Page 106

Right as she turned to walk back to the cot, another noise came from the top of the stairs, and she stiffened, spinning back around.
Footsteps echoed down the stairwell, accompanied by something else—a tapping or clicking of something against the wooden stairs.
She watched, her body tensing once again.
Then, after a few moments, she realized who it was.
Maddie stepped into view, navigating the last few steps to the ground.
Right behind her stood an older man with graying hair, whose facial features vaguely resembled Maddie’s. His eyes, the same crushing blue, immediately snapped up, meeting her gaze with a suspicious look.
Maddie took another couple of steps forward, then stopped. “Saff?”
Saff’s eyes left the man and moved to Maddie. “Here,” she answered, resting her hands against the bars in front of her.
The concern in Maddie’s expression instantly diminished.
She strode toward her, swinging her cane back and forth until it hit the metal bars of her cell. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” she breathed, hand grasping the cell door.
“No,” Saff muttered. “I’m fine.”
“Are they—did they say they’re keeping you here overnight?” Maddie asked.
“Apparently.”
The look on Maddie’s face darkened. She turned her head back over her shoulder. “Dad. Let her out. Now.”
She spoke the command with a venom that Saff had never heard from her before.
Saff’s eyes flicked back to the man again.
He still held the suspicion he had when they walked in, but now it was mixed with something else—curiosity, maybe?
He slowly tore his gaze away from her and back to Saff before speaking. “I can’t,” he finally said. “It’s not up to me. This is how they do things.”
“I don’t care how they do things,” Maddie growled. “If you don’t get her out right now, then I will.”
Saff watched the muscle in the man’s jaw tense. “You already know that’s not going to happen,” he answered flatly.
Maddie waited a beat before turning her head back to Saff. “Fine. Then I’m staying here with her tonight.”
The man scoffed, rolling his eyes. “That’s ridiculous. Don’t be petulant, Maddie.”
“If this is—”
“It’s fine,” Saff cut in. She cleared her throat, eyes flicking back to Maddie. “It’s not that bad down here. You should go spend time with your—” she paused, her eyes moving back to Maddie’s father, “family.”
The man’s face lost some of the tension that had grown in the last few seconds, replaced with an almost grateful look.
Maddie was quiet for a few moments. “Dad, can you give us a minute?”
He looked at her, opening his mouth to say something. Then he paused, closing it again, before looking back at Saff.
“From what my daughter has told me, it sounds like she might not have made it back to us as easily without your help,” he said, his face hard and stone-like. It almost reminded her of her own father. “So, thank you.”
That part definitely did not remind her of her own father.
Saff stared at him for a moment, then nodded once.