Chapter 475
“I don’t see my son, I’m not letting anyone go!”
Megan stood her ground, eyes fierce and unyielding.
Sebastian raised his phone.
“Fine. I’m calling the police now. You’ll see him soon enough.”
He dialed Felix, who was already en route with his team–but it would take them at least another twenty minutes to arrive.
Meanwhile, Caitlin and the others reached the site. She and Zinnia rushed out of the car and sprinted toward the abandoned building
Ximena and Zeke followed behind, everyone racing up the stairs together.
On the fifth floor, Caitlin saw Sebastian and ran up, breathless.
“Sebastian! What’s happening?”
“Patricia’s with her.”
Caitlin’s eyes followed his gaze to the edge of the scaffold–and there was her daughter, bound tightly with ropes, Megan crouched next to her with a knife at the ready, poised over the rope.
The sight of her daughter’s tear–streaked face hit her like a blade to the heart.
“Patricia… Mommy’s here…”
Ximena gasped when she saw the scene, her heart clenching.
“Patricia!”
Seeing familiar faces, Patricia cried even harder.
Zeke, unable to help with his injuries, stood by with clenched fists, anguish written all over his face.
“What do we do? How do we get her out of there?”
Caitlin didn’t dare act recklessly. One wrong move and Megan might take her daughter down with her.
“She wants her son,” Sebastian explained.
“Felix is bringing Joshua now. Just a little longer.”
They exchanged a quick look. Caitlin stepped forward, trying to stall for time.
“Megan! Your son is on his way right now. Just wait another twenty minutes–he’ll be here. Then we’ll trade. Him for Patricia.”
That was exactly what Megan wanted to hear. She wouldn’t budge until she saw Joshua with her own eyes.
Not far off, in the trees on a nearby hill, a man in black clothing watched the scene unfold through a pair of binoculars. He picked up his phone and spoke in a chilling monotone.
“Target in sight. We’ll be able to avenge the Second Commander soon.”
From the other end, Black Shark–Raze–replied,
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Chapter 475
Good. Make sure Sebastian and the others are wiped off the face of the earth
The call ended. The man, Phantom, toyed with a small detonator in his hand. He could trigger if at any moment but he was waiting for the penes timing.
Meanwhile, James and Tyler were circling behind the building, searching for an entry point. But the structure was exposed and unstable. Any direct approach risked being spotted by Megan, which could end in disaster.
After a quick discussion, they decided to descend to the fourth floor and attempt a rescue from below.
Tension built in the air, every second dragging on like an eternity. Caitlin and Sebastian could hardly bear the sight of their daughter tied up, in danger
Then came the sound of police sirens.
“They’re here!” Caitlin cried out.
Megan turned to look down. Two police cars screeched to a stop, and officers poured out. Moments later, Joshua was brought out from the back.
At last, she saw her son.
“Joshua!”
Joshua looked up and spotted his mother teetering on the edge of the fifth floor.
“Mom! Get down from there!”
Seeing her son alive and well, Megan’s tension
a little.
The officers raised a loudspeaker.
“Megan! Your son is here. Let the hostage go!”
“Are you really going to free him? He won’t go back to jail, right?”
She couldn’t trust Caitlin or the cops–this might still be a trick.
–
M
While Megan stalled, Sebastian began inching closer. Below, James and Tyler had finished tying a rescue rope, James was ready to descend.
“Look! His handcuffs are off–we’re not lying,” one officer called out.
The police made a show of unlocking Joshua’s cuffs in full view.
Megan’s eyes lit up. She’d gotten what she wanted. She began to step away from the edge-
but misjudged her footing.
Her heel slipped. She tumbled off the scaffold, grabbing at whatever she could–her hand clamped down on the rope tied to Patricia.
“Ahhh! Help!”
Her scream rang out as she dangled midair.
But the rope yanked taut–and Patricia’s small body was jerked violently. A rush of pressure hit her chest. She couldn’t breathe.
Seconds later, the rope snapped.
Megan and Patricia plummeted together.
Everything happened too fast. The police below hadn’t even deployed the safety net.
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Chapter 475
Tatricial
Caitlin and Sebastian screamed as they rushed to the edge.
Sebastian reached out–and barely caught her shirt.
Rip-
The fabric tore in his hands.
“Patricia!!!*
Sebastian’s roar echoed, his eyes wide with horror as his daughter slipped through his fingers.
Gasps rang out from everyone.
But just as they thought she would fall with Megan–
-a figure launched from the fourth floor.
James.
NA
He dove out and caught Patricia midair, clutching her tightly.
Tyler held the rope on the other end, pulling with all his strength to hoist both James and Patricia back up.
She was safe.
James had caught her just in time.
Caitlin and the others bolted down to the fourth floor.
Patricia was shaken but alive.
Megan, however, wasn’t as lucky.
She plummeted five stories, hitting the cement with a sickening crack.
Thud.
The police net hadn’t been set up in time.
Blood poured from the back of her skull in a dark pool.
“Mom! Mom!”
Joshua ran forward, collapsing to his knees in front of her lifeless body.
She didn’t respond.
She couldn’t.
He wailed, heartbroken.
Now he truly understood. If it weren’t for him his mother wouldn’t have done any of this. She wouldn’t have died.
But it was too late for regret.
There are no do–overs in life.
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Chapter 475
Megan had paid the price for everything she’d done.
Back on the fourth floor, James and the others pulled Patricia up. Sebastian took her in his arms while Caitlin, her hands trembling, romered and tape from her daughter’s face.
“Patricia…”
They held her tightly, unable to let go.
“Mommy… Daddy…”
Her voice was barely a whisper, softer than a kitten’s mewl.
“You’re okay now, baby… You’re safe… Daddy and Mommy are here. Don’t be scared…”
Caitlin wept as she rocked her daughter.
Zinnia and Ximena stood behind them, eyes full of tears. Everyone had the same thought:
Thank God the child was saved.
Felix arrived at last, just in time to see the emotional reunion. He breathed a sigh of relief.
But in the woods above, the man in black deemed it the perfect moment.
He pressed the detonator in his hand.
The tender moment shattered in an instant.
Caitlin froze. Her fingers touched something strange under Patricia’s clothing–and then she heard it:
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Her face went pale.
She turned her daughter’s body and lifted her shirt.
Strapped across Patricia’s back was a small explosive device.
The LED screen had already activated.
A countdown had begun:
