Chapter 2 - The Black Sedan
Sadie did not look toward the window.
She couldn't.
Carl stood between her and the bedroom door.
The envelope containing eighteen hundred dollars remained in his hand.
Every shift.
Every skipped lunch.
Every dollar she had hidden for seven months.
Gone.
“Answer me.”
Sadie stared at the business card.
“I don't know.”
Carl stepped closer.
“Wrong answer.”
She instinctively moved backward.
Carl noticed.
Something ugly entered his expression.
“Did you tell him about me?”
“No.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Carl threw the envelope onto the bed.
“You think I'm stupid?”
Sadie said nothing.
That was another rule.
When Carl asked that question, there was no safe answer.
His eyes moved over her face.
Then he noticed the makeup.
“You covered it.”
Sadie's stomach twisted.
Carl reached toward her.
She flinched.
He stopped.
For several seconds, they stared at each other.
Then something unexpected happened.
Carl laughed.
“You should see yourself.”
Sadie hated that laugh.
“I'm tired.”
“You're always tired.”
“I want to sleep.”
Carl lifted Ronan's card.
“You're not sleeping until I know what this is.”
“He saw me spill a drink.”
“And?”
“And nothing.”
“Ronan Hayes doesn't hand waitresses private cards because they spill drinks.”
“He didn't hand it to me.”
Carl's eyes narrowed.
Sadie realized the mistake immediately.
“How did you get it?”
Carl smiled.
“Your manager.”
“What?”
“Thomas and I had a conversation.”
Sadie stared.
Carl had gone to the Continental.
“Why?”
“Because you ignored my calls.”
Fear sharpened.
“Carl, you can't come to my job.”
“Apparently I can.”
He stepped closer.
“And Thomas told me Hayes asked questions about you.”
Sadie's heart beat harder.
“What questions?”
“Where you live.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Sadie looked toward the window.
Across the street, rain streaked beneath the lamps.
A black sedan sat near the curb.
Its headlights were off.
Carl followed her gaze.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
But someone sat inside the car.
Watching.
Carl walked toward the window.
Sadie grabbed his arm.
“Don't.”
He looked down at her hand.
She immediately released him.
Carl parted the curtain.
The sedan remained.
“Friend of yours?”
“No.”
Carl stared for several seconds.
Then the vehicle pulled away.
Sadie didn't sleep that night.
At six the next morning, Carl left.
He took the eighteen hundred dollars.
At eight seventeen, Sadie walked into the Continental.
Thomas nearly dropped his coffee.
“What are you doing here?”
“Working.”
“You're off.”
“Not anymore.”
“Sadie—”
“I need the shift.”
Thomas lowered his voice.
“Mr. Hayes specifically said—”
“I don't care what Mr. Hayes said.”
A voice behind her answered.
“You probably should.”
Sadie turned.
Ronan stood near the private entrance.
No entourage.
No visible security.
Just him.
His dark coat was damp from the rain.
Sadie's anger arrived before caution.
“Why did you ask where I live?”
Thomas quietly disappeared.
Ronan studied her.
“I didn't.”
“My boyfriend said—”
She stopped.
Ronan's gaze sharpened.
“Your boyfriend?”
Sadie realized what she had revealed.
“Forget it.”
“Is he the one?”
“No.”
Another lie.
Ronan's eyes moved toward her cheek.
“Did he do that?”
“I said no.”
Ronan stepped closer.
Sadie stiffened.
He stopped immediately.
Again.
Always noticing.
“I didn't ask Thomas where you live,” Ronan said. “I asked whether you had someone who could drive you home safely.”
Sadie's anger faltered.
“Then why does Carl have your card?”
Ronan's expression changed.
“What card?”
“Black. Your name.”
“I didn't give Thomas a card.”
Sadie stared.
Ronan looked toward the kitchen.
“Thomas.”
The manager appeared.
His face was pale.
Ronan held out his hand.
“Your phone.”
Thomas hesitated.
“Mr. Hayes—”
“Phone.”
Thomas surrendered it.
Ronan scrolled.
Then his eyes hardened.
“Who is Carl Jenkins?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Sadie's boyfriend.”
Ronan handed the phone back.
“How did he get my card?”
“I—”
“Thomas.”
“I gave him one.”
“Why?”
“He came here last night asking questions. He was angry. I thought if he believed she had someone powerful watching her, he'd leave her alone.”
Sadie closed her eyes.
Thomas had tried to help.
Instead, Carl now knew.
Ronan looked at Sadie.
“Did he hurt you last night?”
“No.”
True this time.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
Also true.
Ronan took out his phone.
Sadie immediately understood.
“No.”
He stopped.
“You don't get to send people after him.”
“I haven't said anything.”
“You don't have to.”
Ronan slid the phone back into his pocket.
“What do you want?”
The question stunned her.
Nobody asked Sadie what she wanted.
Not anymore.
“I want my shift.”
“You have it.”
“I want you to stay out of my life.”
Ronan was silent.
Then nodded.
“All right.”
Sadie didn't believe him.
“That's it?”
“You asked.”
“And you're listening?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Ronan's answer came quietly.
“Because somebody should.”
Sadie looked away.
She worked eleven hours.
Ronan left before noon.
He did not return.
No guards followed her.
No black sedan waited outside.
Maybe he had actually listened.
At eleven thirty that night, Sadie returned home.
Carl wasn't there.
The apartment looked normal.
She showered.
Changed.
Then noticed something beneath her bedroom door.
A white envelope.
Her name was written across it.
SADIE.
She opened it.
Inside were eighteen hundred dollars.
Every dollar Carl had taken.
Her hands began shaking.
There was no note.
No explanation.
Only the money.
Then she saw something else.
A photograph.
Carl.
Standing outside the Continental.
Beside Thomas.
But it wasn't last night's photograph.
The timestamp was three months old.
Sadie stared.
Three months?
She turned the photograph over.
Four words had been written on the back.
HE FOUND YOU FIRST.
Sadie's blood went cold.
She reached for her phone.
Before she could unlock it, someone knocked on the apartment door.
Three slow knocks.
Sadie froze.
“Who is it?”
A woman's voice answered.
“Sadie Mercer?”
“Yes?”
“My name is Evelyn Hayes.”
Sadie stopped breathing.
Hayes.
“I need to speak with you about Ronan.”
Sadie remained behind the locked door.
“What about him?”
May you like
The woman answered with a sentence Sadie could never have expected.
“Carl Jenkins didn't meet you by accident.”
