It took stopping a couple times and staring at my GPS before I got it completely straight, but I’ve finally managed to navigate down the winding roads of suburbia to her grandmother’s place. I pull up into the subdivision and slowly drive by the houses, searching for number sixty-three.

Normally when you pull up onto streets like these, you’re faced with sprawling, boxy houses that stretch from one corner of the lawn to the next, leaving barely a sliver to put a walkway down on. However, these ones must have been built a long time before the whole “more is more” trend took over. Even though it’s still the neatly mapped out land, carefully plotted to give each space a cookie cutter spot, the houses are all quite different. They’re smaller, like how houses used to look after the Second World War. Back when it was more about the family living inside and less about the vastness of your space.

I spot the house I’ve been searching for and Red excitedly confirms that it’s the right one by tapping my shoulder three times. She’s been using this signal all day, but I can tell this time she’s really eager to get off the back of this bike and go see her nana.

I wonder how long it’s been since she’s been in Portland. She told me she left when she was eighteen. Did she ever look back? I think about how long it’s been since I’ve bothered stepping foot back in Seattle. With the long, lonely nights I used to spend there, staring at my empty walls and watching visions of the horrors of war color my walls brighter than a painting ever could, I’m not sure what it would take to make me want to return.

Pulling up the driveway, I park behind a small Toyota. I’m still struck by the fact this pavement isn’t teetering on the edge of the neighbors’ house. There are ample front lawns separating the houses, many decorated with beautiful old oak trees and flower beds.

I haven’t even killed the engine and Red jumps off the back of the seat, abandoning the helmet I bought her, and runs toward the front door. It’s easy to see she’s excited. It makes me happy to see her spirits so high. Everything is clicking into place for us. Like this was somehow meant to be.

I turn off my Harley and pull my saddle bags off, making my way to where Red stands impatiently on the front step. Hell, I’m surprised she didn’t just abandon me out here, leaving me to fend for myself. I smile at the thought and join her, but my smile slides away as I see the worry etched into her brow.

“What’s wrong?”

“She’s not answering the door,” she seems concerned.

I shrug. “It’s still early. Maybe Nana got herself a boyfriend while you were gone. Maybe she loves herself a Thursday night bingo now.” I smirk.

Red doesn’t brighten, though. Instead, she spins around and frowns out at the neighborhood. “No,” she answers slowly, “her car is here.” Suddenly her body tenses up tighter than a guitar string as her eyes stop searching the street.

“What is it?”

“Ryan, that’s his, fuck!” Her breathing becomes frantic little pants as she weakly points to the black car slinking in the shadows, parked on the side of the road.

“That’s what? Red, what’s going on?”

“That’s Wolfe’s car,” she hisses.

I follow her shaky finger and squint. I don’t see anyone parked inside.

“Fuck.”

Without thinking, I zip open my bags and pull my sig sauer out. From another bag, I pull my loaded magazine and give it a quick check before loading it in with a snap.

“You need to get out of here, Red. Go to a neighbor’s house and fucking call the police,” I order her, but she rifles under the potted plants lining the side of the stoop.

Before I have a chance to register what she’s doing, she plucks a spare key from under a terracotta planter and shoves it in the lock, swinging the door open.

“Red! Don’t go in there!”

She’s gone. Without so much as a look over her shoulder or a second thought she barrels inside, stupidly running toward what could be her death.

I snap back the slide and take a deep breath, trying to enter the house under control. I know it’s been a few years since I left the military, but I don’t feel rusty at all as I rely on my old training to keep me calm and help me search the rooms cautiously before entering them.

That is, until I hear her scream.

Red’s shriek is like a driving nail through my heart. All of my training and rational thoughts immediately drain from me as I race toward the sound. Twisting around the corner with my gun drawn up, I come face to face with the man I should have killed when I had the chance.

Wolfe.

“Let me go.” Red tries to twist out of his stronghold, but she’s no match for his strength or his gun.

Across the room, Red’s grandmother is gagged and tied to a dining room chair. Anger boils my blood when I spot the red stain that’s been smacked into her cheek. This fucker attacked her? I raise my gun, aiming directly at Wolfe’s forehead.

“Let her go.”

“Fuck you,” he sneers.

“How did you find me?” Red’s frantic eyes settle on her grandmother and tears spill onto her cheeks. “Nana!”

“Shut up.” Wolfe punches her with the hand wrapped around his pistol, jabbing her in the side.

Fury rages through me as Red chokes for breath.

“You thought you were smarter than me? This is what I fucking do, bitch. I find people who owe me, and you owe me big. You should’ve killed me when you could, or at least been smart enough to go through your apartment.” Wolfe keeps her pinned to him like a human shield, his gun at her temple. “Isn’t it just so sweet that your little grandmother sends you Christmas cards every year with her address on them?” His voice goes mockingly high.

“I’ll fucking shoot you.” I ignore the grandmother’s muffled protest in the corner.

“Go ahead and try.” Wolfe unblinkingly meets my eyes. “I’ll fucking blow her brains out.” He cocks his gun and digs it harder into the side of Red’s head, making her wince. Her eyes plead with me as I search my brain for my next move.

“I’ll tell you what.” I try to negotiate, or at least buy time until I come up with something better. “Let Red and her grandmother go. Take me instead. That’s a good trade, isn’t it?”

Wolfe shakes his head, laughing. “Are you fucking kidding me? Do you think you’re some kind of hero in a movie right now? I don’t give a shit about you. I came here for one thing, and I’ve got it.” He grinds into Red and my stomach lurches.

“Fuck you, man. You might try to get out of here, but I’ll empty this clip in you.” I shake my gun in my hands.

Red’s nana gets louder in the corner, but I can’t understand her. “Ryan, behind you!” Red cries.

I wheel around in time to see a thin man dressed in black just as he brings the butt of his gun down hard on my temple. My hands drop and my gun skitters under the couch as I fall to my knees and then the floor comes up to greet me. The world is a blur of noises and colors. I’m aware of the commotion around me but can’t move. My vision creeps smaller, the blackness around the edges pushing in further with every blink.

And then, it’s dark.