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“Yes.”
“Don’t disconnect.”
Taylor takes out his phone and contacts the county dispatcher who sent the deputies. Will grabs a notepad from the counter and writes down the number on my screen.
Arthur comes through the door. He takes one look at us and knows something happened.
“What is it?”
“Hayley called,” Taylor tells him. “She was taken during the call.”
Arthur’s face hardens.
“Same men?”
“We don’t know.”
Sage walks toward me. She has put the brown wig back on, but her glasses are in her hand. Without them, I can see every bit of terror in her eyes.
“What did she say?”
“She said my name.”
“What else?”
“She started to say she needed something. Then a man grabbed her.”
“Did you know it was her?”
“I knew her voice.”
“It’s been eighteen years.”
“I knew.”
Sage wraps both arms around herself.
“They found her because of me.”
“No.”
“She must have been looking for me.”
“We don’t know what happened.”
“They found her because of me,” she repeats.
I go to her. “Look at me.”
Her gaze remains on the floor.
“Sage.”
She raises her head.
“None of this is your fault. Greg chose to betray you. Navarro chose to buy you. Those men chose to hunt you. Whoever took Hayley made that choice too.”
“I brought everyone together.”