Page 98 of Hot for Hostage

She headed to the eastern perimeter, where a guy I’d never seen before was waiting with a ladder propped against the wall. I leaned in, unable to stop myself from sizing him up. If possible, this guy was even larger than Vince. “Who the hell is he?”

And just how long had Sadie been planning this?

“I think he’s from the shelter.” Enzo zoomed in on the feed as the guy beckoned Sadie up to him. “Dante is pulling up files on all the volunteers.”

One of her friends, then. I told myself not to care. That it was stupid to want to kill someone just because they were helping Sadie get away from me.

But there was something about watching the girl I’d begun to think of as mine canter-slash-limp toward another man that made me see red.

I watched the feed like a hawk—just as Sadie chucked her dead plant at the stone wall. Vince couldn’t stifle a snort this time when it fell to the grass, and neither could my father.

“That’sthe woman who caught your eye?” he asked me dryly. “I thought I raised you better than this.”

The urge to grab a pen returned with a vengeance. “You should take a walk, Pop.”

He grumbled a few choice words but didn’t budge.

After some bumbling, Sadie made it over the wall, with her friend lugging Bear after her. Enzo switched to a camera angle on the other side of the wall, and Seb grunted in disgust. “What is that godawful eyesore?”

I recognized what Sadie referred to as theDog-Mobileimmediately, and my fingers flexed against the desk. “It’s a van from the dog shelter.”

But instead of getting into the van, Sadie went over to Bear and wrestled something from his mouth. She tossed whatever it was back over the wall—before everyone piled into the van.

They zoomed across the property, where Sadie’s elderly friend, Gladys, darted out of the trees and hopped into the Dog-Mobile. I watched in disbelief as they sped off without anyone from my team chasing them.

They’d even made it look easy.

“They’re heading back toward the city.” Enzo swapped to another feed that showed the back of the van.

I straightened up and checked my watch. “No one saw this happening in real time? The ladder? The van? Nothing?”

Enzo wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We don’t actively monitor the perimeter walls, so it was only caught on camera. By the time the motion detector alerted us to the activity, the team was on the west side, dealing with those fireworks.”

“Great.” We’d gotten outplayed by Sadie and her friends—who, I assumed, all lacked any experience with rescueoperations. If this weren’t proving Vince’s assumptions about Sadie wrong, I would be more embarrassed for my security team.

Shaking his head, my father pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “This is a ridiculous waste of time. I’m stepping out for a smoke.”

I waved him off. I had more important things to deal with now.

“Dante is working to track the van down,” Enzo said as Seb slipped out the door. “Unless you want to see the footage again, I can go help him.”

“Go,” I ordered. “And send someone to find what Sadie threw over that wall. Thanks, Enzo.”

While he rushed off, I turned to Vince. “Send Malcolm and Shane after that van. Now.”

Instead of pulling out his phone, Vince scratched the back of his neck, hesitating. “Or… maybe it’s best to just let the girl go if she doesn’t want to be here.”

I stared at him. Was he making a joke? “Why wouldn’t she want to be here? The last time I saw Sadie, she was happy.”

I liked to think I’d had something to do with that, too.

He cleared his throat and looked out the window. “Well, women are fickle. She must’ve changed her mind.”

…Changed her mind?

Vince sounded nothing like himself. I studied him closely—the stubborn tilt to his jaw, his crossed arms, and how he didn’t seem the least bit worried Sadie was out there with Zain searching for her—until it hit me.

My father wasn’t the last one Sadie had spoken to before leaving.

---