Page 20 of Captive at Rescue Ridge

Archer’s gaze intensified as emotions she couldn’t quite pinpoint passed behind those gorgeous honey browns. “I will.”

His promise before he walked away meant she could trust closing her eyes. No one would sneak up on her during his watch like she feared every waking moment. Her sleep had been in fits and starts during this four-day ordeal.

Lying there, her thoughts drifted to the time she’d decided to surprise the person placing bags of groceries on her doorstep. Pride had her wishing the person who’d taken pity on her and her mother would stop. The groceries had reminded her just how bad and fragile their living situation was, and she’d craved stability more than anything in the years she’d spent here.

The grocery sneak had been hard to catch. Whoever it was had given her no pattern to decode, so she’d gotten up early every day for a week and sat in the dark at the side of her living room window. Imagine her surprise when she’d discovered Archer was the culprit. Telling her that he’d had no idea who was behind the deliveries had been the only lie he’d ever told her. Technically, though, he’d been skirting the truth. His twin brother had been the one sneaking across the lawn with full arms. Owen had been the one to make the delivery, so Archer hadn’t lied when he’d said it wasn’t him.

Annalee had never admitted to Archer that she’d known who was responsible. She’d stopped asking about it and, instead, saw it as the kind gesture it was meant to be.

Her mother had no qualms about taking the freebies. Annalee, on the other hand, had been setting aside a few dollars a week from tips for years to pay him back. When this ordeal was over, she would hand over the funds, come clean about knowing it had been Archer, and hopefully give him closure on the past.

Then, she could walk away with a clear conscience.

Right?

8

“What can you do on your end?” Archer asked his brother-in-law, Travis, after briefing him on the situation.

“Has Annalee been contacted by cell phone?” Travis asked.

“No,” he said. To his knowledge, it was the reason she had a burner phone. “I’ll doublecheck, but I’m certain hers can’t be traced as well as her mother’s.” The fact no one had tried to contact Annalee by text to draw her out using her mother’s cell must mean Becca was out there free somewhere. Right? He needed to run the idea past Annalee once she woke up. Her slow, steady breathing said she’d dozed off.

“My tech contact is still trying to trace the text message you received earlier today.” Travis exhaled a sharp sigh. “It’s not looking good, though. We should have discovered something by now.”

“Encryption?”

“That and a few other terms that are beyond my knowledge,” Travis said. “I’ll send a deputy to investigate the crime scene where your truck is, and I’m on my way to dust for fingerprints on the handgun. I can also put a trace on Owen’s phone while that’s happening.”

Thank the stars for having access to Travis’s resources. “How long will it take to get any results?”

“Real investigations take time, unlike on television cop shows.” The frustration in Travis’s voice said Owen could be dead by the time forensics came back on the gun. “I’ll put out Missing Persons reports on Owen and Annalee’s mother, Becca.”

“What else can we do?” There had to be something more Archer specifically could be doing.

“Stay put, and stay safe.”

Travis ended the call, saying he would be there in fifteen minutes. Kade was wearing a path in the carpet, pacing. Worry lines creased his forehead. Archer imagined he must look as concerned as his brother.

“The others are still searching for Owen,” Kade said. “I told them to exercise caution and not to approach if they found him but to alert the rest of us as to the location before making any moves.” Kade clenched his jaw. “I added Becca to the list of missing persons to keep an eye out for.”

“You heard the call with Travis.”

Kade nodded.

“Staying around here feels like not doing anything at all,” Archer said, even though there was some satisfaction in keeping Annalee safe and within arm’s reach. He never wanted to let her out of his sight again.Until this ordeal is over.

The reminder popped into his thoughts almost as fast. He was gun shy about letting himself think about what would happen to her once they found Owen and her mother—and finding the two of them was the only option Archer would let himself consider. Anything else might condemn their mission, and he loved his brother too much for that.

Had the two of them had their fair share of arguments over the years? Hell, yes. They loved each other, but they were human and brothers. They got on each other’s nerves more than any other of the siblings because of how close they were. They also worked as a team, and that had gotten them through a helluva lot of awful predicaments with Beaumont.

Archer remembered the day he’d walked into the barn to find Owen kneeling while his back was slapped with a racing whip. Welts had risen, looking like an aerial view of the Dead Horse Ridge area. Owen had been eleven years old at the time. He’d taken Archer’s punishment, he would later learn, for not remembering to water the horses. It was the reason Archer had come back to the barn in the first place.

“Get the hell out of here, Owen,” Beaumont had said to Archer.

The bastard had had the wrong kid and hadn’t even known it.

Before Archer could protest, Owen had met his gaze. Teary-eyed, his brother’s tense expression had warned Archer to go away. Coming clean about who had really been responsible would’ve meant both would be whipped. For Archer, knowing his brother was inside the barn, taking a beating meant for him, had been far worse than an actual whipping. Physical pain, he’d learned, was temporary. Emotional scars carved deep grooves in his soul.

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