“Yes, and I’m not sure what woke me up, but I sat up and listened to see if I could hear it again.I heard the door handle jiggle and freaked out.All I could think about was getting to Oliver.I grabbed my phone and stun gun and ran to his room.I quietly closed the door behind me, then picked up Oliver and carried him to the closet.I laid him on the floor and covered him with clothes to try and hide him.I was hoping that if whoever was in here found me, they’d overlook him.That’s when I tried to call Jed, and when I couldn’t reach him, I called you.”She cleared her throat, and someone brought her a glass of water.“Thank you.”
Jed pulled his phone from his pocket and saw that he had a couple of missed calls from Sadie.Fuck.Being inside Bottoms Up, he hadn't heard his phone ringing.
She took a quick drink, then continued.“I heard the alarm go off and then shut off almost immediately.Then I heard someone calling my name in a sing-song kind of way.You know what I mean?”She waited for Race to nod, then went on.“He was trying to draw me out.I heard him walk past Oliver’s room on his way to mine.”
“Then what happened?”Race prodded her.
“I don't know what made me think about it, but I remembered I had an app for my car on my phone.I thought if I set off the alarm, maybe it would be enough to scare him off.I was trying to buy time until you got here.”
“You did good, Sadie.Real good.”Race praised her for her quick thinking.
“After that, someone started to open the closet door, and I wasn’t sure if it was the intruder, so I just reacted.I was terrified he would do something to me or maybe to Oliver to get to me.That’s when I tased Jed.”She looked over her shoulder and apologized.“I’m really sorry, Jed.”
“Babe, already told you, I get it.We’re good.”He squeezed her shoulder to reassure her, then tried to tease her.“I might not get it up for a while, but I’m good.”
“Oh, my God.”She shook her head and rolled her eyes.
Race rubbed a hand across his mouth and down his chin.“I don't like that the fucker got inside and was able to disarm the security system."
It was then that Jed's gaze went to the wall where the panel for the security system was located.It was destroyed.It looked like someone had ripped the cover off and yanked the wires out.How had the intruder known about the camera and security panel unless someone had eyes on Sadie's apartment and saw all of it being installed?
Maverick stepped closer to the security panel and checked out the mess."Some of the wires were cut."
"And the camera outside was ripped off and thrown on the ground.You can see it from the landing."Jed crossed his arms over his chest as he stood next to Sadie's chair.
Sadie rubbed her forehead like she was getting a headache.
“Jackson, can you check out the system online?See if the camera caught anything before it was taken down?”Race asked.
“On it.”He turned to Sadie and asked to borrow her laptop.She gave him permission to use it along with the password.
“You said you heard the intruder’s voice calling out to you.Did it sound familiar to you?”Race's gaze was intent as he waited for her response.
She lowered her eyes to the floor.Did she know who it was?Jed squeezed her shoulder.“Babe, did you recognize the voice?”
She looked up at him, then back to Race.“I know you might not want to hear it, but I swear it sounded like Tinker.”
Every brother in the room went on high alert, sharing a look that didn’t escape her.Jed had been fearing Tinker would try to make a move on her.He never could let anything go, and right now, he had a hard-on for Sadie because she rejected him.
“You don’t believe me?”she asked Race.
It wasn’t a matter of whether or not they believed her.It was about what they could prove when they brought him to church for an explanation.Hopefully, this would be enough to kick the son of a bitch out.If it were up to Jed, there would be no discussion with the fucker; they would just eliminate him permanently and never have to worry about the man again.
Jackson came over with Sadie’s laptop and placed it on the coffee table in front of Race and hit play.“She’s right.It was Tinker.The outside camera captured a dark figure reaching the landing.It was too dark to make out their face clearly.Right when the camera might have gotten a good look at the intruder, something covered the lens, it seemed to shake, and then it went to black.That must have been when he pulled it off and threw it to the ground.“I also checked out the interior camera, and it was definitely Tinker.”
"How did he get in?"Lance asked.
"More than likely picked the lock," Race replied."He's always been good at it."
Having Jackson confirm the fucker had been in her apartment enraged Jed.What if she hadn’t thought to set her car alarm off?What if they hadn't gotten to her apartment quickly enough?What if Tinker had found them hiding in the closet?He had a pretty good idea what would have happened to Sadie, but what would he have done to Oliver?He rubbed a hand over his face and fought not to growl out loud.
He turned away from the computer screen where Race was playing it a second time.He couldn’t watch again.He glanced at Darren and saw a muscle ticking in his jaw.He looked like he was seconds away from driving his fist into a wall.Because of what he had gone through with Sadie at the hands of the Phantoms, he had this sense of protectiveness for her.Not because he had feelings for her, but because of all she’d suffered at the hands of those fuckers.Darren had been the first one to defend her and point out that she had been every bit of a victim of Crockett and his club as he had been.
"You know he was the one who broke in the first time, right?"Dagger spoke to Race.
"Yeah.After tonight, there's no doubt."Race's mouth was a flat line as he pushed the laptop away.
“Sadie,” Jed drew her attention.“Why don’t you pack a bag for you and Oliver and come stay with me tonight?”
