Chapter 197
Chapter 197
Marcus’s Pov
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Marcus felt rage building in his chest instantly. Julius was watching them somehow. Maybe with a camera, spotters, or some other fucked up way to track their movements.
Another text came through.
While you’re busy playing detective, I’m getting to know your wife better. She’s very pretty, Marcus. Really pretty.
Now I know why my sister Aurora is jealous. Shit, she was
to be jealous.
Marcus called the number immediately but it went straight to voicemail.
“He’s messing with us,” Mimi said. “Sending us on a wild goose chase while he does God knows what to Elara and the twins.”
“The Newark warehouse. That’s twenty minutes from here.”
They got back in the car and drove to Newark, Marcus pushin
the vehicle even faster. Every minute they
wasted was another minute Elara was alone with the psychopath.
His phone rang. Dante.
“Tell me you found something.”
“Maybe. I’ve been going through Julius’s financial records. He made a large cash payment three weeks ago to a company called Harbor Security Solutions. They specialize in temporary security systems for vacant properties.”
“Which property?”
“That’s the thing. The invoice doesn’t specify. But the amount suggests it was for a significant installation. Cameras, motion sensors, the works.”
“So he’s been planning this for weeks. Setting up wherever he’s holding them, making sure he had complete surveillance.”
“Which means he can see us coming from a mile away. Marcus, you can’t just drive up to these warehouses,
He’ll know.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Let me hack into Harbor Security’s systems. If I can access their installation records, I can figure out which property they set up and what kind of system we’re dealing with.”
“How long will that take?”
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Chapter 197
“Give me twenty minutes.”
:
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Marcus wanted to scream that they didn’t have twenty minutes. But Dante was right. Charging blindly into warehouses while Julius watched and laughed wasn’t going to save anyone.
“Fine. Twenty minutes. But Dante, if you can’t find anything-”
“I’ll find it. Just stay put and don’t do anything stupid.”
Marcus pulled over in a parking lot near the Newark warehouse and waited. Mimi kept checking her phone like Elara might suddenly call and say everything was fine.
“She’s tough,” Mimi said. “Elara’s survived everything else Luca and Aurora and Penelope threw at her. She’ll survive this too.”
“She shouldn’t have to be in a situation where she has to fight or survive. I should have protected her better.” I’m such a piece of shit.
“You tried. Julius is just insane, obsessed and a psychopath. There’s no protecting someone from that level of
crazy.”
Marcus’s phone rang again. It was not Dante this time buter unknown number.
He answered. “Julius.”
“Wrong again. But I have to admire your persistence. Two warehouses down, one to go. Think you’ll find us at the third one?”
“Where’s Elara? Let me talk to her.”
“She’s a bit tied up at the moment. Literally. Zip ties are very effective for keeping wives in place.”
“If you hurt her, I swear I will….”
“You’ll what? Drive around New Jersey checking empty buildings? Face it, Marcus. You’re playing a game you can’t win. I have your wife and your children and you have nothing.”
“What do you want? You already got the money….
“I got some of the money. Elara threw most of it in the river, remember? That was fun to watch. But this was never really about money. It’s about making you suffer the way Aurora suffered.”
“Aurora brought her own suffering. She lied and manipulated and tried to destroy my marriage.”
“Because you broke her heart! You were supposed to marry her, supposed to give her the life she deserved. Instead you threw her away for some nobody with a contract.”
“Elara isn’t a nobody. She’s my wife and the mother of my children and if you harm one hair on her head-”
Julius laughed. “Empty threats from an impotent husband. Do you know what Elara said when I asked her if she loved you? She hesitated. Just for a second, but she hesitated. Makes you wonder if this whole marriage
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Chapter 197
really is just a contract after all.”
“You’re lying.”
I
“Am I? Or are you just afraid I might be telling the truth?”
The line went dead.
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Marcus stared at his phone, Julius’s words echoing in his head. Elara wouldn’t have hesitated. She loved him. He knew she loved him.
But a small voice whispered that maybe Julius was right. Maybe underneath everything, Elara still saw their marriage as the transaction it had started as.
His phone rang again. This time it was Dante.
“I found them. The Secaucus warehouse. Harbor Security installed a complete system three weeks ago. And Marcus, I’m accessing the camera feeds right now.”
“Can you see them? Are they there?”
“Yeah. I can see them. And Marcus, you need to get there now.”
“Why? What’s happening?”
“Julius has Elara tied to a chair in the middle of the warehouse. And he’s holding Catherine while Alexander cries in a crib about ten feet away.”
“Is he hurting them?”
“Not yet. But Marcus, he has a gun,”
