by Jill Sanders
The bread and the dinner she must have made were beyond help, charred to blackness. It was a wonder they hadn’t caught fire.
He hung up the phone and rushed to the back patio. The door was unlocked, and he followed Ozzy outside.
“Find our girl,” he bent down and told the dog. “Find Rose again.”
Ozzy whined and glanced around, then without any more prompting, took off like a bullet across the driveway and through the brush with Sawyer fast on his heels.
He’d grabbed his gun and kept his phone tucked in his pocket as he ran as fast as he could through the muddy yard.
The dog lost him several times, but when he whistled, Ozzy would bark and give away his location, then wait for him to catch up.
They crossed Rose’s land, through acres of trees and brush, and even crossed a small stream that drained into Lake Erie.
He was soaking wet when he snapped his finger and forced Ozzy to sit outside of the house he had led him to. It was almost a quarter of a mile from Rose’s. Pulling out his phone, he called Carson.
“Where are you? We’re at the house,” Carson said.
“Ozzy followed her scent to a house, her neighbor’s place, the closest house to the left. About a quarter of a mile away. Can you call it in? Do a quick search and see who owns the place? Then meet me here, quiet like. I don’t want to spook whoever has her,” Sawyer added.
“Are you sure she didn’t just hike over there to deliver some cookies to the neighbor?” Carson asked.
“Pretty damn sure.” He sighed as the rain started falling faster.
Carson sighed. “I thought not. Stay put, I’ll call you back soon.”
“My phone is on silent,” he said, before hanging up.
Ozzy and he waited in the dark, under the shelter of a large maple tree whose leaves were already gone, giving him little shelter from the cold rain falling from the sky.
Ozzy whined, and Sawyer pulled him closer and tucked him under his rain jacket. “Shhh, we’ll get her back, buddy,” he promised the dog, who seemed to understand and settled in the warmth of his jacket.
When his phone buzzed, he answered.
“You’re not going to believe this.” It was the chief instead of Carson. “We’re heading up your way. Carson should be there on foot any minute, but…”
“Who owns the place?” he interrupted the chief.
“The house is owned by Clayton.” Sawyer could hear as he turned on his sirens.
“Sean?” Sawyer frowned at the dark home. It was smaller than Rose’s mansion, but then again, every house in Twisted Rock was smaller than Stoneport Manor. It looked as if it had been built within the last thirty years and had been updated more recently.
“No, not Sean. At one point, yes long ago, but it was transferred into Isaac’s name shortly after his death.”
“What?” Sawyer’s eyes narrowed. “How did that skip under our radar?”
“Because we weren’t looking at the finances of a dead man. Why would we? He’s been dead for over a year.”
“So.” Sawyer heard a twig snap behind him and grew silent.
“Sawyer?” Carson called out lightly.
“Here,” he whispered, and his partner stepped out from the darkness. Just then, a shot rang out. Sawyer grabbed Ozzy and flattened their bodies to the muddy ground.
He heard Carson cry out in pain a few feet away from him and knew that his partner had been hit.
“Ten-seventy-one. Shots fired. Officer down,” he yelled into his phone as the gunfire rang around him. Tossing his phone aside, he crawled behind the tree trunk, holding Ozzy next to his body. The dog started to squirm in his hands and he lost his hold on him. The dog darted away from the house, heading directly towards Stoneport Manor. Smart dog, Sawyer thought as a bullet hit the bark a few inches from his own head.
Sawyer flattened his body tight once more and crawled through the mud towards where he’d seen Carson.
“You okay?” he asked his partner when the night grew silent again.
“Yeah, got me through my calf.” He was holding his leg. The man had already removed his belt and had a tourniquet wrapped around his thigh as he leaned against the thick trunk of a tree, his back to the house.
Sawyer checked the wound, tightened the tourniquet, and made sure Carson was out of the line of any more fire before starting to crawl towards the house.
“You’re not going in.” Carson laid a hand on his arm.
“Rose is in there.” He shoved past his partner.
“Wait for backup,” Carson called out to him.
Sawyer couldn’t voice it, but he knew that it might be too late by the time backup got there.
He made it about ten feet from the house before floodlights flashed on, blinding him. He was momentarily stunned at the brightness, so stunned that he didn’t realize that he was fully exposed until a bullet landed less than an inch from his hand. Dirt and mud spit up, splattering him before the night grew silent again.
Not waiting for more bullets, he jumped up and rushed towards the house, zigging and zagging, as he’d been taught back in the academy. Bullets landed at his feet, several times whizzing by him close enough that he could feel the burn and crackle from the air as they zipped by him.
“Sawyer?” Carson called out.
“Yo,” he replied back. “Take care of the dogs,” he said, unsure of why that had been his first thought.
“My god! Are you hit?” Carson yelled.
“No, but either I’m bringing Rose out alive, or…” He let his statement die in his throat as he heard the sirens approaching.
He crawled around the house until he found a back door that was boarded up with an old piece of plywood. He circled the house once and determined it was the best way inside.
Taking a chance, he stood to the side of the door and knocked.
“Police!” he called out loudly. “Come out of the house with your hands up…”
He thought he heard Carson chuckle from the darkness as the patrol cars grew closer.
“Worth a try,” he said, then knocked again. Just then, shotgun bullets tore through the back door, splintering the wood into a million pieces. Sawyer had to fling himself into the mud once more to avoid being hit by the second round of shotgun fire, which shattered the rest of the plywood like glass.
He listened and heard the telltale sounds of a shotgun being reloaded then tossed onto the ground as someone threw out a soft curse.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled out his weapon and stood up, putting himself in the line of fire. Within a split second, he stopped himself from shooting as he watched a man in the darkness move forward.
Rose was tied and gagged. Seeing her held in front of the man’s body like a shield caused his blood to boil.
“Why don’t you come in?” the man said calmly from the darkness.
It was then that he saw the gun pointed at Rose’s temple.
“Come on, don’t be shy Officer Sawyer,” the man coaxed him.
Sawyer stepped in through the splintered door, pushing some of the wood aside to make room for him.
When he stepped into the dark room, his eyes met Rose’s and he saw the tears flowing down her cheeks.
“Are you okay?” he asked Rose, who slowly nodded. Then his eyes went past her, took in Schneller’s body, the slit throat, and winced. Then for the first time, he got a look at the man who was holding Rose and frowned.
“Isaac Clayton?” He shook his head and wondered if he’d hit his head sometime in the past fifteen minutes.
The man laughed. “Close.” He motioned with his gun. “Go ahead, drop your gun outside the door.” He nodded to Sawyer’s gun.
Sawyer did what he asked, knowing he’d tucked his personal gun in the back of his jean waist, just in case he needed it.
“Good, now, why don’t you step in further?” the man asked.
“Let Rose go,” Sawyer said calmly.
The man laughed. “Oh no, you don’t get to make the dem
ands here. I’m in charge!” the man screamed the last.
Sawyer had gone through a course in hostage negotiation, but at the moment, he couldn’t remember a damn word from the lesson. Not when the gun kept going back to Rose’s head.
“Okay.” He held up his hands. “You’re in charge.” He agreed. “Tell me what you want.”
The man smiled. “We want to leave here, without being followed.”
Just then, he heard his chief’s voice over a bullhorn and groaned.
“Police! Drop your weapons and come out with your hands up. We have the place surrounded.”
“Tell him.” The man waved the gun in his direction. Sawyer felt relieved when it was no longer pointing at Rose.
“They won’t let you walk out of here with her. Why don’t you take me instead?” Rose shook her head.
“It’s not you I want,” the man said calmly.
“Why don’t you tell me what it is that you do want?” he asked. Rose raised her hands and tugged the gag out of her mouth.
“He’s Isaac’s twin, Ian,” she said before the man shook her and she shut her mouth.
“Ian?” Sawyer tested the name. “Is it true? You and Isaac were twins?”
The man’s eyes narrowed at him, pointing the gun at his chest.
“I’m walking out of here with my wife.” He pulled Rose closer to his chest.
“Rose isn’t your wife.” Sawyer took a step closer while the man’s eyes were on the door behind him. “She was Isaac’s.”
He stopped when Ian glared up at him.
“She should have belonged to me! All of this should be mine. I was the one dad chose, not Isaac!”
Sawyer could tell by the tone in his voice that the man was growing more unstable and they were running out of time.
“Ian,” Rose said softly, “why don’t we sit down and have some more tea? Then you and I can talk.” She stopped talking when he jerked her.
“Don’t talk in that tone,” he growled in her ear. “You’re just like them. All of them. Talking to me as if I’m deranged.” Suddenly, Ian pushed her towards him and Sawyer caught her before she hit her head on a table. Then, he shoved her behind his body and took a step backward, towards the door. The man’s gun centered on his chest.
“You’re just like the rest of them,” Ian continued as if he didn’t know he’d just given up his last game piece. “You want him, not me.”
As if in slow motion, Sawyer watched the man’s finger twitch over the trigger. With all of his might, he pushed his body backward, sending both him and Rose falling through the splintered remains of the back door just as the gun went off.
Falling through the air, he felt the bullet rip through his flesh, but he was focused on twisting their bodies around so that when they landed in the mud outside, he took the brunt of the force. The impact caused the breath to burst out of his lungs.
“Run,” he told her when he could get his breath back, then he shoved her up, off of his chest. “To the house,” he said quickly.
Thankfully, she did as he asked and after slipping in the mud a few times, quickly disappeared into the darkness.
He reached around and pulled the gun from the back of his jeans. His hands shook as he pointed it at the door. He waited a heartbeat, then another. After five, he decided Ian wasn’t going to come bursting through the doorway, shooting at them.
He rolled into the darkness, away from the doorway, and disappeared into the trees again.
“Sawyer?” Deter called out.
“Here.” It came out as a groan.
When the chief and Madsen reached his side, he was staring up at the house, his gun still pointed at the dark hole in the building that had been the doorway. Now, as he watched, a spark caught and, starting deep inside the darkness, a fire grew.
“He’s lit the place on fire,” Madsen said.
“It was Isaac’s twin,” he said and was surprised that his voice sounded as if it had come from someone else.
“Officer’s been hit,” Deter called out, ripping Sawyer’s shirt open wide.
“Damn, I just got that shirt cleaned.” He looked down and saw the blood oozing slowly from the perfect hole in his left side. “Not again.” He looked up at the chief. “Third time’s a charm. I quit.” He smiled when the chief laughed.
“You can hand in your resignation later. But for now, let’s get you out of here.” The chief turned to Madsen. “Secure the building.”
“How?” The officer shook her head and looked at the house, totally engulfed in flames.
“Just watch the damn door and make sure no one comes running out,” Deter said. “Haffner is watching the front.
The chief pulled Sawyer up and helped him around the front of the building.
“Rose,” he said. “She ran back…”
“She’s here,” Deter said, nodding towards the ambulance where they were loading Carson into the back.
“Boone Schneller was in there.” He nodded to the house, which was totally engulfed now. “Throat slit.”
Deter sighed. “No wonder we couldn’t find him.” They walked slowly around the building, avoiding the heat of the flames. “Looks like I’m going to be short on officers for a while,” Deter said when they approached the front of the building where all the lights and cars were. “Why couldn’t the two of you just dodge bullets? Just this one night.” Deter sighed as Sawyer chuckled.
“Sawyer!” Rose cried out when she saw him and rushed across the muddy yard to wrap her arms around him.
“Easy.” He Hee hissed with the pain.
“You’ve been shot.” She frowned down at his blood-covered shirt, which Deter had put over the wound and was using to apply pressure.
“Yeah, it’s just a flesh wound though.” He laughed at the old Monty Python joke, then felt his entire body tilting at an odd angle. “Don’t be upset, but I’m going to pass…”
Everything went dark.
He woke in the ambulance. Rose was leaning over him, concern flooding her eyes.
“Hey.” He smiled up at her, suddenly feeling like he could fly if she asked him to. “You look amazing.” He tried to reach up and touch her face, but his hands wouldn’t move.
“Easy.” She wiped a tear from her face. “They had to strap you down. They gave you some pain meds. You were trying to fight them.”
“I was?” He frowned and shook his head. “I don’t want to ever fight again. Not when I have you.” He smiled again. “You’re so beautiful. I’m so happy you’re going to marry me.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Am I?” she asked, causing him to frown.
“Sure,” he said. “We’re going to have kids together.”
“It’s just…” She glanced around, then moved closer. “You haven’t asked. I assumed, but…”
“I haven’t?” He frowned. “Damn, I can’t even do that right. The ring.” He tried to feel in his jean pocket. “It’s here somewhere.”
She chuckled and helped him search his jeans. “No, nothing’s here.”
“Hmmm.” He closed his eyes. “Oh, that’s right. I gave it to Ozzy.” He smiled up at her.
“What?” She frowned at him. “You gave my engagement ring to Ozzy?”
“Sure, he was supposed to give it to you,” he answered, feeling even more light-headed. He worried he’d fall asleep again without hearing her answer.
She laughed. “Sawyer, you’re delirious.”
“No.” He shook his head, causing a wave of dizziness to wash over him. “It’s on his collar, you were supposed to see it…” He frowned. “Sometime.”
“Shh, we’ll talk more about it when you’re better.”
“Answer me,” he said softly.
“Ask.” She smiled down at him.
“Marry me? Please?” He sounded as if he was begging. Still, her smile and the tears in her eyes smoothed his fears away.
“Yes.” She leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Of course, I’ll marry you.”
A
week later, Sawyer was propped up on the sofa in the living room with both dogs lying on his lap. He’d put in his resignation and had officially put the ring on Rose’s finger.
She was already planning a day next spring to host their wedding in the garden on the grounds. She wanted something small and, to be honest, he was happy to marry her anywhere, anytime.
Carson had left the hospital the same day but had gone through a few more surgeries than he had due to the bullet hitting a major artery. His old partner was looking at months, maybe even years of rehabilitation, which meant he was being forced to take an early retirement. Carson wasn’t complaining though. He’d been threatening to retire for years. This gave him the perfect excuse to do so, and to get that dog he’d always wanted. He’d persuaded Brigit to get him a yellow lab to help him out. He’d called it Frank.
Rose had filled him in on the inner twisted mind of Ian Clayton and explained how the man had filled in for his brother all those times after being released from the institute.
In the city, he’d been the one who had stayed with Kristy Owens, even purchasing her apartment. Ian had only filled in for Isaac’s life with Rose when he knew Isaac was away on travel.
For years, he’d been filling in for Isaac when he could, even flying his own plane up there, staying in the house next door, which he’d purchased under Sean’s name and later transferred to Isaac’s name, with money their mother had left him.
Then that night over a year ago, he had fought with Isaac after Isaac had discovered Ian outside of the house when Isaac had gone to check on the progress of the wall shortly after dinner. Isaac had known something was up because of the pictures someone was sending him. He knew it wasn’t him in those pictures, but he didn’t know about his twin. Ian had murdered Isaac and it had been Ian who’d returned upstairs to Rose.
That next morning, Ian had gone out to deal with Isaac’s body, and Willis had shown up to install the last forms. Ian had covered the body with plastic and told the man he’d killed a wild dog. The man had promised to remain silent for a large wad of cash, and Ian had paid him off quickly.
Then Ian had filled Isaac’s shoes and had left for New York that next morning on Isaac’s planned trip back to the city. He’d hoped to take over the life of his twin.
