Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“I’m not sure… Wait! Rocco! What are you doing?” Sadie attempted to squirm away as Rocco lifted her from her feet to carry her to a chair.
When Rocco sat down and plopped her face-down over his lap, she knew exactly what he intended. “You can’t spank me.” She twisted on his lap to look back to see his stern expression.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do if you don’t tell me the truth.” His hand landed smartly on her rounded bottom, drawing a gasp from her.
“The next one lands on your bare skin, Cookie.”
That wasn’t a threat but a promise. Combined with the nickname he’d given her last night, Sadie caved. “Okay. I’ll tell you everything,” she promised.
A knock on the door made them both look at the heavy wooden barrier. “Rocco, the team’s here. Update us,” Hawking’s deep voice requested.
“This isn’t over, Little girl. Everyone needs to hear this as fast as possible. Our private conversation will have to wait until later.”
Rocco’s tone didn’t allow her to misinterpret what he was saying. Her bottom wasn’t safe yet. She’d take all the delays she could get. “Okay.”
After setting her on her feet, Rocco opened the door and allowed the team to stream inside. He returned to Sadie’s side and pulled her to sit on his lap this time. “Good timing. Sadie’s going to tell us what’s going on.”
“You want me to explain everything from the beginning?” she asked in a wavering voice.
“If this attempt is as organized as it appears, you’re going to need everyone on the team briefed fully to keep you safe. They won’t judge you, Sadie,” he promised.
“Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath before diving into her story. “My last job didn’t end so well. I was hired into management and then placed in accounting without any training. I had a set list of procedures to follow as I documented all the expenditures and profits of the company. Even without knowing what I was doing, I could tell the numbers seemed off. I started working on my own after hours to learn how to handle everything properly. The processes I was told to follow didn’t match what the experts said.”
“So, you asked your boss?” Rocco prompted.
“Yes. And I was told to follow the guidelines I had been given when I started working.”
“Did they threaten you?”
“Well…I guess they didn’t…in words. There were two big guys in there that looked at me like predators. I felt menaced.”
“So, what did you do?”
“I started a second set of books. I did what they told me to do on the work computer and kept a version of the accounts done the way the experts advised them to be done in a hidden folder on my desktop,” she admitted.
Magnus pushed the brim of his hat up and leaned forward. Sadie paused, waiting for him to say something, but he simply signaled her to keep going.
“I know it was stupid. I made notes of where differences were and even made a list of certain names that cropped up a lot. What seemed weird at first became ominous. Then certain words started appearing a lot.”
“What words?”
“Things in a different language. I finally looked them up when I saw them repeatedly. When that didn’t make sense, I checked a slang dictionary online.”
“At work?” Magnus asked.
“No, at home. I didn’t enter anything on the computer the boss wouldn’t have approved, but I made notes to adjust my secret copy. I assume someone eventually figured out I was sending a second file to my home email,” she explained.
“Did they come after you at home?” Rocco asked through visibly gritted teeth.
“No. My computer was gone from my desk at work when I walked in one day. I was told to go pick it up in IT. I snuck out with the garbage men when the doorman barred me from returning to my car for my phone. It was the excuse I used to try to get out of there.”
“And when they wouldn’t let you leave, you knew something was very wrong,” Hawking guessed.
“Yes. I ran to my car as fast as I could and tore out of there. I only stopped at my apartment to grab my computer and…Edgar.” She whispered that last word, embarrassed for everyone to hear her. “I left everything else I had behind, stopped at the bank to make a huge withdrawal, and drove out of town. I stayed in a motel for weeks while I applied for jobs, eventually getting this one.”
Rocco hugged her. “Good job. I’m so proud of you for making smart decisions—and listening to whatever signaled to you that the man wanting to inspect the helicopter pad wasn’t on the up and up.”
“Do you think he would’ve abducted me?” she whispered.
“Probably.” Rocco didn’t allow her to think about that for too long. He asked, “What kind of clues can you give us about this guy? What color eyes did he have? Any accent?”