Chapter 162
Chapter 162
+25 BONUS
The morning sun sparkled on the lake as Camille prepared to leave. The overnight stay had been a brief but needed escape from the constant pressure of the past months. Victoria stood on the deck, waving as Camille loaded her bag into the car.
“Come back next weekend,” she called. “Bring Alexander next time. I need civilized company out here.”
Camille smiled, knowing Victoria was far from lonely with her staff and security team in constant attendance. “I’ll call you tonight,” she promised.
Alexander had left early that morning, called back to the city for an urgent meeting with the FBI. He’d wanted to postpone his return until he could travel with Camille, but she had insisted she would be fine with her security detail.
“Four weeks without a sign of Rose,” she had reminded him. “And I’ll have two cars of security personnel. Go handle the FBI.”
Now, as her driver James held the door open for her, Camille felt a flicker of unease. The peaceful night at the lake had lowered her guard slightly, a dangerous thing when Rose might still be out there, waiting
Their security detail followed the same protocol as always, one car ahead, one behind, maintaining constant radio contact. Camille sat in the back, watching the trees pass by her window. The rural landscape was beautiful, so different from the city she’d grown accustomed to.
“Ms. Kane,” James said, breaking into her thoughts. “Security team ahead is reporting a traffic accident blocking the road. They’re checking alternate routes.”
Camille nodded, feeling a slight tightening in her chest. Coincidences made her nervous these days.
They were about forty minutes from the city when James spoke again, his voice tense. “Ma’am, I’ve lost contact with the lead car.”
Camille sat up straighter, instantly alert. “What about the car behind us?”
“Trying them now.” James pressed a button on his radio, then shook his head. “No response.”
Fear crawled up Camille’s spine like a cold hand. “Call Alexander,” she ordered, reaching for her own phone.
No signal. The bars on her screen had disappeared completely.
“Signal jammer,” James muttered, slowing the car as they approached a bend in the rural highway. Trees pressed close on both sides, their branches creating a tunnel of dappled light and shadow.
“Turn around,” Camille instructed. “Now.”
James began to maneuver the car, but before he could complete the turn, a van swerved onto the road ahead of them, blocking their path. Another vehicle appeared behind, trapping them.
“Get down!” James shouted, drawing his weapon.
Camille ducked below the window line, her heart hammering against her ribs. This was no random attack. No ordinary carjacking. This was precise. Planned. Professional
This was Rose.
The back window shattered as bullets hit it. James returned fire through the broken glass, his face grim with
1/3
determination.
“Stay down, Ms
Kane,” he ordered. “Backup will come.”
BUNUS
But Camille knew backup wouldn’t arrive in time. Rose had planned too carefully for that. Had waited four weeks, lulling them into a false sense of security before striking when Alexander was away.
The shooting suddenly stopped. In the abrupt silence, Camille could hear birds singing in the trees, oblivious to the violence below.
“They’re moving,” James warned, peering through the cracked windshield.
Figures in black tactical gear approached the car from both directions, weapons raised. Camille counted six of them. Too many, even for James and his training.
“On my signal, I want you to run for the trees,” James said quietly. “I’ll cover you.”
Camille shook her head. “We stay together.”
“Ms. Kane, my job is to protect you. Please…”
Before he could finish, the driver’s door was wrenched open. James fired, hitting one attacker, but others grabbed him, dragging him from the car. Camille heard the sickening sound of a blow, then silence.
A small canister flew into the car, hitting the floor at her feet. White gas hissed out, filling the space with acrid fumes. Camille tried to hold her breath, covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve, but the gas was everywhere.
Her vision blurred. Her limbs grew heavy. The car door beside her opened, and fresh air rushed in, momentarily clearing her head.
Camille lashed out blindly, her fist connecting with something solid. A grunt of pain told her she’d hit her target. She scrambled toward the opposite door, desperate to escape. 1
“Still fighting, sister dear? Some things never change.”
That voice. Camille would know it anywhere. She forced her eyes to focus through the lingering gas.
Rose stood there, looking down at her with a small smile. Her hair was different, short, dyed black, but her eyes were the same. Cold. Calculating. Triumphant.
“You,” Camille managed, the word slurring despite her best efforts.
“Me,” Rose agreed pleasantly. “Miss me?”
Camille tried to lunge at her, but her body wouldn’t cooperate, Her movements were slow, uncoordinated. Rose easily stepped back, avoiding her grasp.
“Now, now,” Rose chided. “Is that any way to greet your sister after a month apart?”
“You… killed him,” Camille gasped, thinking of James lying motionless outside the car.
“Not dead,” Rose corrected. “Just sleeping. Unlike the Grand Plaza Hotel, this isn’t about body count. This is personal.”
a
She gestured to one of the men in black, who approached with a syringe. Camille tried to fight as hands pulled her from the car, but the gas had weakened her too much. She felt a sharp pinch in her neck. Almost immedia deeper heaviness invaded her limbs.
“Why?” Camille asked, struggling to keep her eyes open as the drug took effect.
Rose leaned close, her smile widening. “Because you took everything from me,” she whispered. “Now I’m going
2/3
+25 BONUS
Chapter 162
to take everything from you.”
Camille’s vision blurred. She saw James, lying unconscious on the roadside. She saw the security team from the lead car, similarly incapacitated. She tried to call out, to fight, to do anything, but her body no longer responded to her commands.
The last thing she saw before darkness claimed her was Rose’s face, watching with satisfaction as she was loaded into the waiting van. The last thing she felt was the rumble of the engine as it pulled away, carrying her into a nightmare she had feared for months.
Then nothing.
Just blackness.
And the echo of Rose’s final words: “Now I’m going to take everything from you.”
