But there wasn’t time for ribbing him, even if he did have shockingly
petite feet.
We climbed into the front of the SUV, and I started making calls while
Vince took the main road back toward the city .
I tried Sadie four more times. No answer .
It was dif ficult not to take it personally .
I called my men at the shelter, too—but there was no sign of her. Sadie’s
landlord said he’d ke ep an eye out for her, and Bruno promised to call me if
she showed up at his place. What was supposed to be a quick chat with Mr.
Sanders to see if he’d outfitted the Dog-Mobile with a tracking device was
hijacked by his undying gratitude for my donation.
“No, I never saw the point in GPS tracking. Sounds like just another
way for the government to ke ep tabs on all of us,” he answered gruffly.
“Though now, with the sizeable donation you made, I don’t see why we
couldn’ t make that happen. The new security system was installed today,
and one of your fellas walked me through all the features. Spiffy stuff,
never seen any technology like it.”
“Back to my other question. Has Sadie called —”
“I just can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for Happy Tails
Haven,” Mr. Sanders continued, gushing more undeserved praise. “I don’t
care what anyone else says about you, Mr. Reed. You’re a good man. A
decent man. You’ve changed these dogs’ lives. Hell, as far as I’m
concerned, you’re a hero.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. My r eputation would never recover
from helping Sadie.
“Don’t mention it,” I said, ke eping my tone brusque. “Have you heard
from Sadie at all today?”
“No, no. Is something wrong?” He finally sounded concerned. “She was
supposed to bring Bear back this morning. The rest of us had a surprise
party planned to celebrate their return, but then Gladys and Ryan
disappeared. I can check the new cameras —”
“Just call me at this number if you hear from her,” I said before hanging
up.
I was texting Enzo to see if he could hack Sadie’s cell carrier to track
her down when Malcom’ s name flashed across the screen.
I’d never been happier to answer a call. “T ell me you found her .”
“We caught up to the van,” he answered shortly .
The worry that’d had my chest in a chokehold since Sadie left finally
loosened its grip, and I could breathe again. “Good. Send me your location,
and we’ll meet you —”
“Wait.” Malcolm cleared his throat. “Boss, we found the van ... but your
girl wasn’ t in it.”
S a d i e
Sadie’s Guide to Hostage-T aking Being T aken Hostage Forming a
Partnership with Y our Hostage Embracing the Hostage Lifestyle Not
Freaking Out Es caping Being T aken Hostage (Again), T ip #30: Avoid being
taken hostage yourself at all costs. (I can’ t seem to master this one yet.)
Karma had found me. What was that saying?
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Well, apparently that applied to hostage-taking.
And if there was one place I never expected to wake up in my life, it
would be tied to a chair in a small bedroom that looked like it’d been
abandoned midrenovation.
I wasn’t in much better shape myself. My head throbbed after being
knocked out, and leftover tear tracks dried on my cheeks. I didn’t even want
to know what my hair looked like.
And my company was... less than ideal.
Zain and Fessy stood together in the corner, whispering with quick hand
gestures, but at least the other goons were nowhere in sight.
Blinking against the bright light from a lamp pointed toward me, I used
the time while they were distracted to scope out my surroundings.
The room itself left a lot to be desired.
An entire wall of drywall was missing, leaving exposed and frayed
wires. The wall across from it had clearly been mauled by a sledgehammer .