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“Hurry the fuck up.”

As soon as we were inside the elevator, he was on the phone again. His tone was calm, but his words conveyed a sense of urgency I hadn’t expected to hear from Trevor.

I tried to slow down and think, but I couldn’t. Fear, true, raw fear, washed over me. How could I be calm when Sofia was somewhere in the city, alone with people intent on harming her? And then the thought hit me. I knew who was responsible.

“It’s Sokolov. I know it’s Sokolov.”

Trevor finished his call and looked at me. Viktor Sokolov had been trying to damage our organization for months. He’d been trying to pinpoint a weakness in the syndicate that he could exploit. He’d always came back empty-handed.

Until Sofia. Sokolov wouldn’t even need to know what exactly she knew. He would only need to know what she meant to me. And somehow, he knew. The doors opened, I stepped out into the main lobby, and Trevor followed.

“We can’t be sure it’s him.”

“He knows about the syndicate funds that went missing before the fire. He knows that the old fire is being investigated. He knows enough about us to pick a target that would cause me pain.”

Trevor didn’t dispute my assumption. I quickly pulled my cell and dialed a contact on our surveillance team.

“Pull traffic cams and all private security footage from a five-mile radius of the kidnapping site,” I said to whoever answered. “I don’t care what it takes. I want all of it.”

I cut the call and looked out through the main entrance doors. Trevor’s phone rang, and he quickly glanced at it before looking back at me. “We have a possible route for the cars.”

“Let’s go.” For once, I wasn’t approaching the situation as the head of the syndicate.

I wasn’t thinking about Sokolov’s next move or defending our territory or counting the potential financial fallout. All I could think about was Sofia…and the terrifying realization that I might be too late to save her. I drove faster than I should have, but I didn’t care.

Trevor sat in the passenger seat, speaking into his phone as information came in from the men we’d sent ahead. Two vehicles followed us through the city, carrying several armed men who knew better than to ask why I was driving instead of one of them. I barely noticed the traffic around us. Every second mattered.

The first update came before we reached the industrial district. One of our contacts had found a traffic camera showing a dark SUV matching the description of the vehicle used in Sofia’s abduction. It was heading toward the docks.

“Do we have a plate?” I asked.

“Partially,” Trevor said. “We’re working on it.” He made another call, and I kept driving.

The streets gradually changed as we moved toward the harbor. The bright buildings gave way to warehouses, loading yards, abandoned factories, and long stretches of industrial road.

It was exactly the kind of place someone would choose if they wanted to disappear with a hostage. My stomach tightened. Sokolov knew this city, and he knew how to move people through it without attracting attention. Another call came through. Trevor listened, then looked at me.

“They found the SUV. It’s near an abandoned storage facility off the eastern side of the docks. The vehicle was seen entering the area about six minutes ago.”

“Six minutes? Then they’re still there.”

Trevor nodded, and I pressed harder on the accelerator. My thoughts kept returning to Sofia. I’d been lying to myself from the beginning.

I’d brought her into my life knowing exactly what surrounded me. I’d known there were enemies watching the O’Connors. I’d known the past could eventually reach her. Even after I discovered who she really was, I’d still believed I could keep her safe by staying away.

Now someone had kidnapped her because of me.

Fuck.

Trevor ended another call. “We have another location. One of our people saw two vehicles leaving the first warehouse and heading toward a cluster of abandoned buildings farther along the docks.”

“Send the coordinates.” He did. My phone displayed the location. Three warehouses, all of them abandoned and isolated, all close enough to the water that someone could move a person in or out without being seen.

I looked at Trevor. “Which one?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“Then we’ll check all three.”