Page 47 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable (The Beautiful Scars Duet #2)

Chapter Forty-One

Zane

Through my scope, I track the shadows moving between trees. Wolf and his team advance silently, their dark forms barely visible in the predawn darkness. My finger rests beside the trigger, ready if they need cover, even though there was no car in front of the silent and dark house when we arrived.

"Team Two in position," Chase whispers through the comm.

"Copy." My voice stays steady despite the rage burning in my chest. Three days. Sunny's been in that monster's hands for three fucking days.

Jade’s words echo in my head: "He wanted me to be able to see what he had planned for her… wanted me to tell you what he told me." The bruises on Jade’s face were nothing compared to the horror in her eyes. She couldn’t even look at either me or Colt when she repeated what Garrett had told her.

"Infrared shows tripwires every ten feet," Rex reports.

I adjust my position, scanning the tree line. "Mark them."

"We’ve got pressure plates too," Wolf adds.

Levi shifts beside me, his breath catching. I place a hand on his shoulder, squeezing once. We can’t afford his rage right now. Not when one wrong move could alert Garrett.

"Found the first camera," Ty reports. "About ten feet up in a tree. There’s a whole network."

"Wolf, can you loop the feed?"

"Working on it. But Z… this is next-level stuff."

My jaw clenches. Of course it is. Garrett’s been planning this for years. I knew it wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed. The sick bastard probably has contingencies for every scenario.

"Team Three, hold position," I order as Rex’s group approaches the side of the house. "Those cameras will have blind spots. Find them."

Through my scope, I watch Chase’s team methodically marking trip wires with infrared paint, the lines only visible through our equipment.

They move with careful, practiced efficiency, but for every trap they find, another one lurks beneath the surface—pressure plates hidden in natural ground depressions, motion sensors nestled in hollow trees.

"How many cameras identified?" I ask Wolf.

"Twelve so far. Creating a map now. There’s a pattern—they overlap, but it looks like there's a gap between sweeps on the northwest approach."

"Time it," I order. "We may need that gap."

Levi exhales sharply beside me. I can feel him getting impatient.

"Team Two, status on the underground readings?"

"Concrete reinforced with steel," Rex replies. "Picking up electrical signatures consistent with security doors. Multiple rooms. Temperature controlled."

A fucking prison.

Jade was right. Garrett built this. For her.

"Z," Rex’s voice cuts through my darkness. "We found an access point. Maintenance tunnel. Looks like it connects to the main structure. Camera coverage is minimal. But it’s small."

Finally. "Hold position. Wolf?"

"Almost got the loop ready. Give me two minutes."

I check my watch. We’ve been here forty minutes.

"All teams, prepare to move on my mark. Rex, you take point on the tunnel. Chase, you’re our eyes. Team four, maintain perimeter control. If Garrett has reinforcements coming, I want to know."

This whole set-up is making me nervous. There should be more here. I mean, he has the area locked down tight, but that's it. Where are his men? We shouldn't be able to get this close this quickly or easily. We need to be expecting anything

"What about us?" Levi asks, his voice raw.

"We’re going through the front."

Garrett will be expecting us. He’ll want to face us himself.

The comms crackle with acknowledgments. I do one final equipment check, feeling the familiar weight of my weapons, the extra magazines, the knife at my ankle.

"Camera loop is live," Wolf announces. "You’ve got eight minutes before the system auto-resets."

"Teams, move now." I rise into a crouch, Levi mirroring my movement. "Remember—Garrett is ours."

We advance through the marked safe zones, every step through a field of unseen threats. The house is just ahead, a modern fortress disguised as a well-designed home. No lights visible, but thermal imaging shows one heat signature below ground.

One.

It doesn’t make sense.

It can’t be this easy. There’s no way he left her alone.

I grab Levi’s arm as he starts to move. "Wait. Something’s wrong."

"What?" His voice is tight with barely contained rage.

"There's only one heat signature down below. It's most likely Sunny. Where’s Garrett?"

I scan the thermal readouts again. The house above shows cold—too cold. No bodies. No equipment running hot. Just that single heat source underground.

"Could be shielded areas we can’t see," Levi suggests, but I hear the doubt in his voice.

I key my comm. "Rex, hold position in the tunnel. Do not proceed further until my mark."

"Copy that."

"Wolf, what are you seeing on the security feeds?"

"Nothing unusual. No movement inside or out. But…" He pauses. "The camera placement is off. They’re focused on approach vectors, but there are blind spots around the actual house entry points."

Exactly what I was afraid of.

"Almost like he wants us to come in through certain routes," I murmur.

"Fuck," Levi breathes. "It’s a trap."

"Has to be." I study the structure again through my scope. "He knew we’d find this place. Probably counting on us rushing in the minute we confirmed Sunny was here."

"So what’s the play?"

I consider our options. The maintenance tunnel remains our best access point—we’ve already cleared it of obvious traps. But Garrett’s absence bothers the hell out of me.

"Rex, what’s the tunnel construction. Can we send someone down?"

"Concrete and steel, like the main structure. But there’s something odd—regular spacing of what looks like utility boxes along the walls. And it’s tight, like I said. Ty’s the only one who would fit."

"Don’t touch them," I order. "Can you get any readings on those boxes?"

"Checking… shit. They’re putting out low level electrical signals. Could be sensors, could be charges."

Levi’s hand tightens on his weapon. "If he’s rigged the tunnel—"

"He’s probably rigged the whole house," I finish. "Multiple kill boxes. Force us to choose which way we die."

"But Sunny’s down there," Levi argues. "We can’t just—"

"We’re not leaving her." We just need a little patience. And time we don’t have. “Ty, stand-by to make entry.”

I’m about to issue a new plan when—

Headlights sweep across the trees.

"All teams, hold position," I order. "We’ve got company."

A black SUV moves slowly down the access road. It stops about twenty yards from the house. Even in the dim light, through my scope I recognize the driver.

Garrett.

He doesn’t get out. Doesn’t turn off the engine. Just sits there. Watching. Waiting.

"He knows we’re here," Levi breathes.

"Of course he does."

And he’s waiting.

"We need a distraction," I mutter. "Get him away from that car and into the house."

"How?"

"Rex, place a breaching charge on the east side shed. Small blast. We make it look like we’re coming in that way. Ty, as soon as that blast goes off, make entry. We need to get you inside while Garrett's distracted."

"Copy that. Initiating countdown." Rex's voice is steady as he begins.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

Detonation.