by Sophia Gray
With a quick exhale, I gathered together the papers and stuck the flash drive in my pocket. Seb had done a great job helping me out, and I wanted to make sure there was no way to implicate him. I knew that if I wound up sending him to jail, I could never count on him for another favor again.
My heart seemed to harden in my chest as I glanced around my office. Would O’Brian arrest me, too? Would this be the last time I was in LennoxCo as the CEO? What was going to happen to my company, especially if I couldn’t get to Richard in time?
And above all, Audrey’s name was pulsing in my head like the beat of a drum. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her pale skin, her brown hair, her blue eyes. I shuddered as I imagined Hodges hurting her, or making her cry, or doing anything to make her uncomfortable.
I swallowed. I’d never had these kinds of thoughts before. So stop it, I thought in irritation. Don’t waste time worrying about this girl when you have business to take care of.
The big clock outside my office chimed the half-hour mark. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I knew that it was time for me to go and meet O’Brian.
Chapter Thirty-One
I made it to Starbucks in just enough time. Traffic had been heavy. I’d set out in a black car from the office, but three blocks away, I’d hopped out and run with a leather attaché case containing the flash drive and the papers. It was cold outside, and the sun was shining, but I felt none of its warmth.
Finally, I rounded the corner and burst into the Starbucks, panting and breathing hard. I was sweating under my wool overcoat, and I loosened the silk scarf at my neck before scanning the coffee shop for O’Brian.
When I saw him, I made a beeline for his table. He was seated at the back with a steaming cup in front of him. Even though it had only been a few years since the last time I’d seen him, he looked like he’d aged a lot. He was in late middle age, with salt and pepper hair, lots of lines on his face, and grim blue eyes.
“Enzo.” It was more of a statement than a greeting. We shook hands, and then I sat down, sliding the case across the table to him.
“This is for you,” I said with diplomacy. “And don’t ask how I got it.”
O’Brian raised his hands in the air. “I want to know, but you know how badly I’m dying to catch this bastard,” he replied as he flipped open the case and began flipping through the papers. “And what’s this?” He held up the flash drive.
“Electronic copies of everything. But I made paper copies so you could get to work on this straight away.”
O’Brian nodded.
“I want full immunity,” I said sharply. “As my present for complying and handing this stuff over to you.”
O’Brian frowned. “Enzo, you know I’d promise you that if I could. But right now, I’m not sure that I can. It depends on what’s inside, and what my superiors say.”
My heart sank. “I get it, but please try. You know I’m risking my neck by handing over these papers.”
O’Brian’s worn face looked into mine, and his blue eyes seemed to harden. “I know. And I’ll do my best. But right now, I can’t make any promises. It depends on what we find in here.” He patted the attaché case and tucked it into his bag.
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Okay.” My heart was pounding like a drum. “So, you guys are going after him today?”
O’Brian shrugged. “Probably not. It takes a while to get this paper pushed through the bureau, you know that. I’m not sure we’d be able to start anything until early next week, tops. Nothing before that, though.”
“You can’t move any faster than that?”
O’Brian narrowed his eyes and frowned. “Enzo, what’s the rush on this? What’s the big deal?”
I shook my head. “I can’t tell you,” I admitted. “But trust me, please. This is a bad situation, and I need your help.”
O’Brian stood up and sighed. He stretched. When I stood, I discovered that I was about a head taller than he was. In his police-issue boots, he was only slightly taller than Audrey. Just thinking about her name sent a bolt of warmth and panic through me. It was so easy to believe that she was back at the office, tucked away in some frumpy and lumpy garment, ignoring all social clues and typing loudly.
I shook my head.
“Enzo, what the hell is up with you?” O’Brian squinted at me. “I’ve never seen you look so stressed.” He laughed, putting his hands on his beer belly like it was something funny. “Normally you’re the slickest guy around. But right now, you look like a real mess.”
“Just find Hodges,” I snapped, putting on my sunglasses and scarf. “I have to go.”
When I got back in the black car, I didn’t go back to the office right away. I had my driver loop around the downtown area. I wanted to see where the car had crashed—if there was any evidence of wrongdoing. Or any evidence of Audrey, if it came to that.
“Just go around the block until I tell you to stop,” I instructed the driver. Rolling down the window, I braced myself against the bitter chill of the Chicago winter air. The pavement was clear save for a piece of gum here, a quarter there. The streets were much quieter than usual, especially for the middle of the day. I figured that everyone was inside, warming up at their desks. I cringed as the driver pulled up to the intersection where we’d been attacked. There was nothing on the ground, not even shards of tinted glass from the car.
“Stop here,” I instructed. The driver screeched to a halt, and I bolted out of the back seat, scanning the ground with my eyes. Even though I looked over every surface and sidewalk crack, there wasn’t anything that stuck out about the accident. Despite my almost-complete recovery from earlier, I was still sore and tired.
Looking at the ground over and over made me dizzy. Finally, I turned back to the car. There’s nothing there, I thought in defeat. Nothing I can use against Hodges, nothing I can use to find Audrey.
Something bumped into me, and I jumped back. “Excuse you,” I snapped under my breath, half-expecting a kid or an old person to be behind me. When I turned around, I was shocked what I saw.
Pepper.
Audrey’s mutt was sitting on the pavement and wagging its tail. Its pink tongue was hanging out of its mouth, and it actually looked glad to see me.
“Pepper?” I frowned, patting my thigh. “Is that you?” The dog barked again and then whined, pawing at the ground. Cautiously, I stepped closer, half-afraid that the dog would run off. But it didn’t, it sat there watching me. It was wearing a collar and a tag and a leash that had been ripped or cut halfway through the cord.
Sure enough, the tag read: Pepper.
I let out a sigh of relief and grabbed the dog’s collar, pulling it forward. Pepper whined but didn’t resist as I tugged it into the back seat of the car.
“You smell,” I complained.
Pepper panted in my face, drooling on my slacks. For a second, I wanted to push it onto the ground. Then I realized that the dog could actually be useful.
“Pepper, Audrey’s gone,” I said to the dog in a businesslike tone. “And we need to find her. Can you help me with that?”
Pepper barked in response.
“Great,” I muttered. “Now I’m so crazy that I’m working with a goddamn dog.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
I had the driver take me to a pet store, where I bought Pepper a replacement leather leash and matching collar, plus some dog treats and a little bowl. The clerk stared at me as I put everything on my charge card.
“What?” I snapped.
“Your dog,” the clerk said timidly. He put a hand up to his face and hid his zit-covered chin. “Your dog is a girl dog.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yeah, so?”
“So, it’s a her, it’s not an it?”
I rolled my eyes as Pepper barked. “Shut up, you,” I told her, leaning over the counter. “Don’t try to tell me what my fucking dog is, asshole. Right now, I’m dealing with some serious shit.”
The clerk shrugged. “I just think she would appreci
ate not being called it,” he said as he handed me the bag with Pepper’s new leash and collar.
Pepper whined as I put the new leash and collar on her neck, leading her out of the store. The dog didn’t seem to know that I was a friend of her owner, yet she was going with me all the same.
“Some loyal man’s best friend you are,” I said, reaching down and ruffling her ears in the same way I’d seen Audrey do. Pepper whined and rubbed her head against my hand. She barked once, and I shook my head.
When we got back in the car, I directed the driver to take me to Audrey’s ruined apartment. Part of me was nervous that Hodges would be inside, but I knew that I had to look for Audrey. Pepper seemed to know the way—as soon as we were within a few blocks, she barked and pawed at the window until the driver rolled to a smooth stop outside of Audrey’s dilapidated building.
Leaving Pepper in the car, I leaped up the flights of stairs and pushed my way into the ruined kitchen. It smelled horrible in the apartment, and it was freezing cold. I realized that whoever had broken in had left food all over the kitchen floor and living room, as well as breaking every window in sight.
Nice place for Audrey to come home to, I thought as I pushed my way into the bedroom. That is, if she even comes home.
Shaking my head, I grabbed a pair of leggings that were draped over the back of a chair. I ran back outside and darted into the back seat of the car. Pepper leaped all over me and licked my face until I pushed her away in disgust.
“Don’t you know when you’re not wanted?”
Pepper whined.
“Smell these,” I ordered, holding the leggings under her nose. “Then we can find Audrey.”
Pepper sniffed obediently, then looked out the window and started to bark. I called up front to the driver: “Keep driving around until she stops barking. Then I’ll get out and look.” I knew it was a harebrained scheme, but right now I was desperate.
After O’Brian had told me that it could be up to a week before they started looking for Hodges, I knew I had to take matters into my own hands. Audrey wouldn’t be alive in a week. She only had a few precious hours left to go—that is, until I showed up and saved the day. I grinned, imagining Audrey plastering her soft body against mine and thanking me with a passionate kiss.
Pepper barked louder, startling me out of my daydream. I stared at the dog. For once, I could tell that she was as stressed out as I felt myself. “Pepper, it’s going to be okay, we just have to find your mistress, okay?”
Pepper whined again. My stomach twisted into a knot of anxiety. This was a stupid idea; we weren’t going to find Audrey because of her dumb mutt. If I wanted to find her, I was going to have to take action.
“Never mind what I said earlier,” I called up front to the driver. “Take me back to LennoxCo. I need to call on a few friends for some help.”
As the driver turned in the opposite direction, Pepper crawled over me and lay her head in my lap. She looked up at me with big, dopey brown eyes and I felt a sense of calm come over me. I frowned down at the dog.
“Is this why Audrey keeps you around?” I asked as I reached down to scratch her ears. “Do you keep her chilled out?”
Pepper whined in response, closing her eyes and nudging my hand with her big head.
I let my head flop back against the seat as I sighed. “I don’t know what we’re gonna have to do, Pepper, but we’re not letting that asshole take Audrey. You got that?”
Pepper didn’t respond. She closed her eyes and let her head rest in my lap, drooping her body on the floorboards of the car. I looked down at her and shook my head.
“You have it pretty fuckin’ easy, you know that,” I said as I scratched her neck. “If only we could all be so lucky.”
On the inside, thoughts of Audrey were slowly tearing me apart.
Chapter Thirty-Three
When I got back to LennoxCo, I took Pepper inside with me, and we rode the elevator to the executive floor. I got a few strange looks, but not many—CEOs were luckily blessed with being able to get away with almost everything.
In my office, I set a bowl of water and treats down for Pepper. Then I picked up the phone and called Seb.
“I need you in my office right now,” I said sharply.
“Man, I’m not doing any more work right now,” Seb replied. I could hear him swallow over the phone. “I told you, I’m done with that.”
“It’s not about that, asshole, it’s helping me with something else.”
Seb hung up. Five minutes later, he waltzed into my room as though he had a standing invitation.
“What do you need?” Seb flopped down on the black leather couch. Pepper immediately walked over to him and put her big blocky head in his lap. “What’s this, Lennox? A dog? You got a fucking dog?”
“She’s not mine. I’m just taking care of her for a friend right now.”
Seb frowned. He pushed Pepper away and leaned back against the couch. “So, what do you need?”
I sighed and raked a hand through my hair. The lack of sleep and concussion was starting to catch up with me, and I felt achy and sick, like I needed to sleep for hours. “I need help finding Audrey,” I admitted.
“The secretary?” Seb frowned. “I thought that’s why you needed those statements, so you could go to the cops, and they’d take care of it.”
“I handed everything over, but I don’t think it’s going to get taken care of before next week.” Just saying the words aloud made me feel sick and anxious. “The cop, O’Brian, said that it takes a while to process things. And he couldn’t even fucking guarantee me immunity.”
“Shit,” Seb said. He leaned forward, spreading his muscular legs and resting his elbows on the inside of his thighs. “So, what now?”
I shrugged. “I have to find her. And I don’t have much time. I tried looking earlier…” I trailed off, looking at Pepper. She was lying on the floor with her snout covered with her front paws. “But that didn’t help. I couldn’t find her, Seb. I have no idea where that bastard took her.”
Seb shook his head. “Man, just let the cops handle this. You don’t want any more trouble, and neither do I.”
“She’s important to me, Seb,” I snapped. Once I said the words, I realized that they’d been true for a long time. I just hadn’t been willing to acknowledge it until now. “And if I don’t find her, I’m worried that he’s going to kill her or hurt her or do something terrible.”
Seb stared at me. “And you didn’t tell the cops about this?”
I shook my head. “Dude, no, I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want to implicate her in anything.”
“What could she possibly have done?” Seb laughed. “She’s your secretary, it’s not like she tried to take this guy down or some shit.”
“No, but she scanned through all of our old correspondence, and even though that bastard wrote it in code, I have a feeling she probably figured out some of what he meant.”
“Okay. So where do you want to look?”
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, trying to think of every nook and cranny Hodges would frequent. “There’s the shoe store downtown, his store. That would be a good place to start. There’s a warehouse attached. I bet she’s probably there.”
“Think about what you’re doing,” Seb urged. “You need to remember that this shit is dangerous, and it’s not like you can just go in there with that dumb mutt and find Audrey. Do you have protection? Do you know how many stooges this guy has hired?”
I shook my head. “No, but I have to try. I have to find her, Seb. I can’t fail. I can’t let him win. Not this time. He ruined me once before, and I won’t let him do it again.” And I won’t let him hurt her, I thought, clenching my fists in frustration. No way, no how.
Seb stood up and wiped his hands on his pants. “Alright, then I’m in.” He grinned at me, and I felt a rush of affection for him, my partner in crime.
“It’s funny,” I said as I stood up and clipped the leash to Pepper’s co
llar. “We used to party together and cover for each other.”
Seb laughed and punched me in the shoulder. “Remember when you told my girlfriend that I’d gone home sick when I really went home with those strippers?”
I rolled my eyes. “Hard to forget,” I muttered. “We used to be such assholes.”
“Used to be?” Seb stared at me. “Have you completely pussed out? What happened to you, Lennox? You used to be a real man.”
“Life happened,” I replied darkly. “Somewhere along the line, I think my priorities started to change. Now all I care about is my company. I don’t give a shit about partying or fucking strippers anymore.” And Audrey, my mind chimed in, but I didn’t dare say it in front of Seb. She’s important. She’s very, very important.