60. The Dream Team
the dream team
. . .
Davian
Sadie’s hellhound could be surprisingly obedient when he wasn’t slobbering all over my shoes. It was almost worth having my toes strangled by Vince’s tiny boots, because Bear happily trotted at my side when we left Vince on the sidewalk and tracked down my old man.
It only took one look from me for Chief Peterson to excuse himself from his conversation with my father—who sneered at Bear as we approached.
“Let me guess. You got a job as a dog walker for that damn shelter?” he asked dryly.
I stopped next to him, pleasantly surprised when Bear readily sat on his haunches next to me. The dog leaned forward and gave my father’s loafer a healthy sniffing that made both ears perk up.
If I was lucky, maybe Bear would take a liking to my pop’s shoes over mine.
“Didn’t expect you to show your face here,” I said, ignoring the barb.
“I was curious when Dante started gathering the troops.” Seb shrugged. He eyed the people streaming in and out of Zain’s house. “But this looks like a lot of trouble for one woman.”
“Don’t,” I warned him, remembering what Vince had said. Lorenzo was dead. My father had cut the feeds. And now he showed up here like nothing was wrong. “This was you, wasn’t it?”
The brow over his eye patch rose. “Say again?”
“Did you send Ali after Sadie?”
He barked a booming laugh, startling a low growl out of Bear. “You think I give a rat’s ass about who you roll around with and would turn her over to Ali? I just met the minx an hour ago.”
I refused to take the bait. “If you orchestrated this because of that bullshit engagement?—”
“I didn’t orchestrate shit, and paranoia doesn’t suit you, son.” The humor vanished from my father’s face, replaced by an icy calm I used to admire as a kid. “When have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?”
“That’s a great question,” I said. “And it’s why I didn’t want to believe it. But if there’s one thing you’ve taught me, it’s that you’ll always follow the money. Always . It doesn’t matter who you sell out in the process.”
Even me.
“Everything I do is in the best interest of our family.” His gaze turned glacial. “I’ll even let this little witch hunt of yours go—since you seem to have lost your damn mind after getting involved with that girl—but question me again, and we’ll be having a very different conversation. You understand me?”
I understood just fine. He was a condescending ass with a god complex.
“Just answer one thing first.” I stepped closer, and Bear shifted up onto all fours before copying me. “Did you come here to side with Ali against me, or to silence him before he could snitch on you like you did Lorenzo?”
His eye narrowed, and there it was. A brief hesitation I would’ve missed if I hadn’t been looking for it. “…What’s this about Lorenzo?”
“You going to tell me that wasn’t you, too?” I cocked a brow. “Hard to fake that footage.”
Genuine surprise flashed across his face, and he leaned closer. “Careful what you accuse me of. Everything I’ve done has been for us, Davian.”
“Us or you?” I threw back at him with a tight smile. “Either way, I think you’re overdue for a vacation, Pop.”
He scowled. “The hell are you talking about?”
“Take a trip. Move to another country. I don’t care.” I looped Bear’s leash around my wrist and stared my father down. “Just don’t come back.”
The rest didn’t need to be said. He knew what happened to traitors who showed their faces again.
“Who are you to tell me to leave?” His voice rose, drawing some attention from those nearby. “This has to be a joke. First, you accuse me of working with Ali with no proof, and now you think you can kick me to the curb? Your own father?”
“If you want proof, then show me your recent calls,” I challenged. “You were the only one to step out of my office after we watched the footage of Sadie leaving. Show me you didn’t call Ali as soon as you stepped outside, and I’ll believe you. Go ahead.”
When he only sneered, I slid my free hand into my pocket and gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Like I said, take a vacation. Enjoy the beach. Hit the slopes. Go wherever the hell you want. But never step foot in this city again.”
Seb rolled his eye. “Give it a rest, Davian. You got your girl back. The deed’s done. You don’t want to play this game with me.”
I could still picture how scared Sadie had been, and my grip on Bear’s leash flexed. “Oh, but I really, really do.”
My father looked ready to pull a blade, when suddenly Bear ran past me with a bark—almost yanking my elbow out of its socket as he jumped off the curb.
“Hey. Settle,” I ordered, holding firm on the leash and frowning at him. He only barked louder and fought to drag me off the sidewalk. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Boss!” Malcolm called across the lawn. He ran toward us with one hand still holding Sadie’s ridiculous broom. “Was Sadie supposed to leave?”
“Leave?” I looked for her head of pink hair where I’d last seen it. “No, she was just?—”
The tent she’d blown me a kiss from was empty. No sign of any pink hair or Pretty Boys in the area.
… Motherfucker .
Bear’s barks grew more urgent, and he tugged hard on the leash—trying to pull me toward the empty tent.
“Get Vince and grab an SUV,” I ordered Malcolm, leaving my father on the curb and following Bear through the swelling crowd. Malcolm followed, but there were too many people here. Too many cars blocking us in. “Find a way out. Drive through a tent if you have to.”
I fished out my phone as Bear and I ran toward the tent. Once inside, he kept his snout to the ground and sniffed. When he began pacing, I let go of his leash and called Sadie’s number.
“Reed?” Gladys answered after the second ring. “Why are you calling Sadie’s phone?”
Right. She didn’t have it on her. “Have you seen any squad cars leave this street?”
“More coming than going, but one flew by here a minute ago.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Was Sadie in it?”
“What do you mean ‘was Sadie in it’? She’s with you. Why would she be?—”
I hung up and pocketed my phone, searching the area for Peterson. That goddamn unsettling feeling that’d taken root when Zain abducted Sadie filled my chest again, and I didn’t take a full breath until I spotted the police chief across the pavement.
“Bear, heel ,” I called to the dog, pleased when he looked up and stuck to my side as we raced over to Peterson. “Where did Murdock take her?”
Peterson looked up from his paperwork, both bushy eyebrows knit. “The hell are you talking about?”
“That asshole drove off with Sadie, and there’s no chance she went with him willingly,” I said. “What happened?”
He scanned the area before retrieving his phone far too slowly.
“I asked Murdock to get her side of the story, but I didn’t say to take her anywhere.” He waited with the phone to his ear, and precious seconds ticked by before he shook his head. “He’s not picking up.”
“Do you have some way to track him?” I asked.
“All the cars are outfitted with GPS trackers.” He waved over another fresh-eyed officer. “We can look up his location.”
He ordered the cop to find a tablet, and the younger man ran off.
Frantic honking filled the air as the giant blue Dog-Mobile raced down the street. It skidded to a stop on the other side of the gathered cop cars, tires squealing.
Gladys hopped out from behind the wheel, and Ryan wasn’t far behind her as they ran over.
“Reed!” Gladys called above the noise, patting her hair to flatten the stray strands. “What’s going on? Where’s Sadie?”
“Jake Murdock drove off with her,” I answered shortly. “What do you know about him?”
“ Jake? Well, he’s a friend of the shelter.” She frowned, glancing at Ryan. “But Sadie wouldn’t run off without telling us.”
“There’s no way she’d leave Bear like that,” Ryan added.
I agreed.
“Here.” The officer Peterson had sent off returned with a sleek tablet in hand. “I’ve synced it to Murdock’s vehicle.”
Peterson took the tablet and studied the screen. His lips formed a thin line. “Good work, Patel. They’re moving northeast. Reed, I’ll send three units with you?—”
“No.” I cut him off and held out my hand for the tablet. “I’m not putting her at risk because you’ve sent some of Murdock’s friends to help him. I’ll call you after we take care of it.”
Peterson froze, the tablet hovering an inch above my palm.
“Jake needs to be alive when we get there,” he warned gruffly. “He’s one of us, Reed. If he’s not breathing, I can’t help you.”
I took the tablet without another word and turned away.
“Not so fast,” Gladys snapped, catching my arm in a surprisingly strong grip. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I glanced down at her boney fingers wrapped around my sleeve. “To get Sadie.”
“If you think I’m letting you run off with that tracking thing and leave us behind, you’re crazy. We stick together.” She plucked the tablet from my hand and jabbed a finger at the Dog-Mobile. “Get in.”
Sadie hadn’t warned me her friend had lost her marbles. “You’re kidding.”
But Gladys didn’t waste any time explaining. She smacked the tablet against Ryan’s stomach, making him fumble to catch it. “You navigate, Ryan. I’ll drive. Reed, you’re in the back with Bear.”
Forget the marbles. She’d lost her damned mind if she wanted us to take that hunk of metal to chase down a cop car. “My SUVs are faster. You can ride with us?—”
“They’re all blocked in, and the Dog-Mobile will do just fine,” she snapped over her shoulder. “Your friend did something to the engine when he fixed it for us. We won’t stall out at forty anymore.”
… Anymore?
I shook my head, not wanting to waste more time arguing. “Fine. All right. Let’s go.”
We rushed over to the Dog-Mobile with Bear hot on our heels, and I slid the side door open.
Bear jumped through first, while I gritted my teeth before climbing in after him. The other two hopped into the front, and I shot a text to Malcolm and Vince with instructions to track my location and follow us.
Gladys and Ryan both strapped in—of course there weren’t any seat belts in the back—and Gladys started the engine. “Now, let’s go get our girl back.”
That jerked my attention away from my phone, and I looked to the front. “ Our girl?”
Her gaze met mine in the rearview mirror, and she raised a challenging brow. “Sadie was ours long before she ever met you, Davian Reed. You better get used to that if you plan to stick around.”
She held my gaze while peeling down the street, and I studied her reflection—realizing with a start that instead of feeling anger, part of me found her challenge endearing .
Ridiculous, but endearing.
No wonder she was friends with Sadie.
“Understood.” I focused on Ryan. “How far away are they?”
He tapped at the screen. “A couple miles. Take a right up here, Gladys.”
She followed his instructions to a tee, and Ryan navigated us out of the neighborhood and down the nearest back road. Gladys’s quick reflexes and calm under pressure would make her a good getaway driver.
Meanwhile, I was stuck sitting on my ass in the back, with an overgrown beast panting beside me.
All in all, we made an unlikely rescue team compared to the smooth operation I’d just run with the guys. But what bothered me was we were heading northeast, in the opposite direction of the city.
Where the hell was Murdock taking her?
“We’re closing the gap,” Ryan said, studying the tablet. He scratched his head. “It looks like they’re slowing down. Turn right! ”
The barked order made Gladys yank the wheel in a sharp turn, and inertia sent Bear into my side. His wet tongue found my cheek in a rogue lick, making me scowl.
“Watch it,” I murmured to the mutt, side-eyeing him. But Bear just kept panting his hot breath into my face, letting out the occasional soft whine as Gladys floored it down the road.
I couldn’t blame him, since I was just as worried about Sadie. It went against my every instinct to sit here without doing anything.
Maybe that was why I didn’t push Bear away when he rested his head on my knee.
But I didn’t have an explanation for why my fingers scratched the spot behind his ears when we took another sharp turn.