Chapter 182 A Lead

Chapter 182 A Lead
The call came when Dante least expected it.

His phone vibrated once on the table, the screen lighting up with Valentina 's name.

Dante stared at it for a full second, jaw then picked it up.

“Talk,” he said coldly.

Valentina’s voice slid through the line.
“You’re running out of time, Dante.”

His fingers curled slowly around the phone. “If this is another game—”

“It’s not.” She cut in smoothly. “This is business. And I don’t call unless I’m holding something valuable.”

Dante leaned back against the desk, eyes dark. “Say what you want and get off my line.”

Valentina exhaled softly, as if savoring the moment. “I know where Isabella is. And Sofia too.”

The room went very still.

Dante didn’t move but something dangerous flickered behind his eyes.

“Careful,” he said quietly. “That’s not a name you throw around to get my attention.”

“I don’t need to throw it,” Valentina replied. “I already have it.”

Silence stretched between them.

Then Dante spoke again angrily. “If you’re lying—”

“I’m not.” She sounded almost bored.

“They’re alive. Hurt, but alive. And I can give you the location. Not just that.” Her tone sharpened slightly. “I can give you Luca and De Luca. Wrapped up nicely.”

Dante let out a short, humorless scoff. “And let me guess. You suddenly grew a conscience?”

Valentina laughed softly. “Don’t insult us both. I want one billion dollars.”

The word hung in the air.

Dante straightened slowly. “One billion?”

“Yes.” she confirmed. “Transferred offshore.”

He shook his head once, lips curling. “You really think you’re worth that?”

“I know I am,” she replied. “Because without me, you’ll keep tearing the city apart looking for them. And by the time you find them…” She paused deliberately. “It may be too late.”

Dante’s grip tightened until his knuckles whitened.

“You think I trust you?” he said flatly. “After everything you’ve done?”

“You don’t have to trust me,” Valentina answered. “You just have to want them alive.”

For a moment, Dante said nothing. His jaw worked, muscles flexing as he fought the urge to smash the phone against the wall.

Then he spoke, slow and controlled.
“You don’t get a billion on words alone.”

Valentina hummed. “Meaning?”

“You send me the address first,” Dante said. “For confirmation. If Isabella and Sofia are there, you get your money. Not a second before.”

Valentina’s smile was audible in her voice. “You think I’d hand over my only leverage for free?”

“I think,” Dante replied coldly, “that if you really want that money, you’ll prove you’re not bluffing.”

There was a pause this time.

“You’re bold,” she finally said. “Even now.”

“And you’re desperate,” Dante shot back. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be calling me.”

Another soft laugh echoed out. “Careful, Dante.”

He replied. “Send the address. Or lose the deal.”

Then Valentina spoke, her voice quieter now. “I’ll call you back.”

“Don’t take too long,” Dante said. “I’m not a patient man.”

“You should come up with something fast,” she added smoothly. “Because every minute you stall… they suffer.”

The line went dead.

Dante lowered the phone slowly.

For a second, he just stood there, his chest rising and falling.

Then his hand slammed down on the desk.

“Valentina,” he muttered under his breath, voice shaking with restrained fury. “If you’re lying…”

Dante was still standing where the call had ended, when his phone beeped.

A sharp, abrupt sound.

He glanced down instinctively, irritation already rising but then he froze.

The notification wasn’t from Valentina.

It was a signal alert.

Dante frowned slightly, thumb hovering as memory stirred.

The pendant he gave Isabella.

His breath hitched.

He hadn’t told her that inside the pendant, buried so deep it couldn’t be detected by ordinary scans, was a tracker.

He did it not because he didn’t trust her but because the world around him was dangerous.

And then, he had forgotten completely.

His fingers trembled slightly as he opened the alert.

The screen flickered, loading… then stalled.

A signal appeared.

Although it was very weak and faint, it was something.

Dante’s eyes widened just a fraction.
“She’s alive,” he whispered.

The room snapped into motion instantly.
“Matteo!” Dante barked, already moving. “Get in here. Now.”

Matteo rushed in, one look at Dante’s face telling him this wasn’t another dead end. “What is it?”

Dante shoved the phone toward him. “The pendant I gave Isabella. It has a tracker. I forgot about it.”

Matteo’s breath caught. “You’re serious?”

“There’s a signal,” Dante said sharply. “Weak, but it’s there.”

Hope flashed through Matteo’s eyes. “Can we trace it?”

Dante was already dialing. “I don’t ask questions I don’t already have answers to.”

The call connected instantly.

“Elite unit,” Dante called out. “I need every satellite, every relay you have. Track a faint signal, frequency incoming now. I want a location.”

“Yes, boss,” came the immediate reply.

Dante turned, pacing around. “Narrow it. I don’t care how faint it is, find it.”

Matteo watched the screen as the signal pulsed weakly, blinking like a heartbeat that refused to stop.

“They didn’t remove it,” Matteo murmured. “They didn’t know.”

Dante’s jaw clenched hard.

“There,” Matteo said sharply. “Did you see that?”

“I did,” Dante replied. His eyes burned. “Lock onto it.”

The voice on the line came back, urgent now. “We’ve got something. It’s not precise yet, signal interference but it’s stationary. Industrial zone. Old outskirts. Possibly underground.”

Dante stopped pacing.

“Send me everything,” he said coldly. “Maps. Entry points. CCTV sweeps. I want eyes on every structure within that radius.”

“Yes, boss.”

The call ended.

Dante stared at the screen, watching the faint pulse blink again.

“Hold on Isabella,” he murmured. “I’m coming.”