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)
Magnus strode toward them from the bank of computers. He handed them each an earpiece. “Put these on. I’ll watch from every angle and let you know if anything is amiss.”
Hawking nodded as he stuck the small device in his ear. “Thanks.”
Phoenix did the same. “First thing as soon as the sun comes up, I’ll fix the cameras. For now, we just want to ensure whoever took them both out is long gone.”
“Hallway is clear,” Magnus announced as he returned to the computers.
Sadie stood and wandered closer, mesmerized by the high-tech equipment. She held her two penguins close to her chest with one arm and the sippy cup with the other.
In any other universe, she would have been mortified to expose her Little to other people. She would never have left her room with her stuffies or used a sippy cup in front of anyone. But she was living in a new universe. A safe space. A place where not one single person in the room was looking at her as if she were an alien. In fact, they’d all smiled at her, and Hawking had even brought her the sippy cup.
As soon as Phoenix and Hawking were outside, they showed up on one of the monitors.
Rocco stood behind Sadie, his hands on her shoulders. She was grateful he didn’t make her sit back down. She wanted to watch. After all, this trouble was her fault. She didn’t want to be left out.
Kestrel took a seat near Sadie, where he could see the monitors, too, but he turned toward her and pointed at the penguins. “Who are your friends, Sadie?”
Her cheeks heated, and she bit her lip, but his expression was serious, so she released her lip and turned her childhood penguin around. “This is Edgar. He’s been with me forever.”
“And this other fellow?” Kestrel pointed to the new penguin. “I bet your Daddy got him for you, huh? What’s his name?”
Sadie shrugged. “He doesn’t have a name yet.” She felt terrible for not naming the new penguin. He wasn’t the only new friend she had either. There were three of them. But this medium-sized one had been just the right size for her to hold at night.
Caesar gasped from the other side of Magnus, but when Sadie glanced at him, she found he was grinning. “You better give that little guy a name soon.”
She giggled. They were all trying to keep her occupied so she wouldn’t have to think about the security breach. She knew that, and she appreciated it.
Rocco rubbed her shoulders. “We’ll have to come up with a few new names for new stuffies, huh, sweetheart?”
She nodded and leaned back against him.
Hawking turned toward a camera in another zone and gave a thumbs-up before both men headed back toward the main building. Within minutes, they were in the safe room.
Hawking wiped his shoes on the mat inside the door. “No sign of anything in the area. I’d say they came to test their theory about the cameras and then took off. They’ll be holed up somewhere regrouping and trying to figure out what to do next now that they know they won’t get to Sadie without an all-out war.”
Sadie felt like the floor was yanked out from under her as she let herself fully acknowledge the danger she was in and had brought to everyone living here. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, fighting back tears. “It’s all my fault.”
Rocco rounded to squat down in front of her. “Sweetheart, we’ve talked about this. You know that’s not true. You didn’t ask for these men to come after you, and you did nothing wrong. Sometimes, bad people do bad things. You’re not responsible.”
She sniffled, trying to believe him.
“I think it’s safe to go back upstairs,” Magnus declared. “I’d never be able to go back to sleep, so I’ll stay down here and monitor things.”
Rocco turned toward him. “I’ll take Sadie up and help her get back to sleep. Though I think we need to set up a schedule to monitor the cameras around the clock for the time being.”
“I agree,” Phoenix added. “At least until we put an end to this particular threat.”
Everyone nodded their agreement, and Sadie felt both relieved and chagrined once again. No matter what anyone said to console her, she had indeed brought this problem to Danger Bluff, and she felt sorry for her actions.
Chapter Eighteen
After snagging Sadie’s sheet from the couch, he lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the safe room. He headed straight for the elevator. No way would he have risked coming down the elevator while the alarm had been going off, but now that the threat was contained, he didn’t fear getting in the elevator to return to the top floor.
“You don’t have to carry me,” Sadie protested.
He snuggled her against him. “Cookie, I can’t stand the idea of putting you down. Humor Daddy, okay?”