The familiar voice rang out,like a knife stabbing through my heart.
"Emma!"I screamed,lunging for the screen,but the car window held me back.
Ethan snapped the call off and stared at me coldly.“Hear that?Tell your men to back off now,Jenna.Or she’ll be thrown off the ridge in the next second.”
My vision started to blur and I felt like I would faint.
Animal.This person wasn’t even human.
Natalie poured salt in the wound,pretending to be kind.“Oh,Ethan,aren’t you being too harsh?Jenna may have made a mistake,but the child is innocent.How about this,Jenna...”
She looked at me like she was doing me a favor,yet all she did was offer me a humiliating bargain.
“Get out of the car.Kneel and beg us.Just admit you were wrong and promise never to bother us again.Maybe then he’ll tell you where your child is.”
I stared at them,stunned.How dare they?
After everything they did,how dare they humiliate me now?
“Dream on!”I ground out through clenched teeth.“Ethan,Natalie,I swear you’ll pay for this.”
“Listen,there’s still time to stop this.I can pretend like this never happened.”
Ethan laughed as if it were the funniest joke he had heard.“Jenna,you’re begging me now,not the other way around.Tell your people to pull out.Right now.”
He said that,yet his eyes were wild with panic.
Just then,my phone buzzed.I glanced down and saw an encrypted message from the special team.
[Target vehicle stopped.Hostiles armed and resisting,supported by an accomplice vehicle.Standoff.Miss,shall we initiate a forced attack?High risk.]
My heart leapt into my throat.
They had stopped…
But my Emma was still inside the van.
If they used force…what if she got hurt?
Ethan watched my face,smiling as if he had guessed my fear and the look in his face was getting even more smug.
"What?Your team found them?Too bad,it's already too late.Scarface Seven and his gang aren’t amateurs.When they’re cornered,they do what’s needed.”
He slammed the SUV into gear and the engine growled.“Jenna,if you want your daughter to live,then do exactly as I say.Pull your people back now.Or I’ll call Scarface Seven and have him kill her.”
As he spoke,he actually lifted his phone,ready to dial.
“No!”I cried,my heart nearly stopping.“I…I promise!I’ll make them retreat!”
I couldn’t risk Emma’s life for anything.
The bodyguard looked at me,looking unsure.“Miss…”