All Chapters of THE CEO'S STOLEN SECONDS : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

48 Chapters

CHAPTER 31: THE RED NOTICE

Bang!At the far end of the basement corridor, the heavy steel fire door blasted inward, showering sparks as a flash-bang exploded. That blinding white light and deafening roar crashed through the room, sending a hot wave slamming into my chest.“Federal agents! Stay on the ground! Don’t move!”Their voices hit, sharp and harsh, echoing through the smoke as four figures in black tactical gear and Kevlar helmets stormed through the open doorway, laser sights slicing red lines through the dusty air. The beams darted between concrete pillars, searching, before two red dots found the center of my chest.I didn’t think. I couldn’t. My body just moved.I scrambled backward, hands and knees slipping on the slick, greasy floor of the generator room. Julian’s data-pad pressed tight against my ribs, its green screen shining light on the pure terror on my face. Every breath caught in my throat, burning, as I lunged behind the huge iron water pump just a split second before a boot crunched the gr

CHAPTER 32: THE HIDDEN ANCHOR

Thud!My shoulder smashed into the wet, jagged edge of a granite boulder right as a huge wave crashed over the seawall, yanking my legs back toward the churning, freezing darkness of the Puget Sound. I could barely see—the icy saltwater burned my eyes and flooded my mouth. I started choking as my hands desperately clawed the sharp barnacles lining the rock face."Sierra! Grab the line!"A thick nylon rope struck my face. Through the blur of rain and spray, I squinted up and saw Marcus leaning out over the lip of the drainage outlet. His whole body shook from the effort. He dug his boots into the algae-slick concrete, wedged against a rusted seam. Fresh blood streamed from his torn shoulder, mixing with the rain in a streaky, pale pink line.I didn’t think twice. I wrapped the rope around my forearm, the rough fibers cutting into my raw skin, and braced myself as Marcus started hauling me up.He yanked me up with one last brutal effort, dragging my soaked body over the edge. I collapse

CHAPTER 33: THE ASH LINE

Boom!A second explosion ripped through the Bainbridge shoreline, sending a massive column of orange flames and black smoke tearing up into the thick gray fog. The shockwave rolled across the water, slamming into the ferry with a heavy metallic jolt that made the whole deck tip hard to the left."Reverse the engines! Don’t dock!" Director Vance yelled into his satellite phone, gripping the icy steel railing so tight he almost lost his balance on the slick deck. "All teams, weapon readiness condition alpha! We have an active breach on the objective!""No! Don’t turn this boat around!" I shouted, my voice raw against the screaming wind as I rushed forward.I grabbed the fabric of Vance's gray suit, digging my nails into the expensive wool until I felt the tension in his collarbone. I didn’t care about his title, or about the six federal marshals who instantly aimed their shotguns at me, their red laser sights darting across my soaking wet clothes. The orange light from the burning boath

CHAPTER 34: THE TWIN CIPHERS

Click.A heavy metal snap—the sound of a tactical rifle safety being switched off—cut clean through the screaming wind, right behind my head.“Step away from the container, Helen! Hands where I can see them!” Director Vance shouted, bursting through the soaked ferns, his shiny leather dress shoes plunging ankle-deep into thick, black mud. Behind him, six federal marshals lined up in a tight arc, guns raised, tactical flashlights slicing through the dense gray fog like white-hot spears.My mother didn’t even flinch. Her hand stayed perfectly still on the iron handle of the smoking box, her cold, fierce eyes locked on mine with a terrifying, icy calm. “Tell them to lower their weapons, Sierra. Or we all watch thirty years of history vanish into the mud.”“Vance, don’t shoot!” I shouted, my voice cracking as I lunged a little to my left, putting myself directly between my mother and the federal rifles. My boots slid in the mud, a raw bolt of pain shooting up from my gashed heel clear to

CHAPTER 35: THE THRESHOLD OF BLOOD

Crack!A sharp, splintering noise—like a branch snapping—tore out of the black treeline on our left, right as Marcus’s grip clamped tighter around my waist. Almost at the same moment, a heavy tactical flash-bang bounced out from the soaking ferns, its metal shell sparking wildly against muddy roots, landing right between Director Vance’s marshals and Victoria King’s gray-suited detail."Get down!" Marcus shouted.He didn’t wait for me to react. He just threw every bit of his weight over me, driving me hard into the freezing, wet mud at the exact instant the grenade blew.Boom!Suddenly, the whole pine forest lit up—a blinding, white-hot flash turning every tree and shadow into some split-second nightmare of pure light. The shockwave hammered the clearing, knocking the air right out of my chest and replacing it with a piercing, metallic ring in my ears. Burnt sulfur and scorched plastic stung my nose. I started coughing, rolling onto my side, clawing blindly at the slick, black mud."S

CHAPTER 36: THE SILVER FRACTURE

Splat!A thick, dark-red burst of blood splattered across the spotless ivory shoulder of Victoria King’s wool coat when the silver blade sliced through her main gray-suited guard’s throat. The poor guy didn’t even have a second to scream. He dropped into the black mud like a sack of wet stones—his fingers just let go of the iron container.“Protect the matriarch!” shouted the second guard, panic crackling in his voice as he spun his rifle upward toward the shadows in the cedar tree.But the darkness was already on the move.Christian King dropped from the low branches like some wild spirit. His face looked gaunt, almost skeletal, and those hospital-issued gray trousers were torn—soaked straight through with rain. His left wrist still had that white bandage wrapped around it, now blooming with fresh, bright blood from where he’d yanked out his own IV. His eyes were wide and glassy, completely feverish, giving him this untamed, almost crazy vibe—yet his hands were deadly. He grabbed the

CHAPTER 37: THE GHOST TERMINAL

Thwack!A blinding red flare ripped through the black sky, hissing and spitting fire as it cut straight through the gray fog and smashed right into the ferry’s fuel vent.Kaboom!An explosion, impossibly loud and scorching yellow-hot, burst from the top deck. It tore steel apart like it was nothing but soaked cardboard. The shockwave thundered over the wet gravel shore—a wall of pressure so fierce it threw Marcus clear off his feet, slamming him against the side of the tipped-over medical truck.“Sierra, shield the boy!” Christian’s voice was raw, nearly shredded, as he threw his own thin body over me.He landed hard on top of us, using his bony shoulders to soak up the rain of burning junk, shards of glass, and chunks of hot metal that rained down, steaming into the cold mud. The heat was so intense it dried the icy rain on the back of my neck instantly, scorching my skin. Burnt fuel hung heavy in the air, thick and oily, clawing the breath right out of my chest.“Leo! Hold onto me!”

CHAPTER 38: THE EMERALD SHADOW

Screeech!A rusty air vent fan shrieked above us, cutting through the dead silence in the concrete bunker like a jagged knife. At the exact same moment, the black terminal screen snapped to a furious, blinding red, splashing an unsettling, bloody glow over Christian’s hollow face."Julian, pull the plug!" I gasped, panic twisting my voice until it broke and sent my stomach plummeting."I can’t!" Julian cried out.His hands blurred desperately across the keyboard, hammering the keys like his life depended on it. Each click sounded like fireworks. Sweat dripped off his chin, pelting the console. "The terminal’s locked me out, Sierra! The master override isn’t coming from inside this room! It’s from an encrypted satellite node—an inbound data injection!"Christian’s hand clamped around my waist, hard and protective, squeezing enough to hurt. He yanked me tight to his chest, his heart pounding frantically against my back. "The asset lines aren’t dissolving… they’re redirecting. Everything

CHAPTER 39: THE LAZARUS MATRIX

Smash!A huge piece of the boathouses burning roof fell to the ground inches from my right boot. It exploded into a shower of bright orange sparks. The heat hit my face like a blast furnace burning the hairs on my arms and filling my mouth with the taste of ash."Move! To the water! Now!" Christian yelled. His voice was cracking from the smoke as he grabbed my forearm.He pulled me forward his body leaning into the wind. His legs were shaking,. His grip on me was like iron. Every step I took felt like driving a nail through my heel. My foot hurt a lot. I clamped my jaw shut and kept going. I had to. Leo was clutched tightly against my chest."I’ve got the rear!" Deborah shouted. Her boots splashed through a puddle of mud. She was holding a gun with both hands her chest heaving under her wet jacket. Her eyes darted back and forth toward the trees. "Marcus is that grid active?!""The harbor beacons just turned red!" Marcus roared back. He was running ahead of us clearing a path through

CHAPTER 40: THE CROSSWIND VECTOR

Crack-clack!The loud snap of a safety harness releasing sounded like a gunshot in the shaking cabin of the transport plane. A sudden bump of turbulence slammed the plane down throwing my body off the leather seat and sending a sharp pain into my hurt left heel."Sierra! Catch!"Marcus yelled through the lit cargo bay. He jumped across the aisle, his big scarred hands reaching out to grab my jacket just before another bump could throw me against the metal frame. A heavy iron container—the anchor—broke a plastic storage bin near his boots as it slid across the metal floor."I’ve got him! I’ve got Leo!" Christian shouted from the seat.His pale face was scrunched up in a grimace of strain as he held our son tight anchoring himself to the metal frame. He pressed Leos head against his chest covering the boys ears from the noise of the engines. The green light of Leos arterial pump pulsed steadily through the gaps in his blanket casting a soothing pattern on Christians bandaged wrist."Jul

1 2 3 4 5

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP