Page 12 of Saving Sophia

Hayden sped toward her apartment building, sirens blaring. My mind played the image of her waving the lollipop at me before walking through the battered police station door on an infinite loop.

Her breath caught and she let out a tiny moan.

“Shh. I’m still here.”

“He’s coming …” she whispered.

I had an insane urge to get out and run toward the sound of her frantic breaths. I had no idea where she lived and the car was faster, even with traffic, but the urge to do something was overwhelming.

“Which apartment are you?” I kept my voice low when we pulled up in front of a white stucco four-story building.

“T-two-thirty-eight.”

We blasted through the open entry gate, Hayden pointing toward a stairway past the dusty courtyard. I barely knew this girl, but she was in trouble. And she called out to every protective instinct I had. We charged up the steps, two at a time.

“Oh no, no, n—” she screamed. The hollow thump of the phone falling to the ground echoed in my ear. Muffled sounds of struggle and her high-pitched shrieks for help filled my head.

We sprinted down the covered hallway till we got to the door with the numbers 238.

“Police,” Hayden shouted, kicking the flimsy door in with two tries and running into the living room, gun drawn.

“Sophia?” I roared, running right behind him, probably breaking a million protocols, but I didn’t care. I needed to see her, alive and unharmed. I couldn’t get her terrified voice out of my head.

A small figure lay crumpled on the floor just inside a bedroom at the end of a short hall. My heart lurched to a stop until I saw her moving. Alive. She was alive.

“Sophia?” I yelled again as I got to the spot where she lay. I was vaguely aware of Hayden running through the apartment.

“The balcony,” she gasped and pointed to a sliding glass door standing wide open. Hayden cursed and ran to the tiny patio, but I could only see her, curled into a ball by the edge of her bed.

“Hey there,” I crooned, easing down next to her. She didn’t move away. I opened my arms to her, and she slumped against me. “Are you hurt?”

“N-no. I don’t think so,” she whispered, burrowing her face into my chest and wrapping her arms around me like a vice.

“Shh, baby, you’re safe now.” I didn’t mean for the endearment to slip out. She wasn’t mine. I had no right. But relief shoved that thought aside as I held her.

“He was gonna … he almost …” She gulped in a ragged breath.

“But he didn’t.” I ran a hand over her plush dark hair.

Hayden was moving through the room, on the phone giving orders, all business. “The team’s here,” he said brusquely, flipping on the lights. “You stay with her.” Murmured voices and heavy footsteps echoed back from the living room.

Sophia shuddered against me. “Who are all those people?” She sounded dazed.

“More cops,” I said. “They’ll want to talk to you.”

“Are you a cop?”

“No. Detective Valero’s my brother.”

Her brow furrowed as she put it together. “The one you were visiting?”

“Yes. We were eating Thai food when you called.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

I shifted my arms carefully around her, trying to make her more comfortable. “I’m not.”

She shuddered and pressed tighter against me. “Do I have to talk to them?”

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