42. Beast
BEAST
Something was wrong.
I felt it before I saw it.
Before the radio crackled.
Before the dog started barking.
Before every instinct I had ever learned in the Army Ranger Regiment came alive at once.
The ranch had gone quiet.
Too quiet.
Sheriff Cooper had deputies posted at both entrances.
Wolf was checking the north fence.
Trigger was with two ranch hands near the barn.
Sadie was inside with her dad.
Safe.
Or as safe as she could be while Gerald was still out there.
I stood on the porch.
Watching the tree line.
Waiting.
The air felt heavy even for Texas.
The kind of heavy that came before a storm.
A deputy walked up beside me.
“Nothing on the roadblocks.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“No, sir.”
He looked nervous.
Young.
Too young to understand what it felt like when a man like Gerald stopped thinking clearly.
Because that was when he became dangerous.
Not when he was angry.
Not when he was yelling.
When he got quiet.
When he started believing the lies in his own head.
The dog barked.
Once.
Sharp.
Then again.
My body went still.
The deputy reached for his radio.
I lifted one hand.
“Wait.”
The dog was facing the east pasture.
Toward the old equipment shed.
Toward the line of trees Gerald had used before.
I stepped off the porch.
Slowly.
The deputy followed.
“Beast?”
“Get Cooper.”
“But—”
“Now.”
He ran.
I moved toward the shed.
Every step I took was careful, not to get too far from the house.
Every sense open.
The wind shifted.
Carried the faint smell of mud.
Wet leaves.
And something else.
Gun oil. I don’t know if that was my imagination or what the hell it was, but I wasn’t ignoring it.
My jaw tightened.
Gerald was close.
Closer than I wanted him to be.
I reached the corner of the porch.
Looked toward the tree line.
Nothing.
No movement.
No shadow.
Just grass moving in the wind.
Then the kitchen light came on behind me.
Sadie.
I turned.
Through the window, I saw her standing near the counter.
Her phone pressed to her ear.
Probably calling one of the Magnolia Ladies.
Probably trying to sound brave.
My chest tightened.
She should never have to be brave because of him.
Not in her own home.
Not ever.
A branch snapped.
Behind me.
I spun.
Too late.
A gunshot cracked through the night.
The kitchen window exploded.
Glass sprayed across the floor.
Sadie screamed.
Every part of me went cold.
“DOWN!” I shouted.
Another shot hit the porch railing.
Wood splintered beside my head.
I dropped behind the old water trough.
The deputy near the house dove behind his patrol truck.
“Shots fired!” he yelled into his radio. “Shots fired at the ranch!”
The world erupted.
Sirens.
Shouting.
Boots running.
But all I could see was the kitchen window.
Broken.
Dark.
Sadie was inside.
“Sadie!” I shouted.
No answer.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Another shot cracked.
This one came from the tree line.
Near the equipment shed.
Gerald was moving.
Trying to keep us pinned down.
Trying to get closer.
He wasn’t shooting at the house anymore.
He was shooting at me.
Good.
That meant Sadie was not his target.
Not yet.
I pulled my phone from my pocket.
Called Wolf.
“East pasture. Tree line. He’s got a gun.”
“I’m moving.”
“Don’t come straight in. Circle behind him.”
“Already doing it.”
Trigger’s voice came over the radio.
“Beast, I’ve got Sadie and her dad moving to the storm cellar.”
Relief hit so hard my knees nearly gave out.
“Keep her down.”
“Not letting her out of my sight.”
Another gunshot.
Dirt exploded near the trough.
Gerald was closer.
I could hear him moving through the grass.
Fast.
Unsteady.
Panicked.
“Gerald!” I shouted.
For one second, everything went silent.
Then his voice came from the dark.
“Stay away from her!”
My blood went cold.
“You’re the one on her ranch.”
“She belongs with me!”
“No.”
My voice carried across the pasture.
Flat.
Final.
“She never did.”
A sound came from the trees.
Angry.
Broken.
Then Gerald stepped into the open.
Gun in his hand.
Face pale.
Eyes wild.
He pointed the weapon toward the house.
Toward the storm cellar door. He must have seen Trigger moving Sadie there.
Something inside me snapped.
Not wildly.
Not blindly.
Coldly.
Completely.
“Put it down,” I said.
Gerald laughed.
A sharp, ugly sound.
“You think you can keep her from me?”
“Yes.”
His finger tightened on the trigger.
I raised my weapon.
“Last warning.”
He turned toward the house.
Toward Sadie.
And fired.
I fired once.
Gerald cried out.
His leg gave out beneath him.
He crashed into the grass.
The gun flew from his hand.
For one breathless second, everything stopped.
Then Gerald dragged himself toward the trees.
Blood darkened his jeans.
Wolf burst from the far side of the pasture.
“Gerald! Don’t move!”
Gerald looked back.
Saw Wolf.
Saw Trigger running from the direction of the house.
Saw deputies closing in from the driveway.
And somehow…
He still managed to get up.
He limped.
Staggered.
Then disappeared into the trees.
Sheriff Cooper’s voice came over the radio.
“Perimeter! He’s wounded and armed! Nobody goes alone!”
I ran toward the tree line.
Wolf grabbed my arm.
“Beast!”
“He’s hurt.”
“He’s still dangerous.”
I looked toward the dark woods.
Toward the blood on the grass.
Toward the trail Gerald had left behind.
He had fired at Sadie’s home.
He had tried to get to her.
And now he was running.
But not for long.
Because he had made the final mistake.
He had given me a trail.
And I was going to follow it.
No matter where it led.