Numbers Never Lie (Crimson Romance) (25 page)

“Fine. Fine. No problems. It was strange, almost like he was glad we caught him.” Trev dismissed the arrest pretty easily. “Is Sophie still there? Can I talk to her?”

“No, man. She left hours ago. Said she needed to make sure you had a ‘proper celebration.’ I haven’t seen her since around four-thirty.”

“She’s not here.” Trevor was puzzled. “I’m at her apartment and it doesn’t look like she’s even been here. Her mailbox is still full.”

“Hmmm … don’t know. Maybe she’s still at the store getting groceries. You know how women shop … or maybe she decided to ditch you now that she’s met me.” Nate chuckled, then said, “Hey, just curious. Who’s the ‘stalker dude’? She called her friend’s boyfriend the stalker dude and wanted to know if he was one of us.”

In an instant, terror seized Trevan.

“Trev?”

“Where does she live, Nate? Sophie’s friend, Callie, where does she live?”

“Why?”

“Just give me the fucking address and get someone over there
now
! Sophie’s in trouble.”

Trevor was already in his car by the time Nate rattled off the address.

“Thanks, man. Start a trace on Sophie’s cell. I need to know exactly where she is. If we don’t get there in time, who knows what he’ll do to her. And get me a name on that guy, whoever the fuck he is.”

“What does he have to do with this?”

“I don’t know, but he tried to kidnap her in a bar parking lot a few months ago.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sophie called Callie on the way home. She was so ready to get her life back … talk to her best friend and sleep in her own bed — hopefully not alone. Callie was going to scream when she told her everything that had happened with work and with Trev. The last that any of her friends knew, she was kissing him in the parking lot. They would really be surprised at how quickly it had progressed.

“Hey girl! Long time, no talk to.” She smiled into the phone. “Mind if I stop by for a chat?”

Sophie had never been to Callie’s apartment. In fact, she hadn’t even realized they lived so close to each other until now. As she knocked on the door, she considered how odd it was that her closest friend’s life was somewhat unknown to her. She felt bad for not delving further to learn more personal information about Callie outside of work. Callie hadn’t really shared much and she’d been so wrapped up in her own life, she didn’t ask.

“I’ll get it,” a male voice on the other side of the door said loudly as Sophie’s knocking resonated through the apartment.

She must have knocked on the wrong door. She started to walk away and call again to make sure she had the address right. At that moment, the door swung open and a man leaned forward with one arm on the door.

Sophie’s mouth dropped as she saw the face. Even after several weeks, the face was easily recognizable and she panicked when she looked into the cold, empty eyes staring at her. She drew a deep breath and turned on her heel to run. He reached for her but caught only the material of her shirt. She yanked it from his grasp and bolted toward the stairs. Why did Callie have to live on the third floor? No time to wait for the elevator.

She lunged through the stairwell door and took the first set of stairs as fast as she could. Her steps pounded like dribbling basketballs down them. She heard his steps coming right behind her. As she approached the landing of the second floor, she reached for the trashcan in the corner and flung it across the stairs behind her. She heard a large groan as he fell over it. A quick glance over her shoulder saw him flailing to pick himself off the floor. Blood was dripping from his cheek where he’d caught the corner of the arm rail. It gained her a precious few seconds and she increased the gap between them.

Sophie ran down the second set of stairs and again sent the trashcan sprawling across behind her. Unfortunately, he was ready this time. He vaulted over the container and landed on the steps below. His landing was off balance and his feet slipped away from him. He pulled himself up with the railing and started after her again. Ahead of her, getting closer as she rushed toward it, was the door to the outside world. She anticipated screaming her lungs out while she sailed through it. She reached for the handle and twisted. Just as she was breathing the freedom, opening her mouth to scream, his hand snaked out and grabbed her arm. He had jumped over the rail and landed on the floor in front of her. His grip was hard, bruisingly hard. He pulled her back up the stairs, away from the door, slamming it behind her.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he spit out between clenched teeth. She started to scream again but he yanked her arm up behind her back. “You make another sound and I swear I’ll beat the shit out of you and throw you off the roof.” He kicked her in the back for good measure. She yelped in pain.

Her legs stung as he dragged her up all three flights of stairs. She resisted all the way but it didn’t help. At the top, he lifted her up by the arm. “Walk!” he ordered. He escorted her back to Callie’s apartment. He flung the door open and they entered. His face was beet red and dripping with sweat.

“Who was it?” a voice called from within the apartment. That voice Sophie knew. It was Callie. She wanted to scream … how did this man know Callie? How did he get here, and how long had she known him?

“It’s your friend.”

“Oh, great! Bring her in. I haven’t seen her in forever.” Sophie’s heart sank. Callie wasn’t in danger apparently. It sounded like this man was pretty familiar with her. As a matter of fact, it sounded like the only person that might be in danger was Sophie herself. But why?

“Hey there, Soph! I’ve missed you.” Callie acted as if nothing had happened … as if there was no reason for concern. “I’ve tried calling you. You haven’t been at work or at home in forever. You sure make it hard to keep up with you!”

“I was sick.”

“Sick? No, you weren’t sick,” she said confidently.

“Yes, I was. I stayed with a friend until now.” Sophie looked from Callie to the man in front of her that she only knew by one name: stalker dude. She wasn’t sure why he was here and what the two of them had going, but it couldn’t be good. No possible good could come out of this situation. “In fact, my friend is waiting downstairs for me in his car.”

“Oh, you mean your new boyfriend, Trevor?” Callie asked innocently. “That’s strange, I thought I saw you drive up in your car alone.” She crooked an eyebrow at Sophie. “Where did he park? I’ll go ask him up.”

“He dropped me at the door and was making a quick stop at the store, then waiting for me downstairs.”

“Really? I just was so sure I saw your car and you were driving.” Callie was not going to be misled no matter how hard Sophie tried.

“Callie, who’s your friend here?” Sophie tried to change the subject.

“We’ve already met, haven’t we, dear?” The stalker was watching her intently now. Callie’s face glazed over as she glanced first at Sophie, then at him.

“You two know each other?” Callie’s brows arched in curiosity.

“Not really.” Sophie tried to measure the situation up. “The only name I know for this guy is
stalker dude,”
she quipped, watching Callie’s reaction.

“Ahhh.” A knowing look crossed her friend’s face. “That explains a lot. So, tell me, Kevin, since you seem to be orchestrating this drama, what exactly is going on?”

“You know exactly what’s going on, sweetie … your friend here is our bank account. And it’s time to make a withdrawal.” Stalker sneered and jerked his grip on Sophie’s arm to emphasize his words.

“What the … ” Sophie’s head snapped to look at him sideways. “I don’t know what you’re talking about but I think you’ve got the wrong girl.”

“No. Right girl. Right dad. Right trust fund, which has millions of dollars sitting wasted in it. And you’re going to ‘share the wealth,’ so to speak today. You’re going to take us down to the bank and make a nice, hefty withdrawal along with a relatively nice sized fund transfer.”

“I don’t think so.” Her voice snapped.

“Yes. I think you will.” He started pulling her toward the door. “You know you could have made this a lot easier if you’d just shown a little interest in me in the beginning.”

Callie’s eyes grew larger and she looked around the room as if looking for a weapon, something to stop him with. Her eyes rested on her laptop. “Hey, Kevin. Why don’t you just have her do the fund transfer from here? Surely they have some sort of website to do that kind of thing … don’t they, Soph? My computer’s right here.” She gestured at the laptop, open and running on the kitchen counter.

Stalker’s eyes registered the plan and agreed. “Good idea, Cal. Let’s get that done before we head down to the bank to get the cash.” He pushed Sophie toward the chair in front of the laptop and forced her down to the keyboard. “Get busy, girlfriend,” he ordered.

“No.”

Without hesitation, he doubled his hand into a fist aimed at Sophie’s right eye. “Stop! Don’t hit her face! If you’re intending to take her to the bank, you don’t want them to see her with a giant welt on her face, you idiot.”

Sophie’s eyes shot up and focused on Callie. “Cal? You … you’re in on this? What’s going on?”

“Your dad’s a good guy, Soph. He didn’t deserve what you and your mom did to him, deserting him like that.”

“What? How do you know my dad?
What the hell is going on?”

“I worked for him in New York, did an internship there. You didn’t deserve what he gave you, setting aside a percentage of every business deal for you. You don’t deserve it now. You’ve never shown him an ounce of thought or respect. That money should be used — not just sit in a bank because you’re such a spiteful kid you can’t appreciate what he’s done for you. If you don’t want it, let someone else put it to use.”

Sophie’s mouth dropped open as she stared at this person talking. The person that had been her friend through her mom’s death. The person she’d confided in and worked alongside. A complete stranger.

“You don’t know anything about my dad, or my mom.” Panic and anger boiled deep inside her gut. She was on her own. Her friend was no friend at all.

“I don’t really give a shit, Soph. You have a landslide sitting in a bank. Money that most people would give their right arm for and it was just given to you. For no reason, other than the man had delusions that you’d someday come back and be his daughter and appreciate his generosity. You don’t want it. We do. Now, get moving on that money transfer or I’ll personally blacken your eye myself.”

Sophie’s mouth stiffened and her chin drew up defiantly as she mouthed the word, “No.” As soon as it came out, a blinding pain went through her left side and she fell to the floor. When her body hit the tile, Stalker’s shoed foot started jabbing repeatedly into her rib cage. He pulled back and heaved it with as much force as he could gather on each strike. She couldn’t get a breath between the kicks, the pain just kept coming and coming.

“That’s enough.” Callie’s hand went out to pull him off.

“So, what’s it gonna be, rich bitch?” Stalker’s hands pulled her up from the floor and dumped her back in front of the computer.

“Fuck. You,” she said as she reached a heel up and jabbed it into his shin from behind. Trevan would have been proud. She rolled the other leg over and kicked as high as she could, aiming for his face. Her leg caught only air as he ducked, then sent a fist into her back.

“Okay.” His teeth gnashed. “We do this the hard way.” He looked at Callie and snapped out orders. “Get something to tie her up with and some tape in case we need to tape her mouth. I’m going to her apartment to get her checkbook, then go to the bank. You stay here and watch her.” He yanked Sophie’s arms behind her back and waited for Callie to restrain her in the chair.

“It won’t work. They have my signature on file. They won’t accept a forged check for that amount of money.”
This guy’s really an idiot,
Sophie thought.

“Callie’s got your signature down pat … don’t you, hon?” He grinned. “Why, she can sign
Sophie Henderson
better than you can. That’s what happens when you assign one of your staff to help authorize bills and invoices.”

“That’s right. Get moving. We wouldn’t want her boyfriend to start missing her and come looking. If he really exists.”

• • •

“Trev. I’m sorry. I should have kept her here until you got back. I just thought it was over.” Nate was on his cell. Trev heard the faint ding of the elevator in the background. Nate was on his way out of the office, headed to meet him or beat him to Callie’s.

“It was over. This is something else. I’m not sure what, but something else.” Trev was darting his car in and out of traffic. He’d switched on the lights and had the siren running. No time to be quiet. “I thought he was just a perv who tried to grab her and missed. She didn’t even have a name for me to check on him. If she had, I would have checked him against sex offenders. That’s what I thought … ”

His mind wandered to what could happen to her and he tightened his lips and gritted his teeth.
No, don’t think about it,
he told himself. After everything she’d already dealt with, there was no way he could let that happen. He had to find her. In reality, though, it had to be more than just a sex offender, right? He tried to grab her, then he purposely got close to Callie, which meant there was a plan in place. Something more than just a random thing. Something detailed out in advance. But what?

“Nate, Callie moved here from New York, right?” Trev asked.

“Yeah, that’s what the file says.”

“Call Cheryl. Find out more about what happened in New York and why she came back. Also, do we know how and where she met this guy?”

“No, we don’t have that but we’ll get it, Trev.” Nate’s voice was calm. There was a short silence on the phone. “We’ll get her, man,” he reassured. “We’re on our way. We’ll get Sophie. She’s going to be okay.” Trevan appreciated his words but knew they were working against the clock now. She had been gone for a while. He could only hope she was just visiting with her friend and all was well and she’d lost track of time. Unfortunately, it just didn’t feel right.