Hot for Hostage

by Maggie Evans

“Whatever,” he mumbled. But a second later, he looked at the door and made a face. “Just sweep all this up by the time I get back. And don’t get cut on that glass.”

I couldn’t believe it. Why did all these mafia bedroom doors lock from the outside? That had to be against a dozen fire-safety regulations.

Davian had told me to sit tight because he was coming for me. … But screw that.

Vince had called me a weakness. A distraction. He said I’d never survive in their world. I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when I proved him wrong.

As far as rescue operations went, it’d been a smooth one—until we reached the staircase and I needed to convince Sadie to leave her broom upstairs. She was surprisingly possessive of the wooden stick.

“Sadie Marie Morris!” my elderly friend belted, marching up to us with a scowl. “I should call your mother on you, you foolish girl.”

“Don’t you ever sacrifice yourself like that again. You hear me?”

“This is news to me. What does she mean you sacrificed yourself?”

“You were supposed to wait around the corner on the next street until we came to get you.” Gladys blinked innocently. “We were just making sure you didn’t bungle getting Sadie back.”

“And it wasn’t all bad. I even learned something new about myself today—I don’t hold up very well under torture.” I laughed, but it quickly trailed off when no one else joined in. And I didn’t need to see Gladys gaping over my shoulder to know Davian had gone deathly still behind me. “Torture?” he echoed softly. … Oops.

Sadie slowly lifted her arms into the air and started to lower herself to the ground.

“Surrendering,” she answered while trying to wiggle out of my grasp, but I wasn’t letting her go anywhere. … Surrendering? “For what?”

She glanced up at me again, then seemed to steel herself. “Actually, before you go, there’s something you should know. I need to confess to a crime⁠—” I clamped a hand over her mouth. “That’s enough of that.”

Sadie squeezed my hand and gave me a quick extra peck before drawing back. “Good boy,” she mouthed to me, making it difficult for me not to laugh as I shook my head at her.

Since Bear was doing it, I saw no problem in keeping an eye on them, too.

Tip #35: There doesn’t seem to be a limit to how many times one can be taken hostage.

Had I seriously been abducted twice in one day? … Gladys would never let me live this down.

The dog leaned forward and gave my father’s loafer a healthy sniffing that made both ears perk up. If I was lucky, maybe Bear would take a liking to my pop’s shoes over mine.

“Your friend did something to the engine when he fixed it for us. We won’t stall out at forty anymore.” … Anymore?

“Now, let’s go get our girl back.” That jerked my attention away from my phone, and I looked to the front. “Our girl?”

“Sadie was ours long before she ever met you, Davian Reed. You better get used to that if you plan to stick around.”

Gladys’s quick reflexes and calm under pressure would make her a good getaway driver.

Maybe that was why I didn’t push Bear away when he rested his head on my knee. But I didn’t have an explanation for why my fingers scratched the spot behind his ears when we took another sharp turn.

Tip #36: Being a recurring hostage is exhausting. Make sure to stay hydrated.

And I might’ve been pouting just a little bit, because how was I supposed to prove I wasn’t a weakness to Davian if I kept getting kidnapped at every turn?

When we reached the edge of the road, Bear stood sentry in front of me,

“Sock him in the throat, Reed!” Gladys shouted from next to the Dog-Mobile, followed by a hooting cheer. “Nice shot!”

She shrugged. “At my age, you gotta get the thrills where you can. You call that a punch, Murdock? My parakeet can hit harder than that!”

I ran over and picked him up just as Davian clocked Jake in the jaw, earning a groan from Jake and another cheer from Gladys.

“Maybe I owe you a thank-you, then. If you hadn’t shit the bed when Bear went missing, Sadie wouldn’t be mine now.”

“Well, I might’ve thrown water in his face and attacked him…” I was rewarded with a hint of a smile cracking through Davian’s hard exterior. He pulled me close and pressed his lips to my forehead. “That’s my girl.”

“And Reed turned out to be somewhat useful,” Gladys added, not letting go of me even when Davian rejoined us.

We had a funeral for a plant. … A plant.

After discovering what Sadie referred to as Walter’s “child” in his remains, she’d insisted on giving Walter a proper burial back at the shelter.

I got talked into digging a six...

We celebrated Walter’s life and memory—as Sadie said he would’ve wanted. And there were dogs everywhere. Everywhere.

I already knew the one Sadie called Mr. Woofkins would be trouble. The husky ran countless laps around the courtyard and howled at the night sky like a deranged lunatic.

I would’ve been jealous if she hadn’t been perched on my lap and playing with my hair all night.

She leaned forward and kissed his snout, and the furry bastard wagged his tail like he’d just won the lottery.

“You two make a good team.” “Unfortunately for him, I already have a partner.”

As the night wore on, the Happy Tails Haven crew proved they were quite the partiers.

“Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t like you, Davian Reed,” she stated bluntly, giving me a strong stink eye. Both my brows rose.

“It wasn’t that long ago you were terrified of me.” “That was before.” She lifted her chin and glanced at Sadie, who was still hiding behind her hands. “You can’t touch me now.”

Anyone willing to kill someone on Sadie’s behalf was good in my book.

She gave me a kiss on the cheek that made me want another one. I was no better than Bear.

Sadie huffed, then deepened her voice in what I could only guess was a poor imitation of my right-hand man. “‘I was so wrong about you, Sadie. You’re not a distraction or a weakness. You’re a broom-wielding, baking goddess who deserves some respect. Please accept my deepest apologies for being such a grumpy, insufferable jerk to you. You deserve better.’”

“I won’t underestimate you again,” he said. “But I won’t sit by and watch you get abducted again, either. I’m going to teach you self-defense, so you don’t have to rely on house plants and cleaning tools. We’ll start tomorrow morning.”

“I think Vince’s lessons will focus more on escape maneuvers and how to avoid any fighting.” Her nose scrunched. “That doesn’t sound as fun.”

And even if Vince’s training crashed and burned, I’d make sure to have plenty of brooms handy for her.

“I’m new to all this, so today has been full of new experiences and surprises,” she said after a minute. “But is it weird the hostage call earlier kinda turned me on?” That got my attention.