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I nodded as relief spilled through me, and she placed her first call.
At least she still trusted in my ability to protect her.
Her sister picked up instantly on the speakerphone, and Sadie started crying.
I pulled her into my arms again as her sister Elena panicked on the other end of the phone.
“Carmella’s out.” Sadie’s words were nearly impossible to understand, but Elena didn’t need to hear to know.
“What? That can’t be.”
“It’s true,” I replied flatly.
“Zack? You’re with her? Thank God.” Elena’s voice rose. “What happened? What’s going on?”
Sadie relayed everything as I let her go, and she mindlessly wandered around the empty coffee shop, weaving through tables and chairs. Occasionally, she’d stop to catch her breath or blow her nose.
“Hey,” Melanie said from the back room. “Is everything okay?”
I knew Sadie never said much to her friend about what had happened to her back in New York. Just how does one explain that you’d been kidnapped and almost murdered by a deranged woman?
You didn’t.
Melanie’s eyes stayed on mine as Sadie kept talking to her sister about the kidnapping.
“Kidnapped?” Melanie’s eyes widened with horror as her hands slid to her mouth. “That’s why she hated being hugged.”
I nodded.
Sadie spun around and froze when she saw Melanie standing near the back room.
“I need to go. Please tell Mom and Dad,” Sadie pleaded, but she was too paralyzed that her secret had gotten out.
“Are you…?” Melanie started and then pressed her lips together. “You were…?”
Sadie nodded.
“When you were a child or…?” Melanie’s voice softened.
“No. It was about six months ago.”
Melanie gasped. Her cheeks reddened. “I’m sorry. I don’t even know what to say. I’m just at a loss.”
“That’s okay.” Sadie hugged herself.
She looked like a shell of the woman I saw earlier, her shoulders curled over, her face still pale…
“Where did it happen?” Melanie asked, her gaze bouncing between me and Sadie.
“New York.” She licked her lips and tried to push down a swallow. I could tell she was teetering on the edge. “If it hadn’t been for Zack and his brother…”
“There was an entire team. I was part of it. Her brother-in-law had his men, the police were involved, and we found her.”
Sadie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and nodded. “But Zack was the one who got me away from the woman.”
Melanie couldn’t hide her surprise. “It was a woman?”
“And she’s out of jail as of yesterday,” Sadie whispered, dropping her gaze to the tiled floor.
