Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(32)

“I feel the same,” she told him after a beat.

“Feel free to come early,” Cole said. “Joel and Nathan can’t get here until around four, but you’re always more than welcome to come before that. It’ll give me time to have you all to myself for a while.”

Sarah giggled at that. “All to yourself except for the million questions your staff will inevitably have for you.”

“Semantics,” he said with a laugh.

Sarah loved this. Loved bantering back and forth with him. She’d never been a phone kind of gal, but found that she could talk for hours with Cole and not even realize how much time had gone by.

“Feel better?” he asked quietly.

Realizing what he’d done, that he’d successfully taken her mind off the fact that she had to go downstairs and open her latest present, Sarah took a deep breath. “Actually . . . yes. Thank you.”

“Don’t ever thank me for that,” he said gruffly. “I hate that I’m not there with you now. That I can’t take care of that damn box for you. That you have to open it yourself. Maybe you can bring it with you and open it here tomorrow?”

She appreciated his concern, but said, “There’s no way I can leave it unopened all night and most of the day tomorrow. I have to know what’s in it.”

“I could call Logan or one of the others, and they could come over there and do it for you.”

“No. Don’t bother them. And before you offer, the cops aren’t going to come over and watch me open a present, Cole.”

He sighed. “What if it’s something dangerous?”

“Owen isn’t going to send me a bomb,” Sarah told him. She was about eighty-five percent sure of that. The fact that she wasn’t one hundred percent sure was a little scary, but she refused to even go down that road.

“You don’t know that,” Cole said.

“Please, you’re not helping,” Sarah replied.

Cole was silent so long, she wondered if he was still there, but he finally said, “Okay. But I’m staying on the phone while you open it.”

Sarah sighed in relief. “I’d like that.”

“Whatever you need, I’ll bust my ass to do it for you, angel.”

“Okay. Here I go.” Neither said anything as she padded back down the hallway to the stairs. She walked through the living area to the front foyer, where she’d left the box. Leaning down, she gingerly picked it up and carried it into the kitchen. The package was about the size of a shoebox, and very light. She got a pair of scissors and sliced through the tape on either side.

There was no address on it, meaning Owen had dropped it off in person rather than mailing it. Sarah hated that he knew where she lived, but she’d had months to reluctantly accept that creep factor.

“I’m going to put you on speaker,” she told Cole, doing just that. Putting her cell down on the counter, she said, “I’m taking the top off.”

“Easy, angel. Slow and easy,” Cole told her.

Sarah held her breath as she lifted the lid and placed it to the side of the box. “It’s got a ton of paper towels inside it,” she said as she began taking them out one by one. The counter was littered with the paper by the time she got to the contents of the box.

“What is it?” Cole asked.

Sarah gazed down at the plastic bag inside the shoebox for a long moment. “Jewelry,” she told Cole.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.” Sarah picked up the plastic bag and held it so she could examine the contents. “Earrings, bracelets, and necklaces, from what I can see. They look old. Maybe antiques? I’m not sure.”

“Is that it?”

“No. There’s a note.”

When she didn’t say anything for a long moment, Cole asked, “What does it say?”

“I’m scared to open it,” Sarah admitted.

“I’m right here. It could be important,” Cole said softly.

Taking a deep breath to try to bolster her courage, Sarah slowly unfolded the piece of paper. It was wrinkled and folded over and over four times. It reminded her of something a kid would do when passing a note in class. She read the words written there out loud.

Sarah,

Mom said I should give these to a girl I liked and she’d love me forever.

So I’m giving them to you so we can be together until we’re dead.

See you soon.

Owen



Sarah blanched. Reading the creepy letter, knowing Owen was out there somewhere, watching, waiting, pushed her stress level that much higher.

She must’ve made a noise, because Cole swore long and hard. “I’m on my way.”

Realizing that he was serious, and probably literally walking out the door right that second, Sarah shook her head and got herself together. She snatched up the phone and spoke into the speaker even as she was heading back up the stairs to her room.

“No! I’m okay.”

“You’re not okay,” Cole countered. “That note was creepy as fuck, and I don’t blame you for being scared.”

“I know. But I’m really okay. We knew it would be from him, so that wasn’t a surprise. I’m just tired of this. I don’t know what his endgame is. I’m okay, Cole. I promise. I’ll feel terrible if you drive all the way out here. I’m a big girl. I can handle this.”