11:09 Tue, May 12 M..*
Chapter 196
Chapter 196
Marcus’s POV
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“Elara!” Marcus was shouting into his phone even though the line was dead. “El, answer me!”
Dante was already pulling up traffic cameras on his laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard. “I lost her tracker signal thirty seconds ago. Her last known location was Pier 76 but she’s not showing up anywhere now.”
“What do you mean she’s not showing up? She has to be somewhere!”
“Her phone went offline. Either the battery died or someone destroyed it.”
Marcus felt like he couldn’t breathe, like his lungs were starting to close up. He’d watched through binoculars as Elara had thrown money into the river, watched as she’d thrown her tracking phone away, watched as she’d run toward a black van that had appeared out of nowhere.
And then the van had driven away with his wife inside and Marcus had been too far away to do anything about it.
“We need to find that van. Black panel van, no windows, no plates visible from our angle. It turned north on the West Side Highway.”
Dante was already on it, pulling traffic camera feeds from every intersection along that route. “I’ve got it. Black van, heading north. Wait, it’s turning east on 57th Street.”
“Stay with it.”
Marcus watched the laptop screen as Dante tracked the van through multiple cameras. East on 57th, then north on 10th Avenue, then disappearing into the Lincoln Tunnel.
“We’ve also lost sight,” Dante said. “The tunnel doesn’t have cameras inside and there are three exits on the Jersey side. They could be going anywhere.”
Marcus grabbed his phone and called Detective Rivera. “Julius has Elara. Black van, it took her from Pier 76, went through the Lincoln Tunnel into Jersey. We need every available unit searching for that vehicle.”
“Mr. Thorne, without a plate number or clear description-
“I don’t care what it takes! Find my wife!”
Marcus ended the call and looked at Dante. “Can you pull traffic cameras on the Jersey side? See which exit they took?”
“Already on it. But Marcus, even if we figure out which way they went, Jersey is huge. They could be taking her anywhere.”
“Then we narrow it down. Julius has been planning this for weeks, maybe months. He needs a location to hold Elara and the twins. Somewhere secure, isolated, where no one would hear them.”
11:09 Tue, May 12 M…
Chapter 196
Mimi appeared in the doorway of the SUV. “What happened? Where’s Elara?”
“Julius took her. She got in a van and they drove off.”
“She got in? Like voluntarily?”
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“He must have shown her something. Proof the twins were inside or threatened them if she didn’t cooperate.” Marcus ran both hands through his hair.
“I should never have let her go alone. I should have gone myself or sent security or done literally anything other than watch my wife walk into a fucking trap.”
Richard came over, his face grim. “Blaming yourself won’t help find them. What do we know about Julius Wellington’s holdings? Properties, warehouses, anything he might use?”
Dante pulled up a new screen. “Wellington Enterprises owns
area. Most are office buildings or retail spaces but there are teen commercial properties in the tristate
Newark, one in Secaucus.”
“That’s where they are. One of those warehouses.”
“We don’t know that for sure-”
warehouses. One in Jersey City, one in
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. Julius needs space to hold three people without anyone noticing. An office building has too much traffic, retail has cameras and witnesses. But a warehouse? Isolated, secure, easy to control access.”
Mimi pulled out her phone. “I’ll call the police, have them check all three
“No,” Marcus said. “If Julius sees cops pulling up he’ll panic. We need to do this quietly.”
“So what do you suggest? We just show up at random warehouses hoping to find them?”
Marcus was already getting out of the SUV. “Yes, that’s exactly what we do. Dante, send me the addresses. Richard, I need you to stay here and coordinate with Detective Rivera. Mimi, you’re with me.”
“Marcus, this is crazy….”
“My wife and children are with a psychopath who’s already proven he’ll hurt them. I’m not waiting around for the police to get warrants and permission and all their long process of approval. I’m finding my family.”
Dante sent the warehouse addresses to Marcus’s phone. “The Jersey City one is closest. Fifteen minutes from here.”
“Then that’s where we start.”
Marcus drove like a man possessed, weaving through traffic and ignoring every speed limit. Mimi sat in the passenger seat holding onto the door handle and trying not to look terrified.
“What’s the plan when we get there?” she asked. “We can’t just walk in if Julius is holding them hostage.”
11:09 Tue, May 12 M…
Chapter 196
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“We scout it first. Look for the van, signs of activity, anything that indicates they’re inside. If we find them, then we call the police.”
“And if Julius sees us?”
“Then we improvise.”
They reached the Jersey City warehouse in twelve minutes. It was an old industrial building near the waterfront, surrounded by a chain-link fence with a rusted gate hanging open. The van wasn’t visible from the street.
Marcus parked a block away and got out. “Stay here.”
“Like hell I’m staying here. That’s my best friend in there.”
“Mimi-
“Don’t. We’re wasting time arguing. Let’s go.”
They approached the warehouse carefully, staying low and using abandoned equipment as cover. The building looked deserted, windows dark, no vehicles in the parking area.
Marcus’s phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
It’s the wrong warehouse, but good try honestly. Do you wish to try again? You have two more chances.
11:09 Tue, May 12 M
