Gage was completely loose and relaxed by the time they left the cabin in Snowcroft late the next afternoon. They were on their way back to Terravista after the end of their romantic, bone-melting, twenty-four hours together when the Bluetooth in Gage’s Jeep rang. He glanced at the screen and flashed Felicia a “shh” sign so she knew not to make her presence known.

A call from the base was more than likely something she wasn’t supposed to hear. He hit a button on his steering wheel and answered, “Colonel Winston.”

“Colonel, this is Captain Shane Harmon from OSI. I’ve been the lead investigator on the AMXS case. We’ve had a development.”

“Go on,” Gage said.

“We’ve identified a suspect, A1C Dalton Kennedy.”

That name sounded familiar. “Wait. Isn’t that Major Hardesty’s admin troop?”

“Yes, sir, we have every reason to believe that he’s the major player behind the events in question, but we have a problem. Before we were able to arrest Kennedy, he ran. We can’t locate him. We also can’t reach Major Hardesty. It’s possible that he might be in danger. Although from what we can gather on his schedule, the major is generally out of communication for a few hours on Sunday afternoons.”

Felicia began to wave her hands in the air, trying to get his attention without making the OSI agent aware that Gage had a civilian in his car listening to what should be a confidential exchange.

“Just a moment, Captain. Can you hold?” Gage held down the mute button on his steering wheel and turned to Felicia.

“He goes out riding at Billy’s every Sunday. He’s out of cell phone range, and that’s why he marks it on his calendar, so that the squadron knows in case there’s an emergency.”

“Kennedy would have had access to that calendar, so he would have known that, too.”

Gage took his finger off the mute button. “Captain, I think I may know where the major is, but the odds are good that Kennedy does, too. In your opinion, how likely is he to have gone after the major instead of simply running?”

The captain cleared his throat and said in a low, worried voice. “Very likely. You won’t believe what we’re looking at here, Colonel. This guy is obsessed with the major, and I have a feeling it’s one of those ‘if I can’t have him, no one can’ situations.”

“Damn. Okay, Captain. I need you to listen to this very carefully. The major is out on the Shooting Starr Ranch. I’m just now coming off the mountain coming from Snowcroft, so I’m about thirty minutes closer to the ranch than you are. But I need you to get your people out there. I’m going to put Dr. Felicia Parks on the phone so she can give you directions on how to get there.”

“Colonel, I think you should let the authorities handle this. It could be a very volatile situation.”

That was exactly why Gage had a cold sweat dripping down his spine as he pushed the gas down even harder on his Jeep, pushing it to the limits of how fast it could go. “Well, see, that’s not even an option. My seventeen-year-old son is working out at that ranch today, and I refuse to let him get caught up in this.”

He nodded to Felicia, who had wide terrified eyes. “Here’s Dr. Parks with your directions.”

Listening with half an ear to Felicia as she spoke, Gage calculated if there was any way he could get there faster without blowing up his engine. He needed to get the captain off the phone, so he could try to call Austin and Billy to warn them. He prayed that they were within cell phone range and not somewhere out on the ranch in a dead zone with Steven.

Felicia finished with the directions.

Gage cleared his throat. “Captain, I’m hanging up now to see if I can get in contact with anyone at the ranch. I’ll see your people there.”

“Be careful, Colonel. Stay out of Kennedy’s way if you can. We think he’s armed.” And dangerous went unspoken, but they could all hear those words.

Gage disconnected the line. “Felicia, call Billy.”

He hit another button on his steering wheel. “Call Austin.”

The phone didn’t even ring. The sound of the audio system immediately filled with Austin’s messaging service. “Austin, this is your dad. This may be a false alarm, but there’s someone who is dangerous trying to get to Steven, and he may show up at the ranch. Do not engage. Get someplace safe inside Billy’s house.” He had to swallow against the panic trying to choke him. “I love you, Austin.”

Then he hung up the phone and turned to Felicia, who appeared to be leaving a similar message for Billy. “You couldn’t reach him?”

She shook her head. “They’re probably just out in the barn. I’m sure they’re fine.”

God, he prayed they were. It took them less than ten minutes to get to the road leading into the ranch, but it felt more like ten hours.  They’d both tried to call Austin and Billy several times more, but no one answered either phone number.

When they turned into the ranch, Billy was out in the paddock, forking some hay into a hay rack and nothing looked out of sorts.

Felicia let loose with an audible sigh of relief. “See, it’s all okay.” She waved to a car parked behind the barn next to Austin’s truck. “That’s Steven’s car, so he’s here, too...probably out riding like normal.”

Billy looked up in confusion when he heard their vehicle on the gravel road. He shaded his eyes against the late afternoon sun to watch them. It wasn’t until Felicia climbed out of the passenger side door that his face broke out into a welcoming smile.

“Well hey, stranger.” Billy crossed the paddock and joined them at the rail, still focused on Felicia. “I haven’t seen you out here for a couple of weeks. Why didn’t you text and tell me you were coming? I would have had some horses saddled and ready to go for the two of you.” He turned to Gage and offered his hand to shake. “Good to see you again, Colonel.”

Gage took the lead. “Unfortunately, this isn’t a social visit. Do you happen to know where Steven is right now?”

As he asked the question, hoof beats sounded in the distance. They all turned to watch Steven ride in on a huge, chestnut horse. He grinned first at Billy, then he noticed Felicia standing with Gage. That smile slipped, replaced by a quick flash of pain.

Gage hated that their being together hurt this man. “Billy, is Austin in the barn?”

Billy turned back toward them with a questioning glance. “Yeah, he’s mucking out the stalls.”

Gage leaned down to Felicia. “I need to go see Austin real quick.” After the terrifying drive here, he needed to set eyes on his son to be reassured that he was okay. “Don’t let Steven leave. We need to warn him about what’s going on.” Gage pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I also need to call the base and let them know everything is calm out here.”

He made the quick call on the walk over to the barn, calling off the law enforcement headed this way. Upon entering the shadowy barn, he immediately realized something was wrong.

“Listen, I don’t know what you think is happening—” That was Austin’s voice and he sounded panicky.

“Shut up! Let me think!”

Gage didn’t recognize the other voice, but he sounded more than a little angry, and right now, that anger was directed directly at Austin. It had to be Dalton Kennedy. Gage ducked behind a half wall and searched the area for some sort of weapon.

Fuck. He didn’t see anything, but he couldn’t just sit by while this psycho had his son. He activated his phone, thankful he still had it silenced from his weekend, and sent a quick text to Felicia. He had no idea if she had her phone on her or not. It might still be sitting in the seat of the Jeep.

“Now, we’re going to take it nice and slow. Don’t make any sudden moves, or you’ll end up dead. I don’t want to do that, so don’t make me, okay?” Kennedy’s voice shook, and the idea that he held a gun on Austin while that nervous terrified Gage down to his very core.

“Okay,” Austin said. He sounded much calmer than Kennedy did. Their footsteps rustled across the floor of the barn, and Gage prayed that Kennedy wouldn’t see him in the shadows as they passed by.

He followed them out of the barn and was happy to see that it looked like Felicia had gotten his text. No one else was in sight except Kennedy and Austin.

“Where did he go? I know I heard the major out here. Didn’t you hear him, too?” Kennedy yanked Austin in his anger as he turned in a circle.

Gage ducked behind a gate and hoped Kennedy didn’t spot him or his shadow in the late afternoon sun.

Kennedy turned away with a growl. “His car is still here. He has to be here somewhere. Maybe he went up to the house. Dammit! Fuck! Shit!”

Kennedy was quickly unraveling. Gage couldn’t let this go on.

Behind that gate leaned a shovel. He grasped hold of the handle and tried to figure out how he could use it to get to Kennedy and not risk hurting Austin.

“Major Hardesty! Come out,” Kennedy called.

Gage didn’t take another moment to consider his actions. “Austin, there you are. I was looking for you.” He carried the shovel and stumbled to a halt, acting surprised to see Airman Kennedy. “Oh, hi. I didn’t know Austin had a friend out here helping him today. I’m Colonel Winston.” He strode toward Kennedy with his hand outstretched like anyone would when meeting a new person, acting like he didn’t see the gun hanging loosely in Kennedy’s hand, forgotten during his rant. He also hoped that the power of his name might throw the airman off enough to get Austin away from him.

Gage briefly met Austin’s terrified eyes, trying to send him reassurance, but he had to focus on the unstable Kennedy.

Gage still had the shovel in his left hand. He wasn’t completely helpless. He just had to bat the gun away. Simple, right?

He acted like he stumbled and fell against Kennedy. “Austin, run!”

The gun went off.