Chapter Thirteen #2
“Listen, both of you. Sadie is my daughter, too, and I’m making this call.
I’m going into that house, alone.” He shot Sunny a look, knowing that she wanted to argue, but he didn’t give her that chance.
“Travis will take me. I will convince him to leave the ranch, and you and Sadie will be safe. That’s all that I care about.
Honestly, baby, I wouldn’t be able to live without either of you.
Please don’t ask me to.” Aaron pulled Sunny into his arms and gently kissed her mouth.
She sobbed against him, and the sound nearly tore him apart.
“You can’t ask me to live without you either, Aaron. What will Sadie and I do, once you leave with Travis?” Sawyer cleared his throat, still on the other end of the call. “You get your ass back here, Sunny. Everyone here will take care of you and Sadie while we hunt for Aaron.”
“No, there has to be another way—one where we all walk away from this and Travis doesn’t,” Sunny pleaded.
A hard knock at the cabin’s front door startled them both.
Aaron pulled his gun and pushed Sunny behind him.
He peeked out the front window to see Clint, the head of security for the ranch, pacing on the front porch.
Aaron pulled the door open, and Clint pushed his way into the cabin and shut the door.
“Your guy is here, and he has Mrs. Hobbs.”
Sunny nodded, “We know. He also has our daughter.” Clint looked a little shell-shocked. Aaron knew that they didn’t have to deal with this type of thing too often. Clint’s biggest problem on the ranch was probably wildlife breaches and the occasional rowdy tourist.
“He hasn’t knocked out all the security cameras, only the two main ones.
We were kind of sneaky when it came to camera placement.
Mrs. Hobbs has put your baby girl up in her spare room.
It used to be Justice’s nursery, and she kept a lot of her granddaughter’s toys.
We snuck a camera into one of her stuffed animals.
” Clint pulled out his cell phone and showed them the live security feed of Sadie sleeping in a portable crib.
She was safe for now, and Aaron said a little prayer of thanks.
“If she is safely tucked upstairs and that fucker is on the main floor with Mrs. Hobbs, we might just be able to work out a plan,” Aaron said, pacing the small cabin.
“With Clint’s security team, this just might work,” Sawyer said from the cell phone. “How many men do you have, Clint?”
“We have about fifteen guys on site today. I have most of them on standby waiting for orders around the main house.” Clint pulled up another security camera on his cell and showed Aaron.
“This is the main room where he is holding Mrs. Hobbs. The old bird looks madder than hell. She’ll have no issues with us using her as a distraction.
I’ve known that woman for years, and I’m willing to bet that she has something already planned.
She doesn’t take kindly to assholes like your old friend there.
” Aaron had an idea, but he needed to somehow get a message to Norma Jeane.
He needed her to cause a distraction so they could move in.
“I think I have an idea. If Norma is as smart as I think she is, hopefully, she’ll catch on.
” Aaron texted Travis back a message, hoping that Norma Jeane would catch the clues he placed in it.
Knowing his old captain, he would share Aaron’s text with her.
The smug asshole would want to brag, believing that he had them right where he wanted them.
Aaron texted Travis, hoping his plan would work.
I’m coming over now, Travis. Please don’t hurt my daughter; she is my world. Norma Jeane has a heart problem, and she can’t take too much stress. We will be there in five minutes.
Clint held up his phone, and the three of them watched as Travis checked his text message and laughed.
He looked like he was asking Norma Jeane something.
At first, she looked a little confused, but then she seemed to catch on, holding her hand to her chest and nodding her head.
Yep, she knew exactly what to do, and if Aaron had to guess, she was about to cause quite the distraction.
Clint got his men in place, and at about the four-minute mark, Mrs. Hobbs grabbed her arm and fell to the sofa that conveniently sat behind her.
Travis didn’t drop his gun, but he lowered it and crossed the room to where she fell.
Watching the video feed, Sunny was sure that Norma Jeane just might win an Oscar for best performance by a leading lady.
She was quite a woman, and if they all got out of this mess safely, Sunny would never be able to repay her.
Clint gave the signal to go, and his team moved into the house.
He convinced Aaron and Sunny to stay behind and watch the entire thing play out on his cell phone.
Sunny knew that Aaron was pissed about leaving his daughter’s safety in a virtual stranger’s hands, but Clint convinced him that he was too emotionally involved to stay level-headed.
They both held their breath as they watched the men swarm the house on camera feeds hidden in each room of the house.
One of the men went into the room where Sadie was sleeping and scooped their daughter up.
Sunny felt like she couldn’t stay in the cabin any longer, but Aaron held her close to his side.
“We stay here, honey. He’ll bring her to us when it’s safe.
” Sunny could tell that Aaron didn’t like the idea any more than he did, but she stayed in the cabin and waited.
After the house was cleared, Mrs. Hobbs and Clint showed up at their cabin with Sadie in her arms. The old lady was crying, and Sunny ran to her and pulled both her and Sadie into her arms. Aaron took Sadie from her and kissed her cheek.
“Thank you, Norma Jeane. We owe you everything.” Mrs. Hobbs wiped her eyes.
“You owe me nothing. I did what I had to do to keep that little angel safe.” Norma insisted.
“Where’s Reid?” Aaron looked at Clint, and Sunny knew the answer before he gave it.
Clint shook his head. “We didn’t get him.
He must have snuck out onto the balcony through the French doors in the main room.
” Norma Jeane nodded her head, confirming Clint’s hunch.
“We’ve called in the local authorities. I think you all will have to stay put for a while and answer some questions.
They’ve been looking for Reid since your friend Sawyer put out an all-points bulletin that he was armed and dangerous and suspected of the murders of at least six people,” Clint said.
Sunny knew that things could have ended so much worse for them all.
Aaron handed Sadie to her as if knowing that she wanted to hold her daughter.
“I’m going to feed her.” She took Norma Jeane back into the kitchen so that Aaron could talk to Clint.
Sunny knew that he would want to work out securing the area in case Reid came back.
She trusted Aaron to keep her safe; she just wondered if they would ever find a place where Reid couldn’t find them. So far, that place didn’t exist.