Page 30 of Survive the Night
Grace reached for one of the puppies in Otto’s hand, and he relinquished it. When Hugh held out his hands, though, Otto pivoted away, blocking him with his body. “Get your own puppy.”
Hugh turned to Sarah, but she held her hands up, showing that they were empty, before moving to the counter to mix the milk replacer. Theo and Jules, both cuddling a puppy, smirked at Hugh, who huffed. “Don’t you have to go back to work?”
Theo glanced at his watch and frowned. Giving Jules a kiss on the cheek, he handed his puppy off to Hugh. “How can you even feed it with a cast on?”
“Even with only one-and-a-quarter arms, I’m very…agile.” He gave Grace a wink, making her giggle.
Turning back to Jules, he said, “I’ll be back after five. Think about what I said.”
She made a face at him, but then smiled. “Be safe.”
Once he left the kitchen, Otto looked at Hugh, Grace, and Jules. All were focusing much too hard on their respective puppies. “What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Jules replied too quickly. “Just Theo and Hugh are being overprotective freaks again.”
At Hugh’s unhappy-sounding grunt, Sarah turned from where she was filling bottles. As she took in their various expressions, her face fell. “This is about me staying here, isn’t it?”
During the beat of silence before Grace spoke, Sarah looked even more miserable. “Don’t worry about that,” Grace said. “Having your brother and fake fiancé come after you is nothing. I mean, Hugh’s stalker blew up the diner—and shot at us.”
“So did mine,” Jules added quickly. “We’re all running from something.”
“No.” Sarah screwed the tops on the bottles, her gaze fixed on her task. Otto wanted to hug her again. “They’re right. What if Jules and the kids hadn’t been outside? What if they hadn’t gotten away? I need to leave.”
“He’s in jail,” Otto said, hating how sad she looked. “He can’t get to you anymore. Every cop in the country is watching for Jovanovic. If he shows his face, he’ll be arrested. You’re safe now.”
She offered him a towel, a bottle, and a bittersweet smile. “Thanks, Otto, but what if he gets out on bail or something? I don’t trust Aaron. He doesn’t care what or who he has to destroy to get what he wants. I shouldn’t drag any of you—and especially not the kids—into this mess with me.” She studied Otto’s face, her expression serious. “Does your offer still stand?”
“What offer?” Grace and Hugh chorused.
“Yes.” Otto’s heart rate quickened.
“Then I’d love to stay with you and your bunker and your tunnels.” She gave him a smile that didn’t quite work. “At least I can help with the puppies when you’re on duty.”
Despite the grave situation, excitement buzzed through Otto’s veins. She’d be staying with him, living in his house, sleeping just a room away. It was almost too good to be true.
* * *
What am I doing?
It was the hundredth time Sarah had asked herself that question. She eyed Otto’s broad back as he led her on a tour of his house. It was beautiful, an old farmhouse in much, much better condition than Jules’s place, and animals seemed to be everywhere. A one-eared gray tabby blinked at them from his spot on the top of the couch, and a fawn-and-black Belgian Malinois with a graying muzzle thumped his tail against the hardwood floor without getting up from his spot next to a heating vent. Outside, a lanky bay gelding shared a paddock with a goat, and a rainbow variety of chickens scratched in the expansive run attached to the coop.
They’d driven for miles of twisting mountain roads before arriving. Otto’s property was set in a valley surrounded by bluffs. It looked as though a giant had pressed his thumb into the mountain. Rock rose on all sides of the property, creating a huge hollow for Otto’s house to nestle in.
The moment Sarah had gotten out of Otto’s squad car, his property felt like home. She’d taken the first deep breath she’d had in weeks as she’d looked around, feeling the tension seeping out of her as the peace of the place settled deep inside. Otto’s home fit him. She felt an echo of the same security and reassurance that the man himself emanated.
It was beautiful and safe and already felt like home, but what was she doing there? Otto had barely spoken to her, and she’d seized on his offer like a desperate person…which she was. When the reality of her situation had struck her, along with the knowledge that Jules or Grace or Sam or Ty or Tio or Dee could be hurt the next time that someone from her past came for her, Sarah knew she couldn’t allow that to happen. Aaron was in jail. That was the only reason she wasn’t already on the road out of town. Logan barely knew her. Without Aaron to prod him, he would most likely leave her alone. Logically, she knew that no one else would be chasing after her, but it was still terrifying to stay. What if she was wrong?
Otto was looking at her expectantly, like he was waiting for an answer, and Sarah felt heat creep up her neck to her cheeks. “Sorry,” she said. “I was distracted. What did you ask?”
“Would you like to sleep upstairs or in the bunker?”
“Upstairs,” she answered immediately, without having to consider it. A bunker sounded too close to being locked in for her own safety. She’d move out of Jules’s house to keep them safe, but she wouldn’t lock herself away, not even to hide from her past. After all, her main reason for leaving had been to gain her freedom. If she remained in Otto’s basement bunker like some kind of human/mole hybrid, she might as well have stayed locked up in her childhood home.
“I’ll show you how to get to the bunker,” he said, crossing the living room to what looked like a closet. “Just in case.”
Curious, she followed him into the closet and watched as he pushed aside hanging coats and opened a hidden door at the back. Sarah peeked around him as he flicked a light switch.
“Wow,” she said, peering down the flight of stairs. “This is great.”
