Chapter 158 Forced Injection
"Carl! We brought her!" Tony shouted toward the depths of the warehouse, his voice clearly trembling.
Carl stepped out from the shadows, surveying the bound Emily with satisfaction, not noticing the exchanged glances between his three subordinates.
"Good! Nice and quick!"
Tony swallowed hard. "Carl, our families..."
Carl waved impatiently. "Don't worry, I keep my word. Your families have been picked up and taken somewhere safe. Now get lost! I don't need you here anymore."
The three men felt like they'd been granted a reprieve! Frankie didn't even bother wiping the cold sweat from his forehead as he rushed toward their vehicle. Vinnie glanced back at Emily as he left, a flash of guilt in his eyes, but it was immediately drowned by fear.
Emily was shoved against the edge of a cold, greasy butcher's table, duct tape sealing her mouth. Though a wave of terror swept through her, she forced herself to remain calm.
In this situation, the more fear she showed, the more it would fuel her captor's sadistic pleasure.
More importantly, she'd keenly noticed the three men's strange behavior. Normal kidnappers should have been seeking praise for completing their task, not fleeing as if their lives depended on it.
Could they have already notified Charles?
The realization struck her like lightning.
Combined with the clues she'd left for Charles and the commotion they'd made leaving the parking garage, Charles might already be on his way!
All she had to do now was buy as much time as possible.
Carl held a terrifyingly thick cigar between his teeth, its crimson tip glowing and dimming in the murky light. He paced before the table, his massive tower-like frame looming over Emily, his gaze like a butcher appraising livestock.
He exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. "Ms. Johnson, Charles's woman?"
He bent down, grinning to reveal teeth stained yellow and black. "Didn't expect to end up in my territory tonight, did you? Surprise enough for you?"
He extended his large hand, calloused, tobacco-stained, rough as sandpaper, reaching brazenly toward Emily's delicate face.
Fury blazed in Emily's eyes as she turned her head away, shooting Carl a look of pure contempt and defiance that cut deeper than any words.
Carl only laughed, withdrawing his hand, his laughter filled with sick excitement. "Interesting! Quite the temper! I love breaking in wild horses! The more spirited they are, the sweeter they sound when they cry, the more fun it is!"
He gestured toward a dark corner.
A thin, hunched man in a stained white coat emerged trembling, carrying a metal tray. His face was deathly pale as he shuffled forward.
On the tray lay a massive syringe and several small glass vials filled with viscous liquids of disturbing colors. The labels bore names that reeked of death—Blissful Angel!
When Emily's gaze fell on the thick needle and the sinister skull symbols on the vials, her pupils contracted sharply! A bone-chilling cold shot up her spine like lightning!
Drugs! High-purity drugs!
"Recognize this?"
Carl picked up the heavy syringe, slowly rotating the cold needle tip as he pointed it toward the warehouse's shadowy ceiling.
Then he slowly pressed the plunger with his thumb.
A soft sound—a small amount of air was forcibly expelled, clearing any possible air bubbles from the tube. In the deathly quiet warehouse, this sound was amplified infinitely, like the bone-chilling hiss of a serpent locking onto its prey.
He slowly lowered the needle until it nearly touched Emily's taped mouth, his face twisting into an extremely deranged grin. "Never seen it before? Let me tell you, this is the good stuff! 'Blissful Angel'—a treasure that people fight tooth and nail for on the black market!"
He leaned closer, his breath reeking of smoke and saliva, nearly hitting her face. "Just one shot of this, I guarantee you'll forget all your troubles! From now on, your life will be completely changed! You think Charles will still want a madwoman? A drug addict?"
The needle slowly approached Emily's inner arm!
Celeste demanded that Emily be completely destoryed! What could be more satisfying than turning a brilliant, beautiful designer into a drug-dependent, disfigured madwoman?
For the first time, Emily's eyes showed violent terror!
No! Absolutely not!
Carl's grin widened, seeming to relish his prey's final moments of fear! The needle was almost touching the pale skin of Emily's arm!
At this critical moment!
A deafening roar, like a bomb explosion, suddenly tore through the deathly quiet warehouse! The heavy iron door was smashed by a raging black Cullinan, crashing through like it was fragile paper, twisted and shattered beyond recognition!
The entire door frame collapsed inward with a thunderous crash! Dust and metal fragments erupted everywhere!
The violent airflow carried the ear-piercing screech of twisted metal, clouds of dust and debris instantly sweeping through the warehouse!
"Who's there?" Carl's grip on the needle jerked, nearly dropping the syringe!
The patrolling guards in the warehouse hadn't even processed what was happening before being stunned by this earth-shattering assault!
Blinding xenon headlights pierced through the swirling dust! In that unbearably bright center of light, a tall figure emerged from the car like an avenging demon, standing against the light, wrapped in bone-chilling murderous intent and soul-freezing rage!
Charles!
His usually ice-cold features were now twisted with absolute fury! His deep eyes burned like two roaring flames of darkness!
He still bore wounds, his shirt open, revealing bandaged gauze on his chest with glimpses of stark bloodstains!
His gaze instantly locked onto the depths of the warehouse and that figure bound and threatened by Carl's needle at the abandoned butcher's table!
"Emily!"
Charles moved. On the cold concrete floor, each step he took seemed to stamp an angry mark into the hard cement with his expensive leather shoes!
"Stop him!" Carl shrieked.
But how could they possibly stop him?
Charles's arrival was exactly what Frankie had deliberately arranged.
Those left with Carl had only been holding onto a desperate hope that Charles wouldn't find them so quickly.
But when they actually saw Charles, their inner terror magnified infinitely. Facing Charles and his military-precise formation of bodyguards, they couldn't summon any will to resist.