The elevator door opened and Brent stepped into the hallway just in time to see Sophie disappearing behind the stairwell door. Shooting Tom a look of disgust he took out after her. If you want something done right, do it yourself, he thought with annoyance. All Tom had to do was escort her to the apartment across the hallway and hold her there until he arrived. It was his fault for not taking into account that Tom’s adventures were strictly limited to office work and not kidnapping.

Brent knew he had to stop Sophie before she reached the garage, and security. Senator Adams had spent nearly a week just convincing him to help and now the whole plan was about to go up in smoke. There was no way he was going to face his old friend this early in the game with news of failure.

He hit the door running, the force sending it against the wall as he sprinted after her taking the stairs two at a time. Her speed and determination surprised him, she was already a floor away. Funny, she hadn’t struck him as a survivalist but more like a woman who’d be helpless against someone kidnapping her. He’d taken her softness and pampered up bringing for granted and should have remembered that looks could be deceiving.

Just as she reached the third floor he heard her gasp, watching as she stumbled before releasing a cry he suspected was from sheer frustration more than pain. Gaining on her he reached out, his fingertips just grazing the delicate bones of her shoulder. A scream of pure fright echoed through the hollow stairwell almost breaking his eardrums. She might as well have pulled the fire alarm. He swore. If the security guards didn’t hear that and come running it would be a miracle.

His hand closed firmly over her shoulder and he pushed her into a dark corner, entrapping her there with his body. Sensing she was about to let out another scream he quickly slapped his hand over her mouth effectively cutting it off. “I’m not going to hurt you…damn it!” he swore when she bit down on his hand. “Unless you do that again!” he threatened, grating the words down at her as he shook his hand.

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