37. Beast
BEAST
Gerald made one mistake.
He thought hiding meant disappearing.
It didn’t.
Not in a town like Eagle River.
Not when half the town knew his face.
Not when every Ranger in the county was looking for him.
And definitely not when he had made Sadie afraid.
Wolf called just after noon.
“Found something.”
I was already moving before he finished speaking.
“Where?”
“Carter’s Gas and Go. Out by County Road Twelve.”
“I’m on my way.”
Sadie stood near the barn when I ended the call.
She had been trying to help her dad sort feed bags.
Trying to act normal.
Trying not to look toward the road every few minutes.
The second she saw my face, she knew.
“You found him?”
“Maybe.”
Her hands tightened around the edge of the feed sack.
“Beast—”
“I’m not going alone.”
That mattered.
I knew it did.
Wolf and Trigger were already waiting when I pulled into the little gas station twenty minutes later.
Carter’s Gas and Go sat at the edge of town.
Two old pumps.
A faded red sign.
A small convenience store that smelled like coffee, motor oil, and beef jerky.
The kind of place where everybody knew everybody.
And nobody forgot a strange face.
The owner, Earl Carter, stood behind the counter.
He was in his sixties.
White beard.
Baseball cap.
Eyes sharp enough to notice everything.
“You the Ranger Sadie’s seeing?” he asked.
I stared at him.
Wolf coughed into his hand.
Trigger looked like he might laugh.
Earl nodded toward my expression.
“Thought so.”
“Did you see Gerald?”
His face changed.
The humor disappeared.
“Yeah.”
“When?”
“Yesterday afternoon. Around three.”
My pulse slowed.
“Was he alone?”
“Yep.”
“What did he buy?”
Earl looked toward the counter.
“Gas. Two cans. Bottled water. Beef jerky. Bread. Batteries.”
Wolf’s jaw tightened.
“Anything else?”
Earl hesitated.
That was never good.
“He bought a box of shotgun shells.”
The air in the store went still.
Trigger swore quietly.
I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
Because if I started talking, I might not stop.
“What direction did he go?”
Earl pointed toward the back road.
“County Twelve. Toward the old logging road.”
Wolf looked at me.
I already knew what he was thinking.
Old cabins.
Hunting shacks.
Abandoned trailers.
Places nobody visited unless they wanted to be left alone.
Gerald had found somewhere to hide.
Somewhere close enough to watch the ranch.
Somewhere with supplies.
And ammunition.
I stepped outside.
The afternoon sun hit my face.
The road stretched toward the hills.
Empty.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
Trigger came beside me.
“We call Cooper.”
“We already did.”
Wolf was on his phone.
Talking fast.
Giving directions.
Asking for deputies.
But I couldn’t stop looking down the road.
Gerald was out there.
Watching.
Planning.
Getting worse.
I thought about the boot prints beneath Sadie’s window.
The notebook I knew he probably had.
The way he had driven past the diner.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Making sure Sadie saw him.
He wanted her afraid.
He wanted her to know he could get close.
He wanted her to believe nowhere was safe.
My hands curled into fists.
He was wrong.
Because now we had a direction.
And once I had a direction…
I didn’t stop.
Wolf ended the call.
“Sheriff’s sending two deputies to sweep the logging road.”
“Good.”
Trigger looked toward my truck.
“We going with them?”
“Yes.”
Wolf studied me.
“Beast.”
I met his eyes.
“You stay calm.”
“I am calm.”
“You cracked a coffee mug yesterday.”
“That mug was weak.”
Trigger snorted.
Wolf didn’t smile.
“This is different.”
“I know.”
Gerald had a gun.
He had ammunition.
And he was unstable.
But he had also made the biggest mistake of his life.
He had come after Sadie.
And now every road leading out of Eagle River was closing.
I got into my truck.
Wolf climbed into the passenger seat.
Trigger followed in his own vehicle.
Behind us, Sheriff Cooper’s deputies pulled onto the road.
Ahead of us…
The old logging road disappeared into the hills.
Somewhere beyond those trees, Gerald was hiding.
Somewhere beyond those trees, he was watching Sadie through binoculars.
Thinking he had time.
Thinking he was safe.
He didn’t.
Because I was coming.
And I wasn’t stopping until I found him.