Page 1 of Rescuing Sadie

Chapter One

Sadie faced the man in front of her without trepidation.

Sean Taggart might know twenty ways to kill without making a sound thanks to his time as a Green Beret, but to her, he was just Uncle Sean. She’d only known him for six years, ever since Aunt Grace got married, but he’d always supported her no matter what she wanted to do and treated her and her aunt Grace like princesses.

Not this time.

“Uncle Sean, this is ridiculous.”

Sean crossed his arms, giving her what she knew was his “displeased” face. Brows drawn, lips pressed together, eyes narrowed. “It’s not and you know it.”

“Why can’t I just go back up to Dallas with you?”

Her uncle sighed. They’d been over this before, but Sadie couldn’t let it go.

“Because Jonathan is still missing. Captain Jackson said he’d continue to look after you until he’s caught.”

Sadie shook her head. “But if I came home, you could keep me safe.”

Sean looked down at her with love in his eyes. His voice gentled. “I could, you’re right. But I think we both know that you wouldn’t like my kind of protection. Or Ian’s. Or anyone else we could find.”

She knew what he meant without him coming right out and saying it. Sean was overprotective. As was Ian, and probably most of the other men who worked for McKay-Taggart. She could handle their overprotectiveness and bossiness…but only to a point. If she had to endure it twenty-four seven, it could damage their relationship. And that was the last thing she wanted.

“I can go stay with Milena’s parents again,” Sadie volunteered almost desperately. Maybe she’d even make it in time for Milena’s surprise engagement party. She might not want to become one of McKay-Taggart’s overprotected clients, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be in close quarters with Chase Jackson anymore either.

From the second she’d laid eyes on the man, she’d wanted him. It was as if her body had said, This is it. This is the man I want.

Unfortunately, he’d been in the middle of rescuing her from a crazed, perverted pedophile at the time, and now she was afraid he felt responsible for her, rather than wanting her back.

She’d been staying with him, sleeping in the extra bedroom in his apartment, but things were extremely awkward between them, mostly because of their crazy sexual chemistry. Then their friend TJ, a San Antonio highway patrolman, had called and said the FBI had gotten word of a sighting of Jonathan Jones recently. Now Chase thought that moving her to an apartment over a friend’s garage would be safer. Sadie felt as if she were a foster kid being pawned from one home to another, not actually belonging anywhere.

“Milena’s man can’t take care of both you and her,” Sean said bluntly, responding to her earlier thought about staying with her friend’s parents. “TJ’s got his hands full making sure Milena and his son are safe. Not only that, but if you went back to San Antonio and stayed with Milena’s parents, you’d put them in danger. Look, I know you and Chase don’t get along all that well, but you just need to continue to put up with him until we can find that asshole Jones and make sure he’s no longer a threat.”

Sadie swallowed. It wasn’t that she and Chase didn’t get along; she simply didn’t know what to say to the man. She liked him. A lot. And every time she opened her mouth, she said stuff she didn’t mean. But if she kept protesting, Uncle Sean would get suspicious and ask questions. The last thing she wanted was her uncle, and Chase, to know how much she really did like the gorgeous Army captain.

Some of her trepidation must have shown on her face anyway, because Sean said, “You’ll be safe with Jackson, Sadie. If he didn’t already belong to Uncle Sam, I’d be recruiting him to come work for Ian in a heartbeat. Besides, thanks to the media, Jonathan knows who I am. Who you are. The first place he’s gonna look for you is in Dallas.”

“So you’re continuing to pawn off the babysitting job to Chase,” Sadie said bitterly.

The look in his eyes wasn’t one she’d had directed at her often, if ever. Disappointment. And it hurt. Especially coming from Uncle Sean. “You are not a babysitting job,” he said. “And the fact that you even said that tells me you really don’t understand the seriousness of this situation.”

“I’m sorry,” Sadie said immediately. “I do understand. I just… I don’t think Chase likes me very much and I hate being a burden.”

Sean looked at her for a long moment with an expression on his face Sadie couldn’t interpret. Finally, he said, “Sometimes I forget how young you are. The fact of the matter is, right after you were rescued, Jackson came to me with the request to keep you safe. I didn’t ask him.”

Sadie stared at her uncle in disbelief. “He did?”

“Yeah, he did.”

“But…he was so mad at the school after he helped me. I didn’t think he wanted to be anywhere near me.”

“Can you blame him? He was worried about you. We all were,” was her uncle’s simple response.

“It’s already been a month. How long am I gonna need to be down here?” she asked, referring to Fort Hood, where Chase lived and worked.

“As long as it takes. Please do this. For me and Grace. We need to know you’re safe while we track this asshole down. It shouldn’t be for very much longer.”

When he asked nicely like that, how could she keep protesting? “Fine.”