41. Sadie’s Great Escape 2.0
sadie’s great escape 2.0
. . .
Sadie
Sadie’s Guide to Hostage-Taking Being Taken Hostage Forming a Partnership with Your Hostage Embracing the Hostage Lifestyle Not Freaking Out Escaping, Tip #26: Not all escape plans are created equal.
My only regret as I hustled out to the balcony with an armful of tied-together sheets was I hadn’t waited for Vince to return with that ice cream before I escaped.
And also that I hadn’t confronted Davian.
But it was just too risky to chance.
Instead, I scribbled out a quick note explaining things as best I could and left it on his dresser like a coward.
I turned on the bath to buy myself more time when Vince returned—fully regretting not getting the chance to soak in Davian’s beautiful tub.
Cargo space was limited, so I stuffed my phone into my bra and grabbed my plant, Walter, before making my way down the makeshift blanket rope I’d knotted together.
It was slower going than yesterday. With my heart in my throat and my ankles clamped around the rope, I descended at snail speed.
It wasn’t until I was halfway down and a breeze hit that I realized I hadn’t grabbed a fresh pair of underwear. But it was too late to turn around—plus, I didn’t have the upper body strength to go back up my little escape route.
“Commando it is,” I whispered as I inched down the rope, breathing shallowly.
My heart threatened to burst out of my chest from the adrenaline coursing through my body. I was down to three minutes until Ryan would be at the eastern wall, and I still needed to track down Bear in Davian’s ginormous backyard. There was no time for dillydallying.
When I reached the bottom of my blanket rope, the grass looked even further away than last time. But I squeezed my eyes shut and forced my fingers to unclench before dropping through the air like a dead weight.
“ Oof, ” I huffed upon landing on the hard ground, silently apologizing to my poor butt.
Scrambling to my feet, I tucked Walter under my arm and headed in the direction I really, really hoped was east.
I kept my eyes peeled for Bear along the way, praying he hadn’t ventured too deep into the woods.
Luck was on my side, because while hurrying across the patio, I ran right into a chair and knocked it over. Not exactly ideal—and my elbow throbbed in pain from the hit— but when I stopped to pick the chair back up, a familiar brown and black lump caught my eye. Bear was lying on the patio in a sunny spot, stretched out on his side.
Even as relief weakened my knees, I paused for a moment to stare. I’d been getting leered at by Davian’s father and freaking out over mafia princesses, while Bear was out here… sunbathing?
That was so not fair.
“Bear!” I whisper-shouted, running to him. “I’m so happy to see you.”
Bear lifted his head—tail thumping happily against the ground—and revealed a familiar piece of footwear with chew marks all over it, which he’d been using as a pillow.
Oh no.
“Where did you even get that from?” I moaned, shaking my head in exasperation—though I had to admit, part of me was impressed by his dedication to pilfering Davian’s shoes.
Bear’s tongue lolled out, and he looked far too pleased with himself.
I couldn’t stop my heart from melting. He really was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.
But we needed to focus.
Checking the doors to the back of the house and the areas near us, I still didn’t spot any guards around. Fingers crossed it stayed that way.
“Let’s go, boy,” I commanded, beckoning Bear to follow as I took off toward the wall. “Come!”
Luckily, Bear jumped up and followed me like the good boy he was.
Not so luckily, he brought his recently acquired footwear prize with him.
It was a rough jog to the wall. Walter was heavier than I’d expected for such a slim plant, and Bear stayed glued so close to my hip that he tripped me twice. He must’ve noticed something was up.
Dogs were intuitive like that.
At the wall, I almost collapsed in relief—and from physical exertion—when I saw the top of a ladder peeking up from the other side before Ryan’s full head of blond hair popped into sight.
“Ryan!” I waved, trying to stay quiet as I herded Bear over. “Thank you so much for coming.”
He smiled and heaved himself up to straddle the wall. “We’ll always have your back, Sadie. Now, hurry up!”
“I am hurrying.” Couldn’t he hear me wheezing? “You have no idea how much cardio it took to even get this far. I’m not built for this.”
Ryan wasted no time showing why he was the most valued dog food carrier at the shelter. His bulging arms lifted the ladder over the wall in one smooth move that made my mouth drop open, before he let it drop to lean against our side.
He waved me up. “Get your butt up here.”
“Wait. Take Walter first!” I insisted before tossing the plant up to Ryan.
But my aim had never been great, and the pot smashed into the stone wall with a scary crack before Walter dropped back to the ground in a sad freefall.
I winced and crouched to pick him up. “Sorry, buddy.”
He’d lost a few droopy brown leaves during his ill-fated journey, but he didn’t look too worse for wear. Well… aside from the large crack in his pot.
“Here,” Ryan called down, waving me to the ladder and bending lower himself. “Carry it up to me.”
After darting up the first few rungs, I handed Walter over to Ryan just as a sharp whistle filled the air, followed by an explosion in the sky. I jerked at the loud boom —almost falling off the ladder—and Bear barked below us before Ryan shushed him.
I gaped up at a plume of white smoke exploding in the sky. Another whistle and bang quickly followed, with flashes of red, and more smoke appeared in front of Davian’s compound. But there was no way she would…
My mouth opened and closed. “Did Gladys really just?—?”
“Yep,” Ryan said flatly. Not one to get distracted, he balanced Walter on the wall and beckoned me up. “Keep moving. We still need to swing around and pick her up.”
I stared blankly at him. Fireworks were Gladys’s idea of a distraction?
I prayed Davian’s men didn’t find her.
Another boom sounded, and I scampered up the rest of the rungs.
We needed to get out of here now .
When I reached the top of the ladder, Ryan froze as he got a good look at me. “What’s that on your face?”
Alarmed, I clapped my hand to my cheek—finding a glob of hardened icing from earlier. “Oh. It’s just icing. I was baking.”
His brows knit. “Reed lets his captives bake ?”
I wiped at my cheek, but the icing was caked on. Only a loose chunk flaked free. “I was more of a guest than a captive.”
Sort of.
A sharp bark was Bear’s way of letting us know we were dawdling, and I looked down to where he stood at the bottom of the ladder. His head cocked to the side—with that dang shoe at his feet—and I gasped.
“Oh my gosh. I don’t know how to get Bear over the wall,” I said, starting to freak out. “He can’t climb a ladder!”
Ryan’s hand rested on my shoulder. “I’ll get him, but let’s get you to the ground first. Think you can hop down from here?”
I hoisted myself up onto the wall beside him and glanced down at the grass outside Davian’s compound. The Dog-Mobile idled a couple yards away—too far to jump onto the roof. But I’d dropped from higher up twice in the last two days, so I nodded. “Absolutely.”
“Just remember to roll when you hit the ground to lessen the impact.”
…Roll? I scrunched my nose. Was he saying there were secret tricks to falling without hurting oneself?
I owed my butt another apology. “You couldn’t have told me that yesterday ?”
Ryan stared blankly, clearly questioning my sanity.
“Scratch that,” he said, as if he suddenly didn’t trust me to roll properly. “Grip my wrist, and I’ll lower you as far as I can.”
That did sound like a better plan.
He held out his arm, and I wrapped both hands around his wrist. With a deep, calming breath, I swung my legs over the wall and hung from his hold.
Ryan gently lowered me as much as he could, and I braced myself for the landing before letting go—but it was a surprisingly soft drop to the ground.
“Catch!” Ryan called down to me. I spun just in time to catch Walter.
“I’ll be right back with Bear,” he assured me before disappearing over the wall.
I shifted my weight at the bottom of the wall and glanced around nervously, silently urging them to hurry. For all we knew, Davian’s men could pop out of the bushes and tase us at any moment.
Then Ryan surfaced above the wall again, looking like a seasoned firefighter with Bear slung around both his broad shoulders. Lugging extra-large bags of dog food around all day really had paid off for him.
Given his slumped posture, Bear was… less than pleased about the circumstances.
Ryan leapt down—earning a yip from Bear—and landed in a low crouch, absorbing the impact like a pro.
I wasn’t jealous at all.
The relief that all three of us had made it over the wall without alerting any guards made me lightheaded. “You’re the best, Ryan. Thank you.”
He put Bear back down on his paws, earning a snort from our furry friend. “Hold your applause until we pick up Gladys. Come on.”
But the souvenir in Bear’s mouth would be a problem.
“Wait!” I walked up to him and got a strong grip on the shoe. “I’m sorry, but you can’t bring this with you. It belongs to Dav.”
After a little wrestling, I tossed the shoe back over the wall.
My aim was true this time, and it sailed over in a beautiful arc.
Bear sniffed the grass around the Dog-Mobile, already forgetting all about the shoe.
“What about the ladder?” I asked Ryan.
“Leave it.” He ushered me and Bear forward. “No time. Get in the van.”
The double back doors were open, and I heaved myself in before Bear jumped up behind me.
Ryan slammed the doors after us. There weren’t actual seats in the back of the Dog-Mobile, so I crawled over some blankets on the floor and around the large crate for transporting dogs, before settling in behind the driver and passenger seats. Bear plopped next to me—probably thinking we were going on some adventure—and I stuck Walter in the center console.
Ryan climbed into the driver’s seat and wasted no time giving the van gas. We tore across the grass, making me cling to Bear for balance.
One sharp turn later, Ryan hit the brakes and sent me and Bear lurching forward.
“Get in,” Ryan called as he flung the driver’s door open. He dove over the center console, landing clumsily in the passenger seat.
Gladys hopped behind the wheel and shifted back into drive. She stomped on the gas, and we took off down the road.
“I feel so alive!” She let out a hoot of laughter that made Bear bark in answer. “Good to see you, too, Bear. Sadie, you back there, girl?”
“I’m here!” We picked up speed and I clutched Bear. With no seat belts in the back area, I just held on for the ride.
“Are you okay? Any injuries?”
“No, I’m fine.” I absently rubbed my bruised elbow. They didn’t need to know about the minor incident with the patio chair. Or the shed’s lock earlier. Or that my butt had broken my falls twice now. “Where did you get those fireworks from?”
“Leftovers from Happy Tails’ Fourth of July party. Pretty explosive, right?”
Explosive, indeed.
“Did any of them see you?” Ryan asked as Gladys’s sharp turn lifted two of the van’s wheels off the road for a heart-stopping second. Bear leaned into me, and I rubbed his neck.
“Not a chance. I hid in the trees. The igniter had a nice range, and those men didn’t know what hit ’em,” Gladys said, bursting with pride. “See any tails?”
I looked over my shoulder, but I was no help without windows back here.
“No one behind us,” Ryan reported. “What’s the plan? We should probably regroup and switch cars when we get to the shelter.”
The shelter.
Uh-oh.
I cleared my throat, keeping ahold of Bear’s collar as we zoomed down the dirt road. “About that. There’s something I maybe should’ve mentioned before we did this. It might change our destination.”
“Spit it out, Sadie,” Gladys ordered.
I hunched my shoulders, bracing myself. “It’s just… I don’t think Davian will react very well to me escaping again.”
“ Again? ” she squawked, loud enough to make me wince. The van lurched forward with renewed gusto, and Ryan fumbled with his seat belt. “What do you mean ‘again’?”
A nervous laugh bubbled up. “Well, you see, I might’ve snuck out yesterday, too.”
Gladys rattled off an impressive string of curses that made me blush, and I covered Bear’s ears until she pulled herself together.
“Say no more, child,” she said through clenched teeth as her hands tightened on the wheel. “We’ll make sure that scoundrel doesn’t find you.”
Ryan finally got his seat belt to buckle. “Does that mean we can’t go back to the shelter?”
I chewed on my lip and glanced anxiously at the rear doors. “Probably not. I have a feeling Dav’s men will just take me back to his place if we show up there.”
Gladys muttered a prayer under her breath, and the van sped up even more.
I clung to Bear to keep us both steady on the bumpy ride, putting him close enough to sniff out the icing still caked to my cheek. His tongue gave it a big lick.
“Bear!” I laughed as another lick quickly followed, but his determination to clean every last trace of icing off my cheek was a comfort I really needed right now. Another laugh broke free as he knocked me over in his enthusiasm. “You’re such a goofball.”
I rubbed his neck and embraced his affection, because it turned out escaping Davian’s compound didn’t feel quite as freeing as I’d thought it would.
Instead, a hole formed in my chest and stretched wider with each mile we drove away.