Page 21 of Hot for Hostage

She seemed to agree. Backing out of the garage and zooming down the long driveway was a breeze all the way to the large, menacing gate.

There was just onetinyproblem.

It didn’t open.

I assumed it’d opened automatically for Davian, but maybe he’d hit a trick sensor or something.

Oh. A call box stood next to my window, and I swallowed a fresh surge of panic before rolling down my window.

Here goes nothing.

“Hello? I’m leaving now. Can you please open the gate?” I asked, then held my breath.

Static crackled before a deep voice came through the call box. “Name?”

My heart thundered in my chest, and I considered lying. What if Davian had warned them not to let me out? Was I a prisoner here? But I spent so long thinking about it that I worried they’d think I was trying to come up with a fake name, so I answered with the truth. “Sadie. Sadie Morris.”

The following silence stretched while I waited for guards to pop out and ambush me.

But then a beep sounded, and the gate began to open.

The burst of relief made my chest ache. I could finally breathe normally again, and I flexed my fingers on the wheel.

“I’m coming, Bear,” I whispered, driving through as soon as the opening was wide enough. I pulled out my phone and quickly looked up directions to Acresfield Park. “Just hang in there, buddy.”

With determination in my heart and butterflies in my stomach, I sped Daisy down the dirt road away from Davian’s compound.

the car wash

. . .

Davian

Nothing made me feel older than a bunch of snot-nosed gangbangers thinking they could run shit when their balls had barely dropped.

Sadie had no idea how far below my pay grade this was.

It didn’t help that the kids had chosen one of the worst spots in the city for their headquarters. The foreclosed car wash had a huge overhead garage that took up half the parking lot, but the tiny shack of an office in the middle was falling apart at the seams. A dozen garage openings on both sides of the building allowed way too much visibility, and the boys were just asking to get ambushed.

Malcolm and Shane hung back a few meters while I rapped my fist on the office door.

The muffled voices inside went silent, but I hadn’t made out how many there were. There was no way the small box could fit more than five people comfortably.

“Who is it?” a young voice called through the door, making me sigh.

“Davian Reed,” I called back while signaling my men to retreat to the openings of the garage.

“Reed?” he squeaked before clearing his throat and attempting to lower his voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I just want to chat. There’s been a misunderstanding, but it shouldn’t take long.”

A bunch of shuffling broke out behind the door, and I moved my hand closer to my gun.

“Are you alone?”

My eyes briefly closed. They didn’t even have cameras watching the place? “I have some friends with me. Again, this is only a chat.”

“Okay, well… Back off a bit, man. Take twenty steps back, and we’ll come out.”

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