Free Nikolas by Faith Gibson Page B

reached the tenth floor, he walked with purpose until he reached Clara’s door. When he didn’t hear any noise coming from inside, he let himself in. Nik was immediately assaulted with honeysuckle. This had to be Sophia’s room. He took a look around, noting the room looked unused with the exception of the laptop on the desk.
    He opened the top dresser drawer. He pulled out a pair of lace panties and held them to his face. Even though they were clean, the faint hint of Sophia was evident where she had touched them. Instead of putting them back, he shoved the sliver of material into his pocket. He moved to the bathroom. Toiletries were neatly lined up on the vanity. A large cosmetic box was on the shelf underneath the sink. Nik squatted down and tried to open the box, but it was locked. Why would her cosmetics be locked up?
    Next, he opened the closet. There were a lot of clothes on hangers. He slid each item across the bar, noticing some were for a younger woman, while there were a couple of frumpy looking dresses a grandmother might wear. A grandmother named Beatrice, perhaps? What are you up to, my bunny? The safe was closed and locked. If he had time and his computer, he could get into the small box fairly quickly. Whatever she had locked up would have to remain that way for now. The last item Nik looked at was the computer. He opened the lid to the laptop and powered it on. When it booted up, he wasn’t surprised to see the password bar appear. If Clara’s computer was anything like Nik’s, it would have a complex password that would require one of Julian’s programs to break it. Nik powered the system down and closed the lid.
    The message light on the phone was blinking red. His message was still there meaning she hadn’t been in the room since he called. While debating on whether to sit and wait, a voice from the room next door made up his mind for him.
    “We still haven’t found the old woman, but the Brooks girl is at the zoo. Drago paid a worker to give her the note. We have eyes on her now.”
    Brooks girl? They were talking about Sophia. Was Beatrice the old woman they couldn’t find? Fuck! Nikolas had to get to the zoo. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and did an internet search for the Cairo zoo. He returned his attention to the voice next door.
    “Yes, Princess. I will make sure she doesn’t get away again.”
    Nikolas had planned on leaving a note for his mate, but he needed to get to the zoo before something happened to her. Why the fuck did he not get her phone number? Nik sneaked out of the hotel room and ran down ten flights of stairs. He exited the side of the hotel and jogged to the front of the building, hailing a taxi. When he got in, Nik told the driver, “I need to get to the zoo as fast as you can.”
    The Cairo Zoo was located in Giza. It was a fairly quick trip by car, but it was still enough time to give Sophia a chance to slip away. Nik’s shifter was clawing to be released. It knew their mate was in danger, so Nik did his best to calm down on the short ride. When the taxi pulled up to the entrance, Nik had the appropriate pounds ready to give the man. He bought a ticket and stepped out of the way of other guests. The zoo was situated on eighty acres. That was eighty too many to guess where Sophia would be, so he inhaled deeply. Amid the numerous animal, plant, and people scents, there was a faint trace of something sweet.
    Nikolas literally followed his nose along the walkway leading to the large animals. As he passed each cage, the animal residing there made it clear his presence was offensive, and most retreated to the back of their enclosure. When he walked through the area in front of the leopard, the scent of his mate was much more prominent. Nik stopped and looked around, hoping to get a glimpse of his beautiful woman. He continued on through the park, but his nose and his feet brought him back to the leopard. Something had happened there. The man on the phone said a