55. A Girl and Her Broom （Sadie’s Version）
a girl and her broom (sadie’s version)
. . .
Sadie
Sadie’s Guide to Hostage-Taking Being Taken Hostage Forming a Partnership with Your Hostage Embracing the Hostage Lifestyle Not Freaking Out Escaping Being Taken Hostage (Again), Tip #33: Anything can be a weapon if you’re desperate enough.
Patience wasn’t really my thing .
I just wasn’t good at waiting, and I never had been. My baking instructor once claimed my biggest nemesis was an oven that hadn’t finished preheating yet. When I was six, my parents started the tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve because I just couldn’t fall asleep knowing they’d be waiting for me the next morning. When it came to training at the shelter, most of the dogs were better at sitting still than I was.
But waiting in a musty, mold-infested room when I knew Davian was on his way had to take the cake for testing my patience.
I adjusted my grip on the broom handle for the dozenth time since Fessy left, and I tried to hype myself up to escape. I wasn’t feeling quite as brave now that it was my life on the line instead of Bear’s.
Muffled yelling traveled through the door, followed by loud bangs that made me jump. I placed a hand over my heart and forced myself to take a deep breath.
Hostage situations really weren’t good for my blood pressure.
Then I tried the door handle again, in case by some fluke it magically wasn’t locked anymore. As luck would have it, the door actually opened !
I wasn’t sure who was more surprised as it swung open—me or the wide-eyed Nasir holding the other end of the knob.
He recovered first and reached for me. “You?—”
“Ahh!” With a startled war cry, I moved on instinct and whacked him over the head with my broom.
“ Jesus! ” He swatted the broom away like it was a harmless fly, scowling at me. “Watch it! I’m trying to help you .”
I raised the broom for another swing but paused with it over my head. “…You are?”
“The sooner you leave, the better off we all are,” he bit out, rubbing his head. He jabbed a finger at the open doorway with a glare. “Reed is downstairs. Go all the way down this hallway, take a left, then a right, and then you’ll see the stairs.”
I hesitated. It sounded too good to be true. But I carefully slid past him and poked my head into a deserted hallway. Huh. He might be telling the truth.
The best I could do was offer him a sheepish smile. “Oh. Thank you, Nasir.”
He only rubbed at his temple and let his eyes fall shut. “Just get out of here.”
The man looked in desperate need of an aspirin, and I wished I had my travel first-aid kit on hand for him.
But there was no time to waste.
Following Nasir’s helpful instructions, I ran down the hallway like my heels were on fire. When I reached the end, I skidded left around the corner.
Halfway down the next hallway, a large man exited the doorway and blocked my path.
Not looking surprised to see me, he sneered and grabbed my shoulder. “Not so fast, Pinky.”
Screaming bloody murder, I swung the broom with everything I had.
“ Don’t .” I thwacked the goon’s head, making him let go of me. “ Touch .” Another swat to his face. “ Me! ” One more whack sent the scary man crumpling to the floor.
When he moved to get up, I threw in a few more bonks to his head for good measure.
The last one flattened him like a pancake, leaving him groaning facedown on the floor, and I hesitated with my broom raised instead of running away. It took a second to sink in that he wasn’t getting back up.
Guilt pooled in my stomach. Had I actually hurt him badly enough to incapacitate him?
I must’ve not known my own strength.
“I’m sorry for the extreme measures, but you have to understand how stressful this whole situation is for me,” I panted. When the goon still didn’t move, I lowered my broom to hip height. “…Are you okay?”
No answer from him. I prodded his back with the end of my broom to check, but he didn’t appear to be conscious anymore.
“Well. I hope you use this as a sign to rethink your life choices when you wake up,” I whispered, cautiously backing away from his prone body. The last thing I needed was for him to only be pretending to be down and then spring up in a surprise attack.
“ Sadie .”
I jumped a foot into the air in fright as another attacker snuck up behind me from around the corner. But my instincts didn’t fail me, and I swung my broom around in a beautiful arc—only for a strong grip to stop it dead in its tracks.
“What did I tell you about using brooms as weapons?” the man murmured, amused, in a low voice my veins found more addictive than a sugar high.
My gaze shot up to meet his dark one, and my knees threatened to buckle in relief at who stood in front of me. “Dav?”
I didn’t even care my voice was wobbly, because he was here .
He was here, and he was okay, and he was looking at me like I was the best part of his day.
Davian released the broom and scooped me into his arms at the same time I jumped to throw mine around his shoulders. His embrace had an air of desperation I felt in my bones.
I was so happy to see him.
Burying my face in his neck, I clung on as tightly as I could and breathed him in.
Peppermint .
I really did love his shampoo.
“Clear those rooms. I’ll take this side,” Davian said to someone else. His voice was all business now, and the arms around my waist tightened. “Meet back at the stairs.”
I was vaguely aware of us moving, but all I could do was hold on to Davian and the broom. It wasn’t until a door clicked shut and Davian set me back on my feet that I left the safe haven of his neck.
We were in a different room than where I’d been kept, and this one was completely bare.
I reluctantly let Davian pull back, and he placed both hands on my shoulders as he looked me over with a frown.
I shifted my weight under the inspection. It definitely wasn’t my cutest hour, and I hoped he didn’t judge my hair too harshly.
“Did those boys hurt you?” he asked, and I fought back a shiver when I recalled exactly what he’d promised to do to Zain if he so much as touched me. Davian’s gaze flicked up to mine and narrowed. “Sadie?”
Using my free hand to clasp the front halves of my shirt together—because standing in front of Davian in my bra had thoughts entering my brain that were completely inappropriate for a hostage rescue—I shook my head. “No, they were very well-behaved after the call.”
Minus Zain’s little temper tantrum.
“Good. Now, come here.” Davian shrugged out of his suit jacket, and I stepped closer so he could drape it over my shoulders. He helped guide my arms through the sleeves while I juggled the broom between my hands.
His jacket was large and cozy, and I was never going to take it off.
Davian standing in front of me still felt so surreal. I wanted to know how he was feeling and if he really forgave me for that mess of a call when I was in the Dog-Mobile. “Dav, listen. I’m sorry about earlier?—”
“Later.” He made quick work of buttoning the front of the jacket, then squeezed my shoulders and gave me another once-over. His sharp nod of approval made my stomach somersault. “We need to move. Come with me.”
He cracked the door open behind him and looked out into the hallway.
“Wait! Davian, listen for a second. Please. I need to say this.” I grabbed his arm. He glanced over his shoulder before easing the door shut. I had his full attention, and I wet my lips. “You were right. I ran because I was scared. And that meringue metaphor wasn’t fair to you. I’ve had time to think about it, and I actually think we’d make a great soufflé?—”
Davian reached for my face—his hands cupping my cheeks—officially breaking my concentration and making the words die on my tongue.
“Sadie,” he said patiently as he held my gaze. “I promise I want to hear everything you’re saying right now, but my men are dealing with live fire downstairs so I can get you out. We’ve got to go. Now.”
“Right. Of course.” Silly me. Now was obviously not the time to blurt all my feelings. I gripped my broom with a determined nod to let him know I meant business. “Yes. Let’s do this thing.”
Davian’s lips twitched, and he pried one of my hands off the broom to hold it in his. “Stay close to me.”
“Happily,” I whispered as he led the way, pulling me along behind him.
But a glint of metal in his other hand stopped me short as we reached the door—which made Davian pull to a stop, too.
I swallowed, staring at the gun in horror. Memories of Fessy being shot bombarded me. “You’re not going to shoot anyone again, are you?”
Davian opened his mouth, then caught my look and closed it. A beat passed before he answered slowly. “Only if I have to.”
That did little to reassure me, but it was better than nothing, so I nodded.
Davian studied my face, then pulled me through the doorway, but we didn’t make it far before reaching the slumped goon I’d taken down.
He still hadn’t moved.
“I’m not sure why he’s still unconscious,” I whispered with a wince. “I didn’t think I hit him that hard.”
Davian looked my way with a raised brow. “You did this?”
I shrugged modestly. “I’ve heard I’m quite lethal with a broom.”
I wasn’t about to tell him I’d only meant to scare the man off and not flatten him like a pancake. It seemed cooler to own it.
The wicked grin that spread across Davian’s lips made my heart pump just a little bit faster. “Good girl.”
My stomach had no business filling with butterflies at the praise, and I ducked my head to hide my answering blush.
Geez . I needed to get ahold of myself.
Davian pulled out a zip tie and let go of my hand to restrain the man’s wrists behind his back. Then he tugged me down the hallway, where more muffled yells and bangs traveled from downstairs as we reached the next fork in the road.
“Stay behind me,” Davian ordered, voice low. I squeezed his hand in answer.
We took a right, just like Nasir had said.
At first glance, the hallway was empty.
… Until it wasn’t.
We barely made it two steps before another man in dark clothes with a thick beard barreled down the short hallway toward us, and I had no idea where he came from. Davian acted fast, raising his gun, and I sucked in a breath as fear paralyzed me.
My gasp wasn’t lost on him, and for a terrifying fleeting moment, Davian lowered the gun as his gaze snapped to me.
Then our attacker drew his own gun from behind his back, and my heart dropped into my stomach at how badly I’d screwed up asking Davian not to shoot anyone.
Son of a dog biscuit .
“No!” I shouted, leaping forward and swinging my broom at the goon just as a loud bang deafened me.
Time slowed to a crawl. I’d been aiming for his face, but the broom sailed down in an arc that hit his hand—very effectively knocking the gun right out of his grip.
Davian swooped in, taking over with a fist to the man’s face before following it up with another hit.
Panic surged in my veins, and I frantically checked Davian and myself for any bullet wounds. Maybe adrenaline stopped me from feeling it. But there was no sign of blood on either of us.
Forcing myself to stay focused on the task at hand, I held my broom at the ready—just in case Davian needed some backup.
But he seemed to be doing just fine on his own as he grabbed the man’s short ponytail and smashed his head against the wall—making his body slump to the floor and go still.
That was when I saw the blood pooling beneath the goon’s thigh.
Davian had shot him.
My stomach protested violently, and I took deep breaths to fight off the nausea.
Davian pulled out another zip tie and quickly restrained the unconscious man while looking up at me. “You okay?”
My ears rang at the simple question. I placed a hand over my stomach and inhaled deeply through my nose—focusing on not puking—then exhaled through my mouth.
It was easier if I kept my eyes on Davian instead of the blood. “I think so.” I gulped. “Is he…alive?”
“Yeah. He’ll be fine.” Davian’s lips twitched, dangerously close to a smile. He nodded toward my broom. “That was a nice hit.”
I laughed nervously but kept my mouth shut about it. Davian didn’t need to know I’d been aiming for the man’s face.
“I’m sorry,” I said as my laughter faded. Guilt settled heavily in my stomach. “I didn’t know he had a gun, and it was my fault you almost didn’t shoot.”
Davian straightened and approached me, a quick touch of his hand to my hip turning me away from the bleeding man. “Don’t be sorry. We still took care of him.”
That we had. A wave of relief at both of us being okay made me giddy, and I twirled the broom in my hand—almost accidentally smacking myself in the face. “You know, with your scary mafia badassery and my broom skills, we make a pretty good team.”
Davian tried his best to keep a straight face, but he couldn’t hide the laughter gleaming in his eyes. “We do, but what happened to staying behind me?”
I stopped my broom-twirling and shrugged innocently. “I wanted to help.”
Davian shook his head, and a smile finally slipped through. “I shouldn’t have expected anything less.”
My hand back in his, he pulled me toward the stairs.
“Ten down!” Vince’s deep voice boomed from the level below us, startling me enough to almost drop my broom. “Main level is clear, Reed.”
“Two down up here. Malcolm is checking the rest.” Davian’s grip tightened on my hand, and he cocked a brow at me. “You ready to get out of here?”
My nod was nothing short of enthusiastic. “Yes, please.”
I wanted to get out of here more than anything.
All I could think about was getting back to Bear and my friends, finding some fresh underwear, and going to Bruno’s with Davian to celebrate another successful rescue.
I was officially over this whole hostage thing.