Mag-log inThe news sent the tension that had just begun to ease surging right back up."Where is she?" Adrian asked, his voice tense with fresh alertness.Salvatore checked his phone screen once more before answering. "At a small hotel not far from this airport. It looks like she planned to wait for word that the kidnapping succeeded before moving forward with the rest of her plan.""What plan?" Alina pressed, her hands still clutching Junior tightly."We don't know for sure yet," Salvatore answered. "But our team reports she seemed panicked after hearing the airport operation had failed. She's been trying to reach her contacts, probably looking for another escape route."Marco, driving their car, glanced back for a moment. "Are we going after her now?"Salvatore paused, weighing the situation with the kind of calculation he'd grown used to making in critical moments."Junior needs to get somewhere safe right away," he said finally. "But we also can't let Margaret slip away again. She's already
Powerful wind from the aircraft propeller whipped at their faces as Salvatore and his team approached the runway in a concealed formation.The small jet had already begun inching toward takeoff position, its engine roaring louder by the second."We don't have time for a quiet approach," Salvatore said quickly, radio live in his hand. "All units, block that plane's path now."Two security vehicles sped forward immediately, cutting across the plane's taxi path with a speed that forced the pilot to slam the jet to a sudden stop.Alina watched from a distance, her heart pounding so hard it hurt, her eyes fixed on the plane now stopped in the middle of the runway."What's going to happen now?" she whispered to Adrian, standing beside her."They'll try negotiating first," Adrian answered, though tension was clear in his voice. "If that fails—"He didn't get to finish his sentence because the plane's door suddenly swung open, and an armed man appeared in the doorway, using Junior's small bod
The world seemed to stop turning for Alina."No," she whispered, her voice nearly swallowed by despair. "No, this can't be happening. Not Junior."Adrian held her tight, trying to steady her body as it began to tremble violently, even though the same fear had its grip on his own chest."We'll find him," he said, though even his voice wasn't fully convinced by the promise. "We won't stop until he's found."Their car sped toward the location, Marco at the wheel, pushing the vehicle to the edge of safe speed, his face tight with total focus on the road ahead.Salvatore was still on the phone, his voice firm as he gave his team a string of instructions."Check every camera within a five-kilometer radius," he said. "I want to know the direction of any vehicle that left the location in the past hour."Renee, sitting in front, opened her laptop, her fingers flying as she accessed systems that could help trace a digital trail."There's a CCTV camera near the location," she said. "I'm trying t
"That's not true," she said quickly, trying to make her voice sound firm even though her chest felt as if it were being crushed. "Junior, listen to Mommy carefully. Grandma Margaret is lying. Mommy loves you very much, more than anything in this world.""But Grandma said—""You must not believe Grandma Margaret," Alina interrupted, forcing a calmness she did not feel at all. "Now Mommy wants you to do something important. Can you hide? Under the bed, in the closet, anywhere you can get into quietly?"A small sob could be heard, followed by a scraping sound as if someone was moving."I'm under the bed," Junior whispered, his voice barely audible. "But Mommy, I can hear those people's voices getting closer."Salvatore, who had been listening through the speakerphone, raised his hand and signaled to his team. Without making a sound, he wrote something on a piece of paper and showed it to Renee: Don't let him talk too much. They might hear his voice.Renee nodded, then whispered to Alina,
The interrogation room suddenly felt starved of air."Junior?" Alina's voice cracked. She stood so fast that her chair was shoved backward, screeching against the floor. "What do you mean, instructions involving Junior?"Vincent leaned back calmly, as if the panic in front of him were entertainment worth savoring. "Margaret isn't a woman who accepts defeat. If her plan here fails, there's always a second plan. And Margaret's second plan is always the same: take back what she considers hers.""Speak clearly!" Adrian snapped."I don't know the details," Vincent answered. "But Harris has an activation code. One message, and the people Margaret planted will move."Salvatore had already turned around. "Renee. Contact Junior's guard team. Now."Renee pressed the number with slightly trembling fingers and switched on the speaker. The ringtone sounded once, twice, three times.Alina squeezed the edge of the table until her knuckles turned white. Every ring felt like a thread being slowly pull
The words made Alina's heart stop for a moment."Who?" she pressed, her voice shaking between anger and a fear only just taking shape. "Who are you talking about?"Vincent savored the moment, letting the silence hang longer than necessary, drawing out every second to maximize the impact of the information he was about to reveal."Before I tell you," he said finally, "I want a written agreement. Full protection, a reduced sentence, and a safety guarantee for my family."Salvatore stepped forward, his voice cold and full of authority. "You're in no position to demand anything, Moretti. You've already been caught with enough evidence to put you away for life.""Maybe," Vincent answered calmly. "But the information I have could be worth more than my own sentence. You want to know who helped Margaret? You'll have to pay the price."Adrian looked at Vincent with a hatred he no longer bothered to hide. "You're still playing games even now.""It's what I've always done well," Vincent answered







