Watching.
Listening.
Waiting.
Something shifted above me.
I looked up.
And froze.
For one full second.
Then closed my eyes.
Because there were moments in life nobody could prepare for.
Not even Army Rangers.
"What?" Sadie whispered from the doorway.
I pointed upward.
She followed my finger.
Then immediately burst into laughter.
The three ranch hands were hanging upside down from the hay loft.
By their belts.
Twenty feet above the floor.
Like very confused bats.
One of them waved.
"Morning, Beast."
I stared at him.
"Explain."
"We were trying to catch a raccoon."
"By hanging yourselves from the ceiling?"
There was a pause.
"Well..."
Another pause.
"It sounded smarter a while ago."
Beside me, Sadie laughed so hard she nearly fell over.
And for the first time all morning...
