Beckett Sinclair doesn't do complicated.

He trains K-9s at Pawsitive Connections, runs ops with Warrior Security, and keeps his PTSD under control. Until a dead friend's little sister shows up.

Audra Cartland is jumpy. Exhausted. Sleeping in the equipment shed when she thinks no one's watching. Beckett knows that look-he's seen it in combat zones, in victims, in his own mirror.

Someone's hunting her.

She won't talk. Won't explain the fear in her eyes or why she flinches at shadows. But Beckett made a promise to her brother years ago in Afghanistan, and those debts don't die.

Beckett should walk away. He's got enough ghosts without taking on hers.

Instead, he arranges a job. A safe place to sleep. His protection.

When the hunter becomes bold enough to strike in his town, on his watch, Beckett stops playing defense. He's lost too many people already. Failed too many times.

Not Audra. Not this time.

Some battles choose you.