spirit night

SADIE 17

" H ello?" I was shouting, but I didn't have a choice, since I was on the bike and driving above the speedlimit. "Sadie, Detective McGuire has called in SWAT, they have a lead and are following up on it. I'll keepyou looped in. I'm also still trying to get through to Piper, but she isn't answering, see if you can getthrough and get back to me." "I will, thank you, Harley. Has Bridget heard anything?" I mean, sinceDetective McGuire was her oldest brother, she might have called him for details. "Not a word, and he isn'tanswering her calls either. She says that's because he knows she's calling for intel. Hey, Kat's calling, I'lllet you know if she hears anything." "Thanks." My headset went silent, and I rolled the throttle a littlemore. The parking lot of the sheriff's station was chaos, and for some reason, it was all focused aroundthe pawn shop across the street. The owner had a strong dislike for all things related to law enforcement,and the feeling seemed to be reciprocated amongst the officers. Well, all except Piper. For some reason,Piper saw something in the woman, and the two had total trust. "What's going on?" I asked one of thedeputies standing outside. "They found a backpack belonging to the little girl by the dumpsters." My heartsank, all of the horrid crime scenes of people trying to hide evidence in a dumpster. I ran to the front ofQueen's Gold with its wrought-iron bars covering the windows. The moment I yanked open the frostedglass door, Callie looked up at me. you okay?" I rubbed my hands over her face, needing to assuremyself that she was okay, she was safe, and that nothing had happened to her. Her arms tightenedaround my neck, and she burrowed in deeper. "No!" I jumped when Callie let out a blood-curdling scream."Don't hurt her." Callie fought to get down and then ran over and wrapped her legs around Coco. "Caneveryone just step the fuck back!" I hollered. "Callie's father will be here in a second. Until he is, no onedoes anything." "I'm here, I'm here." Ryan ran in, he'd obviously sped a lot faster than I imagined hewould for him to be so close behind me. I had run red lights and averaged twenty to thirty miles per hourover the speed limit. "What's going on?" "They're trying to hurt Coco, don't let them, Daddy, she rescuedme. I was hiding outside, and she made me come in to stay safe until she could reach one of y'all." "Sheshould have brought you over to the station," Detective Callum McGuire announced. "So you all can treatme just like you are treating me now? You don't listen, and you see only what you wanna see. I calledPiper. I left Miss Piper a message—several, in fact." I glanced over at Piper, who was standing next tofour women I knew, all of them looked as if they belonged in New York instead of Orlando. I gave them anod. "Who are they?" one of the deputies asked, directing his gaze toward the women. "Iron Ladies, tellyou later." They were a group of private detectives who were known to find creative ways around the law.We were willing to turn a blind eye so long as they kept a certain level of integrity within their ranks, whichthey did. At least, as far as I knew they did. Piper pulled out her phone. "There aren't any messages." "Icalled you, Miss Piper, I called you on the number you gave me." "Oh." Piper reached into her front shirtpocket and pulled out a second phone. "My personal phone, sorry. I only check it a few times a day." Shescrolled through it and then pressed a button. Coco's voice came through the speaker.

"Piper, this is Coco, I've got a little girl here at my shop. I found her hiding out back. Her name is Callie.She don't belong in this area." The message ended and then another one began. "Piper, she is lookingfor a motorcycle deputy named Sadie. This little girl is too fancy for this area, and I need you to call meback and help find her dad. He's a doctor. I'm not letting this little girl out of my sight. I can't have nothinghappen to this wee thing." That message ended and Piper closed her phone. I glared at Callum beforeswinging my ire to two of the SWAT guys standing on either side of Coco. "Could you all back off now?There is too much going on in here, and it's pretty obvious that Coco was helping and not hurting. Piper,Harley, and I can handle any of the paperwork that needs to be filed for the station, but if we needanything, we'll let you know." "Sadie, you know—" "I know. And we will deal with that later." Okay, so I'dprobably be in trouble for bucking protocol since he was technically in charge, but this was Callie, andshe was scared. As soon as the crowd thinned, Ryan knelt. "Callie." He swept her up into his arms."Why? You promised me that you wouldn't do this anymore." "Grammy and Aunt Sonya said that if I likedSadie that meant that I didn't love my real mommy." "What a bitch." This came from one of the IronLadies, probably Adeline since she was by far the most . . . outspoken. "But I do, I love both of them." "Ofcourse, you do." Ryan soothed her. "But Sadie hasn't been around in a long time, and she hasn't been atschool either. I can't call her to check on her." Oh my god, listening to her made my heart ache. Her littleworld sounded so stressful. She was worrying about too many things. "Callie, I had to work other areasthe last few days, and Sunday you were at the park. I don't know why you can't call me. I put my numberin your phone." Ryan didn't let go of Callie through all of this. "It's not the right number." Callie wasadamant, and something tickled the back of my mind. Unknown callers, hang ups, they all started onSunday, the same day that Callie was with Louise and Sonya. The day after I gave Callie my number."Callie, did Grammy or Aunt Sonya know that you had my phone number?" together. "Unknown callers?"she asked, and I nodded. "Well, don't worry, we will fix it." "If it's okay, I'm going to take Callie home.Thank you all for your help. I need to go talk to my former in-laws." "I'm glad we could help." Harleywinked at Callie. "Of course, Ryan," Piper offered. "Thank you so much. If I can do anything at all to repayyou, I will. I'm indebted to you." Ryan was tall, but standing next to Coco, he looked like a munchkin."Nah, Miss Callie was precious. She was no trouble at all. Just glad ole Coco found her and not someHoosi Tenga." I stared at the woman, having no clue what she just said. If the reactions from the IronLadies and Piper were anything to go by, it was probably safe to assume it was inappropriate. They wereall visibly stifling laughter. "Thank you again." Ryan held Callie tight before facing me. "We'll talk later, I'llcall you. Thank you for all your help." Anytime. I loved Callie as if she were my own. All of that was on thetip of my tongue, but I didn't say any of it. Callie peered over his shoulder and waved, her small hand notlifting from him, just her fingers. I waved back, and something inside me cracked a little. When the bellchimed and he and Callie were gone, I returned to the crowd. Steeling myself, I put on a professionalface. I'd think about what just happened and what it meant later. "Hi, Coco, I'm Sadie, thank you somuch." "Ahh, that little girl loves you. A lot weighs on her little soul." "I know. I'll talk with her dad." Iglanced over at the other four ladies. "Hey, what are you doing here anyway?" "Coco called. She wantedSunday's help on some computer stuff," Melanie said. It was her roundabout way of saying that Coconeeded Sunday to hack into something. "She wanted us to help find this little girl's father since Piperwasn't answering." For the first time all day, I felt like I could breathe. Callie was safe and I was surrounded by the strongest women I knew. "What's hoosi tenga anyway?" "Horse fuckers," severalpeople replied in unison, and I shook my head. "Speaking of fuck, what the fuck is going on?" Adelineasked as the door of the shop opened and Kat and Bridget walked in. "Oh, good, I didn't miss anything."Kat smiled as she moved into the shop. "Hey, you guys." She leaned over and gave a hug to Adeline,Olivia, Melanie, and Sunday, the women who made up the Iron Ladies. "Long time no see." "Lock thatdoor for me, would ya?" Coco asked and Bridget turned around to pull the shade and then slide thedeadbolt. "Heard you're up for motors," Olivia stated. "Why didn't you go with the dad and Callie?" Harleyasked. "Wait, what?" Bridget wanted me to spill, but I refused. She'd have to figure it out. "Did you seehim? I might as well have been any one of you all, it was a thank you for doing your job." "What are yousmoking? He's overwhelmed, been worried to death, and has his kid back in his arms after fearing theworst," Harley defended. "It sounds to me like it was her grandmother's fault," Adeline said. "Why is thatbitch filling her granddaughter's head with that shit?" "I think there is some power struggle going onbetween Ryan and his late wife's family." "Girl, abort, abort, abort. That is too much drama. Are you readyfor that?" "I don't know. I care about him and Callie, but I think he might feel torn in too many directions.Me being the new variable, I'm afraid that I'm the one he's going to get rid of. I get it, Callie comes first.But couldn't he have at least hugged me, asked me to come over, something?" "These are things that youneed to speak to him about." Kat came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me. "It will all workout." "I hope that you're right