I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I pulled up the video of Neal’s office and watched Patty work for a little while. She was sitting in Neal’s chair behind his large oak desk. She seemed to be in a trance. I watched for a few more minutes and decided I wasn’t going to get anything done. It was around four o’clock, so I headed to get Patty a little early.

On the way over to Neal’s office, the feeling of apprehension got worse. I knew if something was off, Brock would have called me immediately. The last time I’d had that feeling, I was stationed in Afghanistan a few weeks before I retired.

My unit was sent in to rescue a squad of captured soldiers. The rescue mission went without any hiccups. All the captured soldiers were in poor shape from being tortured for a week. On our way back to camp, I had a strange feeling of trepidation.

Before I could open my mouth, the convoy in front of us blew up. The Hummer had driven over an IED. We spent another hour under attack from terrorists who’d been alerted by the blast. We ended up losing half the captured soldiers.

Shaking my head, I came back to the present. I was riding the elevator up to the twenty-seventh floor, where Patty was. Trying to shake the sick feeling, I watched the numbers slowly climb. Much to my frustration, the elevator stopped frequently for more passengers.

Mary, Neal’s administrative assistant, was sitting at her desk when I walked into the room. She looked up from her computer with an inviting smile. Mary had to be in her early twenties. She was close to six feet and had the body of a model. If I had to guess, she only consumed salads. Her blond hair touched the middle of her back. Patty told me Neal was training her to work in the digital forensic department. During her downtime, she handled Neal’s administrative tasks. Mary didn’t look like the typical IT nerd. None of the women I’d met in the field ever looked like a typical IT nerd, though. John was parked on a chair next to Neal’s office doors.

“Good afternoon, Sam. Are you here to see Patty?” Mary asked.

“Yes, I’m breaking her out for the day. John, you can head home.”

“That’s good; she hasn’t been out of the office at all today. I haven’t seen her in a few hours.” Mary scrunched her nose. It seemed to dawn on her that wasn’t normal. It sure as hell didn’t seem normal to me. Patty can’t go an hour without another cup of hot chocolate.

My feeling of panic hit a new level. I walked up to the doors to Neal’s office and grabbed the handle. It was locked. Why the hell would she lock the door? I knocked while calling out her name.

I was met with silence. When I looked over my shoulder, Mary was heading toward me with the keys. Thank God, she had a key to Neal’s office. The solid oak doors would have been a bitch to break into.

Mary handed me the key, and I hurriedly unlocked the door. It swung open to an empty office. I walked toward Neal’s bathroom to find it empty. The computer was open, and it looked like she had the surveillance software open. The Hello Kitty mug on the desk was empty. Her pink iPhone was on the desk, with a missed call from me and three from Neal.

The phone rang again, playing The Big Bang Theory theme music. Neal was calling again. I assumed he had the same feeling I did.

“Hey, Neal,” I answered the phone, trying to hold back my anger.

I could hear commotion in the background before Neal’s voice came across the line. “Please tell me she is sitting in front of you.”

Grinding my teeth at the frustration of not knowing what was going on, I spit back, “No, tell me where the fuck she is, and when did she leave the office?”

Neal mumbled something about wanting to tan her hide. I was going to do more than tan her hide. She won’t be able to sit for a week after I find her.

“I was watching the feed, and something felt off. For the last few hours, she hasn’t left the office. I know she couldn’t last that long without hot chocolate or going to the bathroom. I’m looking at the video, and she is still sitting in my chair,” Neal stated with frustration.

“I can sure as hell tell you she is not sitting at your desk. My ass is in your chair. Mary said she hasn’t seen Patty in a few hours. John was at the door the whole time, and she never left.” Fuck! I can’t believe she has been missing for a couple of hours. There is no way she ran out. This had to be the stalker. Why take her now? How did he get into the building?

“I’m going to log into the screen-capture software I run on my computer. That will tell me the last time something was done on the station. That will give us an idea if Patty messed with the cameras or the stalker. I will also check the cameras in the stairwell and elevator. Brock wants you to call him.” Neal didn’t wait for me to respond before he hung up. Under all the frustration in his voice, I could hear the fear that was also creeping into my throat.

Looking around Neal’s office to see if anything was out of place, I noticed Patty’s purse was missing. Why would she take her purse and not her phone? The only logical conclusion was that she knew we were monitoring her phone’s GPS and wanted to go somewhere. Why the fuck could she not sit still for a few more hours? I hoped we could find her in time. Photos of the Waterville Stalker’s crime scenes flashed through my mind, and I mentally blocked them. We will find her.

I picked up my phone and called Brock. He picked up on the first ring.

“Boss,” Brock grunted into the phone. I could hear the click of the keyboard in the background. I imagined Brock sitting in front of his eight monitors, trying to find a glimpse of Patty.

“He’s got her. I can’t figure out how he got her. Nothing is off in Neal’s office.”

“Neal is working on a timeline. Where are you?” Brock asked. At least Neal could get us some kind of timeline.

I needed to head back to the office. “I’m still in Neal’s office. Her phone is here, but her purse is missing.”

“Get back here, and we can figure this out. Bring Patty’s cell with you. Maybe we can find something on it.”

“Fuck!” I screamed, not caring that a few of Patty’s and Neal’s employees were standing near his office.

“Stay calm. We are not positive he has her.” Brock was trying to keep me levelheaded. From the sound of Brock’s voice, he didn’t believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

“We both know that fucker has her.”

“Have John call me, and we will look through Neal’s office. I will also send Mia over to help him and see what they can find.” At least Brock was a little more levelheaded than me. I wanted to take the computer off Neal’s desk and chuck it at the Darth Vader picture on the wall.

Instead, I hung up and walked back into the waiting area, where everyone had congregated. I closed the doors and told John not to let anyone in but the team. I pocketed the key just in case an employee was behind the kidnapping.

All the employees’ faces were filled with worry. Patty said everyone had opened their arms to her since she’d started at Black Hat. Everyone was excited to meet the owner and eager to find out their boss was a princess. “Mary, make sure nobody goes in there but my team. We are sending Mia over to help John go through Neal’s office. She should be here within the hour.”

Mary nodded and wrote something on her notepad.

“Okay, everyone, Patty is missing. We’re not sure if it is a stalker who has been sending her messages. It could be someone who wants a quick buck from the tabloid story outing who she is. Can anyone tell me anything that might help in the investigation?”

At first, the room was quiet, and it seemed like nobody would say anything. Then a woman in the back said something. I couldn’t hear her, it was so faint. “Please come up here and repeat what you said.”

“I saw her coming back from the deli about two hours ago. She went into the parking garage.” The woman in a unicorn shirt and skinny black jeans spoke softly.

I wanted to shake her and tell her to speak the fuck up. I was worried I would scare her, and she wouldn’t tell me any more.

At least I had a timeline the guys could follow up on. They would be able to pull camera video from the garage. She must have left not too long after I’d finished my call with her—and she knew what she was doing. She’d known I wouldn’t call for a few hours, so she would be in the clear to run and grab food.

Why could she not send Mary to get the food or take John with her? I had a feeling she wanted to get out. We’d had bodyguards on her for the last few months, and she wanted to do something on her own. When we get her back, she will not have any option. She will have a bodyguard on her all the time. Especially until the tabloids find someone else to talk about.

“Thank you for the information. Does anyone else have anything to add?”

Everyone else looked at each other. Fuck, why can’t she appear? It was around four thirty, and she had been missing for two hours already. I pulled out my phone and texted Neal the time to check around for the cameras. I also told him where to look.

I put my phone back in my pocket and told everyone to keep an eye out for anything strange. I reminded Mary that Mia would be showing up soon. If John wasn’t around, Mary needed to ask for Mia’s ID before letting her in Neal’s office. Mary had never met Mia before, and we still didn’t know who was doing this or what they would do to cover their tracks.

As I went down in the elevator, my fists were clenched, and the apprehension from earlier had soared to a higher level. I felt like I might throw up. Exiting Black Hat Security’s front doors, I felt my pocket buzz. Hoping for a good update, I grabbed the phone. The text across my locked screen was my worst nightmare.

She’s mine now.

A picture was attached to the message, but my fingers were shaking so badly that I thought I might drop my phone. When I got the image open, it was a picture of Patty. She had her hands cuffed together, and her feet were bound with rope. There was a rag in her mouth, and her eyes were closed. She appeared to be in the back of a van.