Page 7 of Rescuing Sadie

Something occurred to her then. She whipped her head up and stared at Chase in a panic. “You didn’t tell my uncle or TJ, did you?” Only the Feds knew what she’d gone through during her hours trapped alone with Jonathan Jones. And she’d meant for it to stay that way.

But not even the Feds knew everything.

“No, Sparky, I didn’t tell anyone.” He reached out and turned her chin so she had no choice but to look him in the eyes. “Why? Why’d you do it? You could’ve gotten away. You had the chance.”

“There was no way I was going to leave Milena at the school with Jonathan and his father. What kind of person would I be if I left her to suffer the consequences of my escape?”

Chase ran a hand over her hair and left his warm palm resting on the side of her neck. “Tell me what happened,” he ordered.

“You already know,” she protested.

“Tell me anyway.”

Sadie struggled with herself. She wanted to put it all behind her, but how could she when Jonathan was still looking for her? When she was living in someone else’s apartment and being guarded for her own protection? She wouldn’t be able to put it behind her until she knew for sure that Jonathan wasn’t ever going to pop out from behind a tree and force her to do everything he’d threatened.

“I woke up from whatever drug Jonathan had knocked us out with and saw Milena next to me, still unconscious. He’d untied us, so I got up, falling a couple of times before I got my balance back, and wandered over to a window. I realized we were at the school and tried to come up with a plan to get us out. I probably could’ve gotten out the window and disappeared into the night, but I couldn’t leave Milena there by herself. Then I heard Jonathan and his father talking nearby.” Sadie shuddered, hating the memory of how helpless she’d felt.

“They were talking about how Jeremiah was going to take Milena’s son down to Mexico and start a new school, right?” Chase asked.

Sadie nodded. “Yeah. Then Jeremiah asked Jonathan if he thought he’d be able to ‘get it up’ long enough to impregnate me. Jonathan told his dad that he’d lifted my shirt and looked at my boobs, and while they were way too big, he could close his eyes and picture the babies I’d give him, and that would ensure he’d be able to get hard.”

Taking a deep breath, Sadie closed her eyes, trying to control the nausea that nearly overwhelmed her at the thought of Jonathan Jones looking at her body when she’d been unconscious. Out of everything he’d done, that alone had the power to break her.

Well, that, and what he’d told her when he was handcuffing her to the bed in one of the rooms at the school.

“You’re perfect,” Chase said softly.

Sadie’s eyes popped open and she stared at Chase.

“You’re not too big. Your tits are perfect.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond for a moment, but humor finally won out. Sadie rolled her eyes and chuckled before responding. “Thanks. I think.”

They shared a smile before Chase said, “Go on. What else?”

Sadie sighed. She’d tell him only what she’d told the Feds, leaving out the things she’d never told anyone—and swore she never would. “Jeremiah said he’d reconsider making Jonathan go to Mexico with him, if he would agree to give him one of my babies at some point down the line. They got into an argument about it, a loud one, and Jonathan threatened to hurt Milena. So I made sure they knew I was awake by pounding on the door. That distracted them, and Jonathan came in and hauled me out of the room. That’s it. That’s all I did.”

“That’s it?” Chase said, incredulously. “You could’ve snuck out of there while they were arguing. But you didn’t. You stayed. And you obviously antagonized Jonathan until he decided, instead of disappearing with you immediately, he’d take the time to try to rape you right then and there! You shouldn’t have antagonized him, Sparky. That wasn’t smart.”

“I know, I know. He got sick of me struggling and mouthing off and tied me up again. I guess he was waiting for his dad to finish doing whatever he was doing with Milena. He…he knocked me out and…when I woke up, he had fun trying to scare me by telling me what my future was going to be like. Then he dragged me into a room, where his father had Milena and JT. They said goodbye to one another, and…Jonathan took me into that room, the one you found me running out of. If you think you’re an expert, what should I have done differently, Chase?”

Chase eyed her for a long moment. She tried not to feel guilty about the stuff she’d left out of her narrative, but she didn’t want to think about what she’d done. She certainly didn’t want to tell Chase. She kept her gaze on him, letting him see she really did want to know what he thought she should’ve done.

When he didn’t answer immediately, she asked, “Chase?”

His lips were pressed together in a grim line, and he finally shook his head. “I don’t know.”

His answer shocked Sadie. She thought for sure he was going to tell her she should’ve run, or tried to hide, or tried to find a weapon…something.

He continued. “If I had been in your situation, I probably would’ve done the same thing. Especially when it came to keeping JT safe. I don’t like that you had to put yourself in danger though. And I hope to Christ you aren’t ever in that kind of situation again.”

“Because I’m a woman?” Sadie knew what Chase’s thoughts were on women in combat situations. He was opposed. They’d had this conversation before; it had irritated her then and it irritated her now.

“I know you don’t understand or approve of my stance on this, Sparky,” he began. “But will you let me tell you why I feel the way I do? And not interrupt me and try to change my mind this time?”

Sadie blushed. She had done that last time. Every time he’d begun to explain his thought process, she’d cut him off. It was juvenile of her and she regretted it. She wanted to know more about who he was as a person, including his principles. “Yeah.”

“You know I’m in counterterrorism.”