Page 1 of Sutton's Shadow

Chapter 1

Wyatt“TinMan”Tinsleycrept through the thick foliage, panic churning in his gut. Evil lurked in this forest. He could hear them. They were taunting her as they searched.

“Come out, little girl,” one called. “We promise not to hurt you.” The words rang false as the other man snickered.

“Toomuch,” he mumbled under his breath.

Two men. With his Ranger skills, Wyatt could take two men down with ease. But he didn’t need to. His fellow Nighthawk was with him. Jude Riker operated like a ghost. The former Delta would have the evil subdued before they ever saw him coming, allowing Wyatt to focus on his objective.

When she’d called him, the terror in her voice had virtually stopped his heart. This time, he would not fail her. This time, his baby sister was coming home with him.

Wyatt had been lucky. His grandparents had rescued him from the cesspool he’d lived in with his mother when he was thirteen.

He’d lived with them on their farm happily for five years before enlisting in the Army. His twentieth year had been his best and his worst year.

The best, his sister, Bethany, was born, and their mother had cleaned herself up for the baby.

The worst, both of his grandparents had died within months of each other, and he’d had to sell the farm that had been his sanctuary.

Bethany had not been as lucky. She was five when their mother, Ronnie, had fallen off the wagon the first time. Wyatt had taken leave to take care of his sister after he’d forced Ronnie into rehab.

She was seven when good ol’ mom turned to the bottle again. He’d spent every year since trying to gain guardianship of Bethany, to no avail. No one was willing to give guardianship to a single Army man.

The men started coming around when Bethany was ten. For four years, she’d experienced the debased revolving door of men who’d visited Ronnie. Their mother had used those men to pay for her habit, which had escalated to drugs. And still, they refused to grant guardianship. Especially with the stellar acting job their mother pulled every time someone came to check out the situation.

Bethany was twelve when Wyatt decided it was only a matter of time before the men started noticing his pretty sister. He’d gotten a burner phone for her; one Ronnie did not know she had. And they’d made a plan. She kept a journal, noting everything. She logged their names, sometimes rifling through their things to find their licenses, which made Wyatt nervous.

Wyatt had still held out hope that someone would take pity on them and grant a soldier guardianship. He hadn’t wanted to abandon the career he loved. His injury had been a wake-up call for him. If he died, there would be no one to take care of Bethany.

Wyatt spent the next year changing his own life. Medically discharged, he’d searched for a job near his sister when he’d met Graham Whitaker. It had been a fortuitous meeting that worked in Wyatt’s favor. He loved working for Nighthawk Search and Rescue, passing on skills he’d learned in the Rangers while living thirty minutes away from Bethany. Until he’d found a house only a few minutes’ drive from Ronnie’s, he’d spent a few months living in the Nighthawk barracks.

He had a stable job but was a single man, and children’s services were still reluctant to give him a chance. Doing everything he could for Bethany, he’d gotten her a debit card and kept it well funded so she would have a way to pay for food and clothes. He visited when he could, even when Ronnie had banned him from her home after he’d gotten into one too many fights with her “boyfriends.”

Now, at fourteen, Bethany was developing, as any young girl does at that age, and the men Ronnie brought home were starting to notice as Wyatt had feared.

So, they strategized.

Aside from everything she was documenting, they’d hatched an escape plan. If she ever felt like she was in danger, she was to get herself out of the house by whatever means necessary, mainly the taser Wyatt had given her to protect herself that she kept under her pillow. Together, they’d walked through the woods near the house, searching for a place for her to hide until he could get to her.

Which was where she had made her terrified call to him from. He’d never been more proud of her, even as the nausea-inducing fear twisted his gut. She’d done everything right, and he would not fail her again. They had more than enough proof to get her out of that house once and for all. And with an organization like the Nighthawks at his back, any judge would be foolish not to grant him full guardianship.

Even now, as he crept closer to Bethany’s hiding spot, he was gathering more evidence. This time in video form, as he recorded every word the men used to taunt his sister with. The things they joked about doing to her made his blood boil.

Not on my watch, assholes.

A grunt echoed through the trees, and Wyatt smiled, knowing Jude had subdued one man. The one still standing heard the noise and called out to his friend. “Come on, man, answer me. You still there?” There was a nervousness in his voice that thrilled Wyatt. Gone was the asshole who’d taunted his little sister with rape. “Yo, what’s goin’ on? This place is giving me the creeps.”

“Boo,” Jude whispered just before knocking the guy out. Wyatt wanted to laugh but forced himself to focus on the surrounding woods. It was dark, clouds covered any moonlight they might have had. He struggled to make out the landmarks he and Bethany had set up.

He spotted a mark on a tree and veered left toward it. When the hollowed-out tree came into view, he whispered, “Little Bee.” Though pretty confident there had only been two guys, he wasn’t taking any chances when it came to Bethany’s safety.

“Wyatt?” Her tiny voice was music to his ears, and the vise that gripped his heart eased.

“Yeah, little heart. I’m here.” The sob that emanated from inside the tree was heartbreaking. The burn of sudden tears scalded his eyes the moment she emerged, covered in dirt and leaves. She threw herself into his arms, and he gathered her close as she cried out her relief. “I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

He held her trembling body, whispering reassuring words as he stroked her hair, removing debris tangled in the strands. They stood like that until the worst of her tears subsided. Sniffing, she pulled back to wipe her nose on her shirt. He cupped her face in his hands, struggling in the darkness to see her. Her face was filthy, wet tears creating long tracks through the dirt. Dried blood dotted her chin from her split lip. The rage that teemed inside him regarding her injuries had him clenching his jaw. Unaware of his boiling ire, she met his gaze, a tiny smile that didn’t reach her eyes tilted the corners of her lips. “I knew you’d come.”

His heart pounded at the confidence in her voice. It should have never come down to this. He should have been able to get her out of that hellhole long ago. “I’ll always come for you.”

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