Chapter 2 - THE GRAY SUV
Sophia put down the basket before it slipped from her hands.
“We were near the freight district yesterday,” she said. “Emma saw the dog first. I saw the woman when she turned.”
“Was it Isabella?”
“I couldn’t be sure.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sophia glanced at her daughter. “Because I was scared.”
“Of me?”
“Of the gray SUV that followed us for four blocks.”
Lorenzo turned toward the window. His security team watched the estate around the clock. Sophia and Emma had come through the gate yesterday afternoon. If anyone had followed them, there should be a record.
He pressed the intercom. “Mason. Study. Now.”
Mason Reed arrived three minutes later. He had run Lorenzo’s security for eight years and knew when a question was more dangerous than an answer.
He listened to Emma. Then Sophia. He asked them to describe the street separately. Their details matched: a boarded bakery, a broken fence, a loading door painted blue.
“We need to go,” Lorenzo said.
“You need to stay here,” Mason replied.
Lorenzo stared at him. “My wife may be alive.”
“And whoever frightened her may be watching you. Let me check the site first.”
For a moment, Lorenzo looked ready to throw him out. Then Emma reached for Sophia’s hand, and he forced himself to stop.
“Mason goes,” he said. “Neither of them gets out of the car near that warehouse.”
“I wasn’t going to ask them to.”
Lorenzo turned to Sophia. “You and Emma can stay here tonight. I’ll have someone call your sister so she knows you’re safe.”
Sophia nodded, though her hands still shook.
Forty minutes later, Mason called from the warehouse.
“There’s dog food inside. Empty water bottles. Gauze.”
Lorenzo gripped the phone. “Is anyone there?”
“No.”
“Any sign of Isabella?”
“A small amount of blood. We’re leaving it for the police.”
Mason paused.
“What else?” Lorenzo demanded.
“There’s a camera hidden in a utility box. It points straight at the loading door.”
“Can you get the footage?”
“We’re not touching it. Detective Ortiz is on her way.”
Lorenzo looked across his study at Isabella’s photograph. She was laughing, one hand raised against the sun.
May you like
Mason’s voice came through the phone again.
“Lorenzo. Whoever put this camera here wasn’t watching an empty warehouse.”
