Chapter 39 Logan
Logan
The knock doesn’t come.
The door opens.
Fast.
Controlled.
Wrong.
I’m on my feet before the sound fully registers, my body already between Scout and the entrance, every instinct snapping into place.
Boone steps inside.
But his face—
That’s what tells me everything.
“We’ve got a problem.”
Scout is already sitting up behind me.
Alert.
Present.
No hesitation.
“What kind?” I ask.
Boone doesn’t look at me.
He looks at her.
That’s when I know—
This is targeted.
“Say it,” I order.
Boone exhales once.
“Tessa Fallon.”
The name hits the room like a gunshot.
I feel Scout go completely still behind me.
Not fragile.
Not breaking.
Locked.
“Tessa is my sister,” Scout says quietly.
Her voice is steady.
Too steady.
Boone nods once. “We know.”
“Where is she?” Scout asks.
“Taken.”
Silence.
Not empty.
Violent.
“How?” I ask, already moving toward the table, already pulling up the feed Boone brought with him.
“Home entry,” Boone says. “Clean. Fast. No witnesses. No noise.”
Of course.
That’s his style.
My jaw tightens.
“Timeline?”
“Within the last hour.”
I glance back at Scout.
She’s already on her feet.
Already moving.
No hesitation.
No delay.
Just—
Focus.
“He changed targets,” she says.
“Yes.”
“He couldn’t break me.”
No.
“He’s trying to make you break yourself.”
Her eyes meet mine.
And for a second—
I expect to see it.
The crack.
The fear.
The pull inward.
Instead—
I see something else.
Something sharper.
Colder.
More dangerous.
“He picked the wrong pressure point,” she says.
That’s not emotion.
That’s decision.
Good.
Because I feel it too.
“He wants you off balance,” Boone adds.
Scout shakes her head slightly.
“He wants me reactive.”
A beat.
“I’m not.”
I step closer.
Close enough she can feel me there.
“You’re not doing this alone.”
Her gaze flicks to mine.
“I know.”
And she does.
That’s the difference.
That’s what Sentinel doesn’t understand.
“She’s not just leverage,” Scout continues, already thinking, already moving past the emotional hit. “She’s a message.”
“What kind?” I ask.
“That he can reach past me,” she says. “That he doesn’t need proximity anymore.”
A pause.
“Which means he’s confident in the line.”
The leak.
I nod once.
“Then we use it.”
Boone looks between us.
“You’re not pulling back,” he says.
“No,” I reply.
“Not a chance,” Scout adds.
There’s no hesitation in her voice now.
None.
Sentinel didn’t create doubt.
He removed it.
“She’s family,” Boone says carefully.
“I know,” Scout replies.
Still steady.
Still controlled.
“But if I lose control now—he wins.”
That lands.
Hard.
Because it’s true.
I step in front of her just enough to make sure she sees me.
Only me.
“Look at me,” I say.
She does.
Immediately.
Present.
Focused.
“We get her back,” I tell her.
Not a promise.
A fact.
Her eyes don’t waver.
“I know.”
“And we end him.”
A beat.
No hesitation.
No doubt.
Scout’s voice is quiet.
Certain.
“Yes.”
There it is.
Not fear.
Not grief.
Resolve.
The kind that doesn’t break.
The kind that hunts.
Boone exhales slowly.
“Alright,” he says. “Then we move now.”
I nod once.
“Lock the building. No one in or out without clearance.”
Boone’s already moving.
“On it.”
I turn back to Scout.
She’s already grabbing her gear.
Already shifting into position.
No hesitation.
No pullback.
Nothing for Sentinel to use.
“He thought this would break you,” I say quietly.
She looks at me, something fierce in her eyes now.
“He doesn’t understand me.”
No.
He doesn’t.
And that’s his mistake.
I step in close, just for a second, my hand brushing her arm—grounding, steady, real.
“We do this together,” I say.
Her answer is immediate.
“Always.”
And as the room comes alive around us—movement, commands, weapons checked, doors sealing—
One thing locks into place.
Sentinel wanted control.
Wanted hesitation.
Wanted her to fracture under pressure.
Instead—
He just gave us a reason to end him.
And this time—
We’re not just stopping him.
We’re hunting him.