Free The Hostage by Jonas Saul Page A

entered the coffee shop and was coming now.
     
    Damn, that’s fast.
     
    She smacked the door hard, swung it open and ran up the alley toward the next street.
     
    “Come on,” Sarah said as she pulled on Drake’s shoulder. “We have to run.”
     
    “What’s going on?”
     
    “I have no idea, but when my sister says run, we run.”
     
    Cars raced by the entrance to the alley, all of them going to the left. The sign on her right said that Adelaide Street was a one-way. An orange taxi approached.
     
    “Come on,” Sarah said and ran toward it.
     
    The cab driver noticed them and slowed, pulling to the side of the road. Sarah got in on one side and Drake the other.
     
    “Go!” Sarah said.
     
    The driver hit the gas. Two seconds later they passed the alley they’d just exited.
     
    She saw Rod Howley running up to the street.
     
    “Shit,” Sarah said, slapping her hand on the door handle. “How did he find me so fast?”
     
    “Who is that? And why is he looking for you?”
     
    “I’ll tell you later,” Sarah said. Then leaned forward and addressed the driver. “Take us to the CN Tower.”
     
    The driver nodded and Sarah sat back in her seat.
     
    “Why the CN Tower?” Drake asked. “Do you realize how close that is to the baseball stadium? We just left that area.”
     
    “I know.”
     
    “Are you sure you want to go there?” Drake asked.
     
    “They’d never expect us to head back that way.”
     
    Sarah took the few minutes in the back seat of the cab to explain who Rod was and what he wanted from her. Drake became visibly upset the more she told him.
     
    “How dare he? How’s that even possible? Could one man be so powerful? That’s dangerous in itself.”
     
    Sarah nodded and twisted in her seat to look out the back window. None of Rod’s vehicles trailed them. Maybe this time she had gotten away clean.
     
    “Well, fuck him,” Drake continued. “I’m sick of people pushing others around. It’s time to push back and see how they dance.”
     
    Sarah raised her eyebrows, surprised by Drake’s response, but also liking it.
     
    Drake saw her expression. “I’m serious,” he said. “No more. I’ve lived my whole life doing the right thing, trying to be socially correct. What did it get me? Attacked by a woman I once loved.” He lowered his voice and leaned in close to Sarah. “People were murdered. I was almost killed numerous times. I’ll have mental and physical scars forever. No more. Shit, I was almost shot again today.”
     
    The look in his eyes got her. Sarah actually felt lightheaded, which surprised her. She turned away from him and looked out the cab’s window to hide her face. No one had ever spoken to her as deep and as serious as Drake did. A myriad of possibilities raced through her mind. Could Drake be the one?  
     
    Too soon.
     
    What was love like? After all she’d been through and done, all the people she’d killed or seen killed, was she capable of love? Or even allowed to love?
     
    God willing.
     

Chapter 13

    Elmore parked his vehicle in an underground facility one block from the Rogers Centre. He had to act fast as the window of opportunity was closing. He locked his car, took the stairs two at a time and walked along Front Street.
     
    At the first bar he found, Elmore stepped inside and headed to the counter with all the confidence of a lead detective.
     
    The woman behind the bar nodded.
     
    “What’ll it be?” she asked.
     
    “I’m looking for this girl,” Elmore said, holding a picture of Sarah out. “She escaped us at the Rogers Centre a few hours ago and we’re canvassing the area.”
     
    “You got ID?”
     
    Elmore pulled out his fake detective badge and showed the woman. He felt like making her eat the ID, but maintained resolve in his attempt to have Sarah.
     
    “Haven’t seen her,” the woman said.
     
    Bitch.
     
    “You’re late,” she said.
     
    “Late? How’s that?” Elmore asked.
     
    “Your