Chapter 142 The Search
Chapter 142 The Search
After a long pause, the guard relented. The gate swung open. Chloe's car pulled through and disappeared into the night.
Rhys stared at the footage, his blood running cold. She had left. Voluntarily. Without telling anyone. And the guard, the guard he had personally trained, had let her go.
He called David immediately. "Chloe left the estate at 10:47. She's been gone over an hour. Pull the traffic cam footage, find her car. I want every available team searching. Now."
"What about the guard?"
"Send him to me. Now."
He didn't wait for a response. He was already moving, grabbing his jacket, his keys, his backup weapon. Somewhere out there, Chloe was alone. And the only person who would call her away in the middle of the night, who she would lie to leave for, was the one person who wanted to destroy her.
He knows it is Noah, it has to be Noah..
The hours crawled slowly. Rhys hadn't slept. He hadn't eaten. He sat in the Aegis command center, surrounded by screens showing maps, traffic feeds, and the faces of his team working every angle.
Then the phone rang. An unknown number.
Rhys answered immediately. "Thorne."
The distorted voice returned, laced with impatience. "We hope you've been busy, Mr. Thorne. Ten billion dollars. Wired to an offshore account we'll provide. You have until 8 PM. No extensions. No excuses."
"Let me speak to her."
A pause. Then Chloe's voice, shaky but alive. "Rhys... please... just do what they say. I'm okay. The baby…"
The line cut. The voice returned. "You heard her. 8 PM. Be ready."
Rhys kept his voice steady, though his hands were fists at his sides. "I need the account details. Transfers of that size require time to clear. You're not giving me enough…"
"Not our problem. 8 PM. Or we start sending pieces." The line went dead.
Rhys lowered the phone, his fist tight. He looked at Carter, who stood nearby, waiting. "They're not going to let her go. Even if I had the money, they'd kill her. She's seen their faces. She can identify them."
Carter nodded grimly. "What's our move?"
"We keep searching. And we buy time." Rhys turned to the financial team. "Set up a dummy transfer. Make it look legitimate, but with enough red flags to delay processing. Give us a few extra hours if they check."
He looked back at the maps on the screens. "And double the search. Every warehouse, every abandoned building within a fifty-mile radius. I want her found before sunset."
The command center buzzes with activities. The clock was ticking.
Rhys mobilized the full resources of Aegis Group within minutes of receiving the ransom call. The situation was now a tactical hostage rescue. The goal wasn't to negotiate, it was to locate Chloe before the deadline, rendering the money demand irrelevant.
His team conducted a thorough search using multiple approaches. They first reviewed every minute of Chloe's drive away from the estate, tracking her car through traffic cameras to pinpoint where she was taken. They analyzed Noah's phone records and known associates from his prison time, cross-referencing them with recent activity near the capture location.
The team then focused on triangulating the call, isolating the general area where the kidnappers were holding her. They assessed likely warehouse districts, abandoned industrial sites, and properties connected to Noah's network. Aegis operatives deployed into the field, maintaining a low profile to avoid alerting the kidnappers.
Rhys also had Carter discreetly coordinate with financial institutions to create a dummy trail for the ransom, buying time while the physical search intensified. He refused to involve the police, trusting his team’s expertise over standard protocol.
The search continued relentlessly through the night, driven by the singular focus of bringing Chloe home safely.
The warehouse was cold and damp. Chloe sat on a filthy mattress in the corner, her wrists raw from the ropes, her body trembling. The baby had been restless all night, kicking, turning, as if sensing the danger. But now, a new sensation was building. A deep, cramping pain that started in her lower back and wrapped around her belly.
She gasped, her hand flying to her stomach. No. Not now. Please, not now.
The pain subsided, then returned minutes later. Stronger. Closer together.
"Noah!" she called out, her voice cracking. "Noah, please!"
Noah was across the room, pacing, arguing with Krill about logistics. He looked up, irritated. "What?"
"The baby. I think... I think I'm in labor."
The color drained from Noah's face. He stared at her, then at Krill, then back at her. "You're lying."
Another contraction hit, and Chloe cried out, doubling over. Sweat beaded on her forehead. "Does that look like lying?"
Noah ran a hand through his hair, panic showing in his eyes. This wasn't part of the plan. A hostage was manageable. A hostage giving birth was a disaster. Medical attention meant exposure. Exposure meant capture.
"We need to move the timeline," he said abruptly, turning to Krill. "Call Thorne. Tell him the payment is due at noon. Not 8 PM. Noon."
Krill frowned. "That's only a few hours. He won't have the money ready."
"Then he loses his wife and kid. Not my problem." Noah's voice was sharp, fraying at the edges. "I'm not sitting here while she goes into labor. We get the money, we get out. Tonight. I'm done with this country."
Krill hesitated, then pulled out his phone. He dialed, his thick fingers clumsy on the screen.
Rhys answered on the first ring. "Thorne."
"Change of plans," Krill said, his voice a low growl. "Noon today. Ten billion. Or we leave her here, in labor, with no one to help. You understand?"
A beat of silence. Then Rhys's voice, cold as ice. "Noon. I'll have the transfer ready."
"See that you do."
The call ended. Noah resumed his pacing, his mind already racing ahead, planes, fake passports, a new identity in a country with no extradition. He was so close. So close to freedom.
Behind him, Chloe groaned, another wave of pain stealing her breath. She closed her eyes and prayed. Not for rescue. Not for the money. Just for her baby to live.