My Savior

-34-

"Hello?"

"Hello Sage." It was a man, and his voice was gravely. I didn't recognize it.

"Who is this? And how do you know my name?" I questioned in a shaky voice.

"My name is Francis. I'm a friend of Ryder. Anyone who knows him knows your name. Your his girl." I wasn't sure if that should bother me or if I should be flattered. If he's a friend then it would make sense for him to know my name.

I cleared my throat and steadied my voice, "Are you his friend from Detroit?" I remembered that Ryder had traveled to Detroit not too long ago to meet with someone. Ryder didn't say anything negative about the guy so I have no reason to believe that he's bad.

"Yes," he said. I could imagine him having a friendly smile. He then sighed, "I apologize deeply for having to call you, but I haven't been able to reach him. It's very important that I talk to him. Is he there?"

I bit my lip. I was hesitant for whatever reason, but I knew that if it's important then I need to let him talk to Ryder. "I'll go get him."

"Thank you, Sage."

I opened my door and yelled, "Ryder! There's someone who needs to talk to you!"

"Coming!" he yelled back. He headed up the stairs and stood in front of me. "Who is it?"

"Francis, your friend from Detroit," I responded. "He said it's something important."

Ryder's face went blank, but I could sense that he was nervous, or at least uneasy judging by how pale he turned. "Ok." I handed him my phone and left to go by Lydia who was sprawled out on the couch.

"Who needs to talk to him?" Lydia asked.

I shrugged and sat in the chair. "That guy he met in Detroit I guess. Apparently it's something important."

She stared up at the ceiling with a scrunched face, deep in thought. "I wonder what that could mean."

"Me too. But it's none of my business." I glanced up at my bedroom door, wondering what they could be talking about. I don't really know anything about what Ryder does, or at least not the details, so I don't have the slightest clue what could be so important. My curiosity was peaked.

I'm probably overthinking this.

———————

Ryder's POV

I stepped into Sage's room and shut the door. "What did you need, Francis?"

"I just wanted to check up on you. How are you? Are you doing well?" I knew he didn't actually care. With how he was acting when we made the deal, him being surprisingly nice was strange.

"I'm doing fine. Now what do you really need? What's so important?" Of course I already knew the answer.

He chuckled a bit. "Straight to the point. Good. I didn't want to chat anyways." He turned serious, "I want to know how much you have left to sell."

"I've sold a good amount. I have the rest currently locked away because I'm not home. I promise it'll all be gone before the twentieth," I said assuringly. I didn't want any suspicion that I wouldn't meet the deadline. I have no idea what he'd do if I didn't.

"Good. Good. Well that's all I wanted to know. You'd make a good chunk of cash if you meet it. I'd be concerned if you didn't keep your end of the bargain," he said eerily, sending a shiver down my spine. I heard someone in the background but I couldn't make out what they were saying. "What was that?" More muffled talking. "Well take care of it!" Francis yelled. "Pardon me for a second, Ryder." People were arguing, someone was screaming, and I heard Francis yell, "Do I have to do everything myself?!" Then there was a gunshot.