Chaos (Colby Brock)

97

I just couldn't see Julia leaving at all without taking someone with her, or at least telling someone.

"Do you think someone took her?" I asked and focused on the road. "I hope not. If they did then they really know what they are doing." Sam said as I clenched my jaw.

I was angry with myself that no matter what I did, I couldn't protect her. I couldn't keep her safe no matter how hard I tried.

My thoughts were interrupted by my phone ringing. "Nate." I answered after only one ring.

"Hey, boss. Uh...you might need to get to the office." He said causing my heart to drop.

"We're on our way already. Julia is missing." I said and focused on the road.

"Shit. Yeah, get here fast." Nate said as I clenched my jaw and floored it. "Slow down, dude! We can't get pulled over." Sam hissed.

I knew he was right but I couldn't be bothered right now.

When we got to the office I got out of the car and quickly made my way to the elevator, putting my code in.

"Colby, you've gotta chill." Sam said as I clenched my jaw.

"Don't tell me what to do." I snapped then went into the elevator.

I knew that Sam was worried about me but all of my concern was on Julia. If she really was taken she would be so scared.

She was already so vulnerable that I think that would actually break her.

"Colby." Nate said as Sam and I walked out of the elevator. "What happened?" I asked as he held up an envelope.

"This was upstairs." He said and handed me the envelope. "Where? Just in the garage?" I asked and started to go towards my office.

"Sitting right in front of the garage. Dylan found it." Nate explained.

"Pull up the security footage for the house." I said to Nate as I walked into my office. "You got it." He said then left to go to his desk.

When I sat down I ripped the envelope open and pulled the paper out.

"What does it say?" Sam asked as I read the note.

"You have seven days to find her. Starting price one million, price will go up every day. The longer you wait the worse shape she'll be in. Good luck." I said then slammed my fist on the desk.

"They want a million dollars?" Sam asked as I nodded. "That's the least of my worries. They're going to fucking kill her." I said and scrubbed my face with my hands.

"No. We're going to find her and pay them and she'll be okay." Sam said as Nate opened the door.

"I got the camera footage up." He said as I nodded and turned to my computer so I could watch it.

"What did the note say?" Nate asked. "It's a ransom note." I said and slid it to him, watching the cameras carefully.

There were cameras all around our new house since I was worried something like this would happen.

"This looks fucking serious." Nate said as I nodded. "It is. We don't sleep or stop working until she's safe and sound." I said, focusing on the screen.

I was exhausted but I wasn't going to rest until Julia was in my arms.

"What the fuck?" I asked, looking at the cameras. Everything was normal until all of them went completely black.

They were only black for a couple seconds then they went back to normal. "Someone cut the line for a minute." Nat said then scrunched his brow, leaning over to check the settings of the cameras.

"That seems very intentional." Sam said as I nodded, looking at the time stamp.

"It's in the timeframe of when she was taken. Is there a way to recover the footage?" I asked as Nate shook his head.

"I can try my best, but if the footage is wiped while recording it usually means it's gone forever." He explained.

"Check the footage from here. They might have been sloppy when dropping off the note." Sam said as Nate nodded.

"They had to have left some sort of clue. I understand they want the money so they want you to find her, right?" Sam asked as I nodded.

"I hope they realize that when I find them I'll kill them." I said and focused on the computer screen.

"Do you really think that's a smart idea?" Sam asked as I shook my head.

"No, but I don't give a fuck. They fuck with Julia they fuck with me." I said then clenched my jaw.

"There." Nate said and pointed to the screen. There was a man in front of the garage wearing a hoodie with his hood over his head.

He laid the note in front of the door then quickly walked to a black SUV.

"What's the plate on it?" I asked and squinted at the screen.

"It's so blurry." Sam said as Nate tried to zoom in. "I can't tell." Nate said as I groaned. "That's our way of finding her. Enhance the video and try to get it." I said then looked at the note again.

"We need to have a meeting with everyone. No stone gets left unturned." I said, staring at the computer screen.

I didn't know how I was going to pull this off because there weren't many clues as to who we were dealing with but I knew I would do anything to get Julia back.

No matter what it took.