"He's bringing SWAT, but he's giving us some time," Ranger informed Hector as he followed him into the dense crop of trees lining the last of the paved road off of route twelve.
"SWAT isn't equipped for this," he said quietly. "They are about overcoming by force. This needs subtlety and most of all, the element of surprise. I hope what she did with the phone hasn't been discovered..."
He didn't have to say it, Ranger knew what they were up against and not thinking about what would happen, what he'd do to her if he found out was the only thing keeping him from losing it completely. After the call from Zip, he'd nearly broken his hand putting it through the wall at the hospital and it did nothing except get him an armed escort out of the building.
"He's been following you for weeks. Both of you. The whole apartment is covered with surveillance photos."
How had he missed it? He, of all people, should have picked up a tail, especially one lasting that amount of time. He'd gotten too relaxed, too comfortable in his life with Stephanie and let his guard down. And now she was paying the price.
Hector put his hand up, making a fist and halting their progression into the forest. He crouched low to the ground, inspecting something hidden in the foliage. "Trip wire," he said a second later and stood, turning his camouflaged torso back towards Ranger. "And blood. A lot of it."