Chapter 307

Chapter 307
Lucas’ office glowed with the cold blue light of multiple screens, each one filled with layers of data, maps, satellites, and coded logs. Damian stood behind him, arms folded, jaw locked tight as Lucas typed faster than usual, pulling up everything connected to De Luca.
Minutes passed. The room felt too quiet.
Then Lucas exhaled sharply.
“…Sir,” he said slowly, “I don’t know how else to phrase this but—De Luca has been moving in complete silence.”
Damian’s eyes narrowed. “Explain.”
Lucas pointed to the screens. “Look here. For five years he’s set up a pattern: small movements, minimal transactions, no digital trace of lodging, no land purchases. He drops off the grid for months at a time.” He clicked another window. “Every location he visited is abandoned in under nine hours. It’s like he never sleeps in the same place twice.”
Damian’s jaw tightened. “Coward.”
“Not only that,” Lucas continued, “but his current location is nowhere to be found. He hasn’t used a card, phone, or tracked device in seven months.”
Damian’s fingers curled around the back of Lucas’ chair. “He’s hiding because he knows what he did. He knows I’d come for him.”
“Yes, sir,” Lucas agreed. “But I found something else.”
His fingers tapped quickly.
A series of images popped up—grainy, zoomed-in, surveillance shots of the two men who had been searching the neighborhood. The same men who carried pictures of Sia. The same men who had been asking questions.
Lucas zoomed in.
“These men have been active constantly,” Lucas said. “They move around the city, they use burner phones, and they keep reporting to someone every night.”
Damian inhaled sharply. “De Luca.”
“Exactly.” Lucas nodded. “If we can’t trace De Luca directly, then the only way to get to him… is through his men.”
Damian’s eyes darkened with cold, ruthless determination. “Good. Then we catch them.”
Lucas turned in his chair. “Sir, I have a plan.”
Damian raised his chin. “Let’s hear it.”
Lucas clicked another screen open—traffic cameras, estate gates, side streets.
“They come into the estate every morning between six-thirty and seven,” Lucas explained. “They walk around pretending they’re looking for a missing child, but they’re also scanning the area. Sia must be their target.”
Damian’s nostrils flared with rage.
Lucas continued, voice steady. “We can’t pick them up inside the estate—too many witnesses. And if they vanish too suddenly, De Luca will know they were captured. But on the main road outside?” He zoomed in on a stretch of highway. “There’s a blind spot. Cameras there went out two months ago. It’s perfect.”
Damian nodded once. “We intercept them there. Quietly.”
Lucas smirked—a rare, dangerous expression. “I already assigned two of my best men to tail them. The moment they leave the estate tomorrow morning, we’ll box them in.”
Damian’s voice dropped into a low growl. “No mistakes.”
“None, sir.”

THE ABDUCTION — BEFORE DAWN
The next morning, the street outside the estate was misty, the early fog rolling across the quiet road. Two black SUVs sat parked several meters apart, engines silent, lights off.
Inside the first SUV, Lucas tightened his gloves. “Positions,” he ordered quietly into his earpiece.
Voices responded.
“Left side in place.”
“Right side ready.”
“Backup ready.”
In the second SUV, Damian sat in the back seat, eyes fixed forward. His presence alone filled the vehicle with pressure. He wasn’t speaking—but every man there knew he was on the edge of violence.
Lucas’ voice came through the radio softly: “Target is leaving the estate now. Two men. They’re on foot.”
Damian leaned forward. “Let’s get them.”

THE CAPTURE
The two men walked casually along the road, one holding a folded banner with Sia’s face. They laughed quietly, unaware of the trap closing around them.
They passed the blind spot.
That was the signal.
Lucas’ SUV pulled forward silently, blocking the road ahead.
The second SUV eased up behind them, cutting off any chance of turning back.
The men looked up—startled.
“What—who are—?”
They didn’t finish.
Eight men stepped out of both SUVs, dressed in black, faces covered, movements perfectly synchronized.
Everything happened in seconds:
— One man grabbed the first target’s arms and twisted them behind his back.
— Another pinned the second target by the neck, silencing his shout.
— A third slid a blindfold over his eyes.
— A fourth shoved a gag into the first target’s mouth.
No noise.
No struggle.
No witnesses.
Damian stepped out of the SUV last, calm and terrifying.
He approached the men slowly, like a shadow.
One of the captured men began shaking violently.
Damian crouched, staring at him through the blindfold.
“You’re going to lead me to De Luca,” he said softly, dangerously soft. “One way or another.”
The man whimpered through the gag.
Lucas approached. “Both secured. No cameras caught anything.”
Damian stood.
“Good,” he said. “Take them to the warehouse.”
His voice dropped into pure steel.
“Tonight, we end De Luca’s game.”