The Sorbonne Scholar at Table Four

Click.

The sound was microscopic. Just the tiniest shift of Sophie’s shoe against a loose floorboard in the hallway.

Inside the office, the voices cut off instantly.

"Who’s out there?!" Laurent barked.

Panic seized Sophie’s chest. She turned sharply on her heel and bolted down the service corridor toward the back exit, her black shoes sliding against the polished tile.

"Hey! Stop her!" Laurent screamed.

Heavy footsteps slammed against the floor behind her. Laurent and a pair of hired security thugs burst out of the office in hot pursuit.

Sophie rounded the corner toward the kitchen, but as she reached for the back exit door, she found it chained and padlocked from the outside.

Trapped.

She spun around, darting behind the massive stainless-steel prep tables as the kitchen doors flew open. Laurent stumbled into the room, panting heavily, holding a heavy iron skillet he had grabbed from the rack.

"Got you, you little rat," Laurent snarled, scanning the dark kitchen. "Where are you hiding? Come out before I break your legs!"

Sophie crouched behind the bottom shelf of the pastry counter, her hand clamped tightly over her mouth to muffle her breathing. Her phone was clutched in her other hand, the audio recording still active, pulsing with a blinking red light.

Send.

With a frantic, silent movement of her thumb, she hit share and sent the audio file directly to Alessandro’s secure encrypted number with a single GPS pin of her location.

Footsteps crunched on the floor tiles closer and closer to the pastry counter.

A shadow fell over her.

Laurent leaned down, a cruel grin twisting his face as he grabbed the edge of the shelf and yanked it upward, sending mixing bowls and flour jars crashing to the floor.

"Found you," Laurent hissed, raising the iron skillet high above his head.

Sophie braced herself, closing her eyes, throwing her arms up to shield her face.