“Bug jammer.”
“Paranoid much?” she teased, but Cody only stared at her, no trace of humor in his pale blue eyes.
“Trust me. Any paranoia I’ve got is justified.”
“Okay, so what’s with the clock chimes then?”
Cody slid his wireless keyboard onto his lap. Plinking away at the keys, he set up one of his monitors to reveal a large conference room. Nine men sat around the table. Emery was at the head, talking, but Sophie couldn’t hear any voices so she figured Cody must have muted it somehow.
She leaned forward, squinting at the men on the screen. “Cody, did you mute them?”
He ignored her question and instead picked up his wireless keyboard and started tapping away. The computer monitor nearest her started rapidly flashing through various camera feeds. Room after room came up empty. Only when his scan was finished did Cody seem to relax. His shoulders rolled back and the tension tightening his features eased.
“The sound of clock chimes set him off. Hans and I think that wherever the kidnappers held him must have had an old clock. He goes back to the night he escaped. Hans and I have witnessed enough of the flashbacks to have put a few pieces of the puzzle together. Emery and Fenn were held somewhere close by for a couple of months. Then something happened and there was a chance to escape. We think Fenn distracted the kidnappers so Emery could get out. Fenn must have died that night. They must have killed him. Whatever happened, Emery won’t talk about it.”
Sophie hesitated. “He’s going to tell me everything.”
Cody’s brows rose. “Does he know that?”
“Yes. It’s why I’m here. We have a deal.” Embarrassment heated her cheeks, but she had to explain the situation to him or he wouldn’t help her.
Cody’s face darkened. “So you bang the Bossman, and he shares his tragic details over pillow talk? To think, I was hoping you’d be different.”
Fury spiked in her. “It isn’t like that! You’ve checked me out. Why do you think I’m here? To hurt him? I have to talk to him. It’s not just about the story. I have other reasons.”
With a long sigh Cody sank back into his chair, his attention once more on the monitors. “It’s about the girl abducted from the park?”
Her eyes burned with tears and she focused on Emery’s face on the screen.
“Rachel.”
There weren’t words for anything else.
Cody’s voice was rough when he pointed to Emery on the screen. “That man owns my soul. He rescued me and I can’t even begin to repay him. I’d die for him. Hans, too. Do you understand that?”
Goose bumps rose on Sophie’s arms. There was an odd sinking in her chest and she shifted restlessly. “I get it. Loyalty like that runs deeper than friendships, deeper than blood. It’s soul deep.”
Cody released a heavy breath. “Yeah. So you get me when I say if I think even for a second that you’re a threat to him, I’ll shut you out.”
Sophie understood that sort of loyalty even though she’d never had it, not after losing Rachel. But she knew full well what it was like to believe in protecting someone else with every fiber of her being. The fact that she sensed Emery was still in danger made her want to protect him like that.
“If I have it my way, I’ll be one of his greatest allies. Cody, I know you saw my life, pulled out all my dark secrets, but you seemed to have missed the big picture.” Sophie looked him straight in the eye. “I’m an investigative journalist. The police let me help. I’ve solved twenty-five-year-old cold cases. I’ve been looking into Emery’s case.”
The chair creaked as Cody leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. Hope burst into his eyes. “You think you can solve the kidnapping?”
Sophie nodded. She knew, just knew in her gut that if she could get Emery to talk, the details he’d give her would be the key to solving it.
“There are things that don’t fit. I think it was an inside job. The ransom may not have even been the real goal. What he went through doesn’t match up with ransom abductions, but rather resembles faked kidnappings to hide murders. I need Emery to talk to me, to give me those details he hasn’t shared with anyone else. I think they might be the key. And if I’m right?” She paused and drew in a deep breath, making sure she had his complete attention. “He’s still in danger. Whoever targeted the twins then will still want him dead. He’s a ticking time bomb.”
Cody was silent for a second. “But it’s been twenty-five years. Who’s to say the kidnappers are still alive? Or the person or persons who hired them?”
“One kidnapper. I’ve gotten that much out of him. Whoever the other two men were, they don’t seem to be in the picture anymore. We’re looking at one man, and if it’s an inside job, we’re talking family or friends of the Lockwoods. Emery’s kept himself locked up here pretty well, but I have a feeling he may be targeted soon. I read that Lockwood Industries is planning to release a new product that will change private security. Is that true?”
The resident hacker coughed pointedly and gave a small nod. “It might be…I’m bound by confidentiality agreements not to say anything, but it will make a ton of money for the company in the coming months.”
“And that’s exactly the type of thing someone would want to capitalize on if they were planning to take him out. At the right time, Emery’s death could make someone very rich. We just have to figure out who.”
“One last question.” He steepled his fingers, eyeing her sharply, like a falcon watching a field mouse.
