Chapter 7 - When the Hunter Came Looking
Sadie's first reaction was not panic.
That surprised her.
She photographed the envelope without touching it further.
Then she called the appropriate authorities.
Then her attorney.
Only after that did she call Ronan.
Six months earlier, she would have run.
Now she made a plan.
Ronan arrived twenty minutes later.
Sadie handed him the photograph inside a clear bag.
“Carl couldn't have delivered it personally.”
“No.”
“Then someone did it for him.”
“Yes.”
Ronan looked toward the hallway.
“Do you want to leave?”
Sadie considered the question.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“This is my home.”
“All right.”
“You think I should leave.”
“I think whoever delivered this wants you frightened.”
“I am frightened.”
Ronan said nothing.
Sadie continued.
“But frightened isn't the same as helpless.”
A faint pride appeared in his eyes.
She pointed at him.
“Don't.”
“Don't what?”
“Look proud of me.”
“I wasn't.”
“You absolutely were.”
The investigation moved quickly.
Security cameras from the building showed the person who had delivered the envelope.
Not one of Carl's criminal contacts.
His mother.
Sadie stared at the footage.
“Linda.”
Ronan frowned.
“You know her?”
“She told me for years that Carl had a temper because he loved too deeply.”
Ronan's expression became cold.
Sadie shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“Don't solve it for me.”
He relaxed slightly.
“Okay.”
Sadie contacted her attorney.
Linda's attempt to intimidate her became additional evidence.
More importantly, it broke the last illusion.
Carl's behavior hadn't survived because nobody could see it.
Some people had seen pieces of it.
They simply renamed those pieces.
Temper.
Stress.
Marriage problems.
Passion.
Bad nights.
Anything except what they were.
Sadie refused to rename them anymore.
Months later, she testified.
Carl sat across the room.
For the first time since their marriage, Sadie looked directly at him without lowering her eyes.
She described the hidden envelope.
The financial documents.
The intimidation.
The night she covered her face with makeup and went to work because she needed another shift's pay.
Her voice shook occasionally.
She continued anyway.
Carl watched her.
Once, their eyes met.
Sadie felt nothing she expected.
No longing.
No guilt.
Not even hatred.
She saw a man.
Just a man.
Not a monster large enough to control the universe.
Not the voice that determined whether she was good or bad.
A man whose power had depended on her believing she had none.
When Sadie finished, she stepped outside.
Ronan waited down the hall.
“You stayed again,” she said.
“You knew I would.”
“Yes.”
That was new too.
Trust.
She walked toward him.
“What happens now?”
“We get lunch.”
She laughed.
“I mean after this.”
Ronan's expression softened.
“That isn't my question to answer.”
Sadie nodded.
“Good answer.”
They walked outside.
Spring had arrived.
Trees along the courthouse steps were beginning to bloom.
Sadie stopped beneath one.
“Ronan.”
He turned.
“I want to ask you something.”
“All right.”
“Dinner.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“We've had dinner.”
“No.”
Sadie smiled.
“I mean dinner.”
Understanding reached his face.
“Are you asking me on a date?”
“Yes.”
Ronan Hayes—the man who could make an entire private room silent by lifting one hand—appeared genuinely speechless.
Sadie laughed.
“That might be the first time I've ever seen you without an answer.”
“I have one.”
“Let's hear it.”
“Yes.”
“One condition.”
His eyebrow rose.
“You're negotiating your own invitation?”
“Absolutely.”
“What condition?”
“No Obsidian Room.”
Ronan smiled.
“Agreed.”
“And no twenty-five-year-old scotch.”
“That seems unnecessarily cruel.”
“Coffee.”
“Coffee?”
“And dessert.”
Ronan considered it with theatrical seriousness.
“Acceptable.”
Sadie started walking.
Ronan followed.
Behind them stood the courthouse where she had finally spoken openly about the life she'd hidden beneath long sleeves and cheap makeup.
Ahead was nothing certain.
That was the beautiful part.
But there was one place Sadie still needed to visit before she could truly close the door on Carl Jenkins.
The apartment where she had once hidden eighteen hundred dollars beneath a floorboard.
May you like
And this time, she intended to return for something far more valuable than money.
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