Page 109 of Branded

“Kayla Johnson. Get her and the mother to a safe location. Now. Don’t tell them why, just get them somewhere Marshall can’t reach.” I hang up, look at him. “Your sister will be safe. But you’re done here. Pete, get him off the property.”

“Wait, no, please, I need this job, my family needs the money.” Adam is begging now, desperate.

“You should have thought of that before you betrayed us.” I turn away, disgusted. “Get him out of my sight.”

Pete and Miguel grab the kid and start hauling him toward the barn exit. He’s still pleading, still making excuses, but I’ve stopped listening.

Nathaniel appears beside me with the phone and hands it to me.

“You believe him?” Dad asks.

“About being threatened, yes. About not knowing they’d shoot, that I’m less sure about.” I run a hand through my hair. “But it doesn’t matter. He made his choice. Now he deals with the consequences.”

“What about his sister? Caroline going to get her?”

“Already handling it. We’ll put them up somewhere safe until we’ve dealt with the Marshall situation.” I wait for my father to say something, but he’s quiet. And when my father is quiet, it’s dangerous. “This doesn’t end with Adam. Thomas Marshall is escalating. Threatening families. Using teenagers as leverage. They’re not just stealing cattle any more.”

“No. They’re trying to destroy us. Completely,” Dad says. “We need to respond. Hard. Show them we’re not backing down.”

“Agreed. But carefully. Last time we went in hot, you got shot.” I move out of the barn into fading daylight. “Let me think about this. Figure out the right move that doesn’t get more people hurt.”

“Don’t think too long, son. The longer we wait the more they’ll interpret it as weakness.”

“I know.” I end the call and hand the phone back to Nathaniel. “Look into Adam and his family, see how bad off they are, and let me know. Don’t do the exit paperwork yet. Take him to his sister, I’ll figure out what to do with him.”

“Getting married made you a softie?” Nathaniel asks with a quick arch of his brow.

“Nate, if it had been Caroline, or one of the twins, we would have done the same thing. This family can’t fault him for trying to protect his,” I say.

“My thoughts too. I just wish he’d come to us first. What about the authorities? Should we go to them? Sheriff? Police?”

“Not yet. Adam’s family being threatened complicates things. Makes him a victim as much as a perpetrator. Plus, getting law enforcement involved means questions about why we raided the Marshalls’ property in the first place.” I start walking toward the house. “We handle this internally. For now.”

“Sebastian?”

“That’s final.” I stop, turn back. “But I want security doubled. Every hand who works this ranch gets vetted again. Deep background checks, financial records, family situations. Anyone who could be compromised, we need to know now.”

“That’s going to cost a fortune.”

“Good thing we’ve got more than one fortune. We’re under attack. Thomas Marshall is playing dirty, using families as weapons. We need to know our people are loyal. Really loyal. Not just compliant because they’re scared.”

Nathaniel nods. “I’ll coordinate with Caroline. Get the process started.”

“Good.” I pause a second at the fence, hand on a post. “Nathaniel? Keep this quiet from Lennox for now. She’s got enough to worry about, without adding Marshall’s threats to the list.”

“You sure that’s smart? She should know what’s happening.”

“I’m sure. She’s just got back from Montana. Just said goodbye to her family. I’m not dumping this on her immediately.” I continue toward the house. “Give her a few days of relative peace.”

I go straight to my office, close the door and lean against it. My hands are shaking, adrenaline from the confrontation, fury at Adam’s betrayal, fear about what Thomas Marshall might do next.

They threatened a sixteen-year-old girl. Used her as leverage to force Adam to betray us. That’s a line crossed that can’t be uncrossed. And it means they’re desperate. Desperate people do dangerous things.

My phone rings. “Got the girl and mother. Taking them to the house near Austin. They’re scared but cooperating. What do you want me to tell them?” Caroline says as doors close on a vehicle.

“Tell them the truth, that someone threatened Kayla to get at us. That they’re safe now. Adam will join them tonight. And that we’ll take care of them financially until this is resolved.” I run my hand through my hair and sigh.

“How long is that going to be?” she asks quietly.