The Hunt Begins
816 Words
*CHAPTER 7:
“Gone?”
The word echoed in my head.
Damien was already running down the hallway. Security guards everywhere. Doors slamming.
I chased after him, barefoot. My heart was in my throat.
“Mom! MOM!”
The guest room was empty. The bed was made. The oxygen tank was still hissing.
But my mom was gone.
And so was the nurse.
Damien grabbed the head of security by the collar. “Check the cameras. NOW.”
“Yes, sir.”
I sank to my knees. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have signed. I should’ve—”
“Don’t.” Damien knelt in front of me. Both his hands on my face. “This is not your fault. This is mine. I promised to protect you both.”
His thumbs wiped my tears. For a second, the billionaire CEO was gone. It was just a man who looked scared.
“The cameras,” he said without looking away from me. “Find her.”
---
10 minutes later we were in the security room. 16 screens.
The guard rewound the footage.
12:04am: Nurse gives mom water.
12:07am: Lights flicker.
12:08am: A woman in a nurse uniform and face mask walks in. Tall. Same height as the real nurse.
12:09am: She injects something into the IV. Mom slumps.
12:10am: She wheels mom out in a wheelchair. Covered with a blanket.
12:11am: They take the service elevator down.
“That’s not our nurse,” Damien said. His voice was ice.
“Zoom in on her shoes,” I said.
The guard did.
Red heels. Designer. Louboutin.
My blood went cold.
“Victoria,” I whispered. “She always wears those. To every family event.”
Damien’s jaw clenched. “Pull up the gate footage.”
Another screen. 12:15am.
A black SUV without plates drives out of the back gate. The driver’s window is tinted.
But in the passenger seat...
A flash of blonde hair. Victoria.
And next to her, in the back, under the blanket. A hand. My mom’s hand. With her wedding ring.
I gasped. “She’s alive. She’s alive.”
“Yeah,” Damien said. “For now.”
He pulled out his phone and dialed. “Richard. We need to talk.”
Uncle Richard.
He answered on the second ring. “Damien? It’s late.”
“Where is she?” Damien growled.
There was a pause. “Who?”
“Don’t play dumb. We have you on camera.”
Uncle Richard laughed. “You have nothing. And even if you did... you should ask your wife what she was doing 6 months ago. I have pictures too, nephew.”
He hung up.
Damien threw the phone. It shattered against the wall.
“They want money,” he said. “20 million. By Friday. Or they’ll release the photos of you... and they’ll kill her.”
I stood up. My legs were shaking but my voice wasn’t.
“No more waiting. No more contracts. We’re going to get her.”
Damien looked at me. “This is dangerous. They killed Amara.”
“Then let’s catch a killer.”
For the first time, Damien smiled. Small. Broken. Proud.
“Okay,” he said. “We do this together.”
He grabbed my hand. His was cold.
“Pack a bag. We’re leaving in 5 minutes. And Lila?”
“Yes?”
“If anything happens to you, I—” He stopped looking scared of losing someone he loved
He was no longer the arrogant Ceo I met when he gave the marriage contract to sign
“What?” I asked peering into his eyes
“Nothing. Just stay close to me.”
---
We drove out of the estate in 2 cars. 4 guards with us.
Damien was on the phone the whole time, tracking the SUV’s signal.
“They turned off the GPS 20 minutes ago,” he said. “But they’re heading towards the old Cole warehouse in Lugbe.”
The abandoned place. Where Amara’s car was supposedly found.
My stomach turned.
We pulled up 30 minutes later. The warehouse was dark. Broken windows.
“Stay in the car,” Damien told me. “Until I say.”
He got out with 2 guards. Guns drawn.
I watched from the car. My hands were shaking.
A light flicked on inside.
And then I saw her.
Victoria. Standing in the doorway. Holding a gun.
And behind her...
My mom. Tied to a chair. Awake. But with tape over her mouth.
Victoria looked straight at our car. Straight at me.
And she smiled.
Then she raised the gun. Not at my mom.
At me.
“Get out of the car, cousin,” she mouthed. “Or mommy dies.”
Damien didn’t see. He was on the other side.
I had 3 seconds to decide.
I opened the car door.
TO BE CONTINUED...
- Writer
