“You lost, sugar?” Miss Trudy sweetly and a little seductively asked. Sadie smothered a giggle with her hand. Miss Trudy loved men, of all ages.
He smiled at her and began to remove his sunglasses. He propped them onto his head and Sadie’s jaw dropped.
“No ma’am. I’ve just found what I was looking for.”
GQ looked down at Sadie and smiled.
GQ introduced himself to Miss Trudy. Ethan Barrett. She immediately got up when he extended his hand for a shake. This man had manners. She was completely taken with him and began to bombard him with questions. She told him they thought he was lost since they never saw those kinds of fancy cars around. She let out a thunderous laugh that he matched with his own reserved chuckle. She continued with her questions which led to her bragging about Harry’s old Mustang that he had overhauled. In truth, the car was junk and held no comparison to Ethan’s Porsche. Nonetheless, Ethan had the decency to appear interested in Miss Trudy’s bragging.
All the while, Sadie said nothing. She just watched him. After about five minutes, Miss Trudy insisted he sit down and gestured toward the seat she vacated. She said her goodbyes, thanked Sadie for the Danish, and strolled back to her trailer. Once she passed the car’s back end, she turned and winked at Sadie with a mischievous grin.
“I hope I didn’t scare off your company,” he smoothly said.
Sadie looked at his chiseled face. She shook her head. She didn’t know why he was there. He didn’t look dangerous or scary but she couldn’t find her voice to say anything. A little embarrassment rolled through her as she recalled her behavior last night. Sadie did it to piss off Stone and she didn’t think she would ever see this guy again.
“Good. I don’t want to interrupt your day. I just wanted to talk if you could spare some time for me?” He stared at her again, waiting for her to answer but she remained mute.
Sadie nodded again. He must have thought she was an idiot.
He let out a chuckle. “Okay, well, seeing as how this conversation will be one sided; I’ll just get on with it. My name is Ethan Barrett. I am a colleague and friend of the men you met the other night. Stone, T, and Bogs? You remember I’m sure?
Sadie nodded again. She pulled her feet underneath her and sat on them. She leaned her elbow to the left and rested it on the arm of the chair.
“Very well. I’m going to get straight to it. I know what you witnessed, Sadie. And while I am very sorry you saw what you did and all the circumstances that occurred afterward, I want you to know, it’s not what you think. I own Garrison Bail Bonds in Houston. Do you know what a Bail Bond is?”
She nodded. “Is that what Stone does? Bail Bonds?” she asked quietly.
Ethan shifted in his seat, shaking his head. “Stone and T, they run an associate company, Garrison Securities Group. Do you know what a Bounty Hunter is?
Sadie nodded.
“Well then you know it’s their job to find people. We work together to retrieve those who have jumped bail. That was what happened on Monday night. The guys were there to apprehend a fugitive. In the process of apprehension, it was the man who pulled out the gun and shot. Stone struggled to get the gun away and it fired. That man, who is a wanted criminal, shot himself.”
He settled back into the chair and waited for her to roll it over in her head. Everything he was saying made sense. Sadie didn’t witness the man being shot. It could very well have happened exactly the way Ethan was saying it did. She tried to block her worry that Stone could have been hurt. He wasn’t her concern and didn’t deserve it. But if what Ethan was saying was true, the aftermath didn’t make any sense.
“Why didn’t they just tell me that then?” Sadie asked somberly.
He leaned forward again with his hands clasped in front of him. He nodded and sighed. “This job was a rather unique situation. Usually, there is a plan for these apprehensions. We map out every possible scenario so no one gets hurt. Unfortunately, we were not allotted the planning process time. And this particular case was to be done with complete anonymity. I can’t give you the details and I am sorry for that. No one could know that he was in our custody.”
“They threatened to kill me.” Her tone rose in anger.
He held up his hands in a surrendered pose. “Truthfully, they panicked. I understand that in no way excuses their behavior but I’m hoping it explains it. Their tactics, which I agree were extreme and uncalled for, were meant to scare you, not harm you. I assure you, Sadie, you were never in any danger from my men. We are the good guys.”
“Stone told me if I told anyone he’d come back for me.” Sadie watched Ethan closely.
He nodded. “Yes, he did, another scare tactic. He couldn’t risk you going to the authorities. I wish I could give you the answers that you deserve but for your own safety, I cannot. You have my word; we’ve done nothing wrong or illegal. The man we apprehended was a very bad man, Sadie. It was imperative that we got him into custody and off the streets. My only regret is that you were affected.” He seemed genuinely sorry. His answers didn’t seem rehearsed but it was as if he knew what she was going to ask even before she asked
