Chapter 4 Don’t Let Her Go #3
Owen finished his coffee and set the mug in the sink. “He sure went to a lot of trouble to make sure everything looked like business as usual here on the farm.” He was referring to whoever had been impersonating Jensen via the fake phone number.
“That he did.” Halle sounded perplexed.
“Which leaves us with these takeaways.” He ticked them off on his fingers.
“Number one, he tried to sell your farm to someone else besides me. Number two, he kept you away from home as long as possible. And after items one and two fell through, he now wants you back. When we figure out what these three things add up to, we’ll know what he and his crooked associates are up to. ”
“I’m not convinced he truly wants me back.” Halle scrunched her nose. “Or that he ever wanted to marry me in the first place. Maybe his meltdown over the phone tonight was just his way of getting me away from the farm. Again.”
“Getting you away from the farm,” Owen repeated, marveling that it had only taken a single cup of coffee to get her creative juices flowing again.
“You may be on to something there.” It was an angle he hadn’t considered, probably because his analytical mind was so good at overthinking things.
“If your presence on the farm is what he and his associates find threatening, then what are they trying to hide from you?” Whatever it was, it had to be on site.
“I wish I knew.” She adopted a faraway look.
“Let’s find out,” he urged, moving to the island to rest his palms on it and lean her way.
“Tomorrow is Saturday. Well, technically, it’s already Saturday.
” According to the time displayed on the microwave, it was past midnight.
“That means no baseball practice. Nothing but regular ol’ farm chores.
It’ll leave us with plenty of time to explore every inch of the property.
If we run across anything suspicious, we’ll call the police.
” Hopefully, Lonestar Security would have its installation team present within a few hours, providing additional oversight and accountability.
Halle sat perfectly still for a moment as she weighed his words.
His blood pressure rose a few degrees while he waited for her answer.
She finally nodded, allowing him to breathe normally again. “Okay.” She glanced toward her suitcases that were parked in the middle of the living room. “I’d better roll my suitcases back to the guest room.”
“I’ll do it,” he said quickly. Leaving them out where anyone could see them would raise questions from Ryder and Cooper that he’d rather not answer.
She climbed down from her stool. “You don’t have to…”
“I insist.” He was already several strides ahead of her. He picked up her suitcases instead of rolling them, which made a lot less noise on the hardwood floor.
Owen slept little the rest of the night. In the wee hours of the morning, he received a text from his immediate supervisor, Rock Hefner, who ran Lonestar Security’s forensics team.
It won’t be the full crew, but we can get started today.
Owen threw an emoji thumbs up on the update while Rock was still typing.
Can you talk now?
Owen dialed him.
Rock answered after the first ring. “Morning, New Recruit!”
“Good morning.” Owen’s voice was sheepish. “I’m sorry about raising such a ruckus before my first day on the job.”
Rock gave a snort of laughter. “It’s okay. We were kind of expecting it.”
Oh? “Why’s that?”
“Funny you should ask,” his supervisor drawled. “We had this same conversation in our team-building meeting yesterday. Someone called it the Lonestar Security curse. I don’t know why, but trouble follows nearly every one of our new hires into town.”
“Uh-oh,” Owen muttered. “You could’ve warned me.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Rock chuckled.
“Seriously, though, with a job like ours, we’re forever in somebody’s crosshairs.
Looks like it’s your turn, but we’ve got your back.
I sent out an SOS to the rest of the team.
Two people have already written back to say they can be at your place by nine o’clock to work on your security system. ”
Owen was moved by Rock’s kindness. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“No worries.” His supervisor sobered. “If you stick around long enough, we’ll get our pound of flesh out of you. Eventually, someone else on our team will be in the hot seat, and you can return the favor then.”
“Count me in!” As a single dad, Owen was grateful to be part of the camaraderie Rock spoke of.
Rock gave him a few more details about the equipment their company would begin installing at Garrett Farm a few hours from now. “I’ll drop by later to check on things,” he promised before ending the call.
Muffled giggles met Owen’s ears, which told him the twins were awake. It sounded like the giggles were coming from the living room.
He climbed out of bed and stepped into the adjoining bathroom to take care of a few human necessities before heading to the living room to do dad things.
As he brushed his teeth, he shuddered over how close he’d come to losing Halle last night. He wasn’t ready to let her go.
The way his heart pounded every time they were together told him he was probably never going to be ready to let her go.