30. Gabe

THIRTY

Gabe

This was bad.

The storm howled as we skidded into the parking lot at Bearclaw Mountain, the search party no more than twenty minutes behind us. We'd tracked Kat's phone out here with Chris's help, and I'd called Clay on the way out for backup, since he lived in the area. Clay was waiting in the parking lot when we arrived, and he climbed out in a heavy khaki coat and snow gear.

He was carrying a shotgun, and handed me one as we walked up.

I prayed I wouldn't have to use it.

"Thanks, man," I said as Chris got out. "Any sign of them?"

Clay nodded toward the trailhead. "Smashed phones right at the path up the mountain. One of ‘em was just cracked, had your dog there on the wallpaper."

"Shit," I cursed. "We need to get moving."

Bandit was pacing in circles around us, pawing at the ground like he was anxious to get on the trail. He could smell them…I had to trust that. Owen wouldn't have followed the trailhead if he was planning something nefarious. I knelt and scratched the dog behind his ears, his pants sending clouds of fog into the snow.

"You ready to find the girls, Bandit?" I asked.

He barked once—then he was off.

The three of us trailed him through the snow, up the mountain. The drifts got higher and higher, and soon we were wading through them…but I could see that someone had been through here. It gave me just a scrap of hope—the only scrap I needed to believe that I would see Kat and Livy again. I kept going, following Bandit as he led the way.

Our footsteps punched through the icy crust. I kept my eyes down, tracking prints that weren't ours, heart pounding a rhythm with each step, head on a swivel. Ears straining for?—

Rustling.

Not the wind's whisper but something alive, something moving deliberately.

"Freeze," Chris hissed.

Guns up. Safety off. Sweat trickled down my spine despite the cold. It could be Owen. It could be?—

"Gabe…? Gabe!"

The bushes shook…and Livy appeared.

Her face tear-streaked, dirt smeared, a tiny figure limping from the tree-line. Relief slammed into me like a truck.

"Livy!" I shouted, holstering my weapon quickly.

"Gabe…you're here…oh my gosh, you're here …" Her voice cracked as she stumbled into me, arms wrapping tight around my waist. A sob caught in her throat. She was here. She was safe. Bandit danced around us, tail wagging furiously.

"Are you hurt?" The words were out before I could think, my hands on her shoulders, searching her face for signs of pain.

"I'm okay," Livy insisted, despite the grimace that contorted her features as Chris knelt beside her and carefully unwrapped a blanket from his pack, draping it over her trembling shoulders. "But Kat…she needs help." Her voice broke again as she pointed into the dense woods. "Owen has a knife and…"

"Stay with her, Clay," I said, and he nodded, moving to Livy's side.

"Go get her," Clay said.

I took off at a run. Bandit charged ahead, his nose plowing through the snowdrifts, sniffing out a trail only he could sense. My heart thudded against my ribs, each beat screaming urgency.

And then—red. Splashes of red stained the white canvas of snow.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath.

Blood. Not a lot. But enough. Enough to send a shot of panic straight through my core.

"Can't be hers," I told myself, half-belief, half-prayer.

Bandit didn't stop. His pace quickened, and his barks became loud and sharp.

"Easy, Bandit," I tried to say, but the words were lost in the frosty air.

Then I saw them.

Kat was on the ground, her body twisting, trying to fend off the weight that was Owen. He was on top of her, one hand raised and…fuck, he was holding a knife, poised to kill.

My stomach dropped.

Every muscle tensed.

"Kat!" The name burst from my lips, raw and filled with terror.

Owen's head snapped up at the sound of Bandit's furious barking and my scream, his eyes wild, a smear of blood trickling down his face.

I didn't hesitate.

I sprinted forward, closing the gap faster than I ever knew I could. My breaths were ragged, hot puffs of steam in the cold air, but my focus never wavered.

A feral roar tore from my throat as I launched myself at Owen, slamming into him with every ounce of force my body could muster. He grunted as we hit the ground, a tangle of limbs and snow.

The struggle was immediate and brutal. Owen fought dirty, his every move ruthless and desperate. He swung wildly, catching me with an elbow to the jaw that sent stars exploding across my vision.

"Damn you, Owen," I spat, trying to pin him down.

But he was slippery, fueled by whatever madness had driven him to this point. Then, like a "flash of lightning, his knife was out—a glint of metal in the fading light.

"Shit!"

He slashed, and a line of fire seared across my arm. I couldn't get to my gun—couldn't risk a stray bullet hitting Kat or Bandit. Chris had to be right on my heels; I needed to believe he would tip the scales in our favor.

"Stop, Owen!" I snarled. But words were useless against a man who'd lost all reason.

We wrestled on the ground, bodies slipping in the snow and blood, my mind racing for a way to end this without anyone else getting hurt. My arm throbbed with pain, warm blood soaking through my sleeve, but I couldn't let it slow me down.

Not now. Not when Kat's life hung by a thread.

Owen flipped me over with a grunt of exertion, my back slamming into the cold snow. I gasped from the impact, the icy wetness seeping through my clothes.

"I'll kill you, you asshole!" a woman's voice screamed.

Then Kat was on him, a wildcat. She clawed at Owen's back, grabbing for the knife with a tenacity that made pride surge in my chest despite the danger. She wrestled the weapon from his grip with a twist that made him scream as his hand pointed the wrong direction. The knife spun out of his hand, disappearing into the snow.

"You bitch !" Owen spat, throwing her off. She flew through the air, landing with a sickening thud against a boulder. A cry tore from her lips, pain etched on her face.

"Kat!" My heart pounded, rage boiling inside me.

I surged forward, blind to everything but the man who'd hurt her. Tackling Owen to the ground, I let loose.

Each punch was a promise, a vow to protect what was mine.

"Never…again," I grunted between strikes, my fists connecting with his flesh.

Over and over, I hit him, flashes of that night at the bar surging back—the night I'd defended her honor. That had been the wrong response.

But this? This was right.

"Enough, Gabe! Enough!" Chris's voice was distant, but his hands were a vise on my shoulders, pulling me back. "He's down!"

I wanted to shake him off, keep going until Owen couldn't move another muscle. But then Clay was there too, adding his strength to Chris's efforts.

"Stop, man. It's over," Clay said, his voice an anchor in the storm of my rage.

My breath heaved in ragged bursts as I remembered myself, the fog of fury lifting. I looked up…

I saw her.

Safe .

Kat was holding Livy, her arms tight around the shivering girl. Bandit was beside them, his body poised and protective. The sight of them—alive, together—snapped the last thread of my anger.

I staggered toward them, steps unsteady. Kat looked up. She opened her arms and we fell into each other.

Bruised.

Broken.

Alive.

"Got him," Chris grunted behind us. Owen was under control, his curses spitting out with the blood from his broken nose. Clay held him down, Chris clicking cuffs into place. Through the trees, shapes moved—more people. The search party from the police department, finally here.

But they seemed like shadows at the edge of my vision. All that mattered was the warmth in my arms.

"Are you two okay?" It was all I could manage, my voice hoarse from shouting and raw from fear.

"We are now," Kat whispered back. "Gabe, I thought…"

She couldn't get the words out, sobs choking her voice. I held her, stroked her hair.

"I love you. I love you both…and I'll never let anyone hurt you again."

The world fell away, leaving only us. The mountain stood silent witness to our reunion as we clung to each other. Livy's sobs quieted, her small frame shaking against mine. Bandit nudged at us, his presence a comfort.

"Never again," I whispered into Kat's hair, my lips grazing her forehead. She nodded against my chest, her grip on me unyielding.

"Never," she agreed, voice firm despite the tremble.

The cold of the snow beneath us went unnoticed, the fading echoes of danger ignored. We were a unit, bound by more than just fear now.

By love. By survival.

This was my family…and I was never letting go.