40. Beast
BEAST
The ranch became a command post before midnight.
Sheriff’s trucks lined the driveway.
Deputies moved through the pasture with flashlights.
Ranch hands checked every fence line.
Wolf and Trigger took the woods.
And Mrs. Jenkins arrived with a thermos of coffee and enough sandwiches to feed an army.
Nobody had invited her.
Nobody was foolish enough to tell her to leave. She lived next door and saw everything.
Sheriff Cooper stood near the barn, speaking into his radio.
“Armed and dangerous,” he said. “Possible rifle or shotgun. Last seen near the south tree line. Every deputy in the county gets his picture.”
The words settled over the ranch.
Heavy.
Final.
Gerald was no longer the man who had scared Sadie.
He was no longer just an ex-boyfriend who couldn’t let go.
He was a fugitive.
A threat.
A man with a gun and nothing left to lose.
Sadie sat inside with her dad.
The lights were off.
The curtains closed.
But I could see her through the kitchen window.
She looked small sitting at the table.
Too still.
Too pale.
Every time I looked at her, something inside me twisted tighter.
I should have found him sooner.
I should have stopped him before he ever got near her window.
I should have?—
Wolf came up beside me.
“Don’t.”
I looked at him.
He nodded toward the house.
“She needs you steady.”
I hated that he was right.
I hated that I couldn’t go tearing through the woods until I found Gerald.
But Sadie needed me here.
So I stayed.
For now.
Trigger came out of the darkness near the barn.
“No tracks past the creek.”
“Meaning?” I asked.
“He either doubled back or he had a vehicle waiting.”
Sheriff Cooper heard him.
His jaw tightened.
“Put roadblocks on Twelve and Highway Seven. Check every vehicle leaving town.”
A deputy nodded and hurried away.
The sheriff looked at me.
“Gerald’s escalating.”
“I know.”
“He showed himself on purpose.”
“I know.”
“He wants Sadie scared.”
My hands curled into fists.
“I know.”
Sheriff Cooper stepped closer.
His voice lowered.
“You cannot go after him alone.”
I met his eyes.
“Then find him faster.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Sheriff Cooper nodded.
Because he understood.
Because he had watched the video as Gerald waved at Sadie from the pasture.
Because he had seen the fear on her face.
“We’ll find him,” he said.
I looked toward the trees.
Dark.
Silent.
Full of places to hide.
“You better.”
Inside the house, Sadie stood.
She came to the window.
Her eyes found mine.
I crossed the yard immediately.
Opened the door.
She looked up at me.
“I don’t want to be scared anymore.”
The words nearly broke me.
I stepped inside.
Closed the door behind me.
Then I took her face gently in my hands.
“You don’t have to be brave every second.”
Her eyes filled.
“I hate that he can do this.”
“I know.”
“I hate that he can make everyone worry.”
“I know.”
Her tears slipped free.
I wiped them away with my thumbs.
“He doesn’t get to take your life from you,” I said. “Not one more day. Not one more hour.”
She looked at me.
“What if he comes back?”
“He won’t get close.”
“But what if he does?”
My throat tightened.
I leaned down until my forehead touched hers.
“Then he’ll have to come through me.”
She closed her eyes.
Her hands gripped my shirt.
For a long moment, neither of us moved.
Then a deputy shouted outside.
“Sheriff!”
Everyone turned.
Sheriff Cooper hurried toward the driveway.
A deputy stood beside a patrol truck.
Holding something in a clear evidence bag.
A folded piece of paper.
The sheriff opened it.
Read it once.
Then again.
His face went hard.
“What is it?” Wolf asked.
Sheriff Cooper looked toward Sadie.
Then toward me.
“Gerald left a note.”
My blood went cold.
“What does it say?”
The sheriff hesitated.
That was enough.
“Read it.”
He handed me the bag.
Inside, written in thick black marker, were six words.
You can’t keep her from me.
The house went silent.
Sadie made a small sound behind me.
I turned immediately.
Pulled her against my chest.
Held her close.
But my eyes stayed on the note.
On Gerald’s handwriting.
On the promise he thought he was making.
He wanted us scared.
He wanted us waiting.
He wanted us to believe he could come back whenever he wanted.
Fine.
Let him think that.
Because now he had made another mistake.
He had left evidence.
He had left words.
And every word brought us closer to him.
I looked toward Sheriff Cooper.
“Where did your deputy find it?”
“On the hood of your truck.”
That meant Gerald had come close again.
Close enough to walk into the driveway.
Close enough to touch my truck.
Close enough to leave a message.
The rage inside me went quiet.
Cold.
Controlled.
The kind of rage that didn’t make mistakes.
The kind that hunted.
I looked toward the dark pasture.
“Find him,” I said.
Then I looked down at Sadie.
“And when we do…”
I pulled her tighter.
“He will never come near you again.”