The hotel room video feed was grainy but brutally clear. Sophia sat bound to a chair, eyes wide with terror, a gag tight across her mouth. Behind her stood Lydia, knife pressed to her daughter’s throat, smiling directly into the camera like a predator who had finally cornered her prey.Jake’s truck tore through the streets, Emma in the passenger seat, Mia and Vanessa following in the car behind. His good hand gripped the wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. The timer on the video counted down.07:42Lydia’s voice came through the speaker, calm and chilling.“Clock’s ticking, Jake. You have seven minutes to get here alone. No police. No Emma. No sister. Just you. If anyone else walks through that door, I slit her throat. Same way Ray slit mine.”Emma’s voice was steel. “You’re not going in alone.”“I have to,” Jake said, jaw locked. “If I don’t, Sophia dies.”Vanessa’s voice crackled over the speakerphone. “We’ll hang back. I have a team positioning outside. But Jake…if you walk i
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