Chapter 11 - THE SECOND DISAPPEARANCE
Rachel ripped the IV from her arm.
“Where is she?”
Nurses rushed in.
Detective Torres shouted into her radio.
Hospital security locked every exit.
I checked the bathroom.
Empty.
The closet.
Empty.
Then Vanessa pointed at the window.
“Sophie’s rabbit.”
A stuffed rabbit sat on the ledge.
Sophie carried it everywhere.
Underneath it was a folded piece of paper.
I opened it.
Daddy,
I’m not kidnapped.
Don’t be mad.
I’m going to fix it.
—Sophie
I stared at the handwriting.
“What does she think she’s fixing?”
Rachel’s face went pale.
“The necklace.”
I reached into my pocket.
Empty.
I had placed the silver heart pendant there after the police returned it.
Sophie had taken it.
Vanessa said, “She heard us talking.”
I ran into the hallway.
Hospital security footage showed Sophie leaving the room wearing a borrowed nurse’s jacket over her pajamas.
She walked into an elevator.
Alone.
On the lobby camera, she exited through a service door.
A taxi picked her up.
Torres obtained the destination.
Cole-Mercer Technologies.
My company.
I stared at Rachel.
“She’s going to the board meeting.”
Vanessa whispered, “Because she thinks giving them the key will end this.”
We left immediately.
Rachel came despite the doctor’s objections.
Her shoulder was bandaged beneath a borrowed coat.
By 8:52, we reached downtown Los Angeles.
The company headquarters rose forty stories above us.
Police vehicles surrounded the building.
Too late again.
An explosion of alarms echoed from inside.
Employees poured through the lobby doors.
A security guard ran toward us.
“There’s a man with a weapon on the executive floor.”
Luke.
I headed inside.
Torres blocked me.
“Not this time.”
“My daughter is upstairs.”
“So are tactical officers.”
“My daughter thinks she’s fixing my mistake.”
Rachel said, “Ethan.”
I looked at her.
“She thinks it’s her responsibility.”
“I know.”
“No eight-year-old should think that.”
“I know.”
Vanessa stared at the building.
“This is because of me.”
I didn’t answer.
We watched tactical officers enter.
Then my phone rang.
Sophie.
I answered instantly.
“Baby?”
“Daddy.”
She whispered.
“I’m hiding.”
“Where?”
“Your office.”
“Is Luke there?”
“He’s outside.”
“Listen to me. Lock the door.”
“It doesn’t lock.”
Of course.
Executive offices had glass walls and magnetic access.
“Get under the desk.”
“I already am.”
“Good.”
A sound came through the phone.
Door opening.
Sophie stopped breathing.
A man’s voice.
“Come out, Sophie.”
Luke.
I shut my eyes.
Torres listened through the speaker.
Luke continued.
“I know you have it.”
Sophie whispered into the phone, “I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“Daddy?”
“I’m here.”
“If he gets me—”
“He won’t.”
“I love you.”
My chest broke.
“I love you too.”
A chair scraped.
Luke shouted, “Found you.”
The phone dropped.
I heard Sophie scream.
Then another voice.
Vanessa.
“Let her go.”
I turned.
Vanessa was no longer beside us.
She had slipped away.
Upstairs, through Sophie’s phone, I heard Luke laugh.
“Well, look who finally picked a side.”
May you like
Vanessa said,
“I should’ve picked it sooner.”
