Page 47 of Tough Luck

We burst into the security monitor room a few seconds later. A guard, no doubt George, whom Marcus was still on the phone with, was already hovering over the console, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

“I’m pulling up the feed from forty-five minutes ago, Mr. Lorence, when Miss Ferreira checked out with security.” The guard shifted the view to the camera overlooking the snow-covered side path that led to the parking lot.

My eyes locked onto the glowing screen. Through the swirling white flakes, I saw her. Sofia was bundled in her heavy winter coat, her head down against the wind.

Then a figure stepped out from a blind spot, blocking her. It was obviously a man, since he towered over Sofia.

Leonard. The name screamed through my head like warning bells. I had left Sofia entirely unprotected because I was too busy listening to a room full of lawyers and board members.

The man was wearing a dark, heavy jacket, his hood pulled completely over his face, obscuring his features. Sofia jumped back, her posture instantly turning defensive. Even through the grainy, snow-blurred footage, I could see the terror in her body language. She reached for her pocket—likely she was trying to grab her phone—but the man lunged forward and shoved something in her ribs. A gun?

He caught her roughly by the arm. I watched Sofia twist, fighting against his grip, but he was larger, and he used his weight to overpower her. He dragged her backwards toward a heavy, black metal door.

“That’s an old maintenance entrance to the original bottling warehouse,” George added. “It’s mostly used for storage now.”

“Go to the next camera inside that corridor!” I roared, slamming my hand onto the back of the guard’s chair.

“There are no cameras inside that wing, sir,” the guard stammered, his face turning pale. “That section of the old warehouse is locked up tight and a blind spot. The cameras only cover the parking lots, main production floor, and the office spaces.”

“The old bottling building,” Marcus said, his eyes snapping to mine, filled with grim urgency. “It’s completely unheated and mostly used for overflow crate storage. The locks on that side door are supposed to be secure, but if he got his hands on an old maintenance fob…”

“He could have learned about all the blind spots from the blue prints when he worked on this account,” I growled, the realization hitting me like a physical blow.

“I’m calling the police,” Marcus said, pulling his cell phone out as we sprinted out of the security room.

“I’ll lock down the perimeter gates, so he can’t get out,” George called after us.

“I’m going after her,” I threw back over my shoulder, already tearing down the hallway toward the exit.

The freezing wind hit me like a slap as Marcus and I burst through the doors into the blizzard at the same time. Instead of the cold, all I felt was a blinding, primitive need to get to her. Marcus was right at my heels. I could hear him relaying the details to the police on the phone. My boots crunched in the fresh snow as we rounded the corner of the brick building, heading straight for the dark metal door where Sofia had disappeared into the dark with a very dangerous man. All because I had chosen to listen to a board of directors instead of my heart.

When I found her, I knew that there was no way I was going to let someone take her away from me again.

We reached the heavy metal doors. Just outside, I noticed a slight sound and bent down to pick up Sofia’s bag and cell phone, which were buried under the fresh snow.

“Shit,” Marcus said behind me.

I grabbed the handle of the door and slammed my weight against it. To my surprise, it gave way with a harsh, clicking rattle. The electronic strike plate had been destroyed. Leonard had planned this.

No doubt he’d been lying in wait for Sofia to get out of a meeting, knowing she would have to periodically check in with Marcus and his team for updates.

We burst into the freezing, cavernous gloom of the old bottling warehouse. The air inside was completely foul, smelling of old dust, damp concrete, and stagnant water. Shadows stretched deep into the massive, high-ceilinged space, where rows of towering, rusted industrial shelves held pallets of empty glass bottles and plastic crates.

“Sofia?” I called out, then listened as her name echoed in the darkness back at me.

“The main breaker is down that way, but the wiring in this section hasn’t been updated in years, not since we bought the place from the last manufacturer.” Marcus’s voice echoed hollowly against the metal rafters. He slapped a row of wall switches, but only a single, buzzing fluorescent bulb flickered to life way down the central aisle, casting eerie, geometric shadows.

“We need to split up,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous-sounding low. The adrenaline was pumping so hard, my hands were vibrating. “Take the left side. I’ll take the right. Use your phone’s flashlight.”

“Be careful. If it is Leonard, he’s desperate,” Marcus warned, clicking on his flashlight.

I pulled out my own phone and flicked on the beam. The white light pierced the darkness, cutting through the freezing air as I moved deep into the maze of pallets and old machines.

My breath came out in puffs as I rushed down several aisles, almost getting lost.

Every crunch of my boots on the gritty concrete felt entirely too loud. My eyes darted to every dark corner, every gap between the crates.

“Sofia. Sofia,” Marcus and I called out over and over. Where was she?