"And there'll be one less little girl in the world, because I'll—"

Ray's remaining dog suddenly began to bark in a furious salvo, advancing on the thug with stiff-legged menace. The kidnapper backed away, hastily jamming the gun tighter against Jennifer's jaw. "Call off that dog! Now!"

Oh, shit. A movement behind the thug caught Lucas's eye. Ray was circling around behind the kidnapper, using the distraction provided by his dog. His gaze was intent, murderous.

Lucas fought to keep the reaction off his face, though his gut clenched. Ray was three inches shorter than the guy, and he wasn't armed. Somebody was about to get killed—and it was way too likely to be Jennifer.

Lucas jerked his gun skyward and lifted his free handsomething every bit of training he had told him not to do. But he was wearing a bulletproof vest, and if the fucker shot at him, at least the gun wouldn't be pointed at the kid. It'll give Ray his chance—as long as he doesn't shoot me in the head… "Hey, hey—calm down! You win…"

In an eyeblink Ray had disappeared, replaced in an instant by something huge and dark. The kidnapper jerked his gun from Jennifer's jaw and fired at Lucas just as the thing grabbed him.

A bullet slammed into Lucas's hip like a baseball bat. He hit the ground on his back, fighting a scream of pain. Despite the agony, he rolled over, sought to aim his gun at the kidnapper…

And blinked in astonishment. A towering black creature had snatched Jennifer from the kidnapper. The man screamed and pointed his gun at it.

The monster hit him with a casual swat, slamming him into the tree behind him with a crunch. When he hit the ground, his head was twisted at an unnatural angle. His eyes went fixed and dead.