Alexander was in the middle of his meeting with Agent Chen when the rm on his phone red, a sound he had never wanted to hear. His security team''s emergency signal.


    His blood turned to ice. He was already moving toward the door as he pulled up the tracking app, watching the red dot that represented Camille''s car blinking rapidly on a rural road.


    "I need to go," he said, his voice tight. "Something''s wrong."


    Agent Chen looked up from her files, instantly alert. "What happened?"


    "Distress signal from Camille''s security team." Alexander''s fingers flew across his phone screen, calling in his backup teams. "No response from any of them."


    "I''ll send FBI units," Chen said, already reaching for her radio.


    But Alexander barely heard her. He was already running for the elevator, his heart pounding against his ribs. He had left Camille at theke house with a security detail he had personally trained. They wouldn''t trigger the emergency protocol unless the situation was dire.


    The drive was a blur of speed and rising panic. Alexander pushed his car to its limits, weaving through traffic with a single-minded focus. The GPS showed him closing in on the signal, but the red dot had stopped moving. Stopped blinking. Gone dark.


    When he reached the coordinates, the scene hit him like a physical blow.


    Two ck SUVs, Camille''s security vehicles sat empty on the rural road. Bodiesy sprawled on the asphalt. Alexander mmed to a stop, his gun already drawn as he exited the car.


    "James!" he shouted, recognizing Camille''s driver slumped by the roadside.


    The man stirred weakly. Still alive. Alexander checked the others, all security personnel, all unconscious but breathing. But no Camille.


    James''s eyes fluttered open as Alexander knelt beside him. "They took her," he whispered, his voice rough. "Gas... couldn''t stop them..."


    "Who?" Alexander demanded, though he already knew the answer. "Was it Rose?"


    James nodded weakly. "ck van... six men... Rose was there... personally."


    Cold fury washed over Alexander, so intense it momentarily blinded him. Rose had waited for the perfect moment, when he was away, when they had begun to lower their guard after four weeks of silence.


    Sirens wailed in the distance as he searched the vehicles for any clue to where they might have taken Camille. The back window of her car was shattered. Inside, he found her phone on the floor, its screen cracked.


    And something else. A small envelope with his name on it, ced carefully on the driver''s seat.


    Alexander opened it with steady hands belying the storm inside him. A single sheet of paper contained a typed message:


    *She took everything from me. My family. My future. Now I take everything from her. Starting with her freedom. Then her hope. Then her life. If you want to say goodbye before she dies, you have 48 hours to find us. The clock is ticking, Alexander. Tick. Tock.*


    His vision blurred with rage and fear. He read the note twice more, searching for any hint of their location. Nothing.


    FBI vehicles screeched to a stop around him. Agent Chen approached, her face grim as she surveyed the scene.


    "Rose Lewis?" she asked quietly.


    Alexander nodded, handing her the note. "She''s had this nned for weeks. Waiting for the perfect moment."


    Chen read the message, her professional mask slipping slightly. "We''ll find her, Pierce. Every agent, every resource. We''ll find them both."


    "Forty-eight hours," Alexander said, his voice t. "That''s all the time Camille has."


    "Then we don''t waste a minute." Chen was already directing her agents, organizing search teams, calling in forensic units.


    Alexander stepped away, making the hardest call of his life. Victoria needed to know. Now.


    She answered on the second ring. "Alexander? Is Camille with you? She hasn''t called."


    The hope in her voice cut like a knife. Alexander swallowed hard before responding. "Victoria, something''s happened. Rose has taken Camille."


    The silence on the other endsted only seconds, but it felt like years.


    "Tell me everything," Victoria said finally, her voice shifting into themanding tone that had intimidated boardrooms for decades.


    He exined quickly, the distress signal, the scene he found, the note. Every detail he had.


    "I''ming back to the city," Victoria said when he finished.


    "No," Alexander countered. "Rose might be watching yourke house. Moving you could put you at risk too."


    "I don''t care about-"


    "Camille would," he interrupted. "She would want you safe. Stay there. We''ll set up amand center at theke house. Bring everything to you."


    Another silence, then: "Two hours. I want you and everyone working on this case at theke house in two hours. Not a minute more."


    Alexander agreed, already moving toward his car. He had one more call to make, one he never thought he''d initiate.


    Stefan Rodriguez answered immediately. "Alexander? What''s wrong?"


    "Rose has Camille," Alexander said without preamble. "I need everytking you know about her. Where she might go. What ces have meaning to her. Any property connections, friends, anything."


    Stefan''s sharp intake of breath was audible. "When?"


    "Less than an hour ago. She left a note giving us 48 hours before she kills Camille."


    "I''ll be at your office in twenty


    minutes, Stefan promised. "I know things about Rose that aren''t


    in any file. ces she mentioned when she thought I wasn''t listening."


    "Not the office. Victoria''ske house. And hurry."


    Alexander ended the call and climbed into his car. As he drove away from the scene, leaving the FBI to process evidence, a single thought burned in his mind: he would find Camille. He would bring her home. And then he would make Rose pay for every second of fear she had caused.