Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(73)

He hadn’t found her only to lose her now. They had years to look forward to together. He wanted to grow old with her and watch as their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren gathered around them at the holidays. He wanted that chaos, wanted to see the smile on Sarah’s face as she basked in the glory of her family.

“The picture’s here,” Logan said as his phone chimed with an incoming email. “I’m forwarding it to everyone. Hang on.”

Cole stared down at his phone impatiently as he waited for the email to come in. The second it did, he clicked on it and downloaded the picture.

At first glance, the dollhouse was nothing special. A two-story cabin with a bunch of wooden furniture in it and two small dolls, with a couple of bigger Barbie dolls as well. He figured the Barbies were additions by whatever kid had last played with it.

“It looks like a normal dollhouse,” Nathan observed.

Cole blocked out the disappointment he heard in his friend’s tone and zoomed in on the picture.

Everything in the dollhouse looked handmade, which had the hair on the back of Cole’s neck standing up.

Apparently the others noticed as well.

“This isn’t some dime-store dollhouse,” Logan said.

“Nope. Hand-fucking-made,” Ryder agreed.

“I’m enhancing the picture now,” Nathan said.

“I’m going to head over to the hospital to see this thing up close. I’ll send back more pictures, and if I can find a signature or mark from whoever made it, I’ll send that too,” Blake said, already standing.

“If we can find out who made this, we can hopefully get more information on who bought it,” Logan said, the excitement easy to hear in his voice.

“And many times artisans have an inspiration for their creations,” Ryder added. “He might’ve modeled this after a real cabin or house.”

“If we can find a signature, I can search the name on the internet,” Nathan said.

With every word that passed his friends’ lips, Cole’s hope rose. They’d had so many dead ends and so much bad news over the last seven days, even this little thing seemed momentous.

“I’ll call Alexis on my way to the hospital,” Blake said. “Tell her and the other women to be on the lookout for any reference to woodworkers or handcrafted products. There’s an entire box of random receipts. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

They would. Cole was sure of it.

This was it. This was what they’d missed all along. He had no idea how he knew it, but he did.

Running a hand through his mussed hair, he couldn’t help but get excited. It had been a long week. Seven days that felt like seven years. But he’d soon have Sarah back in his arms, and the son of a bitch who’d taken her would pay.

“I’m calling the detective,” Logan said, pushing away from the table with his phone up to his ear.

Cole knew they had to keep the police informed about what they were doing for their own safety. The last thing any of them wanted was to be charged with obstruction, and they couldn’t head off and act on any tips without including the cops. But Cole wanted to. He wanted to run with whatever information Ace Security found and get his Sarah back. He didn’t want to wait an extra second.

But they’d need the law on their side.

If shots were fired, and Owen was taken down, none of them wanted to be charged with murder. And if Sarah needed medical attention, they needed an ambulance at the ready.

But all that took time.

And Cole didn’t want Sarah to spend one more second at that man’s mercy than she had to.

“We’re gonna get her back,” Ryder said softly from next to Cole.

He nodded.

They were. They totally were.



The sun had gone down on her seventh day at the cabin.

One week.

She’d been there one week. In some ways it seemed like forever, but in others it seemed like just yesterday when she’d found Owen in her attic.

She thought about Cole. About their phone calls and texts. About how attentive he was in bed. How it felt to be held tightly in his arms.

Tears formed in her eyes, but she fought them back.

She wouldn’t cry. Cole was looking for her, and he’d find her. She couldn’t doubt that.

Thank God she’d decided to give him a second chance after he’d blown her off at his gym. If she hadn’t . . . Sarah shivered.

If she hadn’t, no one would be missing her. Her work would have wondered what happened and why she hadn’t shown up, but the cops probably would’ve just assumed she was a grown woman and could go where she wanted, whenever she wanted. At least for the first couple of days. After that, they probably would’ve started to investigate, but who knew if they’d be able to connect all the dots to Owen and this cabin in the middle of freaking nowhere.

It was fate.

Cole belonged to her just as she did to him. He’d find her. He had to.

“One more game!” Owen begged.

Sarah wanted to tell him it was bedtime. If she did, she had no doubt he’d pout, but he’d do as she said. He’d change into his footy pajamas—which looked extremely weird on the overweight forty-four-year-old man—brush his teeth, and climb into bed.

But it was early, and Sarah wasn’t ready to be alone with her thoughts so soon. She knew she’d lie awake and get distraught over her situation. She was better off playing another game of fucking Go Fish than drowning in her own misery.