Chapter 5 - The Snake's NestWithin ten minutes, the mansion was silent. Only Henry and his personal security chief, a brutal, silent man named Silas, remained in the study.
“Silas,” Henry said, staring out at the dark ocean. “Where is the tracking device I put in Leo’s shoe?”
“Signal went dead three hours ago, boss,” Silas replied. “Last ping was near the old fountain in the rear garden.”
“And the security cameras?”
“Looping,” Silas said, his jaw tight. “A twenty-minute blind spot was programmed into the main server at exactly eight p.m. Whoever did it had the administrator passcode.”
Henry turned slowly. The administrator passcode was known only to three people: himself, Silas, and Vivienne.
“Call Marcus,” Henry commanded. “Tell him I want a full sweep of Vivienne LaRue’s financial accounts over the last six months. Every shell company, every offshore transfer, every phone call. And find out where Sophie Miller's car is.”
“Boss,” Silas hesitated. “You think the maid didn’t do it?”
“Sophie Miller doesn’t have the resources to loop my security system,” Henry said, his voice deadly calm. “And she doesn't have the stomach to demand five million dollars. But she is gone. Which means she either has my son, or she’s dead.”
Meanwhile, thirty miles away, in a crumbling, abandoned motel off Route 1, Sophie was wrapping Leo in a warm, dry blanket she had bought at a gas station.
She had used her last twenty dollars to pay for a room that smelled of old cigarettes and damp wood. She had washed the mud from Leo's hair, her own bleeding hands stinging under the warm tap water.
Leo was sitting on the edge of the squeaking mattress, holding a warm cup of milk Sophie had heated in the motel's microwave. He looked up at her, his eyes clear for the first time since the ordeal.
“Sophie,” he said softly.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Are we going back to Daddy?”
May you like
Sophie paused, her hand hovering over his wet hair. She wanted to say yes. She wanted to believe Henry Lawson would save them. But she had seen the men who visited Henry’s house. She had heard the whispers about what happened to people who got caught in the crossfire of his life.
“Soon, Leo,” she whispered. “But first, we have to make sure it’s safe.”
