Held for Ransom by Kathleen Tailer

Author:Kathleen Tailer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-04-13T13:06:45+00:00

* * *

Sophia gritted her teeth and drew her lips into a thin line as frustration and stress overwhelmed her. She felt tears threatening, but she didn’t want to release them. She didn’t mind crying in front of Noah, but she was afraid that if she allowed herself to cry, she wouldn’t be able to stop. “I’m so scared, Noah. What if they kill her? What if she’s already dead?”

“We can’t give up hope,” Noah said vehemently. “We’ll keep looking until we find her.”

Sophia was about to respond when her phone beeped with a notification. She dropped Noah’s hand and went back over to the conference table. Picking up her phone, she swiped to the correct screen. When she saw what had arrived, she turned quickly and held up the phone to show him. “It’s a video of Kylie! Look!”

Noah moved quickly to her side and bent his head so he could see her screen and they could watch together. Kylie was again secured with zip ties like in the first photo the kidnapper had provided, and she was sitting in a chair surrounded by boxes. Faint red marks could be seen around her wrists and ankles. Her eyes were puffy as if she’d been crying, and also had dark circles under them. Sophia hit the play button and her heart clenched as the video commenced.

“Sophie! Please help me! I’m so scared. They said they’re going to kill me if you don’t do what they ask. Whatever they want, please give it to them. I want to come home! Please, Sophia, help me.”

The video ended, and Sophia started shaking so badly she had to put the phone on the table so she wouldn’t drop it. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to bring herself under control before she spoke.

Noah put his hand on Sophia’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Okay,” he said forcefully, “let’s get this phone to Roman. Come with me.”

They found Roman at his desk in the middle of researching some of the information found in the box of newspaper clippings. He was typing furiously on the keyboard and staring intensely at the screen.

“Making any progress?” Noah asked.

“Not so far,” Roman answered, his voice baring his frustration as he turned from his keyboard. “What have you got?”

Sophia showed him the video on her cell and he quickly took the phone and forwarded a copy of the video to his computer. He then downloaded the video onto a small flash drive and handed it to her. “Here. You can analyze this in the conference room while I see if I can track down the source from your phone. Let me keep your cell for a minute or two. I’ll bring it back to you shortly.”

Sophia handed the USB to Noah and he grabbed a laptop from his desk as they made their way back to the conference room. En route, Noah pulled in Detective Matthews, who immediately set aside the file he had been reading and jumped up to join them.

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