Page 3 of Inevitable Dream

I walk out to find Falcon on his cell phone. He’s looking down at his boots, and I can sense there’s something wrong.

“Right. Yeah,” he responds to whomever he’s speaking with. “How is she?” I hear him ask, and I feel a pang in my chest. It’s Sadie, I’m sure of it. “Rebel won’t want anyone else.” There’s a pause and he says, “Don’t bother. Do you know if they caught the guy?”

Suddenly, I feel nauseated. I must have made a noise because Falcon turns to see me standing nearby.

“Shit!” Falcon mumbles under his breath. “Thanks. I’ll be in touch,” he says into the phone, then promptly hangs up.

“Where’s Sadie? What happened?” I demand, my hands fisting by my sides.

Falcon lets out a heavy sigh, rakes his fingers through his hair, then puts his hands on his hips. “I’m going to give it to you straight. Sadie was attacked last night.”

I cut him off right there. “Take me to her,” I bark, turning to head toward the front door.

“Rebel, you’re still recovering,” he says, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I stare him down. “Either you take me, or I’ll find my own way.”

Falcon sees that I won’t be swayed and grabs his jacket and hands me mine. “Look, you’d better keep your cool when you see her. From what I’ve been told, Sadie was released from the hospital, but only because she insisted. The doctor wanted to keep her overnight, and she refused.”

“Just take me to her,” I insist. My body aches, but nothing is going to stop me from seeing Sadie.

On the way, Falcon calls Wire to let him know he won’t be in for a while and gives him the short version about Sadie’s situation. I jump into the conversation and ask, “Are there street cameras near the bus stop? What do the cops know?”

“Christ, Rebel! I’m just hearing about this now. I’ll check with our contact on the force to see if they can fill me in,” Wire says. “As for the cameras, it’s unlikely, but I’ll see what I can do.”

When we pull up to Sadie’s apartment building, I already know that this isn’t the greatest neighborhood. The building itself is old, and the elevator doesn’t work. Having to walk up three flights of stairs tests my endurance, but still, I realize I’m getting better. All thanks to Sadie and how well she’s taken care of me.

I rap my knuckles loudly on her door. I hear Sadie shuffling, and with a low moan, she says, “Coming.” She asks faintly, “Who is it?”

“Rebel. Open the door, Sadie.” I hear the latch coming undone and the turning of the lock, then the door slowly creaks open, revealing Sadie in a powder-blue robe and oversized, light pink pajamas. Her eyes are red and puffy, but it’s the bruising around her cheek and eye that I see first. Then I do a scan of the rest of her. There’s a bandage on her forehead, and she’s clutching her ribs.

“What— What are you doing here?” Her voice trembles. I’m furious. The fucker did a number on her, and she’s trying so hard to be brave.

I can’t find the words I want to say because I’m so angry, and anything I say is going to come out wrong. But Falcon has no problem and speaks for both of us, “We were worried, Sadie. When we got the call, Rebel insisted on coming over to check on you.”

“I…I’m okay,” she replies, unsteady on her feet, holding on tighter to the doorknob. I can’t help myself and take her free hand, tugging her toward me and enveloping her in my arms to hold her to me. Instantly, Sadie begins to cry. I shuffle us both over to her tiny sofa. In between sobs, she says, “He got my purse. I held on for as long as I could, but he got my purse.”

When her crying subsides, she tells us how the man came at her from behind, threw her down, and fought with her for her purse. Sadie wouldn’t let go until the guy punched her several times and kicked her repeatedly.

“Babe, you should have given him the purse,” I tell her softly, stroking her hair.

She lifts her head from where her cheek is lying on my chest. “It had the fifty dollars Falcon gave me. I was going to use it to buy new scrubs,” she says innocently. She lays her head back on my chest, and I look at Falcon. He has an incredulous expression on his face, probably thinking the same thing I am, which is why would she risk her life over fifty dollars?

Chapter2

There’s Nothing Like Chicken Soup

Rebel

Eventually, exhaustion took over, and Sadie fell asleep. I carried her to her room, despite Falcon’s concern that I would be straining my own injury. I felt nothing, not even a twinge of pain. I covered her with her blanket and came back out to sit with Falcon.

“She had the money. Why didn’t she take a cab, like I told her to?” Falcon asks, sitting with his elbows on his knees while he looks around her tiny space. It’s neat and clean, but there’s not much to it.

“Sadie shouldn’t be in this neighborhood either. Walking home in the late hours of the night, it isn’t safe,” I add. She’s got to move, I decide. And I want to find the person who did this to her. My jaw clenches tight, my chest burning with the desire to beat the guy as badly as he hurt Sadie.

“Rebel, let the cops do their job,” Falcon says, interrupting my thoughts.

“Did you take a good look at her?” I exclaim, coming to my feet and waving my arm toward her bedroom. “She can hardly stand up. Her face is beat to shit. Her ribs are wrapped. The fucker needs a beatdown so he knows how it feels.”

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