Chapter 50
Deputy Scout Wilson — En Route to the Keller Residence
Scout drove with the window cracked. The cold kept him sharp.
Denton followed in the SUV behind them. Burke sat in the passenger seat, reviewing the warrant.
The road curved into Keller’s subdivision. Quiet. Porch lights glowing. Ordinary.
Scout’s thoughts went to Sara.
Thank God they’d found her.
Thank God she was alive.
He’d seen her earlier—still pale, still shaken, but present. Talking.
Luke Hale had been outside her room again. Not because anyone ordered him to be.
Because he wanted to be.
Scout had noticed the way Luke stayed close without crowding. The way he watched the door like he’d take a bullet before he let anyone near her.
Good.
Sara deserved that.
She’d always been the kid sister he never had. The one he’d tease, push, protect. He’d never looked at her any other way. Never would.
If Luke didn’t screw it up, he might actually be good for her.
That box was checked. Family.
Scout flexed his fingers once on the wheel and forced his focus back to the road.
Burke’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
Something in his expression shifted.
Scout caught it. “What?”
“Sara,” Burke said. “She got a message.”
He didn’t look away from the road. “From who?”
“Don’t know yet. SBI’s sending someone to retrieve her phone.”
Burke set the phone face-down.
That was enough.
Tessa.
She was the one he couldn’t get out of his head.
Tessa Quinn didn’t fold. She didn’t panic.
She’d stood in his cabin during a blizzard and told him the truth without flinching.
She liked him.
And for one night, he’d let himself believe it.
He replayed the argument. The kiss that ended it. The agreement—find Sara first. Then figure out what they were.
Then she was gone.
She was trained. Tough.
But she wasn’t untouchable.
The anger settled lower in his chest. He let it.
He hadn’t slept. Hadn’t eaten. He was running on that anger and the image of her not coming back.
He couldn’t lose her.
Not after she’d finally let herself want something.
“Scout,” Burke said. “You good?”
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t convincing. He didn’t care.
They turned onto Keller’s cul-de-sac.
Car in the driveway. Movement behind the front window.
Scout slowed to the curb.
One breath.
Then another.
When he opened the door, he already knew—
If Keller was involved, he wasn’t walking out unchanged.
Not if Scout had anything to say about it.