25. Sage
25
SAGE
S he was blindfolded, and more than anything else, she had her hands tied behind her back. Based on the tight, thin plastic, she guessed zip ties. And they were quite effective. Not one TikTok video showing young women how to escape really did any justice to how hard it actually was when your whole body was shaking with fear and adrenaline.
All she remembered was standing in the stairwell as Suey fought with someone. Then she had her arm wrenched behind her while a guy pressed a gun to her back, commanding her to not make a sound. He led her to the ground floor and out to the pool deck, which was nearly empty that early in the morning. He jostled her through a gate and then she passed out.
No wonder her head ached. Did she inhale that sleep drug or something? Or did she simply forget to breathe and panic-passed out?
She smelled pine and leather. New car smell .
“Hello?” Sage asked. “Let me go and we can pretend this never happened. Honestly. No one would believe this anyway.”
“We all know that’s not true.”
She nearly shot through the roof when the raspy voice next to her spoke. Was there a skylight? Maybe she could have burst through with that thick skull of hers. That would have been a better escape plan than whatever delusion told her she might be able to talk herself out of this one.
“Who are you?” It was worth trying at least.
“No one.”
The voice seemed so familiar, yet so foreign. It was like seeing a person and not remembering their name but knowing them. Maybe she could talk her way out after all.
“Who are you?”
“Shut up!” the voice yelled.
Okay, so maybe no talking out of this. She was obviously in the backseat of whatever car this was. Her fingers were numb.
“How much time do you think there is?” an unfamiliar voice asked. It was a deep, menacing sound. It turned the blood furiously pumping through Sage into ice. It was one delusion to think she could take on one person, a totally different scenario to take on two.
“What is happening here?” Sage asked. Any bravado evaporated from her voice the moment her voice wobbled on the last word.
“Drink this,” the raspy voice next to her said.
“Why?” Sage asked. The sound of liquid pouring into a glass met her ears. The scent hit her then. Tequila? Vodka? What was this? A little cocktail hour before her murder?
“Just drink it and everything will be perfectly peachy.”
“Wait, what?” She knew that voice, that annoying phrase.
Perfectly peachy.
“Jared? Jared is that you?” Sage asked, twisting her head, hoping the blindfold would come flying off. “What is going on?”
“Not Jared,” the not Jared guy said in a totally Jared voice.
Sage actually relaxed a little despite the whole blindfold and numb fingers situation. “I know it’s you. And come on, are we really in your car?”
“Ugh, fine.”
And the blindfold slipped from her eyes and she was face to face with Jared, who held a shot glass full of clear liquid toward her. “Salut. Now have a drink.”
“What, why?” Sage struggled with her hands. “Untie me. What time is it? Who is that guy?” She jerked her head toward the driver’s seat where a large man sat. She only saw the back of his head, but this dude was clearly beefy and strong. Who else could have taken out Suey and her? Certainly not Jared.
“Take a drink and I’ll tell you.”
“The competition,” Sage whispered. She could practically feel the blood training from her face and pool in her toes.
“The competition will go on without you,” Jared said, tapping away at his phone. “The service down here sucks.”
“What is going on!” Sage tried to shoulder the door open and the stranger in front reached over the center console and squeezed her knee, hard. “Ow! Okay, okay, I’ll stop!”
“And drink this,” Jared said, holding up the shot glass.
Sage nodded, and Jared held it to her lips. She contemplated spitting it in his face, but the large man in front glaring at her evaporated any notions of being brave. At least for now. Hey, maybe some liquid courage was what she needed.
Jared helped her drink the shot, and he quickly poured another.
Sage coughed and sputtered. “Is that Everclear?” She was going to be toast if she had another shot of that jet fuel.
Jared shrugged. “Not fancy but would a woman falling headfirst into a stress-induced bender really care?”
“What are you talking about?”
Jared slapped the phone down on the console. “You want to know what’s going on, Sage? This is me saving both of our careers. Do you know that? Did you know that Lily wasn’t going to keep you around unless you got top three? And we both know that isn’t going to happen.”
“What time is it? I can still make the competition.” She could feel her heart beating in her ears. Her head felt like it might explode.
Jared was undeterred. “Of the twenty-plus people competing, you’d be lucky, so lucky, to make the top ten. And me? Well Miss Moon, you sure don’t make my job easy, do you?”
“What do you want from me?”
“It was my job to catapult you to social media stardom, influencer status, but getting content from you is like pulling teeth. My job with you is so freaking impossible. I’m not meeting the metrics Lily wanted and I could see the writing on the wall. You’d be out a sponsor, and I’d be out of a really well-paying job. Let’s be honest, we both can’t afford that.”
“So, what does that have to do with burning a hole in my stomach?” Seriously, Everclear was only good for stripping paint.
“We know you are going through it. The grief of losing your Grandpa Joe?—”
“George—”
“Right. And the stress of the, you know, threats, which were absolute gold. So glad Lily latched onto that and gave me the green light to elaborate on the whole bodyguard thing. Really pumped up my numbers, but I needed more. Something bigger. And what better than a whole ‘cool girl hitting rock bottom’ moment?” Jared asked.
“That isn’t real life. This isn’t a girl-sitting-on-the-couch-in-her-underwear-smoking-a-cigarette-while-drinking-scotch moment. This isn’t Hollywood. That's not what’s happening here. I’m sorry I’ve been…difficult. It’s been a hard few months but?—”
“It’s not enough. People need more. They need some tangible way of seeing your fall from success. They love an underdog story but they love a hot mess even more. ”
Sage was putting it together. Slowly. Was her mind moving in slow motion because of the Everclear in her system or the adrenaline come down?
“You,” Sage gasped. “You were the one sending those letters? Trashing my place?”
Jared shrugged. “Me or my cousin.” He pointed to Scary Guy up front.
Scary Guy waved a hand and winked at her from the rearview mirror.
“To drum up some pity for me?” Sage asked. The words threatened to choke her. “All for clout? Social media sympathy? You’re sick. This is my life you are messing with.”
“And I promise it will all be worth it. You and I both know you won’t make top ten, but you most definitely could next year. So, what’s better than an underdog story?” Jared pushed another shot of the paint stripper toward Sage’s mouth. “Think about it.” He was growing excited. He had this mania about him, a Cheshire cat grin and wild eyes. “You’re going to miss the competition, accept that. You might embarrass yourself by stumbling back to the hotel, but people will see you. They’ll put two and two together. I’ll announce how you choked on the pressure and grief and how sorry you are but you’re doing better. Next year will be your redemption. Lily might even approve of you going dark for a little bit, two months off social media type thing, really get people curious about what’s going on in your life. Some might speculate rehab.”
“My life isn’t a drama you can manipulate! I was prepared to place mid-level. I was just excited to be here, to have this opportunity!”
“I’m not finished yet!” Jared barked, shoving the glass into Sage’s face. He pinched her nose until she opened her mouth and he poured it in. Sage coughed most of it up and it dribbled down her chin. Jared sighed. “Look, Lily won’t drop a player like this, especially with all that attention on you. Even she knows how bad it would look for her brand to drop you at your rock-bottom moment with the mystery stalker still on the loose. I am guaranteeing you and me another year of work. She’ll pull the ‘we always support women and will stand by her in these trying times’ card and be forced to stand by her word. You’ll come back next year better than ever and crush the competition. The timing isn’t right for you this year, but next year is yours. Now drink up.” Jared checked his watch. “We have time to kill. I’m not going to ‘discover’ you down here until the tournament is nearly over. Then we’ll stagger into the lobby where I’ll help you to your room. People will see you. They’ll take photos. Just be prepared for that.”
“I’ll tell them everything.”
Jared scoffed. “Oh honey, do you really think anyone would believe you?”