.
Wolf took midnight to four.
Trigger took four to eight.
The ranch hands covered the back road and north fence through the day.
Every gate stayed locked.
Every window got checked twice.
Every vehicle key came inside at night.
And Mrs. Jenkins had somehow organized the Magnolia Ladies into a neighborhood watch.
She called it Operation Protect Our Girl.
Nobody laughed.
Not even Trigger.
Mrs. Jenkins had printed flyers.
Actual flyers.
If you see anything, say something.
Eagle River was ready.
And so was I.
I told Sadie everything except how worried I really was.
She didn’t need that kind of weight on her shoulders.
Not when she had already spent too long looking over them.
So I walked the perimeter myself.
Checked every lock.
Every fence line.
Every dark corner around the barn.
Then I went inside.
Into her room.
And I waited.
Sadie sat cross-legged on her bed, watching me from beneath her blanket.
“You know you could sleep in the guest room.”
“No.”
“Beast.”
“No.”
Her mouth twitched.
“You are impossible.”
“Probably.”
“You’re not going to stare at that window all night, are you?”
“Yes.”
She sighed.
“You’re going to make yourself sick.”
“I’ll survive.”
Her expression changed.
Softened.
The teasing disappeared.
“You shouldn’t have to do this.”
I looked at her.
At the woman who had been afraid in her own home.
The woman who still jumped a little whenever a truck slowed down near the ranch.
The woman who had kissed me in front of half the town because apparently I was too stubborn to make the first move.
“I want to do this.”
Her eyes held mine.
Then she reached for my hand.
Just once.
A small touch.
But it settled something deep inside me.
“Okay,” she whispered.
Eventually, she fell asleep.
I stayed awake.
The moon moved across the window.
The ranch went quiet.
Too quiet.
Around midnight, the dog barked.
Once.
Then again.
Not the bark for a coyote.
Not the bark for a raccoon.
The this-isn’t-right bark.
I stood.
Sadie shifted in bed.
“Beast?”
“Stay here.”
Her eyes opened wider.
“What is it?”
“Probably nothing.”
It wasn’t nothing.
I moved to the window.
Scanned the pasture.
The fence line.
The barn.
Nothing moved.
No truck.
No headlights.
No shadow.
Just moonlight on grass.
But the dog barked again.
Low.
Uneasy.
I grabbed my flashlight.
Walked quietly through the house.
Checked the front door.
Locked.
Back door.
Locked.
Kitchen window.
Locked.
Then I stepped outside.
Cold air hit my face.
The ranch stretched around me.
Dark.
Still.
Watching.
I moved toward the barn first.
Then the side pasture.
Then the north fence.
My flashlight swept over every board.
Every gate.
Every patch of dirt.
Nothing.
I was almost back at the house when I saw it.
A broken piece of fence wire.
Bent low near the back corner.
Not enough for someone to drive through.
Just enough for a man to slip beneath.
My pulse slowed.
The dangerous kind of slow.
I crouched beside it.
Shined the light toward the dirt.
Boot prints.
Fresh.
One set going in.
One set going out.
I followed them along the fence.
Across the edge of the pasture.
Toward the house.
Toward Sadie’s room.
The tracks stopped beneath her window.
I stared at them.
For a long moment.
The cold air burned in my lungs.
He had been here.
Close enough to see her light.
Close enough to watch her window.
Close enough to think he could come onto this ranch whenever he wanted.
My hand tightened around the flashlight.
A truck engine started somewhere beyond the trees.
Far enough away that I couldn’t see it.
Close enough that I knew.
Gerald.
I ran toward the road.
Too late.
Red taillights disappeared around the bend.
Gone.
Again.
I stood there in the dark.
Breathing hard.
Fighting the urge to tear apart every tree between here and town until I found him.
Then I looked back at the house.
At Sadie’s window.
And I made myself a promise.
Gerald had gotten close once.
That would be the last time.
Because now I knew exactly what he was doing.
He wasn’t hiding.
He was hunting.
And I was done letting him think Sadie was prey.