All Chapters of THE BIKER'S ACCIDENTAL LADY: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Three months of peace shattered when Hope disappeared from daycare."What do you mean she is gone?" I gripped the director's desk. "You called me fifteen minutes ago. She was here fifteen minutes ago.""We did headcount. She was there. Then—we do not know. We checked the cameras—" The director pulled up footage. "This."The screen showed Hope's classroom. Children playing. Teachers supervising. Then—static. Sixty seconds of corrupted video. When it cleared, Hope was gone."Someone hacked your system." Damien was already on his phone. "Arnold, Hope is missing. Daycare. Professional extraction. I need—" He stopped. His face went white. "What do you mean Arnold is gone too?"I grabbed the phone. "Sarah? What happened?""He left this morning. Said he had a meeting. Never came back. His phone is off. His tracker is dead." Sarah's voice was tight. "Cassidy is also missing. Left the safe house six hours ago. No communication since.""Victoria." The name was acid. "She is taking everyone. One

I woke to flames and screaming.The explosion had collapsed half the church. Timber beams pinned my legs. Smoke filled my lungs. Through the ringing in my ears, I heard Hope crying somewhere distant."Hope—" I choked on ash and blood."She's safe." Damien appeared, face blackened with soot. He lifted the beam. "Sarah got her out before the blast. This was secondary charges. Victoria planned for everything.""Where is she—""Gone. Escaped in the chaos." He pulled me up. "We need to move. Now."Outside, the church was a funeral pyre. Arnold lay wounded, leg shattered. Cassidy bandaged his thigh with torn shirt fabric. Sarah held Hope twenty yards away, shielding her eyes from the destruction."She left something." Sarah held up a phone. "Message for you."I took it. Video message. Victoria's face filled the screen."You hesitated, Flora. That tells me everything. You are not a killer. Not really. Which means you are weak. And weakness gets family killed. I gave you a chance. You refused

Sarah hacked into three independent news networks simultaneously."You have five minutes before they trace the signal and shut us down," she said, adjusting the camera. "Make it count."I sat in front of the lens. Damien stood behind me. Hope slept in the corner, finally peaceful after days of terror."Ready?" Sarah asked."No. Do it anyway."The red light blinked on."My name is Flora Ashford. Some of you know me as the widow of Richard Ashford. Others know me as the woman supposedly kidnapped by Damien Cross. Both versions are lies constructed by Victoria Ashford to cover the truth about our family."I held up the documents. Marcus's will. The adoption papers. Everything."I am about to tell you what the Ashford family has hidden for fifty years. What they have killed to protect. What they will kill again to keep buried."Behind me, Damien placed his hand on my shoulder. Solidarity."Damien Cross is not my kidnapper. He is my husband. The father of my child. And yes—he has killed. S

Sarah woke three days later in a federal safe house."Where is she?" Her first words. Panicked. Desperate."Victoria is dead. Buried under the mine." I held her hand. "You are safe now.""No. No no no." Sarah tried to sit up. Winced. Ribs still healing. "You do not understand. Before the chains. Before Victoria caught me. I found something. In her files.""What files?""She kept everything digital. Encrypted. Hidden. But I cracked it. Ten seconds before she grabbed me." Sarah grabbed my arm. Hard. "Flora. Victoria has a sister."The room went cold."That is impossible. Richard was an only child—""Not Richard's sister. Marcus's daughter. From an affair. Born two years before Richard. Given up. Adopted out. Raised in Europe under a different name." Sarah pulled out her phone. Showed me a photo she had recovered.A woman. Mid-forties. Dark hair. Victoria's eyes. Victoria's smile."Her name is Elena Volkov. Russian mother. British citizenship. No criminal record. No connection to the Ash

The Ashford estate looked like a mausoleum at midnight.We arrived six hours before the meeting. Before Elena. Before the Cascade. Before the end."Sarah, you are sure the explosives are placed correctly?" I checked the layout for the tenth time."C4 in the basement. Thermite in the walls. Gasoline throughout the first floor." Sarah's hands shook as she worked. Still injured. Still traumatized. But here anyway. "When it goes, the entire structure collapses inward. Anyone inside dies. Including us if we are not careful.""How much time after detonation?""Ninety seconds. Maybe less if the support beams fail early."Ninety seconds to escape a collapsing mansion while people shot at us. Perfect.Arnold positioned rifles throughout the building. Sniper positions. Escape routes. Backup weapons."The Cascade will come from the east. Highway access. Loud. Obvious." He marked the map. "Elena will come from anywhere. She has helicopters. Drones. Thermal imaging. She will know exactly where we