Taken
Chapter 68: Taken
For exactly three seconds...
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody breathed.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The waiting room had become impossibly quiet.
The kind of quiet that came before disasters.
The kind of quiet that came before wars.
The kind of quiet that came before Amara Queen became very, very angry.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Daniel stood frozen.
Phone still in his hand.
Color drained from his face.
The confidence gone.
The certainty gone.
Everything gone.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"They took her."
The words echoed through the room.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Wrong.
The betrayal.
The kidnapping betrayal.
Undefeated.
Lorenzo recovered first.
Naturally.
The king always recovered first.
A recurring problem.
Very recurring.
"Who."
Silence.
Daniel looked toward him.
Then toward the floor.
Then back again.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"I don't know."
Absolute silence.
Several soldiers looked offended.
Immediately.
Reasonably.
Very reasonably.
Because apparently nobody knew anything anymore.
The betrayal.
The information betrayal.
Undefeated.
Victoria suddenly moved.
Fast.
Dangerously fast.
The specialist crossed the room and grabbed Daniel by the front of his shirt.
Immediately.
The audacity.
The complete audacity.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
Silence.
Daniel didn't resist.
Didn't pull away.
Didn't react.
Which somehow made it worse.
Much worse.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The specialist's voice shook.
Barely.
Enough.
A terrifying development.
Very terrifying.
Because Victoria Moreau was not the type of woman who shook.
Ever.
"Daniel."
Silence.
The ghost finally looked at her.
Then quietly answered.
"The signal disappeared."
A pause.
"The trackers went dark."
Another.
"All of them."
Absolute silence.
Victoria released him immediately.
The realization hit.
Hard.
Dangerously hard.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Amara noticed.
Of course she did.
The betrayal.
The observant-doctor betrayal.
Undefeated.
"What does that mean?"
Victoria looked toward her.
Then toward Lorenzo.
Then toward nobody at all.
Like she wished she could give a different answer.
A better answer.
Any other answer.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"It means whoever took Evelyn knew about the model."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The room froze.
Again.
A recurring problem.
Very recurring.
Because normal kidnappers didn't disable predictive tracking systems.
Normal kidnappers didn't hunt child prodigies.
Normal kidnappers didn't create citywide conspiracies.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
This wasn't normal.
Not even slightly.
Lorenzo's phone rang.
Immediately.
The atmosphere shifted.
Again.
Danger.
Business.
War.
The usual.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The king answered.
Listened.
Then became terrifying.
A recurring problem.
Very recurring.
"What."
The single word came out like a threat.
The person on the other end spoke quickly.
Urgently.
Dangerously.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Lorenzo listened.
Then looked directly at Amara.
The realization hit her immediately.
Something happened.
Something bad.
Something very bad.
"What."
Silence.
The king lowered the phone.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like he was trying not to break it.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Then:
"They hit one of our warehouses."
Absolute silence.
The room froze.
Immediately.
Daniel's eyes widened.
Victoria cursed.
Again.
The betrayal.
The profanity betrayal.
Undefeated.
Because suddenly...
The pattern appeared.
Clear.
Obvious.
Dangerous.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Evelyn disappears.
A Vitale warehouse gets attacked.
Two events.
One message.
The enemy wasn't hiding anymore.
The enemy was escalating.
Amara adjusted her glasses.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
The movement everyone recognized.
The movement that meant pieces were connecting.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"They want attention."
Silence.
Immediate silence.
Daniel looked toward her.
Then frowned.
"What."
The surgeon folded her arms.
Thinking.
Analyzing.
The way she always did.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"If they wanted Evelyn dead..."
A pause.
"They would've killed her."
Another.
"If they wanted Lorenzo weakened..."
Another.
"They would've attacked something important."
Silence.
The room remained still.
Because she was making sense.
Again.
The betrayal.
The always-right betrayal.
Undefeated.
Then Amara looked directly at Daniel.
And suddenly...
The answer appeared.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"They want all of us moving."
Absolute silence.
The world stopped.
Because suddenly...
Everything fit.
The kidnapping.
The attacks.
The messages.
The predictions.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The enemy wasn't targeting one person.
The enemy was gathering pieces.
Moving them.
Positioning them.
Like chess.
Like strategy.
Like someone using the model.
The realization settled heavily over everyone.
Then Daniel's phone buzzed.
Immediately.
Every person in the room froze.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
A text message.
Unknown sender.
The ghost opened it.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Dangerously.
Then his face went completely blank.
The worst expression possible.
Because it meant he was shocked.
Actually shocked.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Amara stepped forward.
"What."
Silence.
Daniel handed her the phone.
Without speaking.
Without moving.
Without blinking.
The message contained only a photograph.
Nothing else.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The image showed Evelyn.
Alive.
Unharmed.
Sitting in a chair.
Looking directly into the camera.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
But that wasn't the problem.
The problem sat on the wall behind her.
Written in black marker.
Large enough for everyone to see.
Large enough for everyone to understand.
Three words.
Simple words.
Terrifying words.
CHOOSE ONE.
Absolute silence.
And suddenly...
The future Daniel saw didn't feel far away anymore.
It felt very, very close.
End Chapter 68: Taken