Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(66)

Closing her eyes, she prayed that Cole had meant what he’d said. That he’d never stop looking for her. Because she had a feeling she was going to be here a very long time unless he found her.



Cole stood in the middle of Sarah’s living room and turned in a circle, trying to find some sort of sign about where she’d gone. There were boxes everywhere because she’d been in the middle of packing, and it was impossible to tell if anything had been disturbed or if this was how she’d left it. Cabinets in the kitchen were open, and various belongings were scattered along the counters and floor.

He and Ryder had already searched the house and hadn’t found Sarah. That was both good and bad. Good because it meant she hadn’t been lying here, scared and hurt, hoping someone would find her. Bad because they had absolutely no idea where she was.

“I can’t find her purse,” Ryder said as he came into the living room.

Cole nodded. “Her car is gone, so that makes sense.”

“But I did find this,” Ryder said, holding up Sarah’s phone. “I already called Alexis and told her not to bother trying to trace it.”

Cole stared at Sarah’s phone, and his hopes sank. He’d prayed she had it with her and could be traced that way. He reached for it and clicked the “Home” button. When he’d chastised her for not having it locked, she’d just laughed and said she had nothing to hide and wasn’t doing anything illegal, so it didn’t matter if anyone was able to use it or not.

He clicked on the text-message icon and swallowed hard. He could see all the texts he’d sent when he’d been trying to get ahold of her. All unanswered.

He checked her emails. Most were junk. There was one from him and one from one of the nurses she worked with, checking on her. He shook his head in despair. If she’d only bought the cameras for the front porch, they might’ve been able to download the video and see who took her and what direction they went in, but she hadn’t. They’d talked about it, and decided since she’d delayed this long, and was moving into the studio apartment in a few days, it was no longer worth it.

Stupid. So fucking stupid of him.

Sighing, Cole put the phone in his pocket. He’d give it to the cops and see if they’d be able to find anything on it, but he had a feeling they’d come up empty.

Looking at Ryder, Cole asked, “Where is she?”

The other man came over to him and put his hand on Cole’s shoulder. “Do not give up,” he ordered. “I’ve been in your shoes, and it sucks, but you can’t doubt that we’re going to find her.”

“You know as well as I do that the recovery rate for people who aren’t found in the first forty-eight hours isn’t good,” Cole told his friend.

Ryder’s hand tightened on his shoulder painfully. “I don’t give a shit what statistics say. This is Sarah. She’s tough. You’ve taught her everything she needs to know in a situation like this. Besides, you and I both know this isn’t a normal case.”

Cole fought down the nausea that had been a constant companion ever since he hadn’t heard from Sarah that morning. “What do you mean?”

“Owen Montrone isn’t like the scumbags we usually deal with.”

Yeah, Owen may not have the mental capacity of an adult, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hurt Sarah. There were plenty of cases where men, and women, with low IQs hurt those around them. He nodded at his friend anyway.

He was sure he wasn’t that convincing, but Ryder didn’t call him on it.

“Come on. We need to take another quick look around, but don’t touch anything if you can help it. The house could be a crime scene. I told Logan to call the Parker PD, so I’m not sure how much time we have before they arrive.”

It was good that the police were coming, but it also made things more real. Sarah was gone. Vanished. Poof . . . disappeared into thin air.

Clenching his teeth together, Cole inhaled deeply through his nose. He couldn’t help Sarah if he was freaking out. He had to get his shit together and see if he could find any clues that would help point to where that butthead had taken her.

It didn’t take him and Ryder long to find their first clue.

The spot on the hardwood floor was small. Tiny. Ryder had almost stepped on it when Cole had yelled at him to freeze.

Blood.

There was no way to tell whose it was from looking, but Cole knew down to the marrow of his bones that it was Sarah’s.

It was in the upstairs hallway. It was only the one spot, but one was enough. Looking around, Cole tried to figure out why. Why here? What was she doing in the middle of the hallway? If she’d seen Owen, why hadn’t she run?

Then something else caught his eye, and he remembered what she had planned to do the night before.

Pointing, Cole said, “Ryder, the attic. The stairs are right above us. Sarah had been putting off going through the boxes that were up there, but she told me she was going to tackle that last night.”

Grimly, Ryder nodded and reached for the string that was hanging down from the hatch in the ceiling. A wooden ladder was folded up inside, and the two men pulled it down. Ryder put his arm out when Cole moved to climb the stairs.

“Let me.”

Cole hesitated. He wanted to protest. Wanted to tell his friend that it could be his woman up there. That Sarah needed him. But he understood why the other man wanted to go up first.