Sadie watches her. “What’s her problem, today?” She asks Nate.
Nate shrugs. “I have no idea. And I wouldn’t try approaching her.”
“Sadie might not get burned,” Parker says. “She’s like the perfect charmer.”
Sadie smiles at Parker. “I can go try, but I doubt talkin’ is what she needs to do.”
Nate waves Sadie onward.
Sophie stops and looks at Sadie. “They sent you over here, now?”
“Apparently,” Sadie says. “Look, I know you don’t wanna talk. But you’re freakin’ us out a little.”
Sophie sighs and sits at the bar.
Sadie joins her. “Just breath, Sophie.”
Sophie nods. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
Sadie nods. “I’m just sittin’ here so maybe they’ll stop freakin’ out.”
Sophie smiles at her then fidgets with a napkin.
Sadie sips at a glass of whiskey that the bartender sets in front of her then frowns. “What the hell is this?” She asks him.
“Whiskey,” he says, looking at her.
“Girly whiskey,” she corrects. “Gimme what you’d normally give Eliot.”
The bartender eyes her, but does as told.
She sips it and smiles. “That’s more like it.”
Sophie smiles at her. “Grew up on whiskey?”
“Don’t tell, but I had my first taste when I was 6,” she says with a giggle. “My Daddy left his glass sittin’ there, and I had a sip. I was like, ‘Daddy, that’s good stuff.’ He was like, ‘Well, at least she’ll know good whiskey when she can drink it legally.’”
Sophie laughs and relaxes a bit.
“This is good stuff,” Sadie says, swirling her drink and downing it in two gulps.
Sophie sighs. “I know the client coming in today. He won’t trust the team if I’m on it.”
“I thought you didn’t wanna talk,” Sadie says, looking at her as the bartender refills her glass.
Sophie smiles. “I didn’t. Now, I do.”
“How do you know who’s comin’ in today?”
“He’s an ex-partner. We used to grift together, stealing what we wanted.”
“I see. And he feels you betrayed him, or he betrayed you?”
“No, I did betray him. I let him get caught by the authorities and taken to jail for five years. Now, he owns a legitimate business and is being taken for everything he has by somebody.”
“You’ve been spyin’ on him?”
She nods. “Yes.”
“And you were the anonymous tip to come here?”
She nods. “You’re too smart.”
Sadie grins. “Mama didn’t raise no fool, or somethin’ like that.”
Sophie laughs. “Maybe, it’ll be all right.”
A man walks in and stares at Sophie. He runs up to her. “You!”
Sophie jumps. “I’m sorry, Darien.”
He hugs her. “You can help me!”
“Um…okay,” Sophie says, hugging back.
Sadie hides a grin.
“Who are you?” Darien asks her.
“Sadie,” she says, offering a hand, which he takes and shakes.
“Are you Sophie’s new partner?” He asks.
“Actually, she’s part of the team,” Sophie says. “She’s one of six.”
He nods.
Sophie walks him over to where Nate and Parker are sitting, Sadie following behind with her whiskey.
“Where’s Eliot?” Nate asks Sadie.
She shrugs. “I wish I knew.”
“Go call him and your brother and tell them to get their asses down here,” he says.
Darien watches the exchange.
Sadie shrugs, takes out her phone, and heads off to do as told.
Darien explains his situation.
Sadie explodes in the corner, yelling into the phone, taking it to the backroom and up the stairs.
Sophie blinks her way. “I wonder what’s going on with her and Eliot,” she says.
Darien pretends to ignore that situation.
Parker looks at Nate, who shakes his head. She sits back in the chair.
“We can take care of this Darien,” Nate says.
“Please, do,” he says. “But, I can’t pay you.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Sophie says.
“We don’t need payment,” Nate says.
Darien nods. “Any other information you need?”
“If we do, we’ll call you,” Nate says.
“Thank you so much,” he says, and heads out of the bar.
“Now, onto Sadie and Eliot,” Nate says, standing to move upstairs.
Alec walks in and catches up to Nate. “What’d I miss?”
“A lot,” Nate says.
Parker catches him up on the case, then Sadie.
Alec says nothing.
When the team arrives upstairs, Sadie’s gone. Alec lifts a note from the table.
“What’s it say?” Parker asks.
“It says, ‘Gone to get Eliot out of jail. I’ll be back ASAP.’” Hardison sets the note down. “This can’t be good.”
“We can’t deal with this and the case,” Parker says.
“Let Sadie deal with Eliot for now,” Nate says. “We can work the case without them if need be.”
The others nod and begin researching.
****
Sadie lifts her badge at the officer and asks about Eliot Spencer.
“He got into a fight and resisted arrest,” the officer said.
“Can I talk to him?” She asks.
He nods and leads her to a room. He leaves and returns with Eliot in handcuffs.
Eliot looks at her then looks at the floor.
The officer leaves the room.
“What happened?” She asks.
Eliot sighs. “Don’t wanna talk about it.”
“You’re gonna hafta talk about it if I’m gonna get ya outta this mess.”
“A guy from the army saw me, picked a fight.” He shrugs.
“I see. A guy who doesn’t know you were proven innocent and actually have three medals waiting for you somewhere,” she says.
He looks up.
“We looked into your case and found out who did it. The dishonorable discharge has been erased from your file.”
He nods and looks down.
“Sugar bear, you need to tell me everything, from the top.”
****
“This won’t work without Eliot or Sadie,” Sophie says.
“You’re right,” Nate says. “We need to get one of them here.”
Sadie walks in at that moment.
“Eliot?” Nate asks.
“Under house arrest for the time being,” she says.
“Who’s house?” Alec asks.
“Mine,” she says. “He can’t leave my place without me, and only certain times a day until bail goes through completely. So, 48 hours, probably.”
“We need you for this job,” Nate says.
“I’m here,” she says. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
****
“This will never work,” Sophie mumbles. “Eliot is way more intimidating.”
“You’d be surprised how intimidating a southern smile can be if used the right way.”
Sophie relaxes a bit and enters the lobby to Zander Enterprises.
The receptionist tries to stop them.
“Sit, missy,” Sadie says. “We’re here to see your boss. Do not warn him. Do not make any phone calls. Just go back to work like nothin’ ever happened and I won’t have to ruin your hundred dollar bleach job.”
The receptionist sits and pretends not to see them as they walk down the hall.
“Will she call?”
“Couldn’t tell. If she’s smart, yes. But I don’t know if she is or not.”
Sophie nods and pushes open the door to the main office section.
The two ladies breeze past cubicles and past the secretary to the door.
“You can’t…”
Sadie cuts her off. “Sit down and type like you were before, ma’am. We have an appointment, right?” Sadie smiles.
The secretary nods and buzzes them through the door.
“Who the hell?” Mr. Zander asks as the two women come inside.
Sadie shuts the door. “Don’t bother tryin’ to call for help, Mr. Zander. All we want to do is talk. Okay?” She smiles and motions him to the couch.
He sits down hard.
“We have heard about your attempts to grab up small businesses and companies and make them part of your own, Mr. Zander,” Sophie says. “We want to know about your latest venture with a man by the name of…what was his name, Lil’?”
“Darien Carlyle,” Sadie says, crossing her arms over her chest and eyeing Zander.
“Yes, him.”
“I—I—I don’t know what company you’re talking about,” he says.
“I think he does, ma’am,” Sadie says, putting her fists on her hips.
“Mm-hmm.” Sophie nods.
“Let me get the file,” he says, starting to stand.
Sadie steps forward.
He sits back down, staring at her. “Um, Carlyle’s a paper goods business, right?”
Sadie nods.
“I remember,” he says and stares at the floor. “We’re trying to buy him out, give him a better name and logo, maybe globalize him.”
Sadie nods.
“Go on,” Sophie says, sitting on his desk and fidgeting with an expensive glass paperweight.
He watches the paperweight. “He’s refusing to let us help.”
Sophie tosses the paperweight to Sadie, who catches it gingerly.
“Why would he refuse help?” Sophie asks.
“I—I don’t know,” Zander says. “Maybe, I came on too strong.”
Sophie nods to Sadie. “Zander, this is coming on too strong.”
Sadie takes the heavy paperweight and breaks it at his feet.
He squeals like a little girl.
“Stay seated, Mr. Zander,” Sadie says. “That was just an accident.”
He nods and sits on his hands. “Look. He won’t let me buy him out, because he wants to make it on his own. I don’t understand. He just won’t let me…”
Sophie nods. “That’s all right, Mr. Zander. We could be of service, if you cut us in.”
“How much are we talking?” He asks.
“We want 45%,” Sophie says.
He starts to protest, but thinks better when Sadie scuffs her boot against a piece of glass. “That sounds good,” he says. “Just great.”
“How can we be of service, then?” Sophie asks.
Sadie moves to a relaxed position. “You might want to call housekeepin’ to clean up this mess, too. Hate for someone to get hurt on such a careless little accident.”
He nods and moves to stand.
Sadie nods.
He calls for housekeeping to come clean up a mess from an accident.
The housekeeper enters and cleans it up quickly.
****
Sophie laughs as she and Sadie head back into the bar. “You were amazing.”
Sadie blushes. “I told you a southern smile can be quite intimidating.”
“How’d it go, ladies?” Nate asks, as the two come online with their earpieces.
“I never knew how daunting Sadie could be with just a smile and a few words,” Sophie says.
“You shoulda seen her on the playground when the bullies came. She’d have ‘em crying for their moms without using any force,” Alec says.
Nate chuckles. “I’m impressed.”
“Thank you, Mr. Ford,” Sadie says.
Nate smiles. “So we’re in?”
“We’re in,” Sophie says.
****
Sadie gets home and finds Eliot sitting on the couch staring at a blank tv screen.
“You okay, cowboy?” She asks.
“No,” he says. “I’m stuck like…something that gets stuck.”
She giggles and moves over to him. “The bail will go through and no one will say anythin’. I made sure of that.” She plops on his lap. “Okay?”
He nods and holds her close. “We were supposed to find a house by now, too.”
“We’ll go house huntin’ when you’re outta this mess.”
He nods and kisses her. “How’d it go?”
“I flashed a southern smile and spoke a few words and almost made him wet his pants,” she says.
He laughs. “I want in on that secret. I usually have to punch someone first.”
She giggles. “I think my way only works for women. Besides, I broke his favorite paperweight.”
He smiles at her. “I think I’m better now,” he says.
“Good.”
****
“We have to do what now?” Sadie asks Nate.
“You and Sophie have to go to some 1940’s themed party that Zander is throwing for all his associates,” he replies.
“I need to still look intimidating,” she says.
“You will,” Alec says. “Sophie will look stunning and authoritative. You’ll look stunning and intimidating.”
She smiles. “Good.”
“Where are our costumes?” Sophie asks.
“Right here,” Nate says, handing them each a box.
Sophie opens hers. “What in the bloody hell, Nate?” She pulls a faux ostrich feather gown from her box.
“Ginger Rogers remake,” Sadie says. “I’m afraid to look in mine.”
Nate nods at Sadie. “Look.”
Sadie opens the box to find a female army corps outfit complete with hat. “That’s more like it. I was afraid I would get a mobster outfit.”
“Oh sure, she gets to be in the army, and I get to be a bloody ostrich,” Sophie says.
“More likely an army singer,” Sadie says. “The women were usually nurses, paper filers, workers, or singers.”
Nate eyes her. “How do you know so much?”
“I read,” she says.
“She’s a bookworm who’s hard to get a handle on,” Alec says.
“So, she’s a singer and I’m an ostrich,” Sophie says.
“Ginger Rogers wore a dress like that for one scene in a movie. Wear it better than her,” Sadie says. “Carry yourself like a goddess, not a dancer.”
Sophie eyes Sadie. “Where did you come from?”
“Earth,” Sadie says with a wink.
****
“I feel like a bloody turkey before Thanksgiving,” Sophie grumbles, adjusting her skirt in the car.
“You’re gonna knock off feathers,” Sadie says. “Then you’ll look a turkey about to be cooked before Thanksgiving.”
Sophie chuckles and nods. “At least one of us got a good costume.”
“Except the hose are slightly backwards. They keep gettin’ off center in the back,” she says, readjusting them.
Sophie grins.
“Just don’t start talking about bras and corsets, and we’ll all be fine on this end,” Alec says.
“But my bra pinches,” Sadie whines on purpose.
Nate laughs.
“That’s just not right, sis,” Alec says.
She giggles. “Come on, Ally. You don’t want me to talk about the differences in corsets…”
“No, not really,” Alec says. “I already know too much about you as it is.”
Sadie chuckles. “I will never forget the look on your face when you turned around in that van when we were on the teddy bear heist.”
Alec shakes his head. “I’ve been trying to forget. Why were you…”
“We’re here,” Sophie interrupts then eyes Sadie.
“I was changing clothes…completely,” she says. “He wasn’t supposed to turn around until I said anything.”
“Saw too much of Sadie that day,” Alec says.
Sadie giggles. “At least I wasn’t 100% naked.”
“Just 95%,” Alec says. “And now I need the memory bleach.”
Sophie laughs and exits the car, carrying herself like a queen. Sadie follows carrying herself with just enough authority and class.
“You okay, Soph?” Sadie asks her.
Sophie nods. “I’ll be better when I can get out of this feather duster.”
Sadie smiles.
Mr. Zander greets them at the doors, a bit nervous. “Ladies, you look lovely this evening,” he says. “Please come in.”
Sophie nods. “Thank you, sir. It is a pleasure.”
Sadie nods silently, smiling at him. She straightens his lapel as she passes.
“Thank you,” he says nervously.
Sadie just nods and follows Sophie inside.
“Honestly, Sadie,” Sophie says. “I can’t wait for this night to be done so I can get out of this dress and into regular clothes.”
Sadie chuckles. “I feel the same about hose in any form, but particularly this pair.”
Sophie smiles at her and moves toward the buffet.
As the girls mingle and dance with random strangers, the night gets older.
“I think I’m molting,” Sophie whispers to Sadie as they sit at a table.
“You’re moltin’, and I’m tired of gettin’ my feet stepped on by random guys who don’t know how to dance,” Sadie says. “I miss Eliot’s grace.”
“Eliot has grace?” Alec asks.
“He can dance,” Sadie says.
The lights flicker off.
“That’s not good,” Sadie says, standing with Sophie and moving to the back wall.
“What’s not good?” Nate asks.
“The electricity just went off,” Sadie says.
“Get out of there,” Nate says.
Sadie nods and leads Sophie toward the kitchen. She stops abruptly, a gun pointed at her chest.
“Where do you think you’re going?” The gruff voice comes from the man on the other side of the gun.
“To get away from this guy tryin’ to grope my cousin in the dark,” Sadie says.
“Who are you?” Another voice asks from behind the guy with the gun.
“I’m Denise and this is my cousin Lily,” Sophie says. “We were invited to this party on a whim. Please, don’t hurt us.”
“You don’t sound like each other.”
“Cousins have to sound like each other?” Sadie asks. “She’s from England. I’m from Texas. Small world.”
He nods. “Do we let ‘em go?”
The second guy says, “Keep ‘em here, so the cousin doesn’t get groped.”
The guy makes them sit against the wall.
“All right everybody,” the second guy calls out to the crowd in the main room. “I need everyone to sit down wherever you are and hold your hands above your head. If you do not comply by the time the lights come on, my men are ordered to shoot to kill. If you have fainted by that time, they will not harm you as long as those around you have their hands in the air.”
The lights come on. No gun shots sound.
“I guess everyone complied,” Sadie whispers.
The guy eyes her, keeping his gun at her chest. “Shut up,” he growls.
Sadie goes silent.
Sophie squirms uncomfortably in her dress.
“Sit still,” the guy tells her, aiming his gun at her.
Sadie realizes that the safety is on as he turns the gun just enough. “The feathers are itchin’ my cousin,” she tells him.
He shakes his head and turns the gun on her. “Just sit still and stop talking.”
“But, my cousin might be allergic to the materials in her dress,” Sadie says, turning her worried brown eyes on the dude with a gun.
“Don’t care,” he says. “Sit still and stay quiet.”
“What are you doing, Sadie?” Alec whispers over her earpiece.
“I don’t have an epi pen,” Sadie says, forcing tears to her eyes.
Sophie starts scratching with a fury.
The guy rolls his eyes and keeps the gun trained on Sadie. “One more move, and I fire,” he growls.
Sophie goes still.
Sadie looks down the hall. Everything has gone completely quiet as the militants go around the room. One man passes by the entrance. Sadie begins counting slowly. Another man appears. Sadie renews the count until another man appears.
She leans over to Sophie, pretending to check her dress. With her eyes, she signals her to stand up.
Sophie jumps up and starts scratching, silently.
The guy is startled enough that Sadie can get the gun away from him and knock him out. Sophie sits back down as Sadie puts the gun at her back in the band of her skirt and joins her. Sadie screams. Two men come running to check it out.
“What happened?” one asks her.
“Some guy in a suit just came up and knocked him senseless. I think he took his gun, too,” Sophie says. “He almost hit my cousin!”
“What’d he look like?”
“I don’t know,” Sophie says. “It happened so fast. He was tall.” Sophie looks to Sadie.
“I think he had dark hair,” she says. “And a badge of some sort.”
The guy nods and speaks into an earpiece, “We may have feds on the grounds. One of our men is down and the girls he was guarding look pretty scared about what happened.”
The guy nods and turns to the second dude. “We have to put plan alpha into operation.”
“Plan alpha?” Sadie asks, eyes wide.
“Get what we want and leave no one alive,” the second guy says with a menacing smile.
Sophie gulps. “What do you want?”
“Our money back,” the first guy says.
“What are you gonna do with us?” Sadie asks.
“Kill you, unless otherwise directed,” the second guy says.
Sadie stands slowly, moving between Sophie and the two gunmen. “Don’t hurt my cousin, please,” she says.
The first guy eyes her. “We are supposed to kill, not hurt.”
Sadie takes a step forward. “Please?”
The two men eye her.
She now has a good view of the main room and can tell every gunman is completely preoccupied. “Cousin?”
Sophie looks at her. “Yes?”
“Run,” Sadie says, chopping at the first man’s gun and knocking it out of his hand and sending it across the floor. With a swift kick, she manages to disarm the second man. She brings her leg down and the other up to kick the side of the head of the first man, knocking him out. The second man, she tackles and bangs his head into the wall. She grabs both guns, makes sure the safety is off, and watches Sophie exit through the kitchen.
“You okay, Soph?” She asks.
“I’m out,” Sophie says. “Are you coming?”
“No,” Sadie says. “Get outta here. Go back to the bar and wait for me. No arguin’.”
“But, Sadie!” Alec screams in her ear.
“If I don’t make it, tell Eliot I went down fightin’.” She sighs, takes out her earpiece, turns it off, and pockets it.
She moves to the main room and holds both guns out at two men, keeping all other guns at an impossible distance from herself. “Everybody! Guns down!”
The two men that she has guns trained on, slowly raise their guns.
She fires both guns at once, knocking the guns from their hands. “Nobody touch their guns!” She calls out. “I want everyone with a gun in their possession to lower it right now.”
She becomes aware of movement to her right. She flashes the gun that way. “Don’t move.”
The gunman lowers his weapon.
“Now I want every one of you gunmen to bring your pretty little guns this way and lay ‘em out all nice like on this table here, ‘kay? I do not wanna hafta relieve you of your guns the hard way like I did your friends. I also want any communication devices: cell phones, ear pieces, and the like laid out on the table alongside the guns. And once you’re done, stand against that wall right there with your hands, palms up in front of you.”
The men begin filing by the table, depositing their guns and standing against the wall.
Sadie growls as one man tries to aim one of the guns at her. “Don’t get intelligent on me, mister,” she says. “I am in a really bad mood. I have been dragged to this party in hose that feel one size too small, forced to mingle with snobs, and eat food I wouldn’t feed my nana. You were the last straw!”
The man moves away quickly, after pointing the gun away from her.
“Where’s your fearless leader?” She asks the last guy as he files by.
He shrugs.
Sadie pockets one gun, turning the safety on. She grabs his lapel and rams his head down until it almost reaches the table. He flinches. “Where is he?”
“Upstairs,” he stutters.
She throws him to the ground and points to the wall with her gun. He scurries over and complies with the others.
“Anyone in here with the police or security?” Sadie asks of the guests.
Two men raise their hands.
“Know how to handle a gun?” She asks.
They nod, stand, and move toward her.
“I’m with the local police,” one man says.
“And I used to work with the FBI,” the other, older man says.
“Good enough for me,” Sadie says. “Grab a gun and keep it trained on them. Keep an eye on the kitchen hallway and the main door, too. I’ve gotta catch a bigger fish than these idiots.”
The two nod and do as told.
Sadie takes one last look around to confirm Zander is gone and heads up the stairs, gun leading the way. She follows the main hall of the top floor, opening doors and making sure the rooms are clear.
“Come on out, Mister, and I’ll go easy on ya,” Sadie sing-songs on a whisper.
****
Sophie reluctantly pulls into the bar and heads inside. “I can’t believe I just left her there.”
“There was nothing you could’ve done,” Nate says.
“If anything happens to her, Eliot will never forgive me,” Sophie says.
Alec shakes his head. “Why’d you disconnect your damn communicator, Sadie?”
Parker paces. “We should rescue her.”
“We don’t even know if she needs rescuing,” Nate says. “We need to focus on Zander. Can we use this to our advantage?”
Sophie nods. “What do we do?”
Hardison hacks Zander’s website and financials.
****
Eliot flips channels, fidgeting. He eyes the door, the phone, the window; stands; paces; eyes the phone, the door; paces back; and sits back down. He stands and moves to the main bedroom, looking at the painting on the far wall: a picture of him and Sadie that she painted. He smiles and lies on the bed.
“I miss you,” he says to her picture. “And I’m going stir crazy.”
The phone rings.
He answers it. “Hello?”
“Is Sadie there?” Michael’s voice is on the other end.
“No, she’s with the others,” Eliot says, sitting back down.
“Well, you’re free to go,” Michael says. “Tell her I said hi when you see her.”
“Will do,” Eliot says. “Thanks, Michael.”
“Well, Sadie woulda killed me if I didn’t get you off for what happened.”
Eliot chuckles.
Michael grins. “Go find her.”
Eliot hangs up and heads out, grabbing her keys and taking her truck to the bar.
****
“Eliot?!” Parker squeaks.
Nate looks up. “Eliot, you got out of trouble?”
Eliot nods. “Where’re Sadie and Sophie?”
“Sophie’s changing,” Nate says.
The other two remain silent.
“Where’s Sadie?” Eliot asks.
“She went off-com,” Alec answers as Nate signals him.
Eliot pounds a fist onto the table. “Where is she?”
****
Sadie finds Zander with the head gunman in his office. The gunman is handing Zander a briefcase of money. Zander hands him a USB device.
“It’s all there?” the gunman says.
Zander nods. “Although, killing the guests doesn’t really have to happen, does it?”
The gunman shrugs.
Zander adds another couple stacks of money to the briefcase.
Sadie stays hidden.
“Okay, men,” the gunman says. “We got what we came for, get out.”
Zander nods, but the gunman frowns.
“What is it?” Zander asks.
“No answer,” he says, pointing to his earpiece.
“Something’s wrong,” Zander says.
Sadie draws two of the three guns and stays in the shadows, just beyond the door.
Zander exits, then the gunman.
“Freeze,” she says. “Hands in the air. No sudden moves, or I will shoot you in the knees.”
Both men raise their hands into the air, dropping the briefcase and two guns to the floor.
“Now move forward toward the stairs,” she says.
The gunman looks back at her and sees the guns.
“I’m not afraid to shoot,” she promises.
The gunman grabs for the gun in her left hand. She shoots the right one through a specific spot on his shoulder. He screams and grabs his shoulder.
“It went clean through,” she says. “I can make sure the next one doesn’t.”
Both he and Zander comply.
Three FBI agents pound up the stairs.
“Heya, fellas!” Sadie calls to them. “So, apparently Mr. Zander has not only been stealing from small companies, but has also been in cahoots with this idiot.”
The FBI agents nod and collect the remaining two bad guys.
****
“Don’t go off-com again,” Nate tells Sadie. “You are a part of the team. You don’t do things like that, if you don’t get clearance.”
Sadie nods.
Eliot marches up to her and takes her hand.
Nate eyes him then nods.
Eliot drags her off toward the bar. “So, how’d you get every single baddie in the place to dump their guns and give away their secrets?”
She laughs. “I took a page from your book, cowboy,” she says.
“You intimidated them with your cuteness and beat ‘em up?” he asks.
“Somethin’ like that,” she says with a wink.
Darien enters the bar and rushes to Sophie. “Thank you, so much! My money’s been returned plus some. I think you must’ve had something to do with that. Business will be booming. Thank you.”
Sophie nods toward Sadie. “She’s the one you should thank. She single-handedly took down the Zander corporation at that event.”
Darien thanks the team then heads toward Sadie. “I wanted to thank you for what you did.”
Sadie smiles. “‘T’weren’t nothin’, sugar,” she says. “Just did what I was trained to do.”
Darien thanks her again and heads out the door.
“Sugar?” Eliot asks. “You never call me sugar.”
“Don’t pout, cowboy,” Sadie says. “Sugar is the term I use for pretty much anyone that isn’t gettin’ on my nerves. Cowboy and darlin’ are reserved for you.”
Eliot smiles.
“I’ll be right back, darlin’,” Sadie says, walking over to Sophie.
Sophie stands and meets her halfway.
“Was it weird seein’ your old partner?” Sadie asks.
“A bit,” Sophie says. “He’s the reason I started working alone.”
“He was more than a partner before, wasn’t he?”
Sophie nods. “Don’t tell Nate, though.”
“Haven’t told him, yet. Don’t plan on ever tellin’ him,” Sadie says. “That would be like divulging all my secrets to everyone.”
Sophie smiles and nods. “Thank you.”
Sadie smiles back. “I think Eliot should be the one to beat up the next guys, though. I prefer throwin’ one or two punches, not all of them. And I hate shootin’ guns.”
“I wish I’d stuck around,” Sophie says. “I’ve seen Eliot at his best. I haven’t seen you, yet.”
Sadie grins. “Another time, then.”
Sophie laughs. “Indeed.”
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