I’ll Destroy Them

I’ll Destroy Them
Collins’s POV
The plane landed in Amelia’s city, and with it landed my anxiety, which had held me in its clutches since she stopped responding to my text messages.  It felt wrong — really, really wrong. Amelia wasn’t answering. Elena wasn’t answering. The silence was making me go crazy. I hardly noticed the chaos at the airport as I passed through it, Daniel following close behind, his tablet clutched tightly by his sides. I had one purpose, and it was to find her.
I made a stop at the apartment where I stayed in town. The key shook in my hand as I turned the lock, calling for her before the door swung fully ajar. “Amelia? Amelia!” And the silence in response was scary. Her backpack wasn’t near the door, her shoes weren’t strewn about the hallway. She hadn’t been here. My heart was pounding seriously as I ran through the rooms, looking in every corner, every shadow, as if she might have hidden, waiting to giggle at my alarm. Nothing.
I yanked my phone out and checked the CCTV app for the apartment’s security. My hands shivered as I scrolled through the footage — hours of empty hallways, the front door still. She hadn’t come home.  I clutched the countertop, my knuckles turning white, while attempting to resist the urge to punch something. Where was she? Where was Elena? I called Daniel, my voice filled with urgency. “Get to the school. Now.”
The drive to the university was a fuzzy haze, my foot pressing down on the gas as I forced my way through traffic. Beside me Daniel sat quiet, but edgy, his phone vibrating with updates from my crew. The campus stood in front of me, its brick buildings sneering at me with their insidious normalcy. Kids were milling around, laughing, oblivious, and my world was falling apart. I burst into the admin building with Daniel trailing behind me, asking for the dean. The receptionist’s grin wavered a bit as I glared at her and she got out, “Sir, you have to make an appointment—”
“I want the security footage,” I cut her off. “My wife is missing. Give me the dean, or I will close this place down by morning.”
Her eyes went wide, but she did not act quickly enough. After a moment, I took out my phone and called my attorney, my tone loud enough for the room to overhear. “James, initiate the process to take over this college. But if they don’t, we’ll close it.” It was a half-bluff threat — I didn’t actually have time to buy a damn school — but it was effective. The receptionist got scared and within minutes the dean was leading me into his office, his face white.
“We’ll work with you, Mr. Domingo,” he said, nodding at a tech who had already begun checking the CCTVs. “Whatever you need.”
I hovered over the tech’s shoulder, my arms crossed, my jaw clenched so hard it hurt. The screens stuttered and flickered, reflecting views of the campus from every angle. “Find her,” I said,  low and dangerous. “Amelia Collins. She went away from the courtyard this afternoon. Black hoodie, backpack, woman in a blazer.”
The tech nodded at me, and his fingers danced over the keyboard. Footage rolled — students in transit across the quad, professors en route to classroom engagements. Then I saw her. Amelia strolling briskly past the gaping throng of Sophie, shoulders back, eyes hard. Elena followed discreetly, but alert, and boarded the car. For a moment, my heart soared — they had made it out safely. But the relief was fleeting. If they had left, where were they now?
“Keep track of the car,” I ordered, leaning forward. The tech then switched to city traffic cameras, tracing the sedan’s movements through the streets. Stunned, I watched, unable to look away. Then, a few blocks from campus, the video transitioned. The road was closed by a group of men — too many to tally. The vehicle veered, tires blowing out under gunfire. I caught my breath, my hands forming fists as I watched. Men broke the windows and dragged Amelia out. She kicked, screamed, face a mask of terror. Elena fought, getting in three punches before they bore her to the ground, bats and fists flailing. Amelia struggled free, tugging, biting her captor, but she was hammered in the back and crashed into the pavemement. She vomited blood and then took another blow and herbody crumpled.
“No!” I shouted. The tech jolted, and the dean jumped back, but I didn’t care. My eyes narrowed, anger and terror churning inside me, about to consume me. “Who are they?” I demanded, clutching the monitor, as though I might reach through it and yank her to safety. “Find them! Now!”
And then there was an awkward stammering from the tech. “We don’t have any more footage, sir. The vehicle was no longer in camera view.”
I pounded my fist on the table, snapping the wood in two. “Then bring me every camera in this city!” I snarled at Daniel, who was to my right. “Call everyone. Pull every guy we’ve got on to this. I want Amelia found, and I want those bastards’ heads. They touched my wife. They’re dead.”
Daniel nodded and started dialing, his face white but determined. I paced, my mind racing. I saw Jenny’s face — her manic screams, her craze. Richard. This had their stench all over it. I’ll kill them. I would burn their world for putting their hands on her. My phone vibrated and I grabbed it, hoping to hear Amelia’s voice, but it was Mark. “We are pulling city feeds,” he said. “No signal yet, but we’re looking for it.”
“Work faster,” I snapped before hanging up. I could not stand still, could not breath, not while she was out there, in pain, afraid. Her falling, blood upon her lips,  scarred  my mind. I’d failed her. I'd swore to protect her, but I’d let her down.
Three hours later, as I was sitting in a commandcenter at my downtown hotel, Mark called again. “We have something,” he added, his voice strained. “Their car was seen crossing state lines. It’s returning to New York.”
I froze, my heart stuttering. “New York? “How the hell did they get her through airport security?”
“They didn’t,” Sean said. “They went by road. Must’ve taken back routes, by passed major check points.”
They had brought her to my own back yard, right under my nose.  Whoever it was had just started a war, and they’d soon be facing their day of reckoning. I jumped up, the chair I was sitting in falling on the floor. My men gazed up, their faces tense, in anticipation of orders. I looked at Daniel, my tone cold. “Book a flight. We’re going back to New York!”