Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(46)

“It’s possible he doesn’t know what his endgame is,” Nathan said. “There have been times when Joel’s tried to manipulate his sister or me but can’t follow through because he hasn’t thought of the consequences to his actions.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better,” Cole muttered.

“Right,” Logan said decisively. “The plan is for Sarah to finish packing up her house. To get the things in storage that she wants to keep and to stage her house so it can sell quickly. She’ll move into the apartment here in Castle Rock, so she’s safe, and we’ll continue to do what we can to find Owen. We’ll contact the police department again with our findings and—”

“But won’t you get in trouble?” Sarah interrupted.

“In trouble?” Logan asked, furrowing his brow.

“Yeah. I mean, you probably weren’t supposed to hack into the records and find out about his disability. If you admit that to the cops, you could be in trouble.”

All five men smiled.

Sarah looked from one to another in confusion. “What?”

“You’re right, she is nice,” Ryder said with a smirk.

“I know,” Cole said.

“Seriously, I’m not wrong,” Sarah insisted.

“I appreciate your concern, but I’ve got a few friends on the force. They aren’t going to ask how I know what I know. They’ve learned over the years not to,” Logan told her.

“Oh.”

“Can I continue?” he asked with a smile.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“Anyway, we’ll get with the cops and maybe even a representative from the state mental-health organization. It sounds like Owen would probably benefit from living in a group home or something that specializes in helping people like him navigate life.”

Sarah liked the sound of that. The last place the mentally handicapped needed to be was in prison. They couldn’t help that they were born the way they were.

Suddenly everything about Aubrey’s cancer seemed even sadder. She had to have known when she died that Owen would be on his own. Sarah was upset that the woman hadn’t done more before her health had declined to make sure her son would be looked after.

“Sarah, you need to keep doing what you’re doing. Be safe, text Cole when you leave and when you get home. Park as close to the doors at the hospital as possible. If you get any more gifts, take pictures, and let us and Cole know as soon as possible. It’s only a matter of time before we find Owen. We just have to adjust our thinking a bit. Think like a kid. If he’s scared or hungry, where would he go? Once we figure that out, we’ll be able to get him some help.”

“Thank you,” Sarah said. The meeting today had done a lot to ease her fears. She didn’t like that no one could find Owen, but knowing that he probably wasn’t a serial killer lying in wait to get his hands on her and make her his own little sex slave made her feel a little better.

“Just because he’s got a diminished mental capacity doesn’t make him not dangerous,” Blake reminded her, as if he could read her mind. “There are several men just like Owen sitting on death row around the country for committing heinous murders.”

“Gosh, thanks for that image,” Sarah muttered.

“We’re doing what we can to keep you safe, but you have to continue to do your part too,” Logan said. “You contacted us in the first place because you were uneasy and scared. Nothing has changed since then. Understand? Just because we know a little more about Owen doesn’t mean the reasons you were uneasy have gone away.”

Sarah nodded. She got that. She did. But a part of her was still a teensy bit relieved at knowing Owen wasn’t thinking as a normal adult might.

“I’ll watch her,” Cole said.

The other men all nodded.

She should’ve been upset at his high-handedness. But she couldn’t be. If Cole watched her, that meant he’d be around. And she liked the thought of that.

“We’ll let you both know if we find out any other pertinent information, or if we find him,” Logan said as he stood.

“Thanks,” Sarah said.

“Felicity mentioned something about a girls’ get-together soon,” Ryder told the others, but he had his eye on Sarah.

She frowned. Why was he staring at her?

“You said you’re off for the next three days. Is that including today, or is it the next three?” Ryder asked.

“Um . . . including today,” she told him.

Ryder looked at Cole, and Sarah followed his gaze just in time to see Cole shake his head at his friend. By the time she looked back at Ryder, he was smirking. “So tonight’s out. But what about tomorrow?”

Sarah just stared at him.

“Sarah? Are you busy tomorrow night?”

“Me?” she asked, confused.

Ryder and the others chuckled. “Yeah, you. You want to do a girls’ night with Grace, Alexis, Bailey, and Felicity?”

She could only continue to frown at Ryder.

“Yeah, she does,” Cole told his friend. “She’ll be with me, so just shoot me the details, and I’ll make sure she’s there.”

“Cool. We’re all gonna wait ’em out at Logan’s, since he’ll be on baby duty. When they’ve had enough, we’ll go and collect them.”