Page 156 of Two Guys, a Girl, and a Tripod

“No, she… she reached out to me on Twitter. Said Sophie was supposed to be home in time to see her off, but wasn’t.”

“Sophie said that’s why she had to leave.”

“Natalie never saw her.” Miles takes a step into my office and turns his phone to show me the messages, but continues to explain. “Natalie didn’t think anything weird was happening til she stopped for gas and didn’t have any messages from Sophie. I haven’t heard from her since she left, have you?”

“I-” I glance at my phone on my desk, dread forming a knot in my stomach. “No.” Before Miles makes his suggestion, I’m back at my computer.

We’re both thinking the same thing. There’s no need to say it out loud.

Caleb.

When reviewing the footage this morning, I didn’t fully catch up, ending a few hours early. I skip to the timeframe when Sophie left, speeding through footage until I see Natalie packing her car. I watch her speedy little black-and-white form waiting on her friend. She sends a text, but doesn’t seem to receive a response, and finally leaves.

Within minutes, I’ve caught up to now–two thirty-three in the afternoon.

“She never made it home.” My choked whisper barely makes it out of my throat as my fingers reach for my phone. “I’m calling Mel.”

She picks up quickly.

“Mel, please, you have to help.” I don’t like having to ask again so soon, but I have no choice.

“What’s wrong?” The genuine concern in her voice does little to thaw the cold fear in my chest.

“It’s Sophie, she’s- She left a few hours ago, but she never made it home. I’m not-” My breathing is coming so quickly, I can’t control it now. Miles steps up to take my phone and put it on speaker while I try to calm down. I run my hands into my hair and drop my elbows to rest on my thighs, my head hanging low.

“Mel, it’s Miles. Sophie was headed straight home.” The fear in his voice matches mine, but it’s not crippling him the way it is me. “Her roommate said she never made it and now she’s not responding to anyone’s texts. Brody needs access to your systems again.”

“No need, I’ll get a team on it.”

“Mel,” my voice breaks as I lift my head, “I need to help. I need to find her.”

“We’ll find her, Brody.”

41

Sophie

What the fuck happened?

The surface beneath my right arm is hard and rough with what feels like little bits of gravel digging into my skin. My head hangs awkwardly to one side. I’m clearly not in my bed. When I open my eyes to darkness, my pulse quickens.Did I go blind too?No, wait. My eyelashes brush against some kind of cloth. I’m blindfolded. My heartbeat is like a painful drum in my head, concentrated in one spot on the left side. I try to raise my hand to feel what I expect is a cartoonish lump, but something tightens around my wrists. It’s rough, burning when I turn my hands. Rope?

Seriously, what the fuck happened?

Since I can’t physically do it, I focus through the pounding ache in my head to mentally examine the rest of my body. My ankles must be bound too, likely by the same rough material. I can’t straighten my legs. Something must be connecting my wrists and ankles. Using my elbow to push myself, I roll onto my back, bringing my hands to rest on my stomach and pulling my ankles up.

“Sooophie.”

Caleb might as well have doused me in ice water for the cold fear that takes hold of me. The elongated pronunciation of my name breaks through the fog of pain in an instant.

“Sophie.”

This one is short and quick.

Of fucking course.

“We were worried you’d sleep all day.”

Jesse’s here too, I gather.

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