Chapter 243 Gone
Ari's P.O.V.
I leave the negotiation room as the others finish off Belinda and Jeff. When I'm almost at the door, I hear a phone ringing. It sounds like Dakota's ringtone.
"Dakota?" I say as I look around. Where is she? I don't see her, but I see her phone lying on the ground. What's going on? She would never leave her phone out here on purpose. I notice the gate is open, and there are no guards anywhere. Pulling out my gun, I make my way to the guard shack. Why didn't I leave with Dakota and Khloe? I have a bad feeling something happened to one or both of them. When I open the guard shack door, three of Dakota's men are inside with their throats slit open. I run to the negotiation room as the others are coming out.
"I think someone took Dakota and Khloe. The gate is open, the three guards are dead, and Dakota's phone was lying on the ground." I turn when I hear the house door close and sigh in relief when I see Khloe. Maybe Dakota is okay, too.
"Is Dakota out here? She told me to shower, but she never came inside," Khloe says as she joins us.
"No, she's not out here. Did she say why she wasn't going into the house with you?" I ask her.
"She got a text, but I didn't see what it said. What happened? Where is she?" Khloe looks like she's going to cry as Sarah hugs her.
"We're going to find her. Ari, unlock her phone and see who texted her," Sarah says. I put in Dakota's PIN and go to her text messages.
"It's from her mom. It says she has a surprise for Khloe, and she told Dakota to meet her at the gate. Dakota would have known this was a setup. She's told me many times that her mom rarely texts. Do you see her knife anywhere?" I ask as I run to the area where I had found her phone. Maybe she at least has a weapon on her.
"It's right there." I look to where my dad is pointing. Anger and fear course through my body. Her knife is sticking out of the back of the guard shack with a note attached.
If you come for her, she's dead. If you try to find her, she's dead. You will get her back eventually. Whether she's in pieces or not is up to you.
"Who the fuck would do this? Could it be the Tarasovich brothers?" I ask no one in particular.
"Let's go inside and see if Noah can find anything on the cameras. We will get her back, son," my dad says as he puts his hand on my shoulder. We go inside and head for the office. Noah and Kylie are usually there so they can be ready for whatever Dakota needs.
"What's wrong?" Noah asks as soon as we walk into the office.
"Someone kidnapped Dakota and killed three of the guards. Can you see anything on the cameras? She also received a fake text from someone spoofing her mom's phone," I tell him.
"Give me her phone. I'll see if I can trace it to the actual sender," Kylie says, holding her hand out. I hand her the phone and begin pacing as Luka and Rain enter the office.
"What do you need us to do?" Luka asks.
"Rain, can you talk to Nikolas and see if he can help us?" my dad asks her.
"Yes, I'll call him now." She pulls out her phone and walks to the other side of the office.
"Someone turned off the cameras, but not before we got a shot of the van." We gather around Noah as he plays the video. The camera is at an angle, so we can see a large black van with tinted windows, but not the license plate. As the door slides open, the camera goes black.
"Can you go back to where the door is sliding open and zoom in? Maybe we can get a glimpse of who is getting out," I tell him. Noah rewinds it and pauses as the door opens, but it's too blurry.
"I'll see if I can clean it up a little. Whoever did this took a risk by abducting Dakota the way they did. Any of us could have walked outside at any time," he says. I don't say it, but I know at least a few of us are silently asking the same thing: Did the kidnappers have inside help?