Page 54 of Mountain Hero

But this isn’t the time for emotion. Now I have to concentrate on the mission. Tagging our tango and taking him down while making sure there’s enough evidence to add additional charges to the ones already filed against him.

I’m not screwing around with this guy. There’s no way I want him getting out on a technicality. I want to see him locked away for the rest of his life, so Winter never has to worry about him coming after her again.

Although. If I accidentally kill him, I can’t say I’ll be sad about it.

The house is eerily silent as I hurry to the go-bag I have set by the door, just as we wanted it. In comparison to most home security systems that are designed to scare the intruder away, we don’t want Thomas to know we’ve spotted him. We want him to get close to the house, to think he’s gotten past my defenses.

That’s why the alarms are all set to alert only by phone instead of the loud sirens most regular homeowners would choose. It’s also why all the security cameras around the house and property are hidden, and why I had Alec install an invisible fence around the yard.

Thomas won’t have a clue that we’ve spotted him until it’s too late.

My phone vibrates with an incoming text just as I’m slipping my Ka-Bar into one pocket and a wad of zip-ties into the other. I glance at it, scanning the message Ronan sent to our group chat.

Tango at the east side of the yard, headed toward the shed. Only one heat signature. Moving NE to flank him.

A second later, Gage replies.

In the treeline, 45 degrees NW of him. Approaching slowly.

I shoot back a quick reply.

Winter is safe. Leaving house and heading east along the back. Do not engage until my signal.

Then I put the night vision goggles on and quietly slip out the back door.

As soon as I’m outside, everything shifts.

I’m not a civilian anymore.

I’m Special Forces, one of the longest-serving Green Berets in my battalion, the sniper that never, ever missed.

All my training and experience culminates here.

He is not going to get another chance to hurt Winter.

While it’s not the plan to shoot Thomas, if it comes to it, I won’t hesitate.

Whatever it takes, I’m putting an end to this.

CHAPTER 15

WINTER

Why did I insist on doing this?

Why did I keep pushing Enzo to go along with my plan?

It seemed so logical before. All the reasons I came up with were sound. Even though I was scared, I still thought it was our best option.

But that was before. When I was considering this, everything was different.

When I thought about this before, I was cuddled on the couch with Enzo, or working in the brightly-lit office, or having coffee in the kitchen while the sun warmed the room, chasing away any hint of haunting shadows.

I didn’t realize how different it would feel when it’s actually happening.

I didn’t realize I’d be taken right back to those early days at Thomas’s house, when he locked me in the bedroom and wouldn’t allow me a light because he didn’t trust me not to use it as a weapon. Like I was somehow going to get the jump on him with the jagged edges of a broken lightbulb or the flimsy aluminum lamp.

Although. I would have tried. In those early days, I would have tried anything.

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