Chapter 312
Chapter 312
Owen pulled out his last satellite phone and dialed a number buried in encrypted code.
The call connected. A hoarse voice answered.
"Boss?"
"I need a route back into the country. The most discreet one."
---
Bayport. Private hospital.
Juliana had just finished an eight-hour surgery. Kate handed her a glass of warm water as she emerged.
"Thanks." Juliana took a sip.
"The inhibitor's working." Kate's voice was soft. "I can't feel the pain anymore."
"It's only suppression, not elimination." Juliana leaned back, rubbing her temples. "My grandfather's lab is analyzing it, but it'll take time."
"I can wait."
Kate gazed out at the darkening sky. Owen had vanished.
"What do you want for dinner? I'll have Milo—"
The office door exploded inward.
Men in black balaclavas burst through. Only their eyes visible. Their movements were swift, precise—trained killers.
Their target was clear.
The lead man charged straight for Juliana.
Kate's reaction was instinctive. She grabbed the surgical tray and hurled it at him.
He deflected it with his forearm. Another man circled behind her, his hand clamping around her throat.
Suffocation.
Someone pressed an ether-soaked cloth over Juliana's face. She struggled briefly, then went limp.
"Let her go!" Kate forced the words through gritted teeth, thrashing.
The strength gap was insurmountable.
She was dragged backward, watching helplessly as they hoisted Juliana over a shoulder.
As they pulled her through the doorway, thoughts raced through Kate's mind.
Escape? Impossible. Owen's death squad—failure meant death.
Call for help? Too late.
She watched Juliana, limp and unconscious. Saw the open fire exit. The gun at the kidnapper's waist.
A wild idea formed.
She stopped struggling.
The man choking her hesitated.
In that one-second pause, Kate threw her weight backward and hooked her foot around another kidnapper's leg.
Her goal wasn't to hurt them. It was chaos. To get herself caught up in it.
"Take her too! The boss said he knows this woman!"
Another cloth covered her face.
Darkness.
---
When she woke, she was in an abandoned factory.
Rust and dust. Juliana lay beside her, still unconscious. Zip-tied, hands and feet.
Kate didn't move. She observed.
Kidnappers nearby, adjusting communication equipment.
"Why did you follow me?"
Juliana's voice—soft, hoarse.
She'd been awake. Playing unconscious.
"I couldn't let you be alone."
"You're throwing your life away."
"Two of us have better odds than you alone."
Juliana fell silent. Her expression complicated.
---
The kidnappers' equipment flickered to life. A tablet screen lit up. After signal disruptions, a face appeared.
Owen.
Wrecked. Hair disheveled, eyes sunken, jaw covered in stubble.
The composure of control—gone. Only cornered madness.
"Mr. Sharp. Mr. Fisher. Good evening. Let me show you two old friends."
Owen turned the camera toward Juliana and Kate.
When Milo saw Kate's pale face, blood rushed to his head. He shot to his feet, eyes red.
Lucas grabbed him.
"Owen." Lucas's voice was terrifyingly calm. "What do you want."
"What do I want? I want everything I lost. Every. Single. Thing!"
"Lift the warrant! Unfreeze my accounts! Get me a fully fueled plane!"
"Otherwise, I'll send your woman to hell first, then that traitorous bitch!"
"Twenty-four hours."
"The game starts over."
The screen went black.
Splintering wood.
Milo kicked over the coffee table and bolted.
"I'm going to kill him!"
A hand clamped around his arm.
Lucas.
"Let go!" Milo roared.
Lucas slammed him against the wall.
"You rush out now, you want Kate dead faster?"
Milo froze. Still trembling with rage.
Lucas released him and walked to the window. Dialed.
The call connected immediately.
"David, Owen made his move. Juliana and Kate are in his hands."
David was stunned. "Damn… Where?"
"Abandoned factory. Signal's moving—he's careful. Lock down his location. Whatever it takes." Lucas paused. "Prepare a rescue op. Best team. Wait for my command."
"Understood."
Lucas hung up and called Clarence.
"Mr. Fisher, he didn't go to Red River Valley. Diversion. He's in Bayport."
Clarence was silent for ten seconds.
"What does he want?"
"Money. Plane. Freedom." Lucas stared out at the city lights. "He wants us to cough up everything we took."
"Stall him. I'll coordinate Bayport resources. A net—air and ground. Pin him down."
"Good."
Lucas turned to Milo, who'd begun to calm.
"Now, we put on a show." Lucas poured two whiskeys, offered one to Milo. "Panic. Being forced to compromise."
Milo didn't take it. "What if… what if we're too late?"
Lucas set the glass down.
"There is no 'what if.'"
---
Abandoned factory.
Owen watched the surveillance. Lucas on the phone, calm. Milo unmoving.
A cold smile.
Too calm.
His beloved woman kidnapped, and he could still think this clearly?
Either this man was inhumanly cold-blooded.
Or he was acting. Buying time.
Owen leaned toward the latter.
"Looks like Mr. Sharp still has hope." Owen tilted his head toward a subordinate. "Give them something to wake them up."
A burly man stood with a vicious grin and walked toward Juliana and Kate.
Lucas's phone screen lit up again.
The livestream.
The man approached Juliana, gripping a steel pipe.
Milo crushed the glass in his hand. Shards and liquor dripped through his fingers. He didn't seem to feel it.
"Owen!" Lucas growled. "I'll accept your conditions! Money and plane—I'll prepare them! Don't touch her!"
"Now that's more like it." Owen laughed. "Mr. Sharp, you're begging me now. I need to see your sincerity."
He gestured at the camera.
The man raised the pipe.
Juliana closed her eyes.
Just before it fell, a figure lunged forward, shielding Juliana with her back.
Kate.
CRACK.
A sickening thud.
The pipe struck Kate squarely.
Blood seeped from Kate's temple.
The second blow landed on Juliana. Her body convulsed. All strength drained. Her face turned deathly pale.
Fighting through the pain, Juliana's right hand—bound behind her—tapped her wrist three times.
Three taps.
A code she and Lucas had agreed on once.
"Dock Three."
An abandoned container dock in Bayport. Perfect for hiding and escape.
Lucas saw it.
He hurled his phone at the wall.
It shattered.