Chapter 269
Zane’s POV.
The second the voice over the radio says,
“You need to see this,”
something cold settles in my chest. The kind of feeling that tells you whatever comes next isn’t going to be good.
I start moving immediately, so fast thr men beside me struggle to keep pace.
My boots pound against the concrete floor as I make my way through the abandoned factory. The beam from my flashlight cutting through dust and darkness.
Every second feels too slow and every step feels like a waste of time. Because somewhere out there Elaine is waiting…scared, alone and Pregnant.
And every minute that passes is another minute she isn’t safe.
I round a corner and find three members of the search team waiting near an old loading bay.
The moment they see me they straighten.
“What is it?”
One of them points toward the ground. I follow his finger, to find ffresh and recently made tire marks.
My pulse immediately spikes.
“How recent?”
“Couple of hours at most.”
Fuck.
I crouch beside them.
The tracks cut through the dust that covers everything else. Which means somebody was here recently.
Very recently.
I stand immediately.
“Follow them.”
Nobody argues…we move.
The tracks lead through the building toward a large side entrance. One that’s partially hidden behind old machinery, almost like someone intentionally wanted it overlooked.
The deeper we go the quieter everyone becomes. The tension is practically choking now, even the security team feels it.
Then my phone rings.
Lucas.
I answer immediately.
“What?”
“You found something?”
“Maybe.”
I keep walking.
“A vehicle was definitely here.”
“Then they’re close.”
“I know.”
There is a brief silence.
Then Lucas says,
“Be careful.”
I almost laugh. Careful…..at a time like this.
When my wife and my unborn child is somewhere out there. When the man I trusted most betrayed me, careful c feels impossible.
Still.
I understand what he’s really saying. Don’t do something stupid and don’t let your emotions make you reckless.
Too late.
I’ve been reckless since the moment I learned Elaine was gone.
“It’s beginning to sound like you care about me Lucas.” I say as a way to lighten the mood.
Lucas scoffs. “Please. I just don’t want my pregnant sister to turn up as a widow.” With that he cuts the call on his end.
The tracks eventually lead outside, the cool night air hitting me immediately.
I stop and look around. The old factory stretches endlessly behind us.
Ahead?
Trees, dense woods dark enough to swallow people whole.
One of the guards kneels, examining the ground.
“Sir.”
I walk over.
“What?”
“Footprints.”
My pulse jumps.
“How many?”
He shines his flashlight.
A couple of sets, one larger, some smaller and recent…Very recent.
I stare at them.
Thinking.
Then something catches my eye.
A smaller print, lighter too.
My heart starts hammering.
Elaine.
Please let that be Elaine. Please.
The guard looks up.
“Looks like three people moving through here.”
For the first time tonight I feel something resembling hope when another voice crackles through the radio.
Urgently
“Movement.”
Everybody immediately stills.
I grab the radio.
“Where?”
“North side of the woods.”
My pulse explodes.
“Can you confirm?”
“No sir but we definitely heard something.”
I’m already moving, the search team following instantly.
Branches scrape against my arms as we push through the trees.
The woods are thick, dense and hard to navigate but none of that matters.
Because every instinct I have is screaming now. She’s here, she’s close, i don’t know how I know i just do.
The farther we move into the trees the stronger the feeling becomes.
I hear a sound…faint butr unmistakable.
Thn I hear a scream.
I freeze because I know that voice, even from a distance, even muffled by the trees I would know it anywhere.
My Elaine.
My heart nearly stops, for a second I genuinely can’t breathe then suddenly I’m moving….no Running.
Not caring about stealth anymore, not caring about procedure, not caring about anything.
“Sir!” someone shouts behind me.
I ignore them.
The voice comes again….faint and small but there.
Every terrifying scenario that has haunted me for hours suddenly cracks apart because she’s alive.
She’s alive.
I crash through a cluster of trees, branches whipping against my face….my lungs burning as my men behind me trying desperately to keep up.
Then I hear another voice.
Male…
Thomas.
The realization nearly sends me into a blind rage because after everything.
After years of loyalty, years of trust and of treating him like family.
He took her…..he took my world away from me.
My hands tighten around my gun.
No. Not yet.
Focus and find Elaine first, then him later.
Another shout definitely closer now.
My heart pounds so hard it hurts and then through the trees ahea I see movement,
Three figures and for one brief second I can’t make out who is who.
Then the moonlight shifts and I see her.
My Elaine.
And suddenly nothing else in the world matters.
Elaine’s POV
Everything happens so freaking fast.
One second all three of us are staring into the darkness.
The next…..a tall figure bursts through the trees moving with terrifying speed.
For half a second I can’t make out who it is then the moonlight catches his face and my heart stops.
Zane.
Oh God.
Zane.
He’s here, he’s actually here. Relief hits me so hard my knees almost give out…for a second I can’t breath or think, can’t do anything except stare at him.
Because he’s here, he found me, he actually found me.
His eyes lock onto mine immediately and every emotion I’ve been holding back for hours comes crashing through me.
Fear, relief, love, hope…..Everything.
“Zane!”
His entire face changes the moment he sees me. Every ounce of panic, every ounce of rage and ounce of fear.
It’s all there….raw and exposed for me.
He starts running straight toward me and I do the same. I don’t think or hesitate, i just move desperately because all I want is to get to him.
To feel his arms around m, to know this nightmare is finally over.
The distance between us closes fast. I can already see his hand reaching for Mr
Then suddenly…..i feel Thomas wrapping his hand around my arm and pulling me back, Without even thinking, I spin and drive my knee upward, Very hard right between his legs. The sound that leaves him is absolutely inhuman, a strangled mix between a grunt and a scream.
His entire body folds.
For one glorious second I think I’ve won.
“YES!”
I spin immediately and run, towards Zane, towards safety, home and everything I love.
I barely make it three steps beforr Thomas recovers way faster than any man should after getting hit there.
A hand suddenly grabs my arm hard, pain shoots through my shoulder.
“No!”
I scream as I’m violently yanked backward and my body slams against a hard chest. Then an arm snakes around my neck, locking tight.
I immediately start fighting, kicking and Scratching.
Trying to break free but Thomas is stronger, far stronger.
“THOMAS!”
He ignores me, his breathing is ragged, uneven and sounding Pained.
But he ignores me…..then I hear the metallic click and my entire body freezes.
A gun.
Oh God.
Thomas presses the barrel against the side of my head, the cold metal touching my skin and the world instantly stops.
There’s a freaking gun against my head!.
My heart starts pounding so hard I think I might pass out.
“No,” Zane says.
The word comes out deadly and dangerously calm.
I look at him, really look at him and what I see terrifies me, because he looks one second away from killing someone.
His gun is already drawn and aimed, directly at Thomas.
Security teams emerge from everywhere now.
Men stepping from the trees, their raised with fashlights cutting through the darkness.
Suddenly we’re surrounded.
Thomas sees them too and for a brief second panic flashes across his face.
He knows he’s cornered and knows there’s no escape.
So he tightens his grip around my neck, the gun presses harder against my temple.
I gasp.
“Back up!” he roars.
Nobody moves…..we are One wrong move away from disaster.
Aria stands several feet away, frozen with tears already filling her eyes.
“Thomas…” she whispers.
I don’t think Zane has seen he’s sister yet cause he’s attention is focused solely on me.
Thomas doesn’t even look at her, his attention is entirely on Zane.
And Zane’s attention is entirely on me.
“Take one step further,” Thomas says.
His voice shakes slightly.
“Take one more fucking step and this bullet goes into your little wife’s head.”
Every where is so quiet I can hear my own heartbeat, can hear Thomas’s breathing and hear the safety clicking softly beneath Zane’s finger.
Nobody moves or speaks.
Then Zane slowly raises both hands, just slightly to show he’s listening and he understands.
But his eyes never leave mine, not once.
And in those eyes I see something terrifying, because if Thomas pulls that trigger… Zane will burn the world down afterward and I think Thomas knows that too.