Page 52 of Protected by the Sinner (The Sinner’s Touch #2)

Dallas – Texas

One Month Later

“Beau?” she says as soon as I pick up the phone.

I don’t know if it’s the way she says my name or just instinct, but immediately, I know something’s wrong. “Amber?”

She and Elodie wanted to come to Dallas with me this week. Amber hadn’t talked about traveling in a long time, so I thought she was just bored and wanted to come along.

But now, my gut is screaming that something is very, very wrong.

“I love you, Beau,” she continues. “Do you remember what you told me that day at the hospital? You said you wouldn’t give me a second chance if I ever lied to you? I need you to forgive me. I didn’t cheat on you. I’m protecting our family by not letting him hurt Violet.”

“Amber, what happened? Why are you crying?”

“Has Amos arrived yet? You said you two had a meeting in New Orleans later today, when we got back,” she deflects instead of answering my question.

“Yes, he’s going to our house, but he’s not there yet.”

“Get him to Dallas. He’ll want to be here.”

“Amber, tell me what the hell is going on!”

“Elodie had a plan, Beau, and now I think we got him.”

My heart races so hard I feel like I might drop dead. “Who? Who did you catch, baby?” I already know the answer, but I’m too terrified for my mind to accept it as truth.

“Our father.”

“Amber, don’t mess with me.”

“Don’t freak out. We know what we’re doing, Beau. You guys would’ve never caught him any other way. He would’ve escaped and hurt more girls.”

I try a different approach because she sounds completely preoccupied. “Amber, where are you?”

“Elodie remembered this cabin in the woods here in Texas,” she says, while I’m already activating the tracker I had placed on her phone. “He used it for hunting. Maybe he thought we’d forgotten all about it.”

I’m losing it, but I can’t afford to lose control. Priority number one is getting her out of there.

“Can you forgive me?”

“Amber, that’s not important right now—your safety is.

So listen carefully. I need every detail about where you are, okay?

” I’m already leaving the office, signaling for Roman to follow me and gather the team.

The tracker I installed is accurate, but we may lose precious minutes before we reach them.

“Yes, that’s why we came here. Elodie will explain everything to you.”

“She’s with you?”

“She is, and we haven’t left the car. I would never put our daughter at risk.”

“Amber, I’m worried about all three of you. You did the right thing by staying in the car . . . Now let me speak with Elodie, and after that, don’t hang up until I get there, got it?”

“Okay. We won’t hang up, but let Amos know too. I love you.”

I can’t deal with feelings right now, only the urgency of protecting her. So I ignore the declaration. I have to stay focused. “Remember what you promised me. Don’t get out of the car.”

“I won’t. My sister will talk to you now.”

“Beau?” my sister-in-law’s voice asks.

There’s a lot I want to say to her, but now’s not the time, so I swallow my rage. “Elodie, don’t hang up. We’re going to stay on the phone the entire time until I get there.”

“Alright. I’ll tell you how to find us.”

There are three cars behind us with the rest of the security team. In mine, it’s just Roman and me.

I’ve said every prayer I can remember. While I was still on the phone with them, I saw my head of security calling Amos.

Twenty-five minutes later, following Elodie’s directions, we find their car hidden in the woods.

“We’re here. Don’t move,” I tell them through the speakerphone. “I’m hanging up now, but Roman will come get you and take you back to the apartment. Amber, this is non-negotiable. Don’t test me.”

I’ve hit my limit, and I think she senses it, because she answers, “Yes, Beau.”

I hang up and turn to Roman. “Get them out of here. Take one of the security cars to escort you.”

“You sure you don’t want me to stay?”

“Roman, I’m putting the most precious thing I have in your hands. Get my wife and daughter out of here.”

He doesn’t flinch. “You have my word. They’ll be safe.”

I don’t leave the car until I see them being taken away. Amber looks at me, but I don’t meet her gaze. I can’t be with her right now. I feel insane, unhinged, like I rarely have in my life.

Once I confirm they’re gone, I head toward the cabin with my men.

It’s not the first time I’ve raided a place, and even though I haven’t been in the field in years—not since working with Ruslan—I haven’t forgotten basic protocol.

In under two minutes, we secure the perimeter, but contrary to what I expected, there’s no threat.

Tobias is lying on the couch, looking drunk, and I spot a bottle of fine whiskey at his feet.

I avoid looking at him and focus on the cabin.

Despite the shabby exterior, the inside is luxurious, which tells me this was always his backup plan.

When we spoke on the way here, Elodie told me very few people even knew this place existed, and he was probably counting on that. He could’ve stayed here for months, maybe years.

He doesn’t move, even with half a dozen men inside the cabin.

“Dump him in cold water. I want him stone-cold sober when I begin what I came to do.”

I had to wait patiently for about six hours until he sobered up completely, but now, he finally looks at me.

Even though I’ve seen his picture, I guess I had a preconceived notion of what cult leaders looked like—half expected a skinny guy with a long beard.

Tobias is nothing like that. Like the other five lunatics who partnered with him in his crimes, he looks well-off.

“Ready to face the devil?” I ask when he locks eyes with me.

I’m not sure if he knows who I am, but he keeps eyeing the knife in my hand.

“For someone who loved preaching salvation, you’re awfully quiet, buddy. Anyway, let me introduce myself. I’m your youngest daughter’s future husband. The father of the granddaughter you’ll never meet. But that’s only concerning them. Between you and me, you can just call me Death.”

Amos sent me a message saying he had arrived, so I’m not surprised when I see the door open and my brother-in-law walk in.

Instead of looking at me, he focuses on the disfigured mess at my feet.

“It was hard not to kill him.”

“I know. If the roles were reversed, I’m not sure I could’ve waited this long.

Thank you for that. Good evening, Tobias.

Do you know who I am?” he says, kneeling beside the man.

“No? Let me explain. I’m your own flesh and blood.

Elodie and Amber’s brother. The boy you ordered to be killed.

But your wife, Estrella De León, disobeyed your orders and gave me up for adoption. ”

He seems trapped in his own head, like Amber was hours earlier—but now I see it’s different. Amos has lived his own version of hell.

Their father looks at him in fear but still mutters, “I don’t have sons.”

Amos shakes his head. “Wrong answer. You don’t have children.

Not sons, not daughters. A little genetic donation doesn’t make you a father.

I’m a father, and I would die for my kids.

I’d protect them above all else. You’re trash, Tobias.

You’re not worthy of breathing the same air as my sisters and children. ”

The coward trembles.

That’s what cowards do. They only puff up when they’re facing helpless victims—never equals.

“I’m basically an atheist,” my brother-in-law says, still eerily calm, “but I’m starting to believe that God orchestrated this reunion, Dad . Still, the God I’m talking about, the one who led me here, isn’t merciful. He’s vengeful.”

He stands up and pulls a knife from his bag. “Leave us alone, Beau. Go home to my sister. I promise you, he will never be a threat to them again,” he says, pointing to the man who destroyed so many lives.

I nod, knowing he needs to let all that rage out. His father stole his family and ordered his death. Amos deserves his own closure.

I walk out of the cabin without looking back, already forgetting the deranged bastard.

My mind is on her now.

Amber.

The woman who doesn’t know how to follow orders.