Jackson's POVI sat at my desk long after midnight, the glow of my laptop illuminating stacks of accident reports. My fingers hovered above the keyboard. The official crash report said Kylie's van collided with a guardrail and overturned. But there were discrepancies. The skid marks were too short, the impact point off-center, and the computer records showed the brakes weren't applied until fractions of a second before impact.I rubbed my eyes and phoned Marcus. He answered on the second ring."Marcus," I whispered. "I'm reading over the crash report again. Something's not quite right."His voice crackled through the speaker. "What do you see?"I browsed through pages. "Verify the timestamps. GPS pings show the van slowed up at two places—once near the docks, then again ten seconds prior to the crash… but the brakes were not captured in the ECU data until a second prior to the crash."Marcus whistled low. "Either data was fudged or somebody hijacked the van off route.""Exactly," I sa
Kylie's POVI woke up with a thudding agony at the back of my head. I was lying straight out, not squirming, eyes not crossed. I could only listen to the incessant beeping of some device. I tried to raise my hand, but it felt too heavy."Ms. Wilson?" a gentle voice asked.I opened the single eye I could and gazed at a nurse in green scrubs. "I. where am I?" I whispered. "You're at Saint Mark's," she replied softly. "You were brought here in an accident. How do you feel?" "My head hurts," I replied. My voice rasped. "That's to be expected," she replied. "You have a small concussion. You must rest. Do you know your husband?"I furrowed my brow. "Austin?" The right name. So reassuring.The nurse and my face both softened. "He's coming."I let go of my tense eyes and exhaled slowly. I remembered Austin's face. His arms around me. His soothing touch. But Jackson, I didn't recall him. There was a gap.It creaked and swung wide for a second or two. Someone came in. My heart pounding. It was
Emily's POVI slid into the little safehouse as the sun came up. My shoulder hurt from Jackson's bullet's ricochet, and every step I took brought a new flash of pain trembling through my arm. I leaned back on the squeaky couch, applying a cold pack to my bruise. The room was quiet, except for the muffled sound of the old refrigerator in the corner. I took a second to get my breath back.My phone buzzed with a secure message from my contact. I opened it.Contact: You alive?I replied, grimacing as I used my injured hand.Emily: Barely. He got lucky. Your plan?Contact: Waiting on you. Needed proof.I set aside the cold pack and made my way across the room to my dented laptop. Its screen flashed as I booted it up, wiping sweat from my brow. I opened my encrypted chat application and dialed the contact's secure number.Emily (whispering): I'm here. I have what we need.Contact (static): Explain.I leaned forward. "I hacked into the hospital records. Kylie's accident was classified vehicu
Austin's POVI awoke to the light on my phone on the bedstand. I opened one eye to glare at the screen: **"Breaking: Wilson CEO Kylie Wilson Kidnapped, Rescued by Security Head Jackson Reed."** My pounding heart. I sat up and smoothed the headline. I'd read the half-blur—a kidnapping, a rescue by Jackson, her in the hospital.I ruffled a hand through my hair. Good for Jackson. He'd always wanted nothing but hero worship. But good for Kylie… yes, good that she was alive. My gaze went to the wedding-day picture on my dresser, the one that was framed: Kylie's pretty face. A rush of protectiveness washed over me—and a chance I couldn't resist taking.I got dressed quickly in white shirt and black trousers. I secured my tie and focused intensely. Out there, I would be mannered and a good ally of Jackson—the world would see me thus. Behind closed doors, I would pull out my ace card: Kylie needed me today more than ever. Vulnerable.My driver had stayed downstairs. I went into the car's rear
Rachel's POVI came into the boardroom at a little before sunrise. The vastness of the long mahogany table gleamed in the pale light above. I set down my brown leather briefcase on the floor and poured two cups from the carafe at the end of the table farthest from me. The air was tinged with the smell of lightly burnt coffee and wood polish. I sipped it cautiously to settle myself.The door opened, and Fred entered with his own cup. He shut the door softly and smiled broadly at me. "Good morning, Mother," he said, putting the coffee beside mine."Good morning, Fred," I replied, mirroring his good spirits. I gestured to the chairs with a nod. "Sit down."He sat opposite me and took a tentative sip. "We played very well last night."I nodded. "Emily's scheme backfired. Kylie is secure in that hospital, and Jackson is the hero." I allowed it to sink in, seeing Fred's eyes sparkle with pleasure.Fred settled back. "Just as we wanted."I took another sip of my coffee. "Mother warned us of
Fred's POVI decided to accompany Mother in reclaiming what belongs to us.what Kylie had stolen by right of that so-called "written will."I drove myself to the hospital and had to stop the car in order to get a hold of myself before exiting. The gray, weak light of morning was as if the world itself were sympathetic to us. I peered into the side mirror to ensure that my appearance would bring a look of concern to my fatigued face. No one can fault me for not having ulterior motives.The lobby was where I came across the antiseptic odor that hit my nose. A receptionist looked up and gave a pitying smile as I walked by. "Mr. Wilson, Kylie's family," I breathed. She nodded toward the nurses' station at the end of the hall.Nurse Thompson looked up over the counter from the charts stacked on it. "Mr. Wilson. Good you're here. She's stable but must rest."Of course, I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Where is she?""In Room 304, down the left corridor. I will take you there."I nodded an
Jackson's POVI sat in the operations room, fingers poised on the keyboard, when the warning flashed: "Unauthorized transport detected. Possible abduction." My gut fell. I touched the screen to track the last known ping of Kylie's phone. It was in motion…fast toward the old dock area. I pushed back from the console and slammed my hand on the table."Marcus, give me her last coordinates. Now."Marcus, our lead analyst, leaned forward over his console. "Got it. Parking garage, basement level. Then north on Route 7, take the Dock Road exit. She's in a black van."I stood. "Emma, Marcus, we need a rapid-response team on standby. I'm going after her."Emma, our security chief, nodded. "Team Alpha is go. Gear's good. Can roll in two minutes."I grabbed the phone. "Jackson here. I'm out. Constant ping updates, bring me back."I ran down the hall, grabbed my in jacket, and ran for the unmarked SUV parked by the curb outside. The motor roared when I turned her over. Emma's voice cut through in
Kylie's POVI shut down my laptop, my eyes burning from too many hours of typing reams of reports. Tomorrow morning's board meeting would be hell, I could just tell, but for now I just had to go home. The after-hours filing in my small corner office had been a success…no one, nothing had disturbed me. I leaned back, stretched out and tucked away my notes, while in my head repeating Mother's last words to me over and over: *Lead with compassion. Protect our legacy. Trust your heart.*Leaning my notebook on my elbow, I turned off the desk lamp and crept quietly out into the empty hall. My heels clanged off the tile floor. The building was empty except for the faint security lights and the subdued whir of the elevator at the far end of the hall. I crossed my arms over against the cold that had crept into the air.I touched the down arrow at the bank of elevators and sent Jackson a text: **"Just left office. Headed to the car."** In a couple of seconds, his message buzzed in: **"Safe driv
Jackson’s POVAmidst the chaos and tensed atmosphere, Emily seemed to be making funny moves…I perceived she is up to something. I sat in the security operations room long after everyone else had gone home. The glow of half a dozen monitors reflected in my glasses, the hum of servers and the tap of keyboards the only sounds. I paused the feed on one screen and leaned forward.Marcus asked “Still watching Emily’s video?”“Yes. I want to focus on her body language.”Marcus, our lead analyst, tapped the monitor. “She holds her shoulders like a boxer. That finger point? A straight threat.”I nodded. “She knows how to intimidate. It’s all in her posture and tone.”Marcus: “Her words were loud, but it was the silence afterward that told me she owns this space.”I exhaled. “I need to protect Kylie from that.”Marcus leaned back. “You want to change her security detail?”I stood and walked to the map wall. “Yes. And her routes. I want no risk of an ambush corridor.”Marcus studied the floor pl