Fuck.
The ground drops out from under me. My lungs seize as if they’re trying to remember how to work.
“Christ!” Tank’s face is pale. “We’ve been so focused on protecting Sadie, we didn’t see this coming.”
“They used Shay,” Henry growls. “To draw Sadie out.”
Realization hits like a sucker punch. I’m already reaching for my phone, pulling it free…
No bars. No signal. A blank screen where my world should be.
I promised her. I swore to her. I said she was safe.
And I let her out of my sight.
Just like before.
My sister’s face flashes in my mind—not the way she died, but the soft, stubborn smile she wore the afternoon before I shipped out. The one I failed to protect.
Not again.
Not her.
Not Sadie.
Tank grabs my arm. “Wyatt. Breathe.”
I drag in air like it hurts. “I should’ve stayed. I should’ve… fuck!”
Tex plants a hand between my shoulder blades, steady pressure. “No. This isn’t on you.”
But it is.
She trusted me. Walked into my cabin wearing my damn flannel. Looked at me like she finally had a future again. And I let myself believe we had time.
No time. No margin. No excuses.
I clench my fists until my bones ache.
“I’m getting her back.” My voice is low and lethal. “I don’t care who I have to go through.” I look at Shay. “What did he look like?”
Shay scrubs at her face, breath still shaking. “Tall, beard, scar near his right eye. He had a gun… He tricked me. Took my phone. S-sent the message to Sadie.” She squeezes her eyes shut. “She made him let me go so she wouldn’t—so she?—”
Henry pulls her tight, hand cupping the back of her head. “You’re safe,” he murmurs. “You did good, sweetheart. You did everything right.”
Shay sobs into his coat.
Henry’s voice drops, cold and dangerous. “They used the woman I love to get to Sadie.”
His jaw flexes. “They’re going to pay for that.”
He meets my eyes over her shoulder, his gaze like steel. “We’ll get her back.” He lifts Shay into his arms. “I’m taking her home. She needs Max. And warmth.”
Tex wipes his mouth with his glove. “We regroup at the house. Plan the counterstrike.”
Tank cracks his knuckles. “I want that bastard’s teeth.”
I’m halfway to the truck when my phone vibrates.
