Page 110 of The Last Dance You Saved
I could only hope, could only pray to every higher power that existed, that it would be Sadie Hatley’s number that lit up my phone.
Chapter Thirty-six
Sadie
LAYING LOW
Performed by Danielle Bradbery
Adam waved the gun in mydirection, and it took everything I had in me not to flinch. The old wound in my leg ached as if it was new and fresh.
“Tie Fallon up. Gag her. I can’t have her calling for help before we’ve gotten out of town.”
“Uncle Adam, please,” Fallon said.
“Sit back down,” he ordered his niece, and my heart plummeted as the gun rotated in her direction. Then, rage so strong it nearly blinded me surged in my chest.
I’d kill him before he could hurt her.
Fallon pulled the rolling chair closer to the desk and sank down in it.
When I still hadn’t moved, Adam grabbed the wrist he’d already hurt and squeezed until I winced. “I promised you I wouldn’t hurt her. Don’t make me. Go tie her up.”
“I don’t have anything to tie her up with,” I said through gritted teeth, hoping to calm him down, hoping to somehow get the gun he was waving around away from him before he purposefully or accidentally used it on one or both of us. With no safety, the weapon was built to go off fast and easy, and I wondered if he even knew it.
His gaze narrowed on me in disbelief. “This is a damn bar. You have duct tape or rope or something.”
This time, when the gun landed on Fallon, it was firm and resolute. I barely stopped myself from lunging at him. The only thing that halted me was my fear the revolver would go off as we struggled, and she’d be hurt anyway.
As his finger landed on the trigger, I all but shouted, “I’ll find something!”
I hurried behind the desk, opening drawers as he watched my every move. For two seconds, he looked down at his phone in order to dial someone, and my hand closed around the pocketknife next to the duct tape. In the blink of an eye, his eyes were on me again as he said to whoever had answered, “We’ll be ready in an hour. Two passengers.”
I grabbed the duct tape as I slipped the pocketknife up the sleeve of my flannel shirt. With my back to Adam, I faced Fallon and saw her gaze slide to the sleeve where I’d hidden the knife. I was so proud of her. For keeping it together. For paying attention. She was so much braver and smarter and stronger than I’d ever been at her age. More than I was now.
“I’m sorry,” I said with every ounce of regret I felt. My fingers shook as I tore a piece of tape from the roll. My life felt like it was on repeat. Mila had jumped on Chainsaw and saved my life. Fallon had stabbed Theresa with a screwdriver before she could shoot her. The two girls were better at saving themselves and me than I could ever be at saving them. I’d completely failed at the one thing Rafe had asked me to do.
“He-he killed her. He didn’t even hesitate. He’ll kill us both if you d-don’t do what he asks.” Fallon was shaking so hard I could barely keep her hand on the arm of the chair.
“Stop talking!” Adam yelled. “You’re right, Fallon. I did kill her, but she was planning on doing me in first. As soon as she had the diamonds in reach, she was going to get rid of all of us and use the money to fuel her feud with Lorenzo. So don’t feel sorry for her. She gutted that guy Nero. Had me hold him while she did it. She bragged how she’d done the same to your dad. How she was going to do it all over again and make sure he died this time. I saved you by shooting her.”
As he talked, I taped Fallon’s wrists to the chair, trying to keep them loose, but Adam came closer and noticed.
He aimed the gun at me again. “Don’t pull that shit, Sadie. Wrap them tight. Do her legs too, and then tape that mouth of hers shut. She likes to talk. Likes to rat people out when she doesn’t even know what’s really happening.”
“She can’t escape if she’s tied to the chair, Adam, and no one is around to hear her,” I insisted.
He swung his fist and clocked me in the cheek again. It was the exact same place he’d hit before, and pain radiated through the bone. I stumbled back, hitting my lower back and side on the desk with enough force it had me gasping.
“Don’t argue with me. Just do as you’re told.”
“Please, Uncle Adam. Please don’t hurt her.” Fallon was crying again, tears streaming down her cheeks, and my heart tore in half. The expression on her face had returned to the wild fear instead of the anger that had been there moments ago.
He yanked the tape from my hand, juggling the gun as he ripped off a piece, and I used the cover from the noise it made to flick open the pocketknife. As he slapped the tape over Fallon’s mouth, his hand with the gun drifted near me, and I dragged the blade over his arm with a strength that surprised us both.
He screamed, dropping the gun. It clattered beneath the wheels of Fallon’s chair, and I dove for it. He kicked me in the ribs, sending me sprawling to the floor. The knife went flying from my fingers, sliding between Adam’s feet and disappearing under the desk.
Adam cradled his wounded arm and bent to retrieve the gun, but Fallon kicked out at him, hitting him in the thigh. He lost his balance, tried to use the corner of the desk to stop himself, and ended up stumbling over my legs and falling on top of them. The momentum thrust Fallon backward until the chair collided with the wall.
