Page 48 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable (The Beautiful Scars Duet #2)

Chapter Forty-Two

Zane

The explosion rocks the early morning air, small and controlled, but loud enough to serve its purpose. Through my scope, I watch the black SUV's brake lights flash. Garrett's moving. Pulling in closer to the house.

"Status, Ty?" I keep my voice low, watching Garrett's vehicle creep cautiously closer to the house.

"Breaking through now." Metal groans softly through the comm. "Holy fuck..."

His words makes my blood run cold. "Report."

"She's... Levi, she's..." Ty's breathing changes. "Found her. I can see her from here, but she's not... she's not responding to me."

A flash of movement catches my attention. Garrett's vehicle is parked, and he's making his way toward the house with calm, calculated confidence. It's as if the explosion never happened.

"Ty, you need to move fast. Coleman's approaching the house." I track Garrett's movement, noting how he favors his right side slightly. "Wolf, status on those pressure plates?"

"Working on it. System's more complex than we thought. Multiple redundancies."

Through the comm, I hear Ty trying to calm Sunny. Her breathing is rapid, panicked. Then a sound that might be a scream choked off into a whimper.

"It's me, Sunny. It's Ty. You're safe now." His voice is gentle, professional, but I catch the undertone of horror. "I need you to stay quiet for me, okay? We're getting you out."

"She's fighting him," Chase reports from his position. "She doesn’t recognize him."

Garrett reaches the porch steps. His movements are unhurried, almost casual. Like he's coming home after a long day at work.

"Ty," I warn, "Coleman's inside. You need to secure that room now."

"Working on it. She's... she's pretty hurt. And scared. Really scared." Ty's voice drops lower. "I've got her wrapped in my jacket but she's bleeding. Some of these cuts are fresh."

Levi shifts beside me, and I grab his arm before he can move. "Hold position," I growl. "You know he has a failsafe. If we show our hand now, he could trigger it."

"She's hurt," Levi's voice is raw.

"I know." The words are bitter. "But if we rush this, she could die. We all could die."

Through the comm, Sunny's voice finally comes through—scared, hoarse, but alive. "Ty?”

"Yeah, Sunny. It’s me. The whole team's here." Ty's relief is palpable. "Just need you to stay quiet and still for me, okay? Can you do that?"

"They came," she whispers. "You came."

The front door opens. Garrett disappears inside.

"Ty, secure that door now." My finger tightens on my trigger. "Coleman's in the house. Assume he's heading your way."

"Copy that." Metal scrapes against metal. "Door's reinforced from this side. Might buy us some time."

Wolf's voice cuts in: "These pressure plates... they're not just triggers. They're linked to something in the basement. Something with a power draw."

The implications of exactly how dangerous things are hit me. "Ty, get her out. Now. Whatever route you came in, go back the same way."

"She can barely walk," Ty reports. "And the chute's narrow. It'll take time."

"Time we don't have." I watch the house, mind racing. "Wolf, can you redirect that power?"

"Maybe. But one wrong move..."

A scream echoes through the comm—Sunny's voice, raw with terror. Then Garrett's, muffled but clear enough: "I know you're in there, Angel. Did you really think I wouldn't have planned for this?"

"Ty," I bark into the comm, "status!"

"Door's holding. She's... she's not good, Z. The sound of his voice..."

I can hear her crying now, that broken sound she makes when she's trying to be quiet. When she's trying to disappear.

"Listen to me," I say firmly. "Sunny? Listen to my voice. You're not alone anymore. We're here. All of us. And we're not leaving here without you. No matter what."

Her breathing hitches, steadies slightly.

"That's my girl," I continue, forcing calm into my voice while scanning for any movement from the house. "Just stay with Ty. Focus on his voice. Nothing else is real right now. Nothing else matters."

"Z?" Her voice is small, uncertain.

"Right here, sweet girl. Not going anywhere."

Metal groans—the sound of Garrett testing the door's strength. Sunny whimpers.

"Levi," Wolf cuts in, "I think I found something. The power grid... there's a weak point. But if I'm wrong..."

"Do it," I order. "Whatever you're thinking, do it now."

Because I can hear Garrett laughing on the other side of that door. Can hear the sick pleasure in his voice as he calls out to Sunny. And I know, with cold certainty, that we're running out of time.

"Ty," I warn, "be ready to move the second Wolf gives the signal. No matter what happens, you get her out of there. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

Levi's body is coiled like a spring beside me. I keep my hand on his arm, as much to keep myself in check as to hold him back.

"Hold position," I remind him. "Just a little longer."

But watching that house, knowing what's happening inside, every second winds me tighter.

Hold on, sweet girl, I think fiercely. We're coming. Just hold on.

The moment Wolf cuts the power, everything changes.

The basement plunges into darkness, and the electronic choking of a generator starting floods the comm.

Emergency lights flicker on casting a red glow up through the window wells.

Through my earpiece, I hear Sunny's frightened gasp followed by the distinct sound of a heavy door swinging open.

"He's in," Ty reports, voice tight. "Door at the top of the stairs just unlocked."

Levi and I are already moving, following the path we mapped through Garrett's sensor grid. Without power, the plates are dead weight under the grass, but I take no chances. One misstep could still trigger whatever backup system he's got in place.

"Keep her behind you," I order Ty. "Do not engage unless directly threatened."

Garrett's laughter echoes through the comm, that same sick sound from seven years ago. "Come join the party, boys. I've been expecting you."

We breach the house through the front door, weapons ready. The layout is simple—central hallway leading to a kitchen where cellar stairs descend into darkness.

"Careful," Wolf warns through the comm. "Power's not completely dead. Something's still drawing current down there."

Levi takes point as we approach the stairs, his movements precise despite the rage I know is burning through him. I follow close behind, scanning for anything out of place. The basement door hangs open, inviting us down.

The stairs creak under our weight. I know with each step we're walking into a trap, but we have no choice. Sunny's down there. And now, so is Garrett.

The basement opens into a large room that stops me cold. Jade was right. Even with nothing but the emergency lighting I can see that this was all meant to be a replica of Sunny's apartment.

"What the fuck," Levi breathes.

But it's the far end of the room that draws my attention. Garrett stands with his back to the wall, his gun trained on Ty who is shielding Sunny behind him.

"Welcome to our home," Garrett says pleasantly, like we're guests at a dinner party. "I've been wondering when you'd finally get here."

I catalog details automatically—the way he favors his right side, the slight tremor in his gun hand, the distance between him and Sunny. Six feet. Maybe seven. Too far for a clean rush.

"Let her go," Levi growls, weapon steady on Garrett's chest. "It's over."

"Over?" Garrett laughs again, the sound bouncing off concrete walls. "This was never going to be over. She's mine. Has been since her dear old dad thought he could just walk away from the deal he made."

My finger tightens on the trigger as Sunny flinches at the mention of her father. She's wearing Ty's jacket, but I can see blood seeping through in places. Fresh cuts.

"I should have killed you that first afternoon." Levi snarls.

Garrett's eyes flick to me, assessing what kind of threat he thinks I am. "Tell me, does it bother you? Knowing she was mine first? That every time you touch her, it's me she feels?"