Page 22 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge (Rescue Ridge #5)

T he fastest route to the abandoned barn was to take the farm road, lights on, sirens blaring. It took all of ten minutes to drive there. Owen hopped out of the passenger seat as Travis called in their location, requesting backup.

“The nearest deputy is on a call on the other side of the county,” Travis said as they ran into the dark woods.

“Then, it’s just you and me,” Owen said. He liked those odds if Evie was still alive.

Running at full speed as branches slapped him in the face and torso while the underbrush threatened to trip him, it took another ten minutes to get close enough to the barn to slow down.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness, so he cut the flashlight app off as the building came into view.

He couldn’t get a clear look at the door from this distance, and he’d outrun Travis.

Common sense told him to wait for the sheriff to catch up before making a move.

Emotions pleaded with him to storm the shelter and get to Evie before it was too late.

Were there cameras mounted by the door? Would they trigger an alert if he got close to the building?

Owen had no idea. He listened for any noises coming from the barn. Anything that might indicate Evie was inside. If willpower alone could alter her circumstances, he would have willed her to be home a long time ago. Woo-woo might work for Ms. Bart, but it had no place around Owen.

Footsteps nearby meant Travis was getting close. Owen remained silent. Shouting for Travis would give Lawrence a heads up that the barn was about to be stormed. A few seconds later, Travis was beside Owen.

“Ready?” Travis whispered.

A flashback assaulted Owen of being bound and gagged in a building that looked much like the one in front of them. The details of the structure might be different, but the scenario was the same.

“You take the left, and I’ll take the right,” Travis said. “See if we can get eyes inside the place before we go in.”

“Let’s roll.”

Travis split off to the right, walking in a big circle around the barn. Owen did the same on the left. Dim lights glowed on the inside of the barn, which would give them an advantage. Lawrence thought he’d outsmarted everyone. Think again, asshat.

Getting a closer look, Owen didn’t see any camera equipment. Didn’t mean there was none or some other kind of monitoring equipment, but since Lawrence had sped up his plans, he might have compromised security alerts.

Owen moved closer to the barn, risking triggering an unseen alarm. Crouching low, he closed the couple of feet gap and leaned in to peek between the boards. The scene inside caused his muscles to tense.

The place was set up like this was some kind of romantic date happening instead of abduction and…

He couldn’t go there in his mind, where unspeakable things had happened to Evie.

A scan of the room, however, caused more dread to ball up inside his gut. Empty. The place was empty.

Evie was nowhere to be seen. Lawrence was gone, too.

Anger mixed with frustration formed a fireball of emotions to blast the center of his chest.

Were they too late?

Evie was almost certain she was making one big circle. Every chirp or animal call—coyotes?—caused her pulse to race a little faster and her heart to jackhammer so loudly she could hear her own heartbeat in her ears.

She couldn’t decide what would be worse—dying at the hands of Lawrence or being torn to bits by a mountain lion. The latter was still out there. Was it still hungry? Or had it evacuated the area after realizing the hunter had become the hunted?

That idea gave her a thought as she caught a soft glow in the distance. The barn.

Could she slip in and find a weapon? Was there something to use against Lawrence? Or could she find a way to barricade herself inside? Out here in the woods, anything could happen to her? Every chirp raised her blood pressure. Every call sent her into fight, flight, or freeze mode.

Adrenaline was wearing thin at this point. Exhaustion settled into her bones.

Or should she just keep walking? Keep trying to find a way out? Keep on the move?

Would moving keep her alive? Would it give Owen or Travis time to find her?

A wave of hopelessness tried to crash over her.

Not this time. Hope was all she had left.

Hope and the reality that she had bigger responsibilities now.

The babies needed her. She was the only family they had left.

No way in hell was she going to let Lawrence take their only caregiver away from them.

Taking in a long, slow breath for fortitude, Evie slipped through the trees. Her head pounded harder with every step. Every noise made it hurt worse, like someone stood behind her and nailed her with a bat every time she put a foot down.

Rounding a cluster of trees, two hands grabbed her by the hair.

“Think you can outsmart me, bitch?” Lawrence’s voice was almost unrecognizable now. Beyond madness. Beyond anger. Beyond anything human she’d ever heard. “Guess what? You can’t.”

In the next second, something came down hard on the crown of her skull, and she could almost swear she heard her bones crunch.

Blinking, fighting to stay conscious despite a pull stronger than a riptide, Evie fought back. And screamed.

Another set of footsteps caught her attention. A sharp, metallic clack bit through the night air, and a voice said, “Not so fast, asshole.”

Then, darkness consumed her.

Owen was almost to the front door of the barn when he heard a scream. The sound was unmistakable. Evie.

Travis bolted around the corner, and then they both raced toward the sound.

Evie was alive. Based on the hole in the front door—a hole made from impact—she’d escaped. But Lawrence had caught up, caught her.

Owen listened for a call for help. For something that might indicate Lawrence hadn’t just delivered a crushing, final blow.

The entire woods became silent, as though the creatures and critters froze at the sound. Deadly predators would move toward it in the hopes of a free meal.

Trampling through the woods would only alert Lawrence to their presence, so Owen slowed down and touched Travis’s arms so he would do the same. Forcing slow breaths, Owen held up a finger to indicate he’d be right back.

Travis gave a slight nod.

Owen slipped through the trees with grace. He’d grown up in these parts and knew how to move in and out of the woods without making a sound. He came upon a scene that shocked him.

Ms. Bart stood, feet apart in an athletic stance, with a shotgun aimed at Lawrence’s chest. Owen didn’t immediately see Evie. He frantically searched for her. A hand above the scrub brush caught his eye. Evie’s limp body lay crumpled on the ground.

With a screech-battle cry, Lawrence lunged toward Ms. Bart. He caught the shotgun barrel’s tip. Knocking it just left as she fired—and missed.

Owen jumped into action, diving toward Lawrence as the man threw himself at Ms. Bart. She took a couple of stunned steps back in time for the bastard to miss her. The shotgun fell from her arms.

Lawrence grabbed hold of it, slamming the long metal barrel into Owen’s shoulder as he tackled Lawrence.

A jab to the face caused Owen’s head to snap backward.

“Go to her,” he instructed Ms. Bart, who looked to be in shock.

Owen unleashed a torrent of knee jabs, punches, and elbows into Lawrence, who fought back with the kind of furor that said he knew his life was about to change forever. The man had nothing to lose and knew it, which made him more dangerous.

“The madness stops here,” Owen said as he pinned Lawrence.

The bastard struggled but couldn’t overpower someone one and a half times his size.

“That bitch played with my emotions,” Lawrence managed to get out through clenched teeth. “We were in love.”

“You paid money for a service. This was a transaction and nothing more.” Owen glanced over at Evie, praying she was still alive.

Ms. Bart cradled Evie’s head. “She’s breathing, but her pulse is weak.”

Lawrence tried to buck Owen off. He squeezed his thighs harder, pinning the man’s arms to his sides. Owen eased up enough to spin the bastard around so he could eat dirt.

Travis came running. He was almost out of breath as he doubled over and Mirandaized Lawrence before physically taking over for Owen.

“That bitch deserves to die for what she did to me,” Lawrence said. “She was supposed to love me, not make fun of me. We were in love, and she wrecked it.”

It took all of Owen’s willpower not to coldcock the bastard. Lawrence would get his just reward. Justice would be served.

“I hope you like prison,” Owen said. “I hear the inmates inside there don’t take too lightly to those who take advantage of others. You might want to start lifting weights.”

He ran over to Evie, whose eyelids were fluttering. She blinked a couple of times, and a weight equal to a ton of bricks lifted off his shoulders. She was alive and waking up.

Owen dropped down beside her and cradled her face in his hands.

“Evie, sweetheart, you have to wake up for me.” Hot tears blurred his vision.

“I need you. You’re my best friend, and whatever happened in the past doesn’t matter.

My life means nothing without you. I loved you when we were nothing more than kids, and I love you even more now. Please…”

All hope she would wake up died when her body went slack again.

Owen paced outside Evie’s room, waiting for the doctor to finish up another exam and, hopefully, give Owen the green light to enter so he could stay with her until she woke up. Not being able to see that she was okay with his own eyes burned a hole in his chest.

The elevator dinged. The doors opened. A half-furious, half-scared Chloe immediately made a beeline toward him. Kade, a foot taller than their sister, came out right behind Chloe. The tension lines on his forehead said he’d been just as worried.

As it turned out, the elevator had been full of the Sturgess clan. After Kade, Conrad and Archer stepped out. Behind those two came Hudson.