Chapter 176 The rescue
Chapter 176 The rescue
Pete’s POV
I stepped out of the interrogation room and found the chief waiting for me in the corridor.
The moment his eyes met mine, he straightened.
“Well, Alpha,” he asked carefully, “did you get any information?”
I stopped.
For a moment, I simply looked at him.
“Lots.”
My voice sounded different even to my own ears. There was no room left in it for hesitation, disbelief or the desperate hope that I had somehow misunderstood everything. Richard had given me answers, but instead of making the situation feel clearer, those answers had only revealed how much danger was already surrounding the people I loved.
I looked toward the interrogation room behind me.
“And now the Goddess helps us if we're already too late.”
The chief's expression sharpened.
“What did Richard tell you?”
“Enough to know that we don't have time to stand here talking.”
The chief's expression sharpened.
“About Diya and Matt?”
“About everything.”
The chief's face changed.
“Get your men ready.”
“For what?”
I turned toward him.
“There is a planned attack on Alpha Dimon.”
His brows pulled together.
“Dimon?”
“Lisa's brother.”
The chief stared at me.
“What are you talking about?”
“My mother ordered it.”
The words tasted bitter in my mouth. Saying those words aloud made something twist painfully inside my chest. Even now, after everything Richard had confessed, a part of me was still struggling to accept how far my mother had gone. I knew she hated Diya. I knew she wanted to hurt me. But there was a difference between hatred and deliberately sending people out to destroy lives.
Apparently, my mother had crossed that line a long time ago.
“She sent men after him. They're supposed to kill him.”
The chief's expression suddenly changed. He looked away.
Something was wrong. I noticed immediately.
“What?”
He didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“What is it?”
“Alpha…”
His voice was hesitant.
“What?”
The chief swallowed.
“Dimon had an accident early this morning.”
Everything inside me went still.
“What?”
“We received the report a few hours ago.”
“What kind of accident?”
“A vehicle accident. His car went off the road.”
My stomach tightened.
“And?”
The chief lowered his eyes.
“He didn't survive.”
For several seconds, I couldn't speak. The words struck me harder than I expected.
I stared at him, waiting for him to correct himself, because somehow my mind refused to accept what I had just heard.
“What did you say?”
“Alpha Dimon is dead.”
My throat tightened.
For a few seconds, the only thing I could hear was the blood rushing violently through my ears.
Dead? Another person?
Another life my mother had decided was expendable.
I lowered my gaze, trying to steady myself, but all I could see was Mike's face again.
How many more? How many people were going to die before this ended?
My fists clenched.
“Fuck.”
The word came out barely above a whisper.
My hand went to the back of my neck.
“How many people have to die?”
The chief said nothing.
I looked at him.
“She did this.”
My voice cracked.
“My mother did this.”
“We're still investigating the cause of the accident.”
“I don't need an investigation.”
I stared at him.
“She told Richard to send men after him. She wanted him dead.”
The chief's face hardened.
“We'll investigate it properly, Alpha.”
“Do it.”
I took a deep breath.
“But right now, I don't have time to mourn another death.”
I turned toward the entrance.
“My family is still out there.”
The chief followed.
“Alpha Pete…”
I stopped.
“Where are they?”
“Richard gave me a location.”
I pulled out my phone and brought up the coordinates Richard had given me.
“Eastern side of Richard's territory. There's an old underground facility beneath the administrative grounds.”
The chief studied the location.
“We'll send officers.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I'm going.”
“Alpha, it could be dangerous.”
“I know.”
I looked at him.
“That's why I'm going.”
I turned to my guards.
“Get the vehicles ready.”
They moved immediately.
I was already walking toward the exit when another thought struck me. Lisa.
Richard's words came rushing back.
The cook, the food, the baby.
I stopped.
“Chief.”
“Yes?”
“I need a team sent to the prison immediately.”
“Why?”
“Lisa may have been poisoned.”
His eyes widened.
“Poisoned?”
“Her food was tampered with.”
I paused.
“And she's pregnant.”
The chief stared at me.
“I want a doctor there before anyone touches her.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Now.”
He nodded and hurried away.
I stepped outside and my guards were already waiting beside the vehicles. I climbed into the back seat. The moment the door closed, I pulled out my phone.
“Call the eastern team.”
One of my guards immediately made the call and I leaned back, but my mind was racing.
Diya, Matt, Lisa, the baby, Dimon.
Mike.
Every name felt like another weight pressing against my chest. I had spent the entire day trying to put out fires, only to discover that my mother had been lighting new ones faster than I could reach them.
The vehicle pulled away from the police station.
I stared through the window.
“Please, Goddess.”
My fingers curled into fists.
“Just let me get to them in time.”
The drive felt endless and every second seemed to stretch.
I kept checking the time.
Then my phone rang and I answered immediately.
“Alpha.”
“Talk.”
“The team is ready.”
“Good.”
“We're about ten minutes from the location.”
“Make it five.”
There was a brief silence.
“Alpha, we're already driving as fast as….”
“Then drive faster.”
I ended the call.
I couldn't sit still.
I shifted in my seat, checked my phone, stared through the windshield and then checked the time again, as though somehow staring at the numbers hard enough would make the journey move faster.
My mind kept creating possibilities I didn't want to imagine.
What if Diya was injured? What if Matt was hurt? What if we arrived too late? What if Richard had lied?
I clenched my jaw.
No.
I couldn't think like that.
I had spent too much of today reacting to disasters after they happened. This time, I needed to get there before another one happened.
I didn't care about the road or the distance. All I could see was Diya. Her face, her smile, the way she looked at me when she was angry and the way she held Matt.
The way my son reached for me.
I couldn't lose them.
Not after everything.
Not after Mike.
I closed my eyes.
“Hold on, Diya.”
My voice was barely a whisper.
“Please.”
The vehicle suddenly slowed and I opened my eyes.
“We're here.”
I looked outside. Nothing about the place looked important. It was an abandoned stretch of land surrounded by trees and overgrown vegetation.
But Richard had been very specific.
The entrance was hidden beneath an old concrete structure.
My guards climbed out first and I followed.
The air felt strangely still. Too still.
I raised one hand, stopping everyone. Nobody spoke while I listened.
Nothing.
No voices. No movement. Not even the sound of someone shifting behind the walls. That silence frightened me more than an ambush would have.
“Stay alert,” I said quietly.
Something had happened here.
I could feel it.
One of my men pointed toward a partially collapsed building.
“There.”
We moved toward it. A metal door was hidden beneath the broken concrete.
My pulse quickened.
I reached for the handle. It was locked.
I stepped back.
“Move.”
One of my guards kicked the door.
Once….twice. On the third attempt, the lock broke and the door swung inward.
Immediately, the sound of footsteps echoed from below.
“They know we're here.”
I drew my weapon.
“Stay close.”
We descended.
The passageway was narrow and dark, the walls damp and covered with years of grime.
Then we heard voices.
“Someone's coming.”
“Get ready.”
I raised my hand and my guards stopped.
A figure appeared at the end of the passage. Then another. Then three more.
“Who are you?”
I stepped forward.
“Where are they?”
The men exchanged glances.
One of them reached for his weapon.
“Take them.”
The man lunged.
I barely had time to register the movement before instinct took over. I stepped aside, caught him by the shoulder and drove my fist into his stomach hard enough to knock the breath from him.
He folded.
I grabbed the back of his neck and slammed him against the wall.
Somewhere behind me, I heard one of my guards shout as another attacker came at him.
The corridor erupted.
I turned just in time to block his strike.
My guard tackled him.
The corridor erupted into chaos.
I didn't stop.
Every punch carried the image of Mike. Every blow reminded me of Diya.
My son.
My family.
I fought until the last man fell.
One of them remained conscious.
I grabbed him by the collar.
“Where are they?”
He stared at me.
“I don't know what you're….”
I slammed him against the wall.
“Where are Diya and Matt?”
His face paled.
“The lower room.”
I released him.
“Take me there.”
We rushed deeper into the facility. The further we went, the more desperate I became.
Then I heard something.
At first, I wasn't even sure what it was.
A small sound. Barely audible beneath the heavy silence of the underground facility.
I stopped breathing and listened again.
Then it came.
“Daddy?”
My heart nearly stopped.
Matt.
There was no mistaking that voice.
My son's voice.
For one terrible second, I was afraid that my mind had created it because I wanted so desperately to hear him.
Then he called again.
“Daddy!”
I ran.
Matt.
I pushed past my guards.
“Matt!”
I ran.
The door at the end of the corridor was locked and I kicked it open.
I had imagined this moment a hundred different ways during the drive.
In some of those images, Diya was standing.
In others, she was screaming.
In the worst ones, she wasn't moving at all.
Nothing had prepared me for the sight of her sitting on that filthy floor with blood on her forehead. She looked exhausted and broken.
But she was alive….Goddess, she was alive.
Diya was sitting on the floor against the wall. Her clothes were dirty, there was blood on her forehead, her hair was disheveled, and exhaustion had hollowed her face.
But she was alive.
And beside her was Matt.
The moment he saw me, his eyes widened.
“Daddy!”
He ran toward me.
I dropped to my knees and caught him in my arms. He crashed into me so hard that I nearly lost my balance, and I wrapped both arms around him, pulling him against my chest as though I could somehow make up for every terrifying second he had spent without me.
He was shaking. So was I.
I pressed my face into his hair and inhaled deeply, needing the simple proof that he was warm, breathing and real.
“Daddy,” he whispered again.
I closed my eyes.
“I'm here.”
My voice broke.
“I'm here now.”
I held him so tightly that he whimpered.
“Daddy.”
I buried my face against his hair.
“Goddess.”
My eyes burned.
“You're okay.”
I pulled back and held his face between my hands.
“Are you hurt?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
I kissed his forehead.
“Thank Goddess.”
Then I looked toward Diya. She was staring at me and her eyes filled with tears.
“Pete…”
The sound of my name nearly broke me.
I had heard it a thousand times from her, spoken in anger, affection, frustration and laughter, but never had my name sounded so fragile.
I reached for her immediately.
“I'm here.”
She fell against me, and I held her as tightly as I dared, afraid that if I loosened my arms even slightly, I would wake up and discover that none of this was real.
For a moment, neither of us spoke. I simply held her.
She was alive.
My hands moved over her back, checking her for injuries.
“What happened?”
Her voice trembled.
“They came for us.”
“I know.”
“They took us from the hospital.”
“I know.”
She pulled away slightly.
“How did you find us?”
“Richard.”
Her expression changed.
“Richard?”
I nodded.
“He told me everything.”
Her eyes closed and a tear slipped down her cheek.
I wiped it away.
“I thought…”
Her voice broke.
“I thought we were going to die here.”
“You're not.”
I pulled her back against me.
“I've got you now.”
For the first time since I had entered that hospital room and seen Mike lying there, I allowed myself to breathe.
My family was alive. I had found them.
But the relief didn't last.
One of my guards suddenly approached.
“Alpha.”
I looked at him.
“We found something.”
“What?”
He held up a phone.
Something in his expression made the relief I'd been feeling disappear.
“What is it?”
“It's one of the guards' phones.”
I took it and opened it. There were several recent messages. I scrolled through them and my eyes stopped on one.
“Move to the second location as soon as Alpha Pete arrives.”
My stomach dropped.
“What second location?”
The guard shook his head.
“We don't know yet.”
I looked at the message again and something cold settled inside me.
I had thought this place was the end of the plan.
It wasn't. It was only one part of it.
Another message appeared.
“The escape route must remain clear. She will not stay at the prison.”
My blood ran cold.
I read the sentence again. And again.
My mind refused to move past it.
“She will not stay at the prison.”
I slowly lowered the phone.
“No.”
Diya looked at me.
“What?”
I didn't answer immediately.
My mind was moving too quickly now, pulling together everything Richard had told me, everything Maris had done and everything that had happened today.
My mother hadn't simply planned the kidnapping. She had planned for what would happen after we discovered it.
She had expected Richard to be caught.
She had expected the police to come after her. She had expected me to uncover the truth.
And somewhere in that plan was a way out.
“She isn't planning to stay in prison.”
Diya looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
I swallowed.
“It means this was never her final move.”