Chapter 15 - The Abduction
The foundation lobby was consumed by smoke and screaming children.
Elias positioned himself in front of Clara, drawing his weapon as a dozen armed men wearing tactical gear breached the building.
This wasn't a gang squabble; this was a highly organized paramilitary assault.
Gunfire erupted, shattering the pristine glass walls of the newly built center.
Elias returned fire with deadly precision, dropping two of the attackers instantly.
“Stay behind me!” Elias roared over the deafening noise.
Clara crouched low, covering her ears as she frantically guided a group of terrified children behind a heavy oak desk.
She saw one little boy, barely six years old, frozen in the middle of the hallway, crying out for his sister.
Clara didn't think. She just moved.
She darted out from behind Elias’s protective cover, sprinting toward the child.
“Clara, no!” Elias shouted, trying to grab her, but he was pinned down by suppressive fire.
Clara reached the boy, scooping him into her arms and tossing him safely behind a concrete pillar just as a pair of strong, gloved hands seized her from behind.
A rag soaked in something foul-smelling was clamped violently over her mouth and nose.
Clara kicked and thrashed, biting down hard on the hand, but the man was too strong.
“Got her,” a rough voice yelled. “Fall back!”
Through the fading edges of her vision, Clara saw Elias desperately fighting his way toward her, taking a bullet to his shoulder but refusing to stop.
But the chemicals were too potent.
Her limbs grew heavy, her vision darkened, and the chaotic sounds of gunfire faded into an eerie silence.
Clara’s last conscious thought was a prayer for Julian.
When Elias finally cleared the hallway, clutching his bleeding shoulder, the attackers were gone.
And so was Clara.
On the floor, amidst the shattered glass and debris, lay her diamond engagement ring.
Elias stared at the ring, a cold sweat breaking out over his body.
May you like
He pulled out his phone, his hand trembling for the first time in his life.
“Mr. Vance,” Elias rasped into the receiver. “They took her.”
