When Shadows Fall (closed)

[zydrate]

Sadie Walsh


*****
Jenny nervously tapped her finger against the top of her desk and waited for the other line to answer. She had rarely spoken to her best friend's boyfriend... well, ex-boyfriend... almost fiancé... To be truthful, she was afraid of him. He was an imposing figure and she didn't know what Sadie saw in him. He never talked freely, only if you asked him questions, he would give one word answers. So weird.

The other end of the call clicked but before Jen could say anything, she was greeted by an automated answer for voicemail. Sighing, she waited to leave a message...

"Hey...hi, umm, this is Jen, Sadie's friend and well, I know you both broke up a couple of weeks ago but have you seen Sadie? She's not shown up for work for a few days and well, I thought you took her on another trip or something or perhaps she was at your place... I'm not sure. I've called her and she doesn't answer, her car is still parked at her place.

I know she does this from time to time but let me know. I don't think we need panic just yet... yeah, you have my number, I would appreciate a call back, thanks."

Pushing the 'END CALL' button, Jen sighed and leaned back at her desk. It was a good thing this was a family owned business and well, if it were anyone else, they would have been let go for a no call, no show...

*****
Hearing the faint sound of her phone ringing, Sadie pounded on the roof of her enclosure. Her voice was literally gone from having called out for help... to anyone... and of course, no one answered her or if they heard her, they didn't care to answer.

She felt down her leg and sighed in relief when she realized her wound had stopped bleeding.

The last thing she had remembered was leaving the club when it closed down for the night... or day, whatever. She was a little more than tipsy but she had the right to be, she had gone through a breakup that she wasn't quite over yet. Would she ever be over it? In time perhaps... a long, long time.

She had been on her way home, stupidly walking by herself at 2am back to her apartment. She should have called a car service but didn't. She wanted to wallow in self pity for a bit longer.

Now, she was stuck in a trunk of some car... it hadn't moved in ages and she was dying, literally. The last thing she remembered were 2 men telling her that she would be OK as long as her father paid what he owed...until then? That was up to him.

Oh perfect.... she heard her phone again, it was in the backseat of the car and she was of course, in the trunk... Her leg bleeding on and off because the bastards shot at her from the outside to make her shut up. At least it was just a graze, but damn, it hurt like hell.

 

[1Beachbum25]

Most people didn't understand Michael. The reason for that is that very few people knew what he had seen, knew what he had gone through, knew how he had suffered. He kept it inside. There were periods of rage, but the one thing that Michael was able to do was make sure that rage was never directed toward any of his family, friends, or anyone he cared about. It wasn't easy to do. In fact, it made his frustrations worse, but he cared too much about the people close to him. That included Sadie.

Michael and Sadie had been friends in high school, but were not involved with each other. After his first tour overseas, Michael was out at a club and bumped into her. They reconnected and eventually became romantically involved. Then, he got called up and ended up doing another tour overseas. That one was bad. Several close buddies were killed. Another was wounded. Michael was shot and taken prisoner while making sure a couple buddies escaped. The next 10 months was hell. He was tortured. When he refused to do an anti-American video, he was tortured some more. A rescue team was able to free him. He spent two months in the hospital during which he insisted that nobody be told about what had happened to him. If anyone found out, it would be from him.

Sadie and Michael continued to date after he returned. She had a lot of questions about what had gone on while he was deployed. She questioned why he never wore shorts. He finally had to show her the wounds on his legs. She eventually saw some of the other scars. He brushed it off by saying it was just stuff that happened during battles. Sadie would get upset when they were with her friends and Michael wouldn't say much. The truth was that Sadie was the only one he wanted to be with. However, it was his failure to get along with her friends that finally led to their breakup

______________________________________________________________________________________

Michael never answered his phone. If people really wanted him, they would leave a message. Hearing his phone vibrate, Michael didn't even move. He just got off of a shift working in the oil fields in Texas. He had left as soon as they had broken up. Working in the oil fields, nobody bothered him. Nobody cared about where he was from or what he was thinking. When he heard the vibration that said he had a voicemail, he listened to it.

After hearing the message, Michael immediately called Jen. He knew she didn't like him, but he also knew that she cared about Sadie. "Tell me what is up." He didn't deal in pleasantries... just right to the point. Hearing the info again, he told Jen he would be at her house in the morning. Yea, he would probably get fired, but he had to find out where Sadie was.

He drove all night to get there. While driving he made several phone calls to former Ranger buddies. They were all retired, but they still stayed in touch and they supported each other without asking questions. They all agreed to meet him tomorrow.

Finding Sadie was import to him. He would do whatever was necessary to find her. He pulled up to Jen's house to get information first hand.

 

[zydrate]

The time Michael was away for his second tour was tough for Sadie. In that short time, they had gotten extremely close and they saw things in each other that others didn't... hell, even Sadie's friends would get on her about Michael and how he wasn't her type... yes, her friends sometime influenced her doubts about dating Michael. But that's all they were, doubts. She never let on about anything but he knew that her friends didn't approve.

But when Michael returned... he was different. More quiet than usual. And Sadie didn't want to pry because she knew he was fight demons. She didn't want to add fuel to the fire and in general, just left him alone.

That probably wasn't the right thing to do but it was all she could do. How could she help someone who didn't want to help themselves?

To say Sadie liked to party and have fun was an understatement. She just loved to have fun. So she had friends who loved the same thing.

The pressure from her friends, as well as her work life got to her. She wanted a new start. She wanted to spend more time with Michael. But things just more complicated with her friends and him.

Sadie told Michael they needed a break as she needed to deal with some personal things. She never told him about what was going on in her personal life and with work...her father. But to be truthful, he never asked. And Sadie never held that against him because he was also fighting with his own demons.

**** Two weeks ago ****

Sadie's dad, Jacob, owned a small accounting firm and she worked there to help him out and deal with their customers. Her dad always told people he would deal with the backend and that Sadie would off the firm the beautiful and friendly face. Something pleasant to look at. It was kind of a weird thing to say but Sadie knew what he had meant. His first language was not English so that's what it translated out to.

The firm had been going good. They had a fairly wide range of clientele but mostly were just other small business owners in the neighborhood.

There was one secret her father kept from his daughter. He had a gambling problem. He had recently started using clientele money and then, graduated to owing loan sharks money. Money he didn't have. He had been threatened several times for the money he owed. Up until a couple of weeks ago, Jacob could get the money...this time though, he just needed more time.

**** Present ****

Jen was not happy these men literally pushed their way into her apartment but she also wanted her friend found. Jen told Michael everything she knew. What Sadie had found out about her father's problem. How she tried to fix things herself and that it didn't work. Even going to the guy's house and asking him for more time.

That was the night she had disappeared. She had gone out to one of the clubs owned by the guy and had never returned. Her father had begged Jen not to say anything to the cops. If the cops were to get involved, then well, Sadie was as good as dead.

She didn't think Michael would just appear, she had just wondered if he had heard from her.

Apparently, Sadie's dad had 72 hours to get the money or else... well, she was sure Michael got the picture. What was 24 hours ago...

**********

Sadie's fingers were bleeding as she did her best to loosen the screws on the tail light. She was weak, either from not eating or being dehydrated. Maybe both, she wasn't sure. She wasn't going to play the victim her, she was doing what she could to get out of this mess. The car hadn't moved at all so she had a feeling it was parked somewhere far away from where others could hear her.

She didn't know how long she had been working but she was getting tired. She wasn't one to cry but right now, she was on the verge... instead, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before relaxing and falling into a light sleep. She'd try again later, maybe there was something she wasn't able to find in the trunk during her first attempt... yeah, she'd try again later.

 

[1Beachbum25]

Michael knew that being aggressive with Jen would not work. He had to slow play this as much as possible with her. "Why would she go to that club alone?" He asked the question out loud, but knew that Jen couldn't give him an answer. He didn't expect her to try.

He looked at one of his buddies. "When I called her cell, it rang. It didn't go right to voicemail, which means it isn't turned off and the battery hasn't died.... yet. We need to find out where that phone is. I know you can track it." There was no answer; just a nod as the man opened a laptop. Michael moved over to him and gave him Sadie's cell number.

Looking back to Jen. "Okay, this is important, do you know which club Sadie went to?" Jen shook her head no. "Do you know the name of the club?" Yes, the question was redundant, but it just popped out of Michael's mouth. Jen gave him a look that said I just answered that question. "Do you have any idea of what the name is of the club owner?" Once again, Jen said no.

"Okay. Everyone stay here with Jen in case Sadie calls. I am going to go visit with her father. I will get answers from him that I need.. If he is that deep into a loan shark, he isn't going to have the money to pay his debt no matter what the timeline is. I have to find out who the shark is."

Looking at Reno. "If you get the location of the cell, let me know and I will meet you there." Reno nodded. Michael looked at Jen who did not look happy to have her space. "We are going to find Sadie. It will make up for the inconvenience."

Walking into the office of the small accounting firm owned by Sadie's father, Michael looked around. There was nobody out front, but Michael could hear her father talking with someone in the back office. Michael barged in and saw Sadie's father on the phone. It sounded like he was negotiating with someone for a loan. Probably another loan shark. It was obvious by the way the conversation was going that the person he was talking to knew that he already owed a lot of money and wasn't willing to extend him any credit.

After the call was disconnected, Michael did not give him any time to talk. "Who do you owe the money to? Where is his club? Why the fuck would you even let Sadie know who he was?" As Michael asked the questions, he closed the distance between the two of them.

Sadie's father tried to tell Michael to stay out of it... that he was handling everything and would get Sadie back. "Yes, you have handled things so well so far. Now your daughter is missing and you have no way of getting the money to pay your debt. Nobody is going to lend you the money. They know that if they do, that you won't be able to pay them back."

Michael stood, towering over him. "Name and location of the club... NOW."

As Michael awaited his response, his cell phone rang. It was Reno. "Got the location. Pinged it, but then it went dead. I think the battery died. I got it just in time." He sent Michael a pin with the location and told him they should meet around the corner from that location.

After disconnecting the call from Reno, Michael looked down at Sadie's father. "His name and the name of the club... right fucking now."

After getting what he wanted, Michael headed out to meet Reno. He knew Reno would bring a couple other guys, while still leaving a couple with Jen.

 

[zydrate]

He was too stressed about all this. With Sadie missing, Jacob didn't have much choice but to try to get more money in order to pay off his debts. He and Sadie had gotten into a very heated verbal fight and all Jacob could do was push the blame back on Sadie, even though she had nothing to do with any of it.

With his resolve basically gone, Jacob gave in and in a quiet voice, he answered Michael's question.

"The Saltwater."

That's all he had to say and it had finally hit him as he tried to keep his voice steady, "I told her not to go. But she insisted she could fix this for me. I should have stopped her...." The Saltwater... Jacob didn't even need to give the address of the club, everyone knew the Saltwater.

He then looked at Michael, "There's nothing you can do. Nothing I can do."

That was all he was able to get out when he watched Michael walk out. Jacob knew what he had to do.

******
Jen sighed and sat at the table where one of the other guys had set up his computer. All was quiet except for a few mumbled curses coming from him as he keyed away.

About 25 minutes passed and Jen scrolled on her phone when the man suddenly called out, "Found her!"

"What?! Where?" Jen said. He didn't answer her. Instead he called Michael and gave him the news.

He was talking about some abandoned parking garage downtown. "I'm going with you!" Jen stood and someone behind her pushed her back down, "Nope, you're staying here."

"Like hell I am, Sadie's my friend!"

She tried to argue more but it was settled, she was staying. Jen was not happy about it.

*******

Sadie had trouble staying awake. So this was what it was like to die a slow death. She went over what and how it had happened. She had gone into the club with all the confidence she could muster and asked to speak to Dominic Pena, the owner of the Saltwater.

It hadn't done any good, of course.

Things in her life hadn't been so great lately. First her father's issues and then fighting with Michael. She hadn't wanted to have a pity party for herself, yet here she was, wanting to cry but knew tears wouldn't help her. She had to keep fighting. Doing her best, she started once more to bang on the roof of the trunk, yelling out...

 

[1Beachbum25]

On the way to the parking garage, Michael called one of the guys that had stayed behind with Jen. "I want you to go to Sweetwater. It is a club that is owned by the guy that took Sadie. Just stake it out. Don't do anything. Don't get caught. Just check things out there until we get Sadie."

Michael pulled up to the location that Reno had given him where he had picked up the signal to Sadie's phone. "Fuck." It was a parking garage. That meant that the phone could have been anywhere in the garage... if it was still there. He waited for Reno and the others to arrive. This couldn't be tackled alone.

When the rest of the team arrived, Michael told one of them to stay at the exit. In order to do that, they needed to eliminate the attendant. Jackson approached the attendant, pointed his weapon at him and told him to get on his knees. After binding and gagging him and leaving him on the floor of the shed, Jackson stood over him after taking the guy's smock. He would play the role of the attendant and make sure that Sadie did not leave in a car.

Michael took the remainder of the team and started going car by car.... floor by floor. At each car, they would softly call out Sadie's name while looking in the car and lightly banging on the trunk. There was no guarantee she was still here, but they had to look. It was their best lead as to where Sadie could be.

Reno called him on their walkie. "Michael, I hear some pounding over here." Reno gave his location, and all of the team members converged. They set up a perimeter, and watched, waited and listened. They heard the banging, but saw nor heard anything or anyone else.

Michael moved to the car and looked inside. There was a cell phone sitting on the back seat. Then he heard another bang. "Sadie, stop banging. It is Michael. We will get you out, but you have to stay quiet."

One of the team members broke the glass on the driver's side door and popped the trunk. Opening it slowly, Michael looked at Sadie. "Don't move yet. We need to make sure there is no booby trap."

They checked all around her carefully to make sure there was nothing. Once they were certain, Michael reached in and lifted her out. He held her and whispered to her. "Stay quiet Sadie. We are not out of the woods yet." He closed the trunk and they started moving toward the stairs.

Once they were out of the parking garage, Jackson untied the attendant, gave him back his smock and told him it was in his best interest to tell nobody about what happened to him. They drove to a motel and got a room. Michael called the other team members and told them to bring Jen and join them.

Next, he had to plan what he was going to do at the Saltwater.