Page 80 of Rescuing Sophia

“Or lead us into a trap,” Ethan counters, but there’s less conviction in his voice now.

“No.” Jenna shakes her head vehemently. “This is too elaborate for a simple trap. Sophia’s trying to tell us something.”

“Jenna’s right,” Malia chimes in. “Remember how Sophia always said the truth is in the details? She’s giving us all the pieces. We need to put them together.”

As the debate continues, Jinx lets out a triumphant “Ha!” Her exclamation draws all eyes to her screen.

“I’ve cracked the first layer,” she announces, a hint of pride in her voice. “It’s a list of locations and timestamps.” Jinx interrupts my spiraling thoughts. “There’s something else embedded in the code. A message, I think.”

The room falls silent as Jinx works to decrypt the hidden text.

“Got it,” Jinx says after what feels like an eternity. “It says: ‘Not what it seems. Find the bee.’”

“She took the drone.” A smile fills my face. “She wants us to find her. She’s telling us she didn’t have a choice. And gave us a way to track her.”

“If we can activate the drone,” Rebel adds.

“I’ll contact Mitzy,” Ethan pulls out his phone. “Her team should be able to activate it remotely.”

As Ethan steps aside to make the call, I find myself drawn to Sophia’s locker in the corner of the room. Something tugs at my memory—a conversation we had months ago about hiding places in plain sight.

Acting on instinct, I run my fingers along the edge of the locker, searching for… There. A slight gap between the metal and the wall. I slip my fingers into the crevice, feeling the edge of something thin and flat.

I carefully extract a folded piece of paper. Sophia’s handwriting scrawls my name across the front.

My hands tremble as I unfold the note. The others have fallen silent, watching me.

“Blake,” I read aloud, my voice barely above a whisper. “If you’re reading this, then everything has gone wrong. I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, to betray everything we stand for. But I had no choice. They’re forcing me to do this. I can’t tell you everything—it’s too dangerous. But please, trust that everything I’ve done, I’ve done to protect what matters most. I’m leaving you clues where I can. Follow them. Find me. I love you. Sophia.”

The letter slips from my fingers, landing on the table. The room is silent, the weight of Sophia’s words settling over us all.

“So what’s our next move?” Rebel asks, looking around the room.

All eyes turn to me, waiting for a decision. I take a deep breath. “We follow the clues. We find Sophia. And then we bring her home.”

The room erupts in a flurry of activity. Jinx returns to her computer, diving deeper into the decrypted data. Rebel and Malia gather all the physical evidence while Jenna closes the café.

Carter pulls me aside, his hand on my shoulder. “You okay, brother?”

I nod, not trusting my voice. The emotional whiplash of the past hour has left me drained, but there’s a new fire burning in my chest.

“We’ll find her,” Carter assures me, his voice low and determined. “Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” I echo, the words feeling like a vow.

As we head back to HQ, I look around The Guardian Grind. This place, a symbol of new beginnings, feels like the starting line of the most important mission of my life.

Sophia’s out there, counting on us to decipher her clues and rescue her. And I’ll be damned if I let her down.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Sophia

The car’stires crunch over gravel as we pull up to a private airstrip. Rain lashes against the windows, mirroring the storm raging inside me. I glance at the driver, his face an impassive mask in the rearview mirror. He’s been silent throughout the entire drive.

“Where are we going?” My voice sounds small, even to my own ears.

More silence. Not even a flicker of acknowledgment.

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