Wilder Ranch

them doing it, but Melody stopped her. “You have a dishwasher and instant hot water. Trust me when I say this will be fun for us. Remember, our ranch is an Old West Theme Park. We wash by hand and

ion from Sam. That would be eye opening for him and maybe help cool him off. I’d have to arran

k word with Parker, then we can start. Skylar, Amber, while I do that, can you two Facetime in

that I could hear him. “Still my house, I’

ked at me. “Go do what you need to.

t the team was calling the room Peter was staying in. I knocked on the door and stuck my he

ah

o hear and talk to me if I was,

es

you, me, and Sam in w

that remotely. W

an is staying tonight. I mean everything. Building plans, room number, how much securit

e of

mily then we can talk for a m

n d

creens, pointed at me. “Thanks Vince and Violet. I appreciate your time. All the rest of you, too. I need your help, all of you, not for protecting Jaelyn, but for something else. I can’t ask for that help wit

re going to turn in until time to go to the Hole in the Wall. I don’t want to know this kind of stuff. I und

know what I think I’m doing taking over the family. This is hard enough for me as it i

knew he was going to spew. “Now l

mouth and listen to your son! Or so help me God for the first tim

a frozen TV dinner, that’s one step before separation. Th

, Lanna, Okay. I didn’t know

gave up his own career to help you when you needed it. That should have been enough. Loo

you. I know you won’t believe me, but I thought it was for your own good. But thin

at be didn’t really give it to me. They asked me if I thought it could be done. There was this very evil man, a terrorist, but not the Taliban. He was known for taking hostages

MacMillan. He knew things that were beyond the highest classification and when the terrorist would eventually break him, the t

not, was it possible to kill him before he gave out everything he knew, or sh

I wouldn’t be able to use any American gear, which was what went wrong. My parachute ma

compound I was supposed to rescue my target from. There I w

ne who tortured me. Every day, he did terrible things, unspeakable things, and ev

t I had a plan. It wasn’t my original plan, but it was a plan. I just needed to wait hi

honestly think he was going to kill me that day. But he had gotten sloppy, he’d gotten comfortable, and when he lo

but I saw it and knew this was my freedom. He asked his question

told him I would tell him who

dness and he said, ‘That’s good. I won’t have to hurt you

had to get close. ‘You want to know who I

aned into him like I couldn’t sit up and clutched at his shirt, snagging the pencil. ‘I am the dar

he couldn’t call for help. I wrapped my arm around his neck and spun him so I was behind him, and grabbed his chin with

room anymore. No, I was lost in the past. Lost to that room where I had experienced things

. With all that love and passion in your heart

e poured her love, her passion and need into me. She poured her very soul into

n her chair, my hand on her cheek. and I looked at the faces of

ere wiping hard and fast. Mom sat ther

n all my twenty-nine years that I’d ever seen my father cry. Before I realized what he was doing,

and told me. Wildcat and Boomer. They told me you were missing and prob

, sir, your son is missing. He may never be declared dead because they can’t

es up. Many times, we will do what they’ve asked us to do. Many times, we get to a point where o

will come a moment in the future when your phone will ring and it will be Ace. He won’t tell you what he’s done or what happened. He wo

s later, you called me just to talk. I wanted to as

t. “I wish I hadn’t had to tell you now, but I did. Because after I got back, I spent two months in the hospital healing from the things do

I hurt all of you because I refused to move back in here. But