Page 20 of Monster

“Take a picture of the plate and have Roman look into it.”

Kai nodded and did as I asked.

Both Roman and Micah were out talking to the local gangs to see if any of them knew anything or why the fuck my son was targeted.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Fuck, I knew why Braxton was targeted. Because of me.

But he was…

Fuck, he was just a child. My child. And my child was fucking defenseless.

And I was gonna kill whoever dared put a hand on him.

I tried not to think about how scared he was right now.

Kai turned to me and pointed to the area surrounded by tall trees. “Just about half a mile from here to there is where the tracker was last pinged,” he said quietly.

An abandoned, ransacked red car, the fucking woods, and my boy hidden somewhere in those trees.

This shit didn’t make sense.

I looked back at the men. Four, plus Kai and me.

“Have Axel and Blade stay here and keep watch. Everyone else, follow me.”

We made the short trek across the field, reaching the edge of the woods.

I stopped and listened in carefully, but when there was no noise that seemed out of place, we walked on. I kept Kai slightly behind me, something I was sure he hated.

Kai might not be as defenseless as Braxton, but he was still mine to protect.

My skin itched even having him here with me, moving into a possible danger I didn’t know how to prepare for.

The gun strapped on the back of my waistband burned through my skin, but I didn’t reach for it.

Not yet.

We were quiet as we searched, not even knowing which direction to take.

Something flashed in the corner of my eye, and I placed a hand on Kai’s chest to stop him from walking, letting my eyes adjust to my surroundings.

It was nearly pitch black right now. The only light came from the full moon above, but even that wasn’t enough.

“Right there,” I said, pointing to a small flash of light through the top window of what looked like an abandoned farmhouse.

The light quickly shut off seconds later, but I saw what I saw.

Someone was in there.

Anticipation strummed along my skin as we quickly and quietly made our way over to it.

I signaled for the men to spread out and covered any possible exit, and Kai and I walked through the double doors.

One of the doors was almost falling off the hinges, and a broken lock hung off it in the middle as if someone had knocked it off.

We moved through the dark, and I approached a wall leading up to a small platform just at the top of the farmhouse.

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