Shadows In Durango

*****Vincent's POV*****

I quickly open the first video, my heart pounding as the footage loads. The quality isn't great, but it's enough to make out a street corner not far from here.

The timestamp shows up as around the same time that she must have left here after dinner...

I scan the frame as it begins to play, squinting as shadows shift under the dim streetlights, and then eventually, I see her...

She's walking fast, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, head down. She looks like she's in a hurry-evidently upset after everything that had played out beforehand.

The way she is walking sends another wave of guilt flooding through me knowing that I had caused that. I had caused the distrust and disappointment between us by not just telling her everything before it was too late... "What the hell happened to her?" I mutter under my breath as she disappears out of the cameras view, the video cutting to an abrupt end.

Moving to click on to the second video, it loads up as a clip from outside of the 'Durango Diner' cafe in town, as I perk up and press play. Is this where she went? At least it's somewhere safe...

I watch the footage, as rightly so, Sofia walks down the street, up to the door, pushes it open and goes inside before I can't see anything else of her.

The footage starts to time-lapse quickly after that, showing the time she had spent inside, slowing again to show her leaving the cafe at five to ten, walking off to the left afterwards...

I grab a notepad, as my father remains silent from beside me as I scribble down the name of the cafe along with the time frame that she was in there.

I then quickly grab my phone, pressing to call the one person I didn't want to speak to today... Daryl.

It rings once or twice before he picks up, his voice clearly filled with surprise that I had chose to actually call him of all people.

"Vin?" He asks, as my jaw tenses at hearing him speak for the first time since last night.

"I need you to go to the Durango Diner and see if they have camera footage from inside. Sofia went there last night for over an hour, ask who was on shift and maybe they might know something. Maybe she said something about leaving town? Just find out what you can." I quickly state my instructions, wanting the conversation to be over as soon as humanly possible.

I knew that he was already out in his car looking for her, and that he could get this job done much sooner for me...

Following after a heavy sigh, he quickly agrees: "Sure." He states, before I remove the phone from my ear and hang up without another word.

I didn't have to speak to him any more than that at the moment... I didn't want to hear him out.

"Why did you even ask him to help?" My father questions the second that I hang up, as I groan at him for offering his opinion.

"He's already out in his car so it will be done faster." I state my reasoning as though it were obvious, before he pulls a judgemental look and remains silent.

He's just another pain in my ass...

I move to open the last video, breathing heavily and hoping to find another clue as to where Sofia went last night...

My father hovers over my shoulder, as the second clip is from a different street, one that I recognise as not being far from Emma's house...

So was she actually on her way to Emma's place? That makes no sense...

I see her walk in to the frame, only knowing that it was her from the way she walked due to the poor quality of the dark footage, before she slows in her steps and pauses for a second, looking around nervously as headlights roll in to view before that silver car pulls up.

It's definitely a Jaguar from the shape of the front...

I just wish the plates were fucking clear! I couldn't even see who was driving, whether it was a guy or a woman...

I can't make out the driver's face no matter how hard I squint or how close I move to the screen, but I see the window roll down before Sofia hesitates for a moment, and my stomach drops as I watch her exchange a few words with the driver. She backs up slowly, which I find to be weird, before the driver side door opens and out climbs a male figure...

My fists instinctively clench, suddenly feeling defensive, as I wish I could make out his identity...

What is he doing?! Why is he getting out of the car?! Sofia seems to panic, but the next thing she does shocks me, as I watch her collapse on to the pavement - fainting and going completely limp. What the fuck?!

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My jaw slackens as my mouth falls open in horror, before I watch the guy pick her up off the pavement, open the back door of the car, before he places her inside.

He quickly rounds to the drivers side, shuts the door before he drives off out of the frame...

"What the fuck?!" I yell, feeling flustered from what I had just watched.

Anybody could have her right now!

"Calm down, he's probably just taken her to a hospital if she collapsed like that, I'll have people go over there to check..." My father offers, his tone void of much emotion. This was worse than I thought... some stranger putting her in to the back of his car after she passes out on the damn sidewalk!

Then we don't even fucking know what happened to her after that!

I click over to the last file, which is just an image, showing the side view of the same car, confirming that it was a silver Jag, passing by the park by the looks of the surroundings.

Is this it? They haven't found the car on any other cameras yet? Bullshit!

I stare at the screen in disbelief, my mind racing with a thousand worst-case scenarios. My hands feel clammy as I run them through my hair, trying to process what I just saw.

Sofia fainting in the street, some guy picking her up and driving off - it's like something out of a nightmare. Who was this guy? And why would she just faint like that? Was she overwhelmed? Exhausted? Drugged maybe?! "Vincent," my father says again, his voice irritatingly calm. "We'll find her. We've already got people on it."

I shake my head, still feeling the weight of panic pressing down on me. "This doesn't make any sense. Why would she even stop to talk to this guy? Unless she knew him?" The words spill out before I can stop them, but as soon as they're out, they feel all too real.

Did she arrange to be picked up by whoever this guy was? Sofia wasn't the type to just stop and talk to strange men who pull up in their car...

"Maybe she was feeling unwell before that? That would explain why she spoke to him, maybe she was asking for help and that's why he gets out of the car?" My father suggests, trying to help me make logic of the whole thing.

"Maybe. Or maybe she arranged for whoever this fucking guy is to come pick her up?!" I allow the sudden jealousy to sink in, worry washing over me that she perhaps had built a relation with some other guy in town behind my back. But I doubt that...

She wasn't like that... was she?

A thousand dark possibilities flash through my mind, and I can't shake the horrible images from forming.

"We don't know anything yet," my father replies, still too calm for my liking. "But if that guy has any sense, then he took her to the hospital. I'll have someone check the records to see if anyone matching her description was brought in last night."

I barely hear him. My mind is already miles away, spinning with worry. If she's at a hospital, I can find her.

But if she's not... I can't even begin to finish that thought.

"Let me go make some calls about the hospitals and we can take it from there." He adds before he makes a move to walk out, leaving me alone in the room with my thoughts, the silence pressing down on me from all sides.

I lean back in my chair, rubbing my temples as I try to piece everything together.

Sofia. The cafe. The car. The guy who took her...

I should've never let her leave last night in the first place. I should've chased after her the second she left the table, explained everything, made her stay until we worked it out. But I didn't.Belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.

And now... now she's out there somewhere, and I have no idea what's happening to her.

The weight of guilt settles down in my stomach like a stone. But guilt won't help me now. I need to act, and I need to act fast - feelings aside.

I pick up my phone again, this time dialing Reid's number before he answers on the third ring, his voice groggy like he had just woke up. "Vincent? What's going on now?" He asks.

"Get down here," I say, my voice sharp and urgent. "We've got an update and I need your help."