CHAPTER 13
"Ethans security Office"
For a long second, Clarissa and I just stared at each other, not with the weight of old wounds, not with buried resentment clawing its way up, but with one shared, brutal fear:
Lena was missing.
Her mouth trembled. "Ethan…"
I clenched my jaw and stepped back. I didn't need old explanations. I didn't need a conversation about the past.
Not now.
Not when the woman I swore to protect was somewhere in the hands of a man who should never have been given the chance to breathe near her.
Clarissa reached toward me, desperate. "Please, we need to talk. I need to tell you—"
"No."
The word hit her like a blow.
Her breath caught, her hand dropping to her side.
"I'm busy searching for your daughter," I said, voice steady and cold. "Whatever you want to talk about can wait."
She blinked rapidly, disoriented by my refusal. She expected rage or confrontation, maybe punishment, but I had no space for any of that.
Lena needed me.
That was all that mattered.
Behind us, one of my men approached. "Sir, police are requesting your presence in thier office. They found something."
Clarissa shot me a hopeful glance, but I didn't meet it.
I simply walked ahead.
And she followed.
THE SEARCH – DAY 1
The police station buzzed with urgency. Officers moved like they were wired to electricity, but no amount of motion soothed the storm in my chest.
My men had already started scanning city-wide footage.
Every camera.
Every street.
Every alley Jonah could have disappeared into.
Still nothing.
Clarissa visited both the police and my office repeatedly.
She paced.
She prayed under her breath, fingers trembling around her rosary.
She asked every officer for updates even when they had none.
And despite everything in me resisting it… I felt the heaviness in her steps.
A mother whose world had shattered.
At one point, while we waited on a batch of newly recovered surveillance clips, Clarissa whispered:
"Ethan… she talks about you, you know. She said you made her feel safe."
I didn't move.
"She said you look at her like she's more than what she survived. Like she's worth something."
My throat tightened, but I didn't let it show.
"You've been good for her," Clarissa added softly.
I didn't answer, but her words sank deeper than I liked to admit.
A ringing cut through the silence then, my phone.
Cole Industries — HR Department
I nearly declined, but instinct made me answer.
"What?" I snapped.
"Sir, your 11 a.m. board meeting—"
"Cancel it."
"But the investors—"
"I SAID cancel it."
The line went dead silent.
When I ended the call, Clarissa stared at me with wide eyes.
"You're putting everything aside for her," she murmured.
"It's not a choice," I said.
And it wasn't.
---
DAY 2 — The Message
On the second day, at 4:12 p.m., Jonah finally sent something.
A picture.
Lena's eyes were swollen from crying.
Her face bruised.
Her wrists tied behind her.
Clarissa gasped, hands flying to her chest. She staggered, and I stepped forward instinctively, catching her before she fell.
"Sit," I said quietly.
Her fingers dug into my arm. "Is she, Is she still—"
"She's alive."
I forced the words out with calm I didn't feel.
"She's alive."
Clarissa stared at me through tears. "You care about her… deeply."
I didn't deny it.
There was nothing to deny.
"She means something to you," she whispered. "I can see it. Anyone can."
I looked at the screen again. Lena's eyes, even through the fear, were searching.
For me?
For hope?
For something to hold onto?
"She means everything," I said quietly.
Clarissa's expression shifted from fear to something unexpected…
Hope.
"She must have felt that," she whispered. "She must have believed you'd come."
"I will."
---
POLICE INTERFERENCE — A False Lead
The police rushed toward us suddenly.
"Mr. Cole! We have movement, a van matching the plate number found near the freeway!"
We all sprinted to the control room, adrenaline pumping.
Footage played on a large screen:
A Black van turning sharply around a fuel station.
Clarissa gasped. "That's him!"
But my stomach tightened.
Something felt wrong.
The timestamp flickered.
"This is from yesterday," one of my men growled. "They fed us old footage."
The entire room groaned in frustration.
Clarissa covered her mouth. "Why would he do this?"
"To waste our time," I said flatly.
"To make us desperate."
She started crying again, quiet, exhausted sobs.
I turned away before the fury inside me broke something.
---
DAY 2 — NIGHT
It was almost midnight when another disruption hit.
My office line rang again.
COLE INDUSTRIES — SECURITY
I picked up. "What?"
"Sir, several reporters are outside the building. They know Lena is missing."
My jaw locked, rage pulsing behind my eyes.
"Get them off my property."
"Yes, sir, but they're—"
"NOW."
I ended the call and rubbed my forehead.
Clarissa glanced at me.
"You're not sleeping."
"I will when she's safe."
"Ethan… you can't keep going like this."
"I don't need your concern."
Her lips pressed together.
"You love her."
I froze.
"Don't push," I warned.
She looked down.
"You don't have to say it. It's obvious."
---
DAY 3 — Clues From the Past
On the third morning, Clarissa arrived before sunrise.
Her hair messy, eyes red, clothes wrinkled, she hadn't slept either.
"Ethan…" she whispered. "I remembered something important."
I turned slowly. "What?"
"When Lena and Jonah dated years ago… he used to take her somewhere. A place she mentioned once in passing."
"Where?"
"An old warehouse on the outskirts. She said it felt strange. Like he didn't want anyone else to know about it."
My pulse spiked.
"Describe it."
"It had broken windows. Rusted doors. Very quiet. She hated how isolated it was."
A spark of direction ignited in my chest.
That was the first real lead in 48 hours.
Clarissa held her arms around herself. "I should've said something earlier… I should've—"
"Stop."
My voice softened.
"Telling me now is enough."
Her eyes shifted with gratitude, relief breaking over her face like a wave.
For a brief moment,
we weren't two people with tangled pasts,
just two hearts frantically beating for the same woman.
---
A Quiet Moment
While my team analyzed the new lead, Clarissa sat beside me in the hallway.
For the first time, the silence wasn't painful.
She stared ahead, voice barely above a whisper.
"Lena always believed you'd protect her. Even before the two of you admitted you cared… she trusted you."
My breath stilled.
"I'm not going to fail her," I replied.
"I know," she whispered.
"She knows too."
---
ANOTHER TWIST — A Call
My phone vibrated in my hand.
Lieutenant Harris
"Yes?" I barked.
"We've found tire tracks behind an abandoned mall. Matches the pattern of Jonah's model."
I stood instantly.
"Send me the coordinates."
"Already did. But sir…"
His hesitation chilled me.
"We found blood."
Clarissa gasped, clutching my arm.
"Is it hers?" she choked.
"We don't know yet, ma'am. Could be old. Could be nothing."
Old or new, my chest tightened painfully.
I forced myself to breathe.
"We're going there next."
---
ANOTHER FALSE ENDING
Thirty minutes later, we stood in a cracked parking lot behind the abandoned mall.
Tire tracks.
Discarded ropes.
Old cigarette butts.
But no Lena.
No van.
No Jonah.
Clarissa collapsed onto a broken curb, head in her hands.
"Why is he doing this?" she cried. "Why is he toying with us?"
I knelt in front of her.
"He thinks we're getting tired," I said quietly.
"He doesn't know he's wrong."
Her breathing steadied.
She nodded.
And then—
Behind us, a shout.
"Sir! New data coming in!"
We ran back inside.
---
THE BREAKTHROUGH
Footsteps thundered down the hallway.
One of my men burst into the room, cheeks flushed, tablet shaking in his hand.
"Sir!"
I stood instantly.
"What happened?"
He held up the screen.
"Sir… we've gotten the location!"
The room froze.
Clarissa let out a sharp, broken gasp, covering her mouth.
My heart slammed once, hard, like my body already knew this time was real.
"Where is she?" I demanded.
He pointed to the map.
"A cluster of motion-triggered cameras on the outskirts just activated. A warehouse. Old, damaged windows. Rusted doors. Matches the description exactly."
I grabbed my coat, adrenaline firing through my veins.
My voice dropped like steel:
"Get the cars.
Mobilize the team.
We're leaving now."
The city didn't feel real anymore.
Only one thing existed:
Lena.
And the man I was about to destroy to get her back.