by M. D. Archer
Victoria’s eyes went wide. “I totally get why Richie is doing it now, and I don’t feel bad at all.” She turned on her heel and stalked off. A door slammed, then the sound of running water could be heard.
“What’s she on about?” Paige asked Myra.
“I’m not sure, but she was seeing a guy called Richie. Uh... Richard. An older guy. Like, a lot older, but I think he broke up with her. She’s been awful since then. Well, I guess, worse than normal.”
Paige looked at her with alarm. “Did you say Richard? Not... not Richard Thinton?”
Myra shrugged.
“You know what, forget it, I’ll have to worry about that later. I’ve got to find Sophie.”
She pulled out her phone and called Leo.
WHEN LEO ARRIVED AT S & S Investigations, he found Paige pacing the conference room. “What’s going on?”
When Paige had called him twenty minutes ago, the panic in her voice had been enough to propel him into immediate action, despite him having just arrived at Jane’s motel. He was desperate to talk to Jane/Emily, but he couldn’t ignore Paige’s obvious distress.
Because Paige didn’t get distressed.
“Sophie is missing,” Paige said. “Like, literally missing.”
“What?” Leo choked out. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“When was the last time you spoke to her?”
“I dropped her at home at nine thirty last night, but she never made it inside, we’re pretty sure. No one has seen or heard from her since. Her phone is off.”
“Which means I can’t trace it.” Leo took in Paige’s pinched face. “You really think something’s happened to her?”
“Where else could she be?” Paige shouted, turning red.
“Okay, okay. Let’s talk it through. If she has been taken, who would do that?”
“Who would want to kidnap Sophie?” Paige intensified her pacing.
“This might be a dumb question, given we’re talking about Sophie, but does she have any enemies?”
“Of course not,” Paige scoffed. But a moment later, she stopped, her eyes wide. “That’s not true. She kind of does. Her half-sister, Hannah. I’m not sure what Hannah’s deal is, but Sophie’s kind of suspicious of her. And Roman!”
“She’s suspicious of Roman?”
“No. He was asking about Hannah.”
“About what? What’s Hannah done?”
“Oh my god.” Paige’s eyes went wide. “She was seeing Josh. But maybe that whole thing was a lie.”
“Josh?”
“Josh Spencer. The guy from the corporate gig who Sophie rejected and then Hannah dated and then Josh stalked.”
“Okay. Start from the beginning.”
By the time Paige had given a Leo a rundown of everything to do with Josh and Hannah, he was pacing the room too.
“You really think he’s vindictive enough to do something to Sophie?”
Paige nodded; eyes wide. “I do.”
22
Josh Spencer stood in front of Sophie. He swayed from side to side and he looked awful. Red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes. Haggard. Grey skin. Unshaven and unwashed, it seemed.
Sophie was no expert in recreational drugs, but she was fairly certain Josh was under the effects of some sort of upper. Probably amphetamine-based, like meth. Which meant he could be wildly unpredictable. Her stomach contracted as a fist of anxiety gripped her chest. She shook her head and ignored the unpleasant wave of dizziness. She had to focus. She had to breathe and keep herself calm and figure out a way to talk Josh down from whatever ledge he was on. She could crumble once this was over.
She tried to adjust her position to ease the ache in her lower back and the raw chafing of her wrists, tied behind her around the chair. They were in the living room/dining room area in smallish cottage. Where, Sophie had no idea, but a fairly continuous stream of traffic was audible from nearby, so they were probably on a main road. At least they weren’t somewhere secluded.
“Have you been sleeping, Josh? I’m worried.”
“Are you?” His face twisted. “Really? Or haven’t you given me a single thought since you ruined my career.”
Sophie frowned, trying to make sense of his words. What did he want? Since she woke up a few hours ago, nauseas and foggy from whatever he’d given her to knock her out, he hadn’t spoken much.
“It was all your fault.”
Sophie took a breath. “You know what? I’ve been thinking about it, and I can see that. I can see where it went wrong.”
Josh’s expression flickered. “You can?”
Sophie tried to think. What was the narrative? What story was he telling himself? And what did he want to hear from her? What would make him calm down, untie her, and drop his guard.
“Yeah. We should have worked more closely together to figure things out. It... I guess I let Paige talk me into going to the senior team.”
He nodded vigorously. “I couldn’t believe you did that.”
“And after we had such a nice date. I know. I felt terrible. But Paige kind of bullied me into it.”
Sorry, Paige. Sophie mentally apologised.
“Does she know where you are?” Josh said. Sophie frowned. He rubbed his head. “No, no.” He hit his forehead. “No, of course not. Hahahaha.” His laugh was manic. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I need sleep. But I have too much energy. Lots to do, you know?” Josh’s eyes were wild. “What I meant to say was...” Josh continued pacing for a moment. “Are you supposed to be somewhere right now?”
“I don’t know what time it is, but today I was supposed to be at the office with Paige.”
He stopped moving and thrust his face closer to hers. Sophie forced herself not to jerk backwards. He looked confused for a moment. “We just need some time—” He lurched over to the coffee table and grabbed her phone. It had been sitting there, frustratingly out of reach, all afternoon. He turned it on. Almost immediately it came to life, buzzing and beeping with messages and texts.
Sophie took a breath. “Paige, right? That’s what she’s like. Pushy. Controlling.” Once again, Sophie sent Paige a silent apology.
“If she doesn’t get a reply, she’ll think something is wrong.”
Josh narrowed his eyes. “I’m not an idiot.”
“Just a text to say I’ve gone to visit my mum because she’s not well. Or something. If my mum got sick I’d drop everything. She lives down south. It will give us some time to talk, Josh.”
He clutched at her phone, still uncertain. “Your phone could be out of battery.”
“That doesn’t happen to me very often. I’m not sure she’d buy that. But it’s up to you. You can do whatever you like. Whatever you think is smart. Because you’re smart. I know that from working with you.” Sophie forced a smile and watched a small but triumphant smile play at his lips. “You’ll make the right decision.”
He nodded. “I will.”
“But you remember Paige, don’t you? She’s not exactly relaxed about stuff.”
“Yeah, I remember her being a pain in the arse.” Josh nodded again, more to himself than to Sophie, then dropped his gaze to the phone. Suddenly he looked up, seeming pleased with himself. “I’ll look back at old messages you’ve sent to Paige and make it sound like you,” he said, as if hiding the reality of the situation from Paige was a problem both he and Sophie needed to solve.
Sophie tried to lift her shoulders in a casual way. “Whatever you think is best.”
Josh turned his feverish eyes to her phone.
“And I really want to talk to you, Josh. I think we’ve got some stuff to sort out, right? I was actually thinking about getting in touch with you. To suggest we meet up and talk.”
His head lurched up, his eyes bright. “Yeah. Good.” He went back to the phone once again. “Sorry. Mum had a fall last night,” he recited as he typed. “Gone down to see her. Back soon. X”
“Sounds good.” Sophie swallowed and tried to roll her shoulders in an
effort to relieve the tension. “Um.” She cleared her throat. “Listen, Josh.”
Suddenly, her phone, still in Josh’s hands, came to life. He looked down, then up. “She’s messaged back already.”
“What did she say?”
“Ok. Was getting worried. Let me know when you get back.”
Sophie nodded, trying to calm her breathing. “See? It worked. It’s fine.”
“We just need a bit of time. To chat, eh?” Josh said, scratching at his hair.
“I’d like that,” Sophie said, watching as he started pacing again. She eyed the phone, willing it to buzz again.
Come on, Paige. Please remember. Remember the code. It was your idea.
“Just need to think. Think things through. It doesn’t make sense, but it will.” He once again turned bright eyes to her.
“It will. It will all make sense. Talk to me, Josh. How do you see the future?”
Sophie’s phone buzzed again.
Josh looked at the message. He frowned. “She wants to know whether she should feed your cat. Like last time.”
Relief surged through her body and she tried not to let it show on her face. “Yeah. Say, yes please.”
Josh nodded, typing out the message. He slipped her phone back into his pocket. Sophie saw that he didn’t turn it off again and once again tried not to show the relief in her face.
“You wanted to talk?” Josh said, scratching at the stubble on his jaw. “Let’s talk.”
“Tell me about Hannah. When did you meet her?”
His face twisted with pleasure. “Jealous?”
Sophie tilted her head. “A little, maybe.” She tried to smile. “How did you meet her?’
He shook his head. “She was just there, one day. At the bar. I was, uh, waiting for friends to meet me, and she was just there.”
Sophie nodded. “Uh huh. But things didn’t work out between you two?”
“Nah, she’s nothing. Who cares? And it all worked anyway, because now we’re back together.”
Sophie tried to quell the lump in her throat. Back together?
“Yeah,” she forced a smile. “Together.”
PAIGE LOOKED UP. “IT worked, Leo. I asked her if I should feed the cat and Sophie said yes.”
“Huh?” Leo said. “Sophie has a cat?”
“No, she doesn’t. That’s the point.”
“You’re not—”
“It’s our code. Feeding the cat. We set it up ages ago. She’s definitely in trouble. And her phone is on now, so can you—”
He nodded, already tapping furiously at his laptop. A couple of minutes passed before he finally sat back. “There. She’s in Kingsland. Second Ave?”
“Maybe that’s Josh’s house. Can you find out who lives there?”
“Probably, yeah.”
“No.” Paige lurched toward the door. “No time. Come on. We’re going there.”
“To confront Josh on our own?”
Paige paused. “You’re right. It’s not enough. Not this time.” She scrolled through her phone until she found the number she was looking for.
LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER, Roman was outside the cottage in Kingsland with two uniformed officers.
They were placed just out of sight of the front windows. He glanced across the road to Leo and Paige, huddled next to a car. He shook his head and made an irritated sound. He’d specifically told them they should stay at the office and wait for an update. And what did Paige have in her hand? When he realised, he jogged over to her. “Paige. For the love of god, put the baton away.”
“What, this?” She held up the rod with an innocent expression.
“Yes, that. I’ll have to arrest you for wielding a deadly weapon.”
“But—”
“Paige.”
“Fine. I’ll put it in the car.” She leaned over to open the door and threw it inside.
“I’ll pretend I never saw it.”
“What’s the plan,” Leo asked.
“Simple,” Paige said. “We go in and get her away from that lunatic.”
Roman raised one eyebrow.
“Okay, Roman goes in and gets her.” Suddenly Paige clutched at Roman’s arm, all her bravado disappearing in an instant. “Right?”
He nodded, his jaw clenched. “Right.” He started down the street to where two uniformed officers waited but turned back. “Stay. Put.”
Paige nodded and turned her gaze to the house. “Soph, please be okay,” she whispered.
“She’s going to be fine, Paige,” Leo said, his voice also quiet. “I just know it.”
Leo circled one arm around Paige’s shoulder as they watched the two officers creep around the side of the house.
Roman knocked on the front door.
There was no answer.
Roman tried again.
“Josh Spencer? It’s Detective Sergeant Roman Leconte, here. I’d like to talk to you.”
Suddenly there were shouts from behind the house. Roman immediately ran to the side, jumped over the porch railing, and sprinted down the narrow path to the back of the house.
Paige lurched across the road with Leo close behind.
“Wait,” Leo said as they reached the gate. “We can’t go in.”
Paige pulled up abruptly. “I guess not.”
“Roman’s got this, Paige. Come on, we’ll just get in the way.”
It seemed like an eternity passed before the first officer appeared, then a second, pushing a handcuffed Josh ahead of him. Josh was unshaved and rumpled looking, his expression bewildered.
Finally, Roman came into sight, his arm cradled around an ashen Sophie. Paige launched herself at Sophie, drawing her away from Roman into a hug. Sophie started crying, her shoulders shaking with sobs. Roman stepped back, looking uncertain.
“Leconte?” one of the uniforms called. Roman cast another look at Sophie, then started toward the officer.
“Get me out of here,” Sophie whispered to Paige, her face streaked with tears.
“Wait.” Roman jogged back to where they stood. “I’m sorry.” His voice was gentle. “Sophie, I need... we have to interview you. We can do it tomorrow, but it has to be soon.”
Sophie took a shaky breath and lifted her chin. “No, now. I want to get it over and done with.”
IT WAS SEVERAL HOURS later that Roman finally left the station, fatigue picking at him as he climbed into his car.
He hadn’t conducted either Josh’s or Sophie’s interviews in the end. As much as he ached to make sure Josh went down, and as desperate as he was to make sure Sophie was treated gently, he’d recused himself. Josh looked like the kind to lawyer up and the thought of his charges being thrown out because of his relationship with Sophie—tainted testimonies or conflicts of interest or whatever—was more than Roman could bear.
The officers who’d gone around to the back door had seen, through the window, Sophie tied to a chair, obviously being held against her will. They had immediately burst inside, and Josh had lunged at them with a knife. They’d be able to charge Josh with more than just abduction and Roman would make sure they threw everything they could at him.
Josh had given a full and comprehensive, if a bit manic and rambling, statement. After a short-lived romance with Hannah he’d been stalking her, or, as he called it, keeping an eye on her. He’d turned his attention to Sophie after he’d followed Hannah to Sophie’s house the night of Paige’s barbeque. Old feelings had resurfaced—passion, resentment, and malice. Once he knew where she lived, the plan to abduct her had taken shape. What he intended to do with Sophie, ultimately, was unclear. According to Sophie’s statement, all he’d done was go on about what she’d done to him as well as some rather offensive ideas about how the world was no longer safe for people like him. He appeared to have spent his time off work in a dysfunctional spiral of dodgy internet sites that had encouraged him to take back control of his life, be a man, and become the best alpha version of himself that he could.
Roman didn’t know wha
t to make of the Hannah Bates situation. After talking to Paige he’d looked her up and found no record of a break-in at the place she was staying, which meant she’d lied to Paige and Sophie about that. Based on her recent behaviour, Roman believed it was her way of getting closer to Sophie, but was that just to steal her wallet and mess with her life, or was there something more? Just to be thorough, although he had no doubt, Roman had made the uncomfortable call to Wade to confirm Sophie had ended up at his place that Saturday night. He learned that she’d crashed on the couch, and also that Sophie and Wade were no longer seeing each other. She’s all yours, Wade had said bitterly before disconnecting. Roman hadn’t been able to stop the surge of pleasure that had rushed through him when he realised what this meant.
He pushed this aside to focus on the problem at hand. Had Hannah been involved with Sophie’s abduction? Josh had not said so, but he’d been muddled and confused and Roman wondered whether Hannah had somehow orchestrated events to suit her. Because now she’d disappeared. And he couldn’t shake the feeling he hadn’t seen the last of her.
Roman pulled at the kerb outside Sophie’s house but kept the engine idling. Sophie was in there, tucked up safe at home, but it wasn’t enough. Every part of his body ached to see her, to make sure she was okay. But she needed rest and space. Probably the last thing she wanted was another lovesick guy bothering her.
He leaned his head against the headrest, wishing he could close his gritty eyes and go to sleep right here, where he could be close to her.
But first he had something else to take care of.
The house was dark when Roman pulled into his driveway. Anya’s car was gone. The conversation he was now looking forward to would have to be another night.
The evening was warm, the heat of the day still in the air, so he left the front door open. He kicked off his shoes, went to the kitchen to pour himself a whisky, and stopped at the stereo in the living room on the way back. He put on the Best of Otis Redding, opened the front window so the music would drift outside, then took a seat in one of the wicker chairs on the front porch.