Page 94 of The Innovator

Being in love gave me this innate drive to be better. A better architect, a better man, a better lover. All of it. I wanted to protect her, give her a comfortable life where she could do anything she wanted. I could imagine her telling me bedtime stories for the rest of my life.

How cheesy was that?

While I waited for Natalie to bring lunch, I logged into my Level Three demo. It was almost finished, and I wanted to show her what I’d done with the attire she’d designed. I tweaked a few scenes with monsters and added a library where the player had to find clues hidden inside philosophy books to get more gems in order to access weapons and such. I smiled as I added Sartre, Descartes, and Voltaire into the mix. Natalie inspired this library.

My stomach growled, and I looked at the clock to see it was a quarter past two. Where was she? I checked my phone, and there were no text messages or voicemails. Unease stirred in my stomach. I called her, but her phone went straight to voicemail.

I paced the room and had the security guard from her building send me videos of all the entrances for the building. A few minutes later, I reviewed the videos and saw Natalie dressed in casual clothes, rushing out the door. Nothing appeared abnormal.

Something had happened to Natalie. I felt it in my gut. Fear tumbled inside me, gripping my heart. I called the PI and asked him to track her phone immediately. A minute later, he replied it was off the grid. The last known place was the Phoenix Dynasty restaurant, which wasn’t far from my office.

I drove there and questioned the older gentleman with a head full of white hair. For a moment, I thought of my dad. If he were still alive, he’d have hair just like this man.

“Excuse me, sir. Did a pretty girl stop by to pick up a chicken lo mein order?”

He gestured to the bag from the back table. “No. I’ve been trying to call her, but she’s not picking up.”

My heart pulsed with apprehension as fear swirled into icy knots in my gut.

Natalie hadn’t picked up the food, but she’d been here. So whatever had happened to her occurred nearby. I discovered her car and purse in the back parking lot. The lot had a camera in the guise of a fire alarm attached to the building. I only knew it was a camera because it was one of the new security systems I’d considered for some of my properties. At a glance, people would assume it was nothing more than a fire alarm.

Returning to the restaurant, I asked the man, “Can I please check your recording for the parking lot? My girlfriend is missing. She was supposed to pick up lunch two hours ago. Her phone showed she came here.”

The man furrowed his eyebrows, probably not wanting to get involved. If he said no, I’d have the PI hack into his system anyway, but I wanted to review itnow.

I spoke to him in Cantonese. “???.”

“Please help me” spoken in his native language, did the trick. He introduced himself as Jason and gestured for me to go to the back room, where I reviewed the recording. A cold chill ran up my spine as I saw two men shoving her into a van. The angle of the van made it difficult to see the license plate number accurately, but it was enough for the authorities to work with.

She’d been trying to help the fucking homeless man who had been one of the kidnappers. Rage soared and slammed into fear, making me want to kill them all. If these people dared touch her, I’d scour the world to track down each one of them. I’d skin them and make sure they suffered before their last breaths.

“We have to call the police,” said Jason, the restaurant owner who watched the abduction beside me.

The police arrived quickly and took down the report of a kidnapping for Natalie Chapelle. After checking her car for clues and finding nothing, they released it to me. I had my assistant drive it back to my house.

Who had done it? Rafael? I called him, but he denied having anything to do with her abduction. I believed him because he was working on something with me. He’d be stupid to blow up the multimillion-dollar collaboration with me.

Could it be the crime organization? But why? She had nothing to do with them. Were they getting to her because of me? What did they know about me? A thousand questions bombarded my head.

My phone continued to ring and buzz with calls and text messages. I sent a group text to my friends, letting them know I’d reach out as soon as I received more information. I knew they were worried, but I didn’t have the capacity to talk right now. Too much noise wasn’t helping me think at the moment.

Who the fuck had taken her? Was she all right? Did they hurt her? Every fiber of my body vibrated with worry, fear, and vengeance.

When I arrived home, it was around eight in the evening. I wanted to drive around the city looking for her, but I knew that would just make everything worse. Natalie needed my sanity to save her, not my insanity.

I felt detached from myself. My body felt like it was floating elsewhere while my brain and heart wanted to remain in one place.

My phone buzzed again. I glanced at it in case the PI or the police discovered something, but an anonymous number showed up. I clicked on the message that came with a link.

She’s here. Use the map. Go alone. Be careful.

Normally, I’d never click on a link from an unknown number. But I knew in my gut this person was referring to Natalie. The link opened to a blueprint of The Prism—an underground map.

A part of me wondered if it was a trap for me, but intuition told me differently. I closed my eyes, shoving all the concerns aside. Who sent the text? Did I know this person?

Before I left, I sent the anonymous number and the link to the PI to trace. This person was involved somehow, and despite him giving me a clue, I didn’t trust him. But it was the only clue I had of Natalie.

Even if this was a trap, I had to give it a shot. Natalie was waiting for me.

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