26. Chapter 26 Sabrina
Chapter 26: Sabrina
T here’s only one person with the connections to China to be sharing information. Sabrina didn’t want to believe Holly was sharing information with her father, but maybe there was an innocent explanation. No matter what, she needed to confront Holly. She could follow-up with Patrick then too, even if she had to flush that fucking phone down the toilet.
Sabrina carried her computer back to where Holly and Patrick’s offices were located. The cryptic message from the forum still echoed in her mind, fueling her suspicions about Holly’s potential involvement. She needed answers, and confronting Holly directly seemed like the only way to get them.
Before she could knock on the frame around Holly’s door, she heard an engine pull up and cut off. Curiosity got the best of her, and Sabrina retraced her steps just in time for Nathan to bust through the front door of HQ, his face etched with worry.
“What’s going on?” Sabrina asked, her voice tight with concern.
Nathan looked up at her, his eyes heavy with the weight of the situation. “I got a ransom call from Ellie Baker. She’s demanding a large sum of money in exchange for Freddy’s safe return.”
Sabrina’s stomach dropped. “Ellie Baker? Why would she do this?”
“It’s a long story. Where’s Patrick?”
Just then Patrick and Holly came out to join them.
“What did you find out?” he asked his dad.
He repeated what he’d already told Sabrina but added, “Ellie believes I killed her husband. She’s convinced that I’m responsible for his death, and now she’s taking it out on Freddy.”
Patrick froze, his jaw clenched. “We need to figure out how to get Freddy back safely. And we need to do it fast.”
“How do we do that?” Sabrina asked.
“We can’t pay the ransom,” Holly said.
Sabrina looked between the two of them and wondered why the money was such a big concern. Wasn’t TI making tons of money, and even if not, the Taylors had gotten rich, right? Was this another sign that Holly was involved? Sabrina had set her laptop down while listening to Nathan explain the ransom call. Should she still tell them about TruthYeller?
Patrick must have seen the question in her eyes. “We don’t have that kind of cash on hand. The business simply doesn’t have the liquidity they’re demanding.”
Sabrina’s heart sank as she listened to Patrick explain the dire situation. His words echoed in her ears, each one hammering home the gravity of their predicament.
Holly stepped forward, her brow furrowed with concern as she looked at Sabrina. “I thought it was strange, too. I’ve gone over the financial reports multiple times, and the money just isn’t there.”
Sabrina’s mind spun, trying to process this new information. How could a successful company like Taylor Industries not have enough cash to meet the ransom demands? Something didn’t add up.
“But how is that possible?” Sabrina asked, her voice trembling slightly. “I thought TI was doing well financially.”
Patrick ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident in his every movement. “We should be, and we are... Kind of. Our contracts are solid, and we get paid well, but when Holly suggested we need a human resources department and a public relations person, I dug a little deeper.”
Holly nodded, her expression grim. “The company has some high expenses. Greg walked us through it and showed how the majority of what comes in, goes back out to cover the business’s expenses and everyone’s salary, along with all the insurance and benefits that come with a company like this.”
Sabrina felt a chill run down her spine. “Are you saying Taylor Industries isn’t on strong financial footing?”
Patrick shook his head. “No, not at all. We are profitable and have no worries about the budget. We just don’t have much extra.”
“I’ve always let Greg handle the accounting. We’ve never missed a bill or paycheck, and the business has great credit,” Nathan chimed in.
Patrick glared at him. “But we can’t take out a loan to make a ransom payment.”
The room fell silent as the weight of this revelation settled over them. Sabrina thought about how excited Freddy had been just the other day when he showed her how the bots could handle bigger and more subjective commands.
That was it! Sabrina squealed as the pieces suddenly fell into place. Her eyes widened with the realization, and she felt a surge of adrenaline course through her veins. She knew how to find Freddy.
“I have an idea,” she blurted out, interrupting the tense silence that had settled over the room. All eyes turned to her, a mixture of hope and skepticism on their faces.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she was about to say. “I can use our testing bots to search for Freddy. With the new command sequences he just tested, we can send them out to scan multiple locations quickly.”
Patrick’s brow furrowed. “How would that help us find him?”
“Nathan, you said you heard a train during the ransom call, right?” Sabrina asked, her voice filled with urgency. Nathan nodded, and she continued, “If we focus the search on areas within earshot of train tracks between here and where Ellie and Josh live, we might be able to locate him.”
Holly’s eyes widened with understanding. “But Sabrina, using the bots like that... it’s not exactly legal. DS technically owns them.”
Sabrina nodded grimly. “I know. That’s why you’ll need to fire me afterward.” She looked at each of them in turn, her determination evident in her gaze. “Tell DS I acted alone. With my history, it shouldn’t be hard to convince them. You should be able to keep your contract that way.”
Patrick opened his mouth to protest, but Sabrina cut him off. “It’s the best chance we have of finding Freddy quickly. I’m willing to take the fall for this. I was already planning to be fired yesterday.”
The room fell silent as the weight of Sabrina’s proposal sank in. She could see the conflict in their eyes, the battle between desperation to find Freddy and the potential consequences of her plan.
Sabrina’s heart raced as she watched the expressions on the faces of the Taylor family shift from shock to reluctant acceptance. She knew her proposal was risky, but the thought of Freddy in danger overrode any concerns about her own future.
As she began setting up the bots for their search, Sabrina’s mind wandered to the consequences of her actions. Losing her job at Taylor Industries would be devastating. She’d worked so hard to get here, to find a place where she felt valued and could use her skills. The thought of giving it all up made her chest tighten with anxiety.
But then she remembered Freddy’s kind eyes, his patient explanations, and the way he made her feel seen and understood. He was worth any sacrifice.
As she input the final commands, Sabrina’s thoughts turned to her mother. The tornado had left Ma with nothing, and now Sabrina would be jobless, too. Maybe this was the universe’s way of telling her it was time to go back to Nebraska, to help her mother rebuild.
The idea of returning to the place she’d fought so hard to escape from made Sabrina’s stomach churn. But as she watched the bots on the screen swirl and swarm together to form tiny drones flying across the Appalachian landscape to begin their search, she realized that sometimes life had other plans. If finding Freddy meant losing her job and returning to help her mother, then so be it.
Sabrina took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come. She’d face whatever challenges lay ahead, knowing that she was doing the right thing. For Freddy, for her mother, and for herself.