“She says they went north,” Malcolm added while more squawking sounded in the background. “Shane already went ahead to scope out Zain’s headquarters, but I hung back to help Sadie’s friends get their van started again. They’ll give me a ride to meet up with Shane.” Great, so now Gladys and the guy with the big muscles who’d helped Sadie get away from me were going to come along. Just what we needed. “Vince and I will head in Shane’s direction. Call me with any new information.” I hung up. I was at a loss. Feeling this powerless was new and unsettling. I didn’t know where Sadie was—or if she was hurt or scared or freaking out. Well, it was highly likely she was freaking out. But all I knew for certain was she was in the hands of my enemy, and that made me more than a little pissed. “Head north,” I told Vince, pocketing my phone. “Ali has her .” He didn’t hesitate before pulling an illegal U-turn, making me brace against the door . “That quick?” “Fessy’ s in volved, too.” Nothing about this abduction sat well. Zain had to have known Sadie was in that van ahead of time, and that meant someone had told him. Someone who didn’ t want Sadie sticking around. I watched Vince closely . “Did you do this?” “What? No .” He jerked the wheel before straightening out. A vein bulged on his forehead. “ Hell no. My plan was to ke ep her inside the compound so she wouldn’ t put you at risk. This is the opposite of what I wanted.” Some of my tension eased, but if it wasn’t Vince, then who? Lorenzo hadn’t known about Sadie. It was possible Ali’s men had been watching the shelter and followed the van to the compound. I liked that answer better than the possibility we had another rat. “There’ s more going on here. Something I’m missing.” Being out of the loop frustrated me to no end, but I needed to focus on getting Sadie back now. “We need to find out what we’re walking into. You know that family best. Who can we get to inside Ali’s camp?” His thumb tapped the wheel. “Maybe Nasir. He’s got five kids and is up to his ears in debt.” I tried to place the name. “The tech guy?”
Vince nodded. “He’s smart. If any of Ali’s guys will see reason, it’s him.” Hopefully , my r eputation hadn’t fallen too far yet and Vince was right about Nasir’s smarts helping him see the benefits of betraying Ali and helping us—the main benefit that he’d get to live. “Reach out to him,” I said. “Tell him the sooner this goes down, the smoother things will go for everyone in volved. Promise him whatever he wants. Cash. Protection. Whatever . Just get the location of where Zain took her and a head count of his men and weapons.” “On it.” He steered with one hand, pulling up a number on his phone. He held it to his ear for two seconds before cursing. “Straight to voicemail. I’ll ke ep trying.” I flipped my phone over in my hand and glared out the window. What else was I missing? What could I be doing? And what was Zain doing to Sadie? “We should’ve heard from Ali by now.” I shifted my glare down to my phone—which noticeably was not ringing. “He has her, so why hasn’t he called yet?” “They could be on the move. I’m sure she’s fine and he’ll be in contact soon,” Vince said, taking pity on me. “What’s the point of kidnapping Sadie if they don’ t use her for leverage?” If nothing else, his attempt to reassure me was amusing. “Since when do you sugarcoat the truth?” “... Maybe she’s not as bad as I thought,” he admitted, even if it sounded like the words were being dragged out of him. He grimaced. “It takes talent to give me the slip twice.” “Yeah, we’re still going to talk about that later .” “I screwed up. Won’t happen again.” He shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, though. I still think you two are a horrible idea.” I had nothing to say to that. Maybe we were a horrible idea. Sadie herself thought our lives were too dif ferent to give this a serious shot. And Vince claimed I didn’t need a helpless baker by my side—that she’d just be a weakness. But I recalled how Sadie had brandished that ridiculous broom at the car wash, and how her eyes had flashed when I tricked her into staying at the compound. How she’d pointed that gun at my chest with determination, even as her hands trembled.
There was nothing weak about her . As if on cue, my phone buzzed with an incoming text—and for one gravity-defying moment, that damn warmth in my chest thought it’d be from Sadie. UNKNOWN NUMBER Join this link in 5 minutes if you want your girlfriend to live. Not Sadie, then, I thought dryly as my earlier flicker of rage grew into something hotter . Angrier . I read the text again before forwarding the link to Enzo to look into. “Change of plans,” I said through a clenched jaw. “Drive to our nearest safe house. Anywhere within five minutes of here.” Vince glanced over and lowered his phone. “What happened?” “Ali sent me a link to a video call.” All our safe houses were equipped with computer equipment. If I could get it set up in time, Enzo might be able to track their location. “The punk said to join it in five minutes if I want Sadie to live. I’m going to remove his head from his body .” I’d meant it as an offhand comment—while also a fact—but Vince adjusted his one-handed grip on the wheel and gave me another side-eye. “You need to cool it. If you show up on that call like this, they’ll know she means something to you. But if Ali thinks you don’t care, he’ll be less likely to hurt her . In fact, you should let me talk to him instead —” “I’m taking the call. That’s not negotiable.” He pursed his lips, staring straight ahead at the road. “Then humor me for a minute. The goal is to get Sadie back safely. What’s the best way to accomplish that?” “Easy. I’ll just tell Ali what I’ll do to him if he doesn’ t hand her over .” Vince’s fingers twitched, like he was fighting the urge to face-palm. “If you go in guns blazing, you’ll spook him.” “I’m not an idiot. I know how I need to play this.” When he looked doubtful, I raised a brow. “I won’t let him see anything I don’t want him to.” Vince still didn’t seem convinced, but I wasn’t so heated that I couldn’ t see reason. The best move was to play it cool on the call and make them
believe Sadie meant nothing to me, then explain to her later why I’d had to bluff. With the mask I’d spent years perfecting, it’d be child’ s play. ... Unless Zain had touched her . Then all bets were of f.
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 #31: Just because YOU ar e opposed to torturing your hostages doesn’ t mean all hostage-takers ar e. It helps to ke ep in mind you’r e more useful to them alive. At least, I hope that helps. One second, Fessy had been threatening to smother me with duct tape. Then the next, Zain stormed into the room like a crazed barbarian out for blood. He charged at me without a moment of hesitation, and I saw my short— yet joyful and love-filled—life flash before my eyes as I braced myself against the chair . When he reached me, he grabbed my jaw tight enough that I whimpered —jerking my chin until I was looking into his furious gaze. But it was the knife he wielded that stole my breath. Fessy hastily tottered over on his crutches. “Bro, what the heck are you doing?” Zain ignored him and k ept a firm grip on my jaw as he lifted the knife toward my chest. Oh no . This was taking a turn from very bad to potentially catastrophic.