Chapter 60 RAGE
I had no idea why I slapped him—but I did.
The sharp sound still rang in my ears as reality crashed down on me. I immediately shoved him away, scrambling to my feet as I turned my back on him, my chest rising and falling in uneven breaths.
Did I just kiss him… passionately… and then slap him?
Embarrassment washed over me, hot and suffocating, tangling with the anger clawing inside my chest. I didn’t even know what I was angrier about—letting myself melt into his embrace again… or the fact that he always seemed to kiss me whenever he needed a distraction.
Speaking of distractions…
My eyes snapped toward where Gary had been standing moments ago.
He was gone.
His car was gone too.
That realization shattered the fragile control I had left. Fury surged through me like wildfire as I spun around to face Jaxon, every ounce of frustration exploding to the surface.
“This is all your fault!” I screamed.
He didn’t flinch.
He just stood there, calm… composed… watching me with that unreadable expression that always made me feel like he saw far more than he ever revealed. His gaze locked onto mine, steady and infuriatingly quiet.
Then, without a word, he walked past me.
He stopped after a few steps and turned slightly, glancing over his shoulder.
“Are you going to stand there being angry,” he asked evenly, “or are you coming with me?”
The sharp edge of my anger faltered instantly, confusion replacing it.
I hadn’t expected that.
I hadn’t expected him to offer to go after Gary.
Before I could even question it, he was already heading toward the car. Panic and urgency shoved me forward, and I rushed after him.
We both climbed into the car, the air inside thick with unspoken tension. He reversed out of the compound smoothly, his movements precise and controlled. The moment we cleared the gate, he turned briefly toward me.
“Seat belt on?”
I nodded slowly, confused by the sudden question. But before I could even process it, he slammed his foot on the accelerator.
The car surged forward violently, the speed catching me completely off guard as he shot down the quiet estate street.
My heart slammed wildly against my ribs as adrenaline rushed through me. I gripped the edge of my seat, my eyes glued to Jaxon as I watched every calculated movement he made behind the wheel.
Without warning, he pulled out his phone and shoved it toward me.
“Connect it to the head unit,” he instructed.
I grabbed the cord beneath the dashboard with slightly trembling fingers and plugged it into the phone. The cable clicked into place, and I handed the phone back to him.
He tapped quickly on the screen, barely glancing down as he forced himself to keep his attention on the road. The engine roared as the car sped through another turn.
Moments later, the head unit screen lit up.
A location appeared—marked by a small blinking red dot that danced across the digital map.
Jaxon tossed his phone onto the console beside him like it no longer mattered.
I shot him a questioning look, my mind racing with a thousand unspoken questions. But his eyes remained fixed straight ahead… or at least, that’s what I thought.
“Quit staring at me like that,” he said suddenly, gripping the steering wheel as he took a sharp turn that jerked my body violently forward. The seatbelt snapped tight across my chest, holding me back from slamming into the window.
“And ask whatever it is you want to ask.”
“First—slow down. And second… how did you bug his car?” I asked, trying to steady my breathing as the speed finally began to ease.
“I bugged it earlier when I saw him driving in, just before I joined the party,” he replied, his eyes shifting between the road and the head unit. “He was suspicious. And for some reason, the car’s plate number was missing, so I figured he had something up his sleeve.”
His calm explanation only made the uneasiness inside me grow stronger. If Jaxon thought someone was suspicious, it usually meant something was very wrong.
But something else caught my attention.
Gary wasn’t driving out of the estate.
He was driving deeper into it.
The realization sent a chill crawling up my spine as I leaned forward slightly, watching the blinking red dot move farther inward on the screen.
“How big is this estate?” I asked quietly. “And who owns it?”
Jaxon took another turn, his hands steady on the steering wheel, his expression unreadable.
“It’s as big as you’re imagining,” he replied. “There are multiple entry and exit routes. And as for the owner… it’s a partnership property. Owned by three people.”
That answer didn’t comfort me at all. If anything, it made the place feel even more complicated—like a maze designed to trap anyone unfamiliar with it.
Just then, the red dot on the head unit screen came to an abrupt stop.
My stomach tightened.
Either Gary had reached his destination… or he had abandoned the car and switched to another vehicle.
“We’re close,” Jaxon muttered, his voice lowering as his eyes narrowed slightly at the screen.
Within seconds, we turned into the next street.
The atmosphere shifted immediately.
The road ahead was eerily empty, the silence almost suffocating. Only the faint glow of streetlights stretched across the pavement, casting long, ghostlike shadows that danced across the asphalt. The deeper we drove, the heavier the air seemed to grow, pressing against my chest with an unsettling weight.
Then Jaxon spotted it.
Gary’s car sat parked ahead.
Without hesitation, Jaxon swerved smoothly toward the sidewalk, dimming the headlights to avoid drawing attention. The engine quieted as he brought the car to a slow, controlled stop several meters away.
For a brief moment, neither of us spoke.
The tension inside the car thickened, wrapping tightly around my lungs.
Then we stepped out.
The night air hit my skin instantly—cool and unnervingly still. I wrapped my arms slightly around myself as my eyes scanned our surroundings.
Something felt… wrong.
As I observed the environment, I noticed the houses surrounding this area were completely dark—pitch black, as if abandoned. Unlike the other streets we had driven through earlier, there were no porch lights, no television glow behind windows, no signs of life whatsoever.
It felt like stepping into a forgotten part of the estate… one that no one was meant to notice.
And for the first time since we began following Gary, a deep, unsettling dread curled in my stomach.
“Why does this place look abandoned?” I whispered as Jaxon and I approached the SUV parked just a few meters away from us.
“Because construction was put on hold,” he replied quietly. “This is the last section of the estate that caught fire a couple of years ago, and it hasn’t been rebuilt since.”
Gary’s car was empty—just as we suspected—and there was no sign of him anywhere.
“Why does this place give me the creeps?” I muttered, an unfamiliar shiver crawling down my spine as a horrifying thought followed. This was practically the perfect hideout to hold someone hostage without anyone noticing. Not even the police.
And if that person ended up dead…
The chances of their body ever being discovered would be almost zero—unless their remains were found years later during reconstruction.
My chest tightened at the thought.
“We need to check his trunk,” I said, already walking toward it. I half expected it to be locked, but when I pulled it open, it revealed nothing but empty space.
“He’s gone, alright… but he took her with him,” I added, my frustration sharp and impossible to hide. Anxiety clawed at my insides, making it feel like every second we wasted was a ticking time bomb.
Just then, a loud noise echoed from one of the creepiest houses on the street—the one directly opposite us.
Jaxon and I exchanged a quick look before sprinting toward it.
He stepped inside first, moving cautiously as I followed closely behind him. Faint voices drifted through the house as we slipped in quietly, stopping near what looked like a kitchen entrance that led into the living room.
We pressed ourselves against the wall and peeked inside.
A dim light flickered in the room, revealing four men dressed entirely in black. They were gathered around something—no… someone.
Their laughter and crude noises filled the room as if they were celebrating something twisted and cruel.
“What are they doing?” I whispered, glancing at Jaxon, whose expression had darkened with sudden realization.
“They’re—” His voice trailed off as I leaned forward to look again.
This time, three of the men shifted aside.
And the sight that greeted me shattered something deep inside my chest.
They were taking turns assaulting the figure lying helplessly on the floor. She looked completely motionless, her hair covering most of her face, her clothes torn and barely clinging to her body.
Rage exploded through me like wildfire.
Before I could think, I stormed forward, ready to drag that bastard off her and beat him senseless.
But Jaxon grabbed my arm, trying to stop me.
I shoved him away violently and charged into the room.
Jaxon’s POV
She shoved me aside and stormed into the room without hesitation.
“You fucking assholes!” her voice roared, echoing throughout the building as she instantly caught the men’s attention.
I released a frustrated breath.
Why does she never listen? She always lets her anger take control.
“Well, look what we have here,” one of the men sneered as they abandoned the unconscious woman on the floor and turned toward Nancy. “Another chick for the night.”
“Yeah,” another added with a disgusting grin, “why don’t you come join us?”
Nancy’s eyes burned with fury.
“Why don’t you come get me then?” she challenged.
Their laughter echoed loudly through the room, filled with arrogance and stupidity.
As they focused entirely on Nancy, I noticed something else.
Gary wasn’t here.
Which made me wonder… was the woman on the floor even the one he had taken?
Nancy moved before I could warn her.
Three of the men began approaching her while the fourth—the one still struggling with his half-lowered pants—remained behind.
Her next move caught me completely off guard.
She slipped off her heels and launched one straight at the man behind her.
The heel struck him directly between the legs.
He collapsed instantly, clutching himself and groaning in agony.
“You little slut!” the man in the middle snarled after witnessing what she had done.
But Nancy didn’t give him the chance to react.
She hurled the second heel straight at his face, hitting him near the eyes and sending him stumbling backward in pain. Before the man on her right could recover, she delivered a sharp kick straight to his face, knocking him flat onto the ground.
The last one tried to grab her, but she drove her knee hard between his legs, and he collapsed with a strangled cry, hitting the floor face-first.
I couldn’t help the stunned laugh that escaped me.
Who hired these idiots? I couldn’t believe she had taken them down so quickly.
Nancy immediately rushed toward the woman lying on the floor, dropping to her knees beside her.
That was when I saw it.
A shadow moved behind Nancy.
A figure stepped forward silently, gripping a wooden bat in his hand, raising it slowly above his head.
And Nancy had no idea he was there.