Chapter 86
Bella jerked upright when her phone suddenly rang beside her, she had fallen asleep beside her phone on the chair while Daniel sat all night holding her and waiting for the caller.
Daniel had tried to trace the number that had called Bella earlier but could not because the caller had used a disposable phone to call
"Put it on speaker" he mouthed and Bella nodded
"H...hello"
"How does it feel to spend the night without your kids?" The caller asked
"Terrible" Bella yelled in her head and fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, "Please do not do anything to my kids. I'm begging you"
The caller laughed ruthlessly, Daniel tried to place the voice but could not, it sounded mechanical and they could not even tell if it was a male's voice or a female's voice
Daniel snatched the phone from Bella's hands, "What the hell do you want, who are you and why have you kidnapped my kids?" Daniel growled and there was a slight pause on the other end
"I love how anguished you sound right now, oh! It just gladdens my heart to hear that in your voice" the caller replied and Daniel took a deep breath to steady his nerves
"Do you want money? Is that what this is all about? How much do you need?"
"I do not need your damn money Nikolai Klaus, it would have been so easy for you to solve everything with money right? Well, sorry to burst your bubbles but this isn't about money"
"Then what the hell do you want from me?"
"I will tell you what I want but in person, I need you and your wife to come to the address that I will send to you"
"What? Leave my wife out of this" he yelled
"If you want to see your kids alive, then the both of you better be here and only the both of you. If I see any of your men, I will kill your kids even before they get close"
The line went dead before Daniel could reply, he stared at Bella, "You are not going anywhere"
"No way, didn't you hear what he said? I am going right with you"
"I do not want you in harm's way"
"My kids are already in harm's way, we don't even know who has taken them, I have to go to my kids, even if it means that I will die..."
Daniel placed a hand over her lips, "Shh... don't you ever talk about dying, I won't let anything happen to you" Daniel's voice was filled with emotions and he hugged her tight, "I won't lose you the second time, you and my kids, I will protect you all with everything that I've got"
Bella stilled for a moment in his arms before slowly hugging him back, she knew that he would rather die before he let anything happen to her or his kids, he was fiercely protective about what he considered his own, years back, he had always protected her from harm. She trusts him but she doesn't want anything to happen to him either.
Slowly, she raised her head and stared into his eyes, "I don't want anything to happen to you either"
A nameless expression flickered in his eyes and he slowly used his thumb to wipe off a lone tear that stained her cheek.
Slowly, he dipped his head and took her lips in his.
They were both interrupted by the beep of her phone and they drew apart and stared into each other's eyes
"Are you sure that you want to come with me?" Daniel whispered softly and she nodded.
They both read the instructions in her message inbox and Daniel frowned, he knew that place very well, it was the place where his father had kidnapped Bella and the place where he had taken the life of Nicholas Calvin.
Who the hell is trying to mess with his mind, he threw the phone across the chair and stared at Bella, he tried to convince her once more to stay behind but she was determined to go with him.
Daniel sighed, "Let's go but you'll have to stay close to me at all times".
Daniel stopped at his house to get some guns from his private armory, he armed himself before leaving with Bella, he did not tell any of his men about it, he would handle it himself.
Daniel and Bella got to the address that was given to them but saw no one, instinctively, Daniel knew that they were not alone, he felt the eyes on him and he grabbed Bella's hand and dragged her behind him
"You asked us to me here, now, we are here why don't you show yourself?" Daniel yelled and his voice echoed in the empty warehouse.
"Niko? Nikky? Are you here?" Bella called out
Suddenly, they heard footsteps and both Daniel and Bella turned in that direction, Bella gasped when she saw a guard come out with Niko, he was having a gun pointed at his head, he was followed by another who was having Nikky and she was also having a gun pointed to her head
"Dad! Mom!" They cried when they saw them and made to run toward them but they were dragged back by their hair
Bella rushed towards them but skidded to a stop when someone came out and yelled at her to stop right where she was.
"Joey?" Daniel's voice was filled with surprise when he saw that his father's wife was the person who had abducted his children, "it was you all along?"
"Yes Daniel, it was me. Surprise!" She replied, her gun was still aimed at Bella
"Why are you doing this?" Daniel asked
"You asked why I am doing this. Have you forgotten that years ago, you took my family away from me, and you made me watch as you killed my husband and my son right in front of me? I have waited for all these years just for my revenge, it was supposed to be, a child for a child but Alas, it will be a child for children that way, your pain will be doubled"
"No, please, not my kids, they are innocent"
Bella pleaded
"Innocent? My Gabriel was innocent too but your husband killed him without mercy while you watched but this time, it will be him that is going to watch as I slowly kill the whole of his family"
"Your husband killed my mother, he deserves to die"
"Your mother deserved to die for seducing my husband and begetting a seed like you" Joey snarled and waved her gun
"Now, which of the kids do you want to die first?"
Niko and Nikky started crying profusely, their eyes were red and sore and Bella wished she could get to them, "oh my poor babies" she wailed inwardly
"Joey, don't do this please," Daniel said, his voice hoarse, he saw the marks on Niko's face that suggested that he had been hit and he barely managed to keep his cool.
Taking them all down was a piece of cake for him if Niko and Nikky were not involved, he wouldn't want any scratch on their skin by the time he finished from here, over his dead body would he allow anything happen to his kids.
Joey laughed cynically, did I just hear you say please? Are you willing to beg for their lives, it will be a pleasure to see the infamous Nikolai Klaus begging for the life of his family. Get on your knees and beg"
Daniel narrowed his eyes at her and then glared at the two guards, slowly, he went on a knee but before he could place his other knee on the ground, he twisted suddenly and at a speed that only Nikolai Klaus could pull, he whips out a gun and shot the two guards holding Niko and Nikky hostage. He got them right on their head and they fell on the floor dead, with eyes wide open with surprise.
"Drop your gun or I will shoot her" Joey warned, in the confusion, she had immediately grabbed Bella by her neck and aimed the gun at her head, "I'll kill her this instant if you don't drop your gun
Daniel raised his gun as if to surrender, "take it easy, I'm dropping it" he replied and slowly dropped the gun on the ground
"Mum" both Niko and Nikky cried, terrified that their mother was now held hostage while they were free
"The other gun at your back belt, drop it too" Joey commanded, as she sighted the gun at Daniel's back when he had twisted and shot the other men
"Why don't you shoot me instead and let them go?" Daniel asked
Joey smirked and slowly, turned the gun towards Daniel and pulled the trigger.
Aaron had been trying to reach Daniel but could not, he was shocked because since he had known Daniel for years, there was not a day that he was not able to reach him when he wanted to. Instinctively, he knew that something wasn't right.
He knew that someone had kidnapped Daniel's kids because he had called the men to look for them but they could not find the kids.
Daniel wasn't at home neither was he in the office, Aaron doesn't need a soothsayer to tell him that he must be with Bella.
"Bella" he was grateful for her return, Brittany would be very happy to have her friend back. He decided to check his boss in the hotel that Bella had rented downtown, well, more of a slummy inn than an actual hotel.
Aaron got to the area and wrinkled his nose, he wondered how she could stay somewhere like this. He met her room door slightly opened and he was hopeful that she would be at home but when he knocked, he got no answer.
He pushed the door open and went inside and to his astonishment, neither Bella nor Daniel were in, "what's going on?" He muttered and was about to leave when he saw Bella's phone that was carelessly thrown on the chair.
Instinctively, he picked it up and scrolled through it, he didn't know what he was searching for but he went into her message box and blanched at the address that had been sent. How could he forget that address, that was where Nicholas Calvin had died. Who sent this address and why?
He has to find out, he will go there with some of the men because he is sure that his boss is in danger. He was almost sure that the kidnappers had sent that address.