Chapter 4

The child's screaming and crying were coming from next to me. I turned my head to the side and saw Gianna there.

She was curled up in a corner, her face streaked with tears and her clothes dirty and soiled. Her hands were also bound.

When she saw that I'd woken up, she cried and screamed even louder for her dad.

Three men stood over us in the warehouse, each wearing a mask. The stockier man in the middle was making a phone call, speaking in a rough, hoarse voice.

"You can only choose to save either your husband or your daughter, Ariel Meyers. Choose wisely."

The phone call was put on loudspeaker, and I heard Ariel's panicked voice coming from the other end of the call. She sounded so anxious that it felt like she'd snap at the next moment.

"Don't harm them! I'll give you whatever you want—"

"Shut it with your nonsense, Meyers!" the stocky man hollered into the phone. He then pulled out a knife from behind him and walked up to Gianna and me.

"Choose one. Your husband or your daughter? You have exactly 60 seconds to decide."

The call was still ongoing. I could hear Ariel's panicked breaths and Isaac's frantic voice from the speaker.

"Ariel! You have to save Gigi! She's our daughter! Please, I'm begging you. You have to save her…"

Gianna had such a fright that she curled herself up into a tighter ball and cried so hard that she was about to throw up.

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the line.

Then Ariel's voice came through again. She sounded like she was gritting her teeth as she said, "Release my daughter."

I closed my eyes.

Actually, I wasn't the least bit shocked. I had expected this. But still, I felt a stabbing pain in my chest the moment she said those words. It felt as though something had punched a hole straight through my heart, leaving the cold air to rush in until I shivered violently from the chill.

"Heard that, you gigolo?" the stocky abductor said, turning the blade of his knife toward me before giving his accomplices a look.

"Take him to the back and dispose of him."

The two other abductors marched up to me at once and yanked me to my feet. I struggled as much as I could, but they were too strong. I was quickly dragged over to the other corner of the abandoned warehouse.

The duct tape was ripped from my mouth, and I lay there, gasping for air as I watched the gleam of the knife blade heading for my throat.

"It's good that you're not fighting back anymore. You've got plenty of spruce," one of them said, cackling maliciously as he pressed the blade of his knife against my neck.

"It's a pity that your spruceness ain't doing shit for you at this point. You're never getting out of here alive—"

A sudden, deafening crash came from the door, and the heavy metal doors swung wide open. Blinding sunlight streamed in, and I squinted toward the doorway as dozens of armed SWAT officers rushed in and fanned out, surrounding the men.

Chaos erupted instantly.

The abductor holding the knife against my neck cursed under his breath and grabbed me before dragging me back toward the wall, pressing the blade firmly against my skin.

The other accomplice wanted to make a run for it, but the SWAT officers lunged at him and pinned him to the ground almost immediately.

"Nobody move!"

My abductor let out a ferocious growl and dug the knife into my skin. Warm, sticky blood began trickling down my neck and chest.

"If you move again, I swear, I'm going to kill him!"

He had me in a chokehold, and I struggled hard to breathe. My vision also began to turn blurry.

I saw Ariel rushing in from the door, her face pale and her eyes trained on the knife pressed against my neck. My abductor looked at Ariel first, then at me, his eyes gleaming with manic intensity.

In that split second of his distraction, I mustered the last of my strength and hit his chin with the back of my head. Completely caught off-guard, he released his hold on me. At that very same moment, a gunshot rang out.

The bullet struck the abductor, but he'd also managed to leave a deep gash along the side of my neck with his knife. Blood spurted out immediately like a fountain, and I heard Ariel scream my name in panic.

Just before I completely lost consciousness, I saw her rushing toward me with an expression I had never seen on her face before. It was one of fear, despair, and what appeared to be an emotional breakdown.

…

Then next time I opened my eyes again, I was already lying on a hospital bed.

My neck was wrapped with thick bandages, and it hurt every time I tried to flex or move my head.

The door was pushed open, and the nurse who entered saw that I was awake. She smiled at me and said, "Your partner just left. She came to see you twice while you were unconscious, but she never stayed for more than a few minutes each time. She seems really busy."

I didn't say a single word.

The nurse looked at me for a moment longer, as though she wanted to say something, but ultimately just sighed and turned to leave.

The ward was silent once again.

I looked out at the window and thought of the last scene I saw before I passed out.