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He disconnected then called the sheriff. Sarah sat stiff and quiet as he parked on the tree shaded lane, listening to him talk. She wrapped her arms around her chest, fighting the shock that wanted to take over. Someone had destroyed her home. That knowledge lay like a hard, heavy weight in her chest.
Who could hate her that much? And if it were the same man who tried to kill her, what made him think this would hurt Brock? It made no sense to her. She stared through the trees at her home, watching it, wondering if he was still there. Was he still destroying everything she had while she sat, helpless, unable to stop him?
“Sarah? Are you okay, baby?” Brock wrapped his arm around her, leaning close as he tipped her head up to look into her face. “Damn, you’re white as a sheet.”
Sarah shook her head. She didn’t want to be cuddled right now, she didn’t want to be bothered. She wanted to sit here and try to make sense of what happened. Her well-ordered, fully structured life had just gone to hell. And she couldn’t figure out how.
“Sheriff will be here in a minute,” he promised her. “We’ll get this taken care of, Sarah. Don’t worry.”
How, she wondered, did he intend to take care of this? So far, she had been attacked, her house destroyed and her life ran roughshod over by the August men. It seemed to her that her problems had begun the night she brought him home with her. She wouldn’t change the time she was spending with Brock, but God help her, she was at a loss as to how to deal with this. From the looks of her kitchen, someone hated her with an all-consuming fury. Hated her enough to risk exposure to break in during the light of day to destroy her home.
Brock’s hands rubbed up and down her arms as he spoke. His voice soothing, low and deep as he tried to comfort her. Sarah lay against him, absorbing the heat of his body, still trying to reject the reality she had seen within her home.
“I’m ready to wake up now,” she told him, fighting her tears as she turned away from the house. “Wake me up now.”
“Oh, Sarah.” His voice was pain laden, harsh with worry. “If I could just wake you up and make it all go away, then I swear I would, darlin’.”
“Who’s doing this? Why are they doing this?” She couldn’t understand the reasoning behind such actions. She wondered if there even was a reason.
“I don’t know who or why, baby,” he sighed against her hair. “But I promise, we’ll find out. That’s all I can do.”
As he spoke the flashing light of the sheriff’s cruiser reflected in the rearview mirror. Sarah looked over at her house once again and had a feeling she had spent her last night in it.
“Sheriff’s here with Sam.” He eased her up minutes later, frowning as he lifted her face once again. “I know you’re scared, Sarah. We’ll get this taken care of. Come on, let’s talk to the sheriff.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The sheriff wasn’t the only one arriving. Pulling in behind him was Sam and behind him the elder brother, Cade August and his petite lover, Marly. Cade was tall, stern looking, with steel hard gray eyes, and a finely tuned muscular body. He resembled the brothers in looks, though Sarah could tell the man would be a much more dangerous adversary than his brothers. If you got on his wrong side. She knew he had been at her home the night of the attack, but she didn’t remember seeing him. And he and Marly had left before she awakened the next day.
Marly was another story. She was small, delicate, with expressive deep blue eyes and a very worried expression. The minute she caught sight of Brock she ran to him, throwing herself in his arms. His arms went around her in a swift hug, his big body wrapping around her in a protective manner. Much as he did with Sarah, while having sex.
Releasing her, he stepped back to Sarah, wrapping his arms around her again as he looked at Cade questioningly. Sarah could smell the delicate scent the other woman wore on him how. A scent she smelled on him often. God, she couldn’t believe what she was allowing herself to get sucked into. Did she have no resistance to this man?
“You’re all right?” Marly questioned him, staring up at him in concern. “We were on our way out here when Sam called. You scared the life out of me, Brock.”
“I’m fine, Munchkin, we both are,” he promised her, frowning as his brother watched them from shuttered, cool eyes.
“Why were you headed out here?” Brock frowned at his brother. Cade’s eyes flickered to Sarah, before returning to Brock.
“We have trouble,” Cade informed him quietly, keeping his voice low as Sam took care of the sheriff and led them to the house. “ Get Sarah some clothes, you’ll have to bring her to the ranch. Rick refuses to even consider that a guard outside her house is enough now.”
Shock held Sarah rigid. What guard? And who was he to insist she go anywhere?
“Excuse me, but Brock isn’t my keeper, Mr. August,” she informed him sweetly, ignoring the flash of trepidation that his spearing look sent through her stomach. “I don’t need to come to the ranch.”
Marly bit her lip as Cade’s body seemed to tighten dangerously. Sarah watched that telling sign. Why would her defiance be a source of worry?
“Ms. Tate, I understand your reluctance to do so. But there’s more going on here than you know. The attack was bad enough, but it won’t stop. And it endangers not just your life, but Brock’s,” he warned her, the color in his eyes shifting, swirling.
“What happened?” Sarah didn’t like the suspicion or the throb of concern in Brock’s voice.
“I received an envelope of pictures in the morning mail.” Cade’s hard glance sliced into Sarah once again, almost making her shiver. “Evidently, we didn???t get the right man last year.”
“Pictures?” Brock asked carefully.
Cade glanced at Sarah and she felt bile rise in her throat.
“A candlelit room and a very willing woman,” Cade told him carefully. “Get your woman home, Brock. Until we can find out what the hell is going on.”
