Chapter 88: The Border

Chapter 88: The Border
Third Person

Asher was sitting in Sophie’s room, flipping through her sketch pad. It was his new favorite way to de-stress. He was staring at a picture she drew of a white tiger getting ready to pounce on its prey, but it had a jeweled collar around its neck that looked similar to her play collar. It was a spectacular rendering.

Zion had been beating the crap out of her brothers for the last few days in the ring when he wasn’t sitting at a desk going over every page of research that the brothers still had in their possession.

Matlock was still busy cleaning house and fortifying the ranks. He was endlessly using his vast resources to locate Sophie. The men were training overtime to prepare for any possible attack.

The subtle knock on Sophie’s door brought Asher out of his little bubble. Matlock walks in with Zion, who immediately joins his brother on the bed. Matlock sits in the armchair pulled close to her bed.

“I haven’t seen this one before!” Zion exclaimed, grabbing the picture from Asher’s hand. He looked at it lovingly before he turned it around to show his father.

“She is not even here, and she still amazes me daily,” Matlock murmured.

“Any news?” Asher asked with hope blooming in his heart.

“Actually, yes. I have an informant who is tracking some movement near the old Deltoro residence. That punk Jared, Zach’s friend, is still trying to connect to the tracker on Sophie’s necklace and update it remotely so it will work with our systems. It was never updated, so it’s like an analog. He seems close to turning it on,” Matlock answered.

“I hate this fucking waiting. I want our girl back. This shit about the inheritance is ridiculous. There is more going on; I can feel it. Did Reese come back yet? We need all hands on deck to get her back. Only she matters!” Asher said, looking helpless once more. He looked up at his father, his jaw tight and white knuckles on the armrests.

“I didn’t want to tell you, boys, but Reese is not returning. He is with Hunter…” Matlock gritted out. Asher and Zion were slack-jawed momentarily before they both blew their top.

“WHAT?” they screamed.

“Boys! Screaming will get us nowhere! Now dick up. We have to keep our heads straight if we will have any chance of getting Sophie back from the Brutius family. My influence only goes so far. While I have several contacts in Europe and Asia, that family owns that side of the world. We need to be smart,” Matlock scolded them.

As if the universe heard them quarreling, one of the guards rushed into the room.

“Boss! You have a phone call!” The guard quickly approached Matlock and handed him the burner phone.

“Speak!” Matlock ordered. He listened to the man on the other end, his face void of emotion as always. The boys were sitting up and watching closely. “Good work. Send my sons everything you have. We will be in touch,” he said before hanging up the phone.

“That was our informant,” Matlock stated to his sons. “Good news is Sophie was spotted in the neighboring city close to her hometown earlier today. They lost her a few times but were able to triangulate her location and saw her enter a building. Security footage pulled confirms it’s her. Bad news: Hunter and Reese were spotted in the same building, and later, all three of them exited and drove off in unmarked SUVs. They were headed for a private airstrip.”

“Okay. We can work with that. Now all we need is damn location, and we can finally bring her home,” Asher stated, whipping out his phone.

“I can help with that,” Zach’s arrogant voice sounded from the doorway.

“You are not allowed up here, Zachariah. Looking for another beat down?” Zion chastised him, but Zach, who looked like he went a few rounds with Mike Tyson, or more specifically Zion Anderson, just shrugged. He started looking around Sophie’s sacred space, admiring her artwork, his heart blooming with fond memories.

“Care to enlighten the class, Mr. McDougal? Do you have something to share with us? I am a very impatient man,” Matlock said through gritted teeth.

“Ah, yes. Jared got the tracker to work, but since it’s an older system, it will only activate when she comes near one of the designated hotspots,” Zach said, sitting on the bed.

“Designated hotspots? She could be anywhere in the world, you dipshit! How is that going to help us?” Zion’s anger was rising. Asher didn’t need to comment for his feelings to be mutual.

“I’m so happy you asked,” Zach responded sarcastically. “Jared sent a nice little trojan horse to all the major phone carriers in the world. Every iPhone and Android that updates their phone will have the bug embedded, ergo, a hotspot. If her tracker passes one of the hotspots, it will trigger the bug to relay information back to this nifty little device.” He pulls out a small tablet, no bigger than an extra large iPhone, and hands it to Matlock.

“Now all we have to do is wait. It will lead you within one hundred feet of her as long as she is near anyone with a cell phone.” Zach bragged. He got up and left the room.

“His face annoys me,” Asher mumbles.

“I heard that!” Zach called from the hallway.

“At least it’s progress. Now we wait,” Zion adds.

They waited another nine hours before a soft ping sounded from the device, waking Matlock from his slumber. The light from the screen illuminated the whole room. He rubbed his sleepy eyes before opening the tracking app. His eyes widened in disbelief.

He threw on clothes before rushing out the door. He headed to Sophie’s room, where Asher and Zion were sleeping, and hugged Sophie’s pillow, which was one of the few items that still had a trace of their girl's scent.

“Get up!” Matlock screamed. The boys jolted awake, guns in hand.

“We found her. The tracker worked. Get up and call the troops. We are getting our baby girl once and for all,” Matlock ordered.

“Where is she, Dad?” Zion asked, yawning.

“The Italian-Swiss border.”

--

Sophie

I couldn’t stop staring at Maggie’s lifeless body on the ground. Blood was seeping from the hole in her head and started to soak the floor beneath her. Tears escaped my eyes as I watched Hunter step over her, putting his gun away like it was just another business transaction.

He must have been talking to me because I only came out of my bubble when he grabbed my face harshly, forcing me to look into his eyes.

“Did you enjoy the last few hours running around town?” Hunter asked rhetorically. “I must say, Maggie was not supposed to take you off the property. The train was a nice touch. We would have killed the bitch sooner if she didn’t tell us that you had something you hid in your pocket. You gave our men their exercise for the day, and I must say I was not expecting you to have the literal key to your inheritance. Your grandmother was fucking smart, I’ll give her that!”

“Why?” I asked quietly, keeping my head down.

“Why what, sweet cheeks?” Reese asked, coming next to me. I was still very aware of the guards keeping their hold on me.

“Why did you have Maggie release me? Why this whole charade?” I asked through my tears.

“We suspected you were hiding something. Maggie was the best chance to figure it out. You didn’t talk to her, but we figured that if it were a physical object, you’d want to ensure you had it if you ever ran away. Plus, we wanted to see just how far you would go to run away.” Reese smiled. They set me up. I feel like such an idiot. I should have taken the train out of town and gone straight to my old house as planned. I’m going to kick my own bruised behind for a long time.

“Cheer up, Monkey. We are going on a trip!” Reese said happily, wiping away one of my tears. He then kissed my head before walking out the door. The guards pulled me along, and before I knew it, we walked outside and headed into an SUV.

We drove for about an hour back to a familiar-looking private airstrip. The same private plane was waiting for our arrival. I was escorted to a seat and promptly handcuffed again on that custom-made bar, and soon, we were flying with the wind.

I’m not sure if my food was drugged or I was just tired, but I fell asleep for most of the ride, only waking up when Hunter shook me awake. I was guided out to the car, curling up against the window.
Hunter asked Reese, “What’s got your panties in a twist, bro? You’re fucking grumplestilskin!”

“Shut the fuck up! My fucking phone keeps updating. I haven’t been able to use it properly for the last hour. You know I hate being bored,” replied Reese. I just rolled my eyes.

“Did you just roll your eyes at me, Monkey?” Reese asked, climbing in next to me.

“I don’t know. Did I?” I retorted, glaring at him before looking back out the window. He clicked his tongue in response. I felt his hand on my high on my thigh. I went to remove his filthy hand, and he just tightened his grip. “Get used to it, Monkey. If you keep fighting me, I’ll move my hand higher into your special zone,” he threatened. I removed my hand from his and went back to watching the scenery.

We were in a dense, lush forest area. The trees were high, giving me a woodland mystic vibe. The greenery was beautiful. Snowcapped mountains filled the horizon. We drove through several small towns before venturing closer to the mountains. The paved roads turned into dirt and gravel. We broke through the forest into a large clearing where several portable buildings were scattered around.

“Where are we?” I ask, my curiosity peaked.

“The border of Italy and Switzerland. This is an extraordinary archeological site that your grandmother worked at for quite some time. This is where we believe your birthright is. It’s time to claim it.” Reese answered as the SUV came to a stop. The doors were opened shortly after, and he grabbed my arm.

We walked about a football field to the side of the mountain, which had a large, natural cavern in it. Hunter and Reese led the charge, along with three individuals dressed like professional climbers.

We entered the cave and descended down a winding, narrow pathway that must have taken years to chip away at the natural rock. We entered a beautiful natural cave with ample open space and plenty of calcified structures hanging from the ceiling and growing from the base. We continued through the rock maze before stopping at a smooth rock wall.

The same intricate design was etched into the wall as my pendant, which I still hid under my dress. The same design was in the safety deposit box, on the scrolls and journals, and on the really old miniature key that Hunter now had in his possession.

The etching looked worn with time, almost blended into the rock. Hunter, Reese, the three tour guides, and the guards searched for a keyhole around the symbol. I was left in my spot. I continued staring at it, memorizing the pattern like my pendant.

Without thinking, I approached Hunter and snatched the key out of his hand, cautiously approaching the etching. “What the…” he started to scold me but shut his pie hole pretty fast when he watched me walk up to the etching.

I traced the beautiful carving with my hand until I came across a small cavity where the top gemstone lay on my pendant. I put the key inside, and it fit perfectly. I wiggled the key, and it slowly turned to the right. I could hear soft clicking sounds in the rock as I turned the key.

The wall started to shake like an earthquake before a section of rock to my right broke away from the primary rock and became a super sliding door.

“Well, that was cool,” I muttered.

“What are you doing, Sophie?” Reese called out.

“I’m getting my fucking birthright so I can burn you in hell where you belong,” I replied and then stepped into the dark hole of my fate.