Chapter 77 I've Got You
"This is it," Derek said hoarsely as they rushed toward their vehicles. "This has to be it."
Derek rode with the two officers who had been with him since early that morning. His leg bounced uncontrollably as the car sped forward, his mind racing.
Hold on, Rebecca, he prayed silently. Please hold on.
As they approached the location the investigator had shared, he couldn't be happier that he had put things in motion long before the investigator’s call.
When he told the officers that Vanessa might be the mastermind behind the kidnapping, he had been firm.
"They couldn’t have taken her far," Derek had said earlier. "She’s pregnant. Moving her too much would be risky. And if Vanessa is in this city, then Rebecca has to be somewhere nearby."
The officers had listened and since his analysis had been logical.
Search teams had already been deployed across the surrounding areas abandoned buildings, warehouses, empty lots. Backup had been called in.
The teams had split into groups, each assigned to a possible location. Four locations had stood out. But thankfully, the investigator’s coordinates matched one of them.
They neared the building but what they saw first was the smoke before they saw the building.
Dark, thick smoke curled into the sky, unmistakable even from a distance.
Derek’s heart dropped into his stomach as he turned to the officers who were glancing at each other. Derek didn't need to be told why they were looking at each other as it seemed like they had in mind exactly what he thought.
"No," he whispered. "Please, no…"
“We should hurry. There's no way the warehouse would be on fire if it's abandoned. Someone must have put the fire and it has to be Vanessa. This has to be where Rebecca is,” Derek said hurriedly.
The vehicles sped up. But when they arrived, chaos had already erupted.
The warehouse was already burning.
Flames crawled up the walls, crackling loudly as they devoured everything in their path. Officers poured out of vehicles from all directions, weapons drawn immediately they saw Vanessa and two men rushing to their vehicle.
"Police" one officer shouted. "Get on the ground! Now."
Vanessa and her men froze, shock flashing across their faces.
"Down." another officer yelled.
Some of the men tried to run, but they didn’t get far. Officers tackled them to the ground, snapping handcuffs onto their wrists.
Vanessa turned and saw Derek.
For a brief moment, her confidence cracked, she just knew she had messed with the wrong person.
Derek’s eyes burned with fury as he stared at her, but his attention quickly shifted to the burning warehouse behind her when it crossed his mind that Vanessa was alone which might Rebecca could be in the fire.
“Where’s my wife?” he shouted but Vanessa only laughed, the sound evil and malicious.
"Rebecca." he shouted, attempting to run inside, realizing that Vanessa's laugh could only mean one thing.
He immediately headed to towards the building.
Before he could take two steps, one of the officers grabbed his arm. “Sir, stop! You can’t go in there."
"She’s inside," Derek yelled, struggling. "Let me go."
"The building is on fire" the officer shouted back. "You’ll die in there,"
Derek tore his arm free. "I can’t live if something happens to her." He stated firmly.
He could live with knowing she was angry or doesn't want to talk to him, but living with the knowledge that she was gone and that he'd never have a chance to know about the paternity of her pregnancy will hunt him for the rest of his life.
Before anyone could stop him, he ran straight toward the flames.
The moment Derek stepped into the warehouse, the heat hit him like a wall.
Thick smoke filled the air, burning his eyes and throat. Flames crawled along the wooden beams and walls, cracking and snapping as they fed on everything around them. The floor beneath his feet was hot, and every breath felt like it scraped his lungs raw.
"Rebecca!" he shouted, his voice hoarse and desperate as he looked around for her.
There was no answer.
He coughed hard, bending slightly as he forced himself to keep moving and searching for where she could be. His heart was pounding so loudly in his ears that it felt like it might burst. Every step he took was driven by one thought alone.
'I have to find her.' He told himself for the tenth time.
He moved from one section of the warehouse to another, pushing open doors, kicking aside fallen debris, ignoring the pain in his hands when he brushed against burning surfaces.
"Rebecca!" he called again. "Please answer me! Where are you?!"
The smoke grew thicker, the deeper he went. His vision blurred, but he refused to stop. He checked one room, then another. Empty. Burned. Destroyed.
Fear wrapped tightly around his chest.
He staggered into another room, shielding his face with his arm as flames licked the doorway behind him.
And then he saw her.
"Rebecca," he whispered in relief.
She was lying on the floor in the corner of a small storage room, her body completely still. Her hair was tangled, her clothes torn and stained. For a terrifying second, Derek’s relief turned into terror as he thought she wasn’t breathing.
He rushed to her side immediately and dropped to his knees.
"No… no, no…" he whispered frantically, his hands shaking as he touched her face. "Rebecca, wake up. Please wake up."
But she didn’t respond. That was when he saw the blood.
It was smeared across her clothes and pooled faintly beneath her. His breath caught painfully in his chest, panic flooding him all at once.
"Oh God…" he whispered. "What did they do to you?"
He will kill all of them, he thought angrily, everyone of them that lifted their hands on her, he will make sure they never use the hand again.
He didn’t allow himself to think further, knowing that he needed to be out of there if he wanted them to live.
Carefully but quickly, he slid one arm under her shoulders and the other beneath her knees, lifting her into his arms. She was limp, unconscious, her head falling against his chest.
"I’ve got you," he murmured, holding her close. "I’m here now. I won’t let anything happen to you."
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