Chapter 109 The Car Journey

Chapter 109 The Car Journey
Knox slowed the car as they approached the entrance, his attention immediately shifting toward the two security guards stationed on either side of the massive gate.
“They’re checking the cars,” he said.
Seraphina leaned forward slightly, watching as another vehicle was stopped ahead of them. One of the guards approached it while the other remained at the gate, his hand resting near the weapon strapped to his waist.
Knox brought their car to a smooth stop.
Before he could say anything else, Seraphina reached for the door.
Joanne turned sharply. “What are you doing?”
“Watch me.”
Seraphina stepped out before Joanne could argue.
She adjusted the brim of her white hat, smoothed one hand over the side of her gown and walked toward the guards with the confidence of a woman whose aura and demeanor came from wealth.
The nearer guard looked her over suspiciously as she approached.
“Good afternoon,” Seraphina greeted pleasantly.
“Good afternoon, ma’am.”
She smiled and glanced between both men. “I have a little favor to ask. Do either of you happen to have two hundred dollars in cash? I will transfer the money to you.”
The guards exchanged a look.
The first man shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
The second guard reached into his pocket. “I have two hundred.”
Seraphina's smile widened.
“Perfect. I am going inside to visit a friend who just had a baby, and I completely forgot to withdraw cash for a gift. I would rather give her cash than arrive empty-handed.”
The second guard eyed her, already thinking of ways to exploit her. “You want me to give you two hundred dollars so you can transfer it back to me, right?”
“Yes.”
He studied her for another second before a grin slowly appeared on his face.
“If you want me to do that, you have to send me three hundred.”
Seraphina forced a huge smile at him.
“I never argue with people charging for a service. Three hundred it is.”
She pulled out her phone.
The guard handed her the cash and dictated his account details. Seraphina entered them carefully, confirmed the name that appeared on her screen, and transferred the money.
A few seconds later, the guard's phone vibrated.
He checked it, smiled and nodded.
“Received.”
“Wonderful.” They commented.
The other guard looked at her again and chuckled. “You are very beautiful, ma’am.”
Seraphina smiled politely. “Thank you. That is kind of you.”
She turned and walked back toward the car without once looking behind her.
The moment she climbed inside, she closed the door and looked at Knox.
“Continue.”
Knox stared at her through the rearview mirror for a moment before slowly pressing the accelerator.
The car moved through the gate. They weren’t checked, even though other drivers at the back were already complaining of waiting.
Joanne turned around in her seat, her expression incredulous.
“What the hell was that?”
Knox's lips twitched.
“Whatever she just did was genius. They did not ask us to stop.”
Seraphina settled back against the seat. “Because they had no reason to.”
Joanne frowned. “Explain.”
“I gave one of them a reason to remember me as the woman who needed cash for a baby gift rather than as someone whose car he needed to inspect. I also gave him exactly what he wanted. By the time he starts wondering who I am, we will already be inside.”
Joanne's eyes widened. “No way.”
Seraphina looked at her. “What?”
“You used your own account to transfer money to a security guard inside a government estate?” Joanne demanded. “You do realize you just left a financial trail?”
Seraphina shrugged. “I realize that I left a financial trail that leads to a three-hundred-dollar transfer. I would rather leave that trail than allow them to search this vehicle and discover something that could actually implicate us.”
“That is still risky.”
Knox glanced at Joanne through the mirror.
“It is fine. I doubt those guards will know whose transaction it is five minutes from now. She made it easier for us.”
Joanne folded her arms. “I still think it was reckless.”
Seraphina finally turned toward her.
“Joanne, you may think you are the smartest person in every room you enter, but there is one thing you keep forgetting.”
Joanne raised a brow.
Seraphina's voice remained calm.
“I am the woman who has a son with Julian. If there is anyone in this car who wants this mission to succeed more than anyone else, it is me. So save me the childish tantrums and let me do what I came here to do.”
Joanne's chest rose sharply.
She opened her mouth.
Knox spoke before she could.
“If anything, Joanne, you should respect the fact that Miss Seraphina is Boss's wife, as far as I know. We are here for one reason. Samantha. Focus on that.”
Joanne stared at him.
Knox's warning glare lasted several seconds.
She finally looked away.
“Fine. I will focus on what is worth my energy.” She said dismissively.
The car continued deeper into the government estate.
Seraphina looked through the window, taking in the carefully maintained roads, imposing government residences and heavily guarded compounds. The place looked too ordinary for the horrors they suspected were hidden somewhere within it.
That was what made it unsettling.
Minutes later, Knox pulled the car into a quieter section and parked beside a row of trees.
He switched off the engine. Seraphina looked at him.
Knox reached beneath the driver's seat and brought out a device that looked like an unusually long phone. It had a flat surface and a small screen at the top.
“What is that?”
Knox held it up. “Trafficking code detector.”
Seraphina frowned.
“A trafficking code detector?”
“Specially designed to detect traces associated with weapons and communication systems used around trafficking houses.”
She looked at the device with renewed interest.
“And how exactly is that going to help us?”
Knox turned it on.
The small screen illuminated.
“We scan the buildings one after another. If the device detects the right signatures, we narrow down the location.”
Joanne glanced around the estate.
“I hope we are not about to waste several hours chasing a theory. The chances of finding a trafficking ring in the middle of a government estate are incredibly thin.”
Knox looked at her.
“We cannot know that until we try.”
He turned toward the silent man sitting beside Seraphina.
“Boyle?”
The man immediately straightened. “Yes, Boss.”
“You're coming with me.”
“Understood.”
Boyle opened his door. Joanne reached for hers.
“I am coming too.”
Knox glanced at her. “Maybe you could.”
“I am coming as well.” Seraphina said.
“No.” Knox objected immediately.
She stared at him. “What?”
Knox faced turned to face her.
“Bringing you through the estate was already a risk. I am not taking you inside buildings where we do not know what we will find.”
“I came here because I want to help find Samantha.”
“And you will help by staying alive.”
Seraphina sighed heavily. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know. Boss wouldn’t understand that if he makes it out of the prison alive.”
Sera tensed.
Knox's voice softened slightly.
“He would kill me if he found out I took you into a place like this while he is sitting in a cell and cannot protect you himself.”
The reminder that Julian was in a cell struck somewhere deep inside her.
Seraphina silently succumbed.
Joanne stepped out of the car.
Knox nodded at Boyle.
The two men moved away together while Joanne followed them toward the first building.
Seraphina remained inside the car, watching until they disappeared from view.
For several seconds, she simply sat there.
Her mind drifted toward Julian. She inhaled sharply as she wondered what condition he was in.
She pressed her lips together. She couldn’t afford to keep worrying when she could use the energy on saving him when they still had the chance.
He needed Samantha.
They needed to find her.
Seraphina closed her eyes briefly.
“Please be alive, Samantha.” she whispered.
A sharp pain suddenly twisted through her lower abdomen.
Her hand immediately pressed against her stomach.
“Oh, God.”
She had completely forgotten.
Her period had started, and with everything that had happened over the past several days, she had not even thought about getting medication.
The pain intensified.
Seraphina glanced around through the window.
There had to be a pharmacy somewhere nearby.
She could not sit in the car waiting for the pain to worsen.
She opened the door and stepped outside.
After checking the direction of the nearest buildings, she started walking, bottling the pain in.
She had barely gone a short distance when she turned a corner and collided into a tall frame.
Her body stumbled backward.
“I’m so sorry…” She was saying…
“Sera?”