CHAPTER 6 — THE KIDNAPPING
CHAPTER 6 — THE KIDNAPPING
The next morning.
Miami woke to chaos.
Every major news station covered only one story.
Businessman Richard Carter Arrested at Daughter's Wedding.
Helicopters circled the courthouse.
Reporters crowded outside Campbell Global.
Social media exploded with clips of Richard throwing Emily into the fountain.
Within hours, millions had watched the video.
Public sympathy shifted entirely toward Emily.
Richard became the face of corporate arrogance.
But Blake wasn't watching television.
He was studying security footage.
Marcus stood beside him.
"The convoy was followed."
"When?"
"From the wedding."
Blake zoomed in.
A black sedan.
Always three cars behind.
Never closer.
Never farther.
Professional surveillance.
Marcus frowned.
"We've identified the driver."
He placed another file on the desk.
Former military.
Now employed by Blackridge Security.
A company secretly owned by Victor Lawson's former business partner...
Charles Whitmore.
The same man from the penthouse.
Blake looked toward the window.
"They're moving faster than expected."
Before Marcus could answer—
Emily screamed.
The sound echoed through the mansion.
Blake ran.
He burst into the hallway.
Emily stood frozen outside the library.
On the polished wooden floor...
Lay a single white rose.
Wrapped around its stem was a crimson ribbon.
Attached to it...
A handwritten note.
Blake picked it up.
His expression changed instantly.
Emily whispered,
"What does it say?"
He read it aloud.
"One family already died because of your name.
Don't make your wife the second."
Emily's hands shook.
"They know where we live."
Marcus immediately barked orders into his radio.
"Full lockdown!"
"Seal every entrance!"
"Nobody leaves!"
Security teams flooded the estate.
Drones launched into the sky.
Within minutes, the mansion resembled a military fortress.
Blake turned toward Emily.
"I'm taking you somewhere safe."
She nodded.
"I'll pack."
"You have five minutes."
The safe house was nearly ready.
An armored helicopter waited on a private landing pad.
Security agents formed a protective circle.
Everything appeared under control.
Until Marcus frowned.
"Where's Emily?"
Blake looked toward the house.
"She was behind me."
A maid came running outside.
Panic filled her face.
"Mr. Campbell!"
"The bedroom..."
Blake sprinted upstairs.
The room was empty.
The balcony doors swung open.
Curtains fluttered in the wind.
On the floor...
Emily's phone.
Beside it...
A syringe.
Marcus checked the balcony railing.
"Rope marks."
"They came from above."
Blake's heartbeat thundered.
"No..."
A security monitor crackled.
One of the guards shouted,
"Sir!"
"A helicopter!"
Everyone looked skyward.
A black helicopter disappeared over Biscayne Bay.
Blake stared after it.
His voice became frighteningly calm.
"They took her."
Marcus swallowed.
"What are your orders?"
Blake's eyes turned to ice.
He looked toward the shrinking helicopter on the horizon.
Then spoke the words that made every security officer straighten instantly.
"Call every team."
"Every contact."
"Every ally I have."
He climbed into his own helicopter.
"They wanted a war."
The engines roared to life.
Blake fastened his harness.
"They're about to discover..."
"...they kidnapped the only woman I have ever loved."
As the helicopter lifted into the darkening sky, hundreds of miles away, Emily slowly opened her eyes inside a locked room.
Across from her sat the silver-haired man.
Charles Whitmore smiled.
"Welcome, Mrs. Campbell."
Then he slid an old photograph across the table.
Emily looked down.
It showed a young nurse holding a baby.
Written on the back were six chilling words:
"Your mother died protecting him."
Emily's breath caught.
May you like
Because the woman in the photograph...
Was her own mother.
