“Keep him away from her. Whatever that takes.”
Ghost studied him for a long moment. “I want to be clear on what you’re asking. You want security, or you want something else?”
“I want no one within a hundred yards of her without me knowing about it. And if Landry shows up here, I want the opportunity to handle it myself.”
“I can set up the alerts, loop Jax in for close protection if needed. But I’m warning you now—don’t do something that lands you back in a cell. Maggie needs you here, not locked up.”
“This isn’t about revenge. It’s about making sure she’s safe.”
Ghost held his gaze for a beat. “Yeah, well, think with your head, not your heart. Or whatever other part of you is currently driving the bus.”
He bristled. “I’m not?—”
“You are.” Ghost cut him off with a raised hand. “I know because I was in the same position not that long ago. When Naomi was taken…” He exhaled hard. “I wanted to lay waste to everything and everyone in my way.” His eyes, usually cold and calculating, softened with remembered fear. “But rage cloudsjudgment. Makes you sloppy. Gets you killed. Or worse—gets the person you’re trying to protect killed.”
Fuck. He wanted to argue, but the man was right. He’d been there, done it, nearly lost everything because of it.
“I’ll set up the alerts,” Ghost continued. “But you need to promise me something.”
“What?”
“When—not if, when—this guy shows up, you call for backup before you do anything. Walker. Boone. Me. Jax. Any of us. Don’t try to handle it alone.”
He hesitated, the promise sticking in his throat.
“Sutter,” Ghost said, his voice dropping lower, “she needs you whole and free.”
“Look at you being the voice of reason.”
“I’m always the voice of reason. You idiots just never listen.”
Anson almost smiled at that, a grudging acknowledgment of how far Ghost had come since his early days at Valor Ridge, when he’d been more shadow than man. “All right. I’ll call for backup. But I’m not standing down if he threatens her.”
“Fair enough.” Ghost’s gaze shifted past his shoulder as the Hub’s door opened. Maggie stepped out, Naomi behind her.
Anson instantly moved to her side and set a steadying hand on her lower back. “You good?” She still looked too pale, too shaky.
She nodded and wrapped her arms around herself against the chill. “Naomi’s going to help me file for an emergency protection order tomorrow. And Ghost has some... creative ideas for tracking Landry’s movements.”
“Already on it,” Ghost confirmed. “No one gets near her without us knowing. And wewillfind out who hurt Princess.”
Stars punched through the black Montana sky as they left the Hub, cold air crystallizing their breath into white clouds.
Anson matched his stride to Maggie’s, staying close without crowding her. Close enough to catch her if she stumbled on the uneven path, close enough that she’d feel his presence in the darkness, but not so close that she’d feel trapped.
“Thank you,” she said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them since leaving Ghost and Naomi. Her voice cracked slightly. “For taking this seriously. For believing me.”
“Of course.”
“You don’t understand.” She stopped walking, turned to face him. In the moonlight, her face was all shadows and pale angles. “No one’s ever just... believed me before.”
“I’ll always believe you, Maggie. Always.”
She studied his face for a long moment, then nodded once, like she’d confirmed something important. They resumed walking, the main house dark except for a single light in Walker’s office window. Most of the ranch would be asleep by now. Even Boone, who’d texted confirmation that he’d swept the perimeter and found nothing unusual.
When they reached her cabin, Maggie stopped at the bottom step and stared at the door like it might swing open to reveal a monster waiting inside.
He could step back. Should, probably. Give her space, let her process?—
