Page 34 of Beckett (Warrior Security #2)

Beckett

Her breathing eventually evened out, but I kept holding her anyway.

Audra’s face was pressed against my chest, her fingers still twisted in my shirt like she was afraid I’d disappear if she let go.

The conference room’s harsh fluorescent lights caught the tear tracks on her cheeks, and something primitive in me wanted to hunt down whoever had done this to her and make them understand what real fear felt like.

But first, she needed rest. Real rest, not the exhausted collapse that came from running on empty.

“Come on,” I whispered against her hair. “Let’s get you somewhere more comfortable.”

She stirred slightly, eyes fluttering but not quite opening. “Don’t leave.”

“Never.” The word came out before I could think about it, but I meant it down to my bones.

I stood carefully, lifting her with me. She weighed nothing—months of barely eating, of living on adrenaline and terror, had stripped her down to muscle and determination.

Her head lolled against my shoulder as I carried her out of the conference room and down the hall to one of the smaller offices we’d converted into a crash space for long operations.

The couch wasn’t much, but it was better than the conference room chairs. I eased her down onto the worn leather, and she curled immediately into herself, knees drawn up, making herself small. A defense mechanism so ingrained she did it even unconscious.

I found a blanket in the closet—army surplus, rough wool, but warm. I draped it over her, tucking it around her shoulders. She mumbled something I couldn’t make out, then her breathing deepened again, the kind of fatigued sleep that came after emotional hemorrhaging.

I crouched beside the couch for a moment, studying her face.

Though asleep, she had lines of tension around her eyes, her jaw slightly clenched like she was ready to run even in dreams. One hand had escaped the blanket, fingers curled into a loose fist. The other was hidden, probably pressed against her stomach—another defensive position.

“Sleep,” I told her quietly, though I knew she couldn’t hear me. “I’ve got watch.”

The walk back to the conference room felt longer than it should have. The main room was empty when I entered, but I knew they’d be waiting.

I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to the group:

She’s sleeping. Main conference room.

Within minutes, they filed back in. Hunter came first, phone pressed to his ear, voice low and sharp—probably already mobilizing resources.

Coop followed with his laptop, already typing before he even sat down.

Aiden moved in last, silent as always, but I could see his mind was already running through tactical scenarios.

I reconnected Travis’s call, and the monitor flickered back to life. He hadn’t moved from his desk, but there were two more empty energy drink cans in his growing graveyard.

“How is she?” Hunter asked, setting his phone aside. “Hell of a birthday present for you.”

“That’s for fucking sure. She’s completely drained. Finally sleeping.” I dropped into a chair, suddenly feeling every one of my thirty-four years. “She cried herself out completely. Don’t think she’s slept more than a few hours at a time in months.” Maybe not even when she’d been in bed with me.

“Can’t blame her,” Coop said, still typing. “What she described… That’s psychological torture. Designed to break someone down systematically.”

“The eye for an eye message is bothering the fuck out of me,” Aiden said, his deep voice cutting through the room. “That’s not random.”

Travis cleared his throat through the speakers. “Already running searches on that phrase connected to Seattle. Looking for patterns, similar incidents, anything that might give us a thread to pull.”

“Good.” Hunter’s scarred fingers drummed once on the table—his thinking pattern. “We need immediate measures and long-term strategy. Coop, you’re on first watch rotation. I want someone with eyes on Audra twenty-four seven.”

“Already worked out a schedule,” Coop said, turning his laptop toward us. “Four-hour shifts, overlapping coverage during transition times. We can maintain it indefinitely.”

“Security at Pawsitive Connections needs upgrading,” I said. “The property’s too open, too many access points. And we need to get her another dog.”

“Jet’s not enough?” Hunter asked.

“Jet’s emotionally supportive, but he’s proven he’s not going to cut it as a security dog.

” I thought about the dogs I’d been working with.

“Duke or Atlas would be perfect. Both have completed advanced protection training. Atlas especially—he’s got the temperament for personal security work. We’ll trade Jet out for one of them.”

Neither Jet nor Audra was going to like that, but her safety was more important than Jet’s attachment issues.

“We need to go back over the grocery store parking lot too,” Hunter said.

“For fucking sure.” My jaw tightened. That bastard had been right here in the middle of Garnet Bend. “Coop, you saw Audra in the grocery store, right? Was there anything you remember that might be relevant?”

He shook his head. “Nah, man. She was buying steaks, and I mentioned it was your birthday. She seemed excited. Definitely not nervous.”

So she’d found the note after she came out of the grocery store. That made sense.

“I’m pretty sure the grocery store doesn’t have extensive CCTV of the parking lot,” Travis said immediately. “Not much happens out there. But I can check.”

“When she left, she didn’t come straight back to Pawsitive,” I explained. “She wanted to make sure no one was following her. I’ll get the info about exactly where she went, but she said it was for a few hours. Maybe we can get something from those places.”

“Tracking her by how she got paid or where she stayed at a motel requires pretty sophisticated computer knowledge. It’s not simple,” Aiden said, ignoring the huff Travis let out— everything was simple to Travis when it came to computers. “This isn’t some random obsessed ex-boyfriend.”

“No, it’s someone with a specific grudge,” Hunter said. “Someone who thinks Audra wronged them badly enough to justify over a year of systematic torture.”

“But she said she couldn’t think of anyone she’d hurt,” Coop pointed out.

“Doesn’t mean she didn’t,” Aiden said pragmatically. “Could be something she’s not even aware of. Something from her past she doesn’t even remember as significant.”

I nodded. “The timing of when the stalking started… There has to be a trigger. Something that happened around that time that got this stalker ramped up.”

“I’ll look into that too,” Travis said, fingers still moving nonstop on his keyboard as he talked. “See what I can find.”

“What about the physical evidence?” I didn’t want to even think about this, but it could be a key factor. “The brand on her neck—that took time, planning. He had to subdue her, have the tools ready.”

“Suggests someone with medical knowledge or experience with torture,” Aiden said clinically. “The precision she described, making sure it scarred but didn’t cause life-threatening damage—that’s controlled violence.”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop. We all recognized controlled violence. We’d all been trained in it.

“Military?” Coop suggested.

“Could be,” Hunter said. “Or someone who has spent time in prison. Branding happens there for various reasons.”

“I don’t want to rain on any parades,” Travis joined in. “But it could just be someone with enough rage to research how to hurt someone in a way that the police might think she did to herself.”

That led to silence for a while.

“The friend who got mugged,” I said, remembering that detail. “Was obviously the same guy. He’s not just hurting Audra—he’s hurting anyone who gets close to her.”

“Isolation tactic,” Aiden said. “Make her toxic to be around. Make her believe she’s putting others in danger just by existing near them.”

My fists clenched. “It worked. She was leaving tonight to protect everyone here.”

“But she didn’t,” Hunter pointed out. “She stayed. That means she trusts you.”

“I’m going to fucking well make sure that trust isn’t broken.”

Everyone gave murmurs of agreement.

“Lachlan needs to know,” Hunter said. “He’s the sheriff, and he’s going to want to be involved.”

“Sheriff status aside, he’s also my best friend,” I added. “He’ll help without making it official if we need him to.”

“Good. We’ll need local law enforcement cooperation without the bureaucracy.” Hunter’s expression was granite. “Travis, I want everything you can find on this stalker. Digital footprints, patterns, anything that might tell us who we’re hunting.”

“Already on it,” Travis said. “I’ve got seventeen different searches running. Credit card fraud connected to her social, any police reports with the eye for an eye phrase, emergency room admissions in the cities she mentioned?—”

“Emergency room?” I interrupted.

“She said he slammed her face into concrete. That would have needed medical attention, even if she didn’t go herself. He might have needed it too if she fought back.”

I hadn’t even thought of that angle. This was why I needed my team.

“I’ll check the grocery store at first light,” Aiden said. “Look for physical evidence, talk to employees, see if anyone noticed anything unusual.”

“I’ll go with you,” Coop added.

“My question is…why let her keep running?” Hunter asked. “Why not take her or kill her outright?”

“Because the hunt is part of it,” Aiden said. “The fear, the isolation, making her run—that’s what he enjoys. If he wanted her dead or captured, he’s had dozens of opportunities.”

“He wants her to suffer,” I said, the realization hitting like cold water. “Taking her would end the game. But letting her run, letting her think she’s escaped, only to find her again—that’s the point.”

“Sadistic bastard,” Coop muttered.

“So he’s around the area somewhere,” I continued. “He may not know she’s at Pawsitive. He may have just been watching the town. Let’s assume he found her from that picture that was posted on the Draper’s Tavern social media.”

“Which wouldn’t have been difficult if he has a program set up that checks social media for her image,” Travis said. “It would be a hassle to develop, but definitely doable.”

I started pacing. This made sense. “So he knows she’s in Garnet Bend but doesn’t know where.”

“The note was just the start,” Hunter said. “When she doesn’t leave, he’ll escalate to violence.”

“But he doesn’t know about us,” Aiden pointed out. “Doesn’t know she has protection now.”

“Let’s keep it that way,” Hunter said. “Travis, keep your searches subtle. Don’t trigger any alerts that might tip him off, in case he really is technologically smart.”

“Roger that. My kung fu is strong.”

I barely refrained from rolling my eyes.

“All right,” Hunter said finally. “We have a plan. Coop, you’re on watch starting now. Aiden, grocery store at dawn. Travis, keep digging. Beck, get some rest—you’re no good to her worn out.”

The room fell quiet for a moment, everyone processing, planning. These men had dropped everything in the middle of the night because I’d called. No questions, no hesitation, just immediate response.

“You’re too close to this,” Hunter said, his green eyes locked on mine. “Emotionally involved.”

“I know.”

“It’ll affect your judgment.”

“I know.”

“You don’t care.”

“Not even a little bit.”

Hunter studied me for a long moment, then nodded. “Fair enough. Just remember that keeping her safe is the priority. Not revenge.”

“Keeping her safe is revenge,” I said flatly. “Every day this bastard doesn’t get to hurt her again is a victory. Every night she sleeps without running is me spitting in his face.”

“That’s a dangerous mind-set,” Aiden observed.

“It’s the only mind-set.” I met each of their eyes in turn. “This isn’t a standard protection detail. This is personal. Someone hunted her for thirteen months. Branded her like cattle. Made her believe she was poison to anyone who showed her kindness.”

My voice had gotten harder with each word, cold rage crystallizing into something sharper.

“He made her afraid to accept help. Afraid to trust anyone. Afraid to stop moving long enough to even grieve her brother properly.” I stood, unable to sit still any longer.

“So yeah, I’m emotionally involved and fucking pissed .

I’m going to use that. Every bit of rage, every protective instinct, every tactical skill we’ve learned—I’m going to use it all to end this. ”

“We,” Hunter corrected quietly. “ We’re going to end this.”

That was for fucking sure.