Chapter 23 The Lost Signal
He couldn’t say anything, because Sheila didn’t know the phone wasn’t in Seraphina’s hand.
“Phina? Are you there?”
“Call me back if you can hear me. I can’t hear you! Your nanny left with your kid! Is this why you asked me to check on him? Call me back!” The line dropped.
For a moment, Julian was processing the call details. He remembered the name ‘Sheila’. She was the same woman Seraphina was with in that club five years ago. Her friend. He never forget things due to his photographic memory. He was born with it—he could detect voices of any kind, in as much as he had heard them before. He could recognize faces even if it take years before he spot them again—lots of more qualities he used only for his dirty jobs. He could even sense presence before they appear.
It was both a gift and a curse at the same time, because there were some memories Julian didn’t like to remember. Sickening ones.
He suddenly rose from the chair, striding towards the door, his instinct directing him to go and confront Seraphina, but he immediately had a rethink and paused his steps. He wouldn’t go to her.
She had just survived a panick attack the previous day and hearing that her son was missing could undo her completely.
Julian’s fingers curled slowly around the phone, his jaw clenching tightly. For the first time in a long time, his control—his carefully measured calm—seemed to crack a bit. He felt it in the tightening of his chest, the subtle tremor in his fingers.
A child. She had a child. For who?
This part of her life was supposed to be none of his business but here he was…
He inhaled sharply, staring blankly at the city lights spilling through the tall glass windows. He tried to piece it together- the way she had been distracted lately, her constant glances at her phone, the secret calls and her attempts to leave. It all made sense now.
She wasn’t just trying to get away from him. She was trying to get back to someone. Her child. And now the child had been taken away.
Sera’s phone vibrated again. A text. Julian opened it impatiently. “Call me back, Sera. It’s getting realer than I thought. I can’t find them, and her apartment wasn’t closed.”
It was from Sheila again. His thoughts spiraled.
He wouldn’t waste a minute again.
He unlocked her phone with a few clean taps and went straight to her contacts, typing ‘nanny’ into the search bar. Nothing came forth.
He thought fast. He switched to her call logs and checked it. Then he spotted one name repeating several times, long duration of calls mostly in the night. ‘Maris’
Julian’s eyes narrowed. “Got you.”
He copied the number into his own phone and made the call. He wasn’t opstimistic, but wasn’t pessimistic either.
After a few rings, a woman’s voice answered. She sounded low and cautious.
“Hello?”
“Is this Phoenix’s nanny?” Julian asked, his tone even, deceptively calm.
There was a brief silence at the other side of the phone, then the call cut off.
Julian’s jaw tightened. That told him everything. But he wasn’t new to this kind of situation so he was game. He had dealt with worse.
He set Seraphina’s phone down and moved to the side of his study. A discreet press of his thumbprint opened a concealed door behind the bookshelf. A mechanical hiss filled the air as the door slid aside, revealing a staircase spiraling downward.
The cool, blue light from multiple holographic screens flickered below.
His ‘real’ workspace.
Julian descended the steps and crossed the steel floor, his mind already a few steps ahead of his body. He sat before a large transparent interface, connected his encrypted line, and opened his private AI framework.
Lines of code flickered across the air like silver veins. He input Maris’s number.
“Run trace sequence,” he commanded.
The AI’s calm, feminine voice responded instantly.
“Signal located. Routing through carrier towers.”
The map expanded — Las Vegas glowing at the center before the lines stretched northeast across multiple state boundaries.
The signal ended blinking red over ‘Seattle, Washington’
Julian leaned forward slightly. “Seattle,” he murmured.
“Approximate radius?” he asked.
“Three-point-two miles from downtown,” the AI replied.
“Signal last active twelve minutes ago.”
He stared at the coordinates narrowing into an industrial district near the port. That couldn’t be random.
Julian’s eyes hardened.
He picked up his phone again and made a call.
“Vincent,” he said.
“Boss?”
“I’m sending you coordinates. There’s a woman and a child at this location. Her name is Maris and his is…Phoenix. Find them.” There was almost a hint of desperation in his voice.
Vincent paused. “Oh, this is the most urgent job you’ve sent me in a while. Context?”
“Don’t ask questions. Charter the jet. You’ll be there before sunrise.”
“Okay, boss”
The line clicked dead.
Julian turned back to the holographic map. The red blip flickered again — and then suddenly vanished from the screen.
Signal lost. “Damn,”
He froze for a second. Then his hand clenched slowly around his pen.
Whoever took them… just cut her entire line.
Julian’s voice was a low murmur now. “Someone’s behind this”
He didn’t wait. He grabbed his jacket and dashed out of his study. For the first time ever, Julian had forgotten that he had another important mission tonight.
one that might cost him everything.