Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(75)

Everything had begun falling into place. Ryder made a few calls and, within an hour, had uncovered a connection between Aubrey and the tiny town. Her parents, Owen’s grandparents, had lived there for a few years a long time ago and had moved to Castle Rock when it was obvious the small town wasn’t prospering.

But they’d owned a cabin up there. One that had passed to Aubrey.

And Ryder had finally found proof of the woman paying taxes on the house and property for years. Records they’d overlooked because they were mingled among all the financial data for her home in Castle Rock. For some reason, the cabin hadn’t been listed in any of Aubrey’s legal paperwork or her will, which was why no one had known it existed.

But Owen obviously did.

Twin Cedars was about an hour’s drive from Castle Rock, but the Anderson brothers and the two police officers they’d convinced to come and check it out with them had made it there in forty-five minutes.

Finding the road to the small cabin was more of a challenge, but eventually they’d found the dirt track off the main thoroughfare. They stopped their two vehicles far enough from the cabin so as not to alert anyone inside that they were there, and they walked the rest of the way on foot.

Ryder and one of the officers headed to the right side of the cabin while Logan went to the other side to make sure Owen didn’t try to escape out one of the side windows. The other detective walked silently up to the door and stood there for a long moment, listening.

Cole couldn’t stand still. He wanted to burst into the room and take out the asshole who had taken his woman away from him.

“Easy, Cole,” Blake said softly.

“I need to get in there,” he hissed back.

“And you will. Just let them do their job.”

That was the thing. No one knew how Owen would react when confronted. Was he armed? Had he already hurt or killed Sarah? Would he hold her hostage once he found out the cops were there? The unknown questions were haunting Cole.

There was a window at the side of the cabin, and Logan signaled something to Blake and Nathan, who were standing with Cole. Blake then passed along the signal to Ryder and the cops.

“What? What was that?” Cole asked impatiently.

“Logan has a visual,” Blake said.

That was it. Cole wasn’t going to stand back and watch, hiding behind a damn tree. He didn’t know what a “visual” meant. Didn’t know if that meant Sarah was fine or his friend had seen her body.

Without another word, Cole hunched over and ran toward the front door of the cabin. He heard Blake swear behind him, but he wasn’t waiting around anymore.

He was about twenty feet away when the officer at the front door picked up his foot and kicked it open, then entered, holding his weapon up at the ready. A scream tore through the air, and a panicked yell. The officer’s loud voice barking orders added to the chaos.

Cole pushed himself to run faster than he’d ever run in his life.



One second Sarah was mentally preparing herself for another game of Go Fish, and the next, everything was complete chaos. She would’ve thrown herself to the floor and rolled under the bed, but with her ankle as it was, she could do nothing but sit there and stare at the commotion.

The door to the cabin suddenly burst open, and a police officer rushed inside, holding his weapon.

Owen moved faster than she’d ever thought him capable, and before she could blink, he was standing in front of her bed. His legs and arms were outspread, as if that would keep the cop from taking her away.

“No!” Owen yelled. “Go away!”

“Step away from the woman!” the police officer retorted, pointing his gun at Owen’s chest.

“No! She’s mine! I found her fair and square!” It was obvious Owen was stressed and panicking.

Sarah leaned over to see around him—and gasped when she saw Cole fly into the cabin through the open door. He was followed by Blake and the rest of the Anderson brothers. The cabin quickly became crowded as it filled with her pissed-off and concerned rescuers.

“No! No no no!” Owen said, and he came around the bed and grabbed Sarah by the upper arm, pulling her into his side.

Gasping in pain, Sarah did her best to get her good knee under her to hold her weight. Her broken ankle was jostled, and blackness began to creep in from the sides of her vision with the pain. She forced herself to stay conscious.

The police officers pointed their weapons at Owen, and the Anderson brothers fanned out around the cabin, leaving Owen with no way to escape.

Taking a deep breath, she held up her free hand, trying to calm the intense, chaotic scene.

“Everyone, chill!” she yelled.

Obviously surprised, the officer who’d been barking orders simply stared at her.

Knowing if she looked at Cole, she’d start bawling, Sarah turned and looked up at Owen instead.

“It’s time for me to go,” she said gently.

“No! We’re staying!” Owen said stubbornly. “We’re gonna live here and take care of each other forever.”

“What happens when we run out of money?” Sarah asked, proud that her voice only cracked a little bit.

“I get money every month. We’ll be fine,” Owen said, not looking down at her, but staring belligerently at the officers instead.

She’d seen him act like this when he didn’t get his way before. One day he’d wanted to play Go Fish for the thousandth time, and Sarah had told him no. He’d pouted and crossed his arms and yelled and blustered for thirty minutes. But she’d worn him down and convinced him a game of Sorry! would be just as fun.