Chapter 70: The Captive’s Gambit

Paul barely had time to react before his arms were twisted behind his back, forcing him face-first to the floor. Wyatt’s cane whipped past him as Paul struggled, his face flushed with anger. “Wyatt Cooper!” The door slammed shut, trapping Paul inside.

Outside, Jordan rushed ahead, arranging transportation as he made calls. After hanging up, he reported, “Ms. Saunders isn’t at Gill’s either.”

That complicated things. Silverburgh had countless hiding places. Wyatt’s voice was icy. “Activate Skynett.”

Jordan hesitated. Skynett surveillance required approval from several high- level departments—something they avoided unless absolutely necessary. But now Wyatt was going to use it just to find a girl? I’d assumed Wyatt’s interest in Yunice was fleeting. Had that changed?

Skynett quickly retrieved data, but Jordan fell silent after reviewing it. “Wyatt, Yunice’s identity is being used by Elsie. All the travel records we’re pulling belong to Elsie…”

Wyatt’s face darkened. Even Jordan found it unbelievable. How could two persons have the same identification? But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. A new alert appeared, and Jordan’s eyes lit up. “Found her!”

Traffic cameras show Yunice leaving the Saunders mansion in an unregistered taxi at 11:00 yesterday morning. When she got out near Silverburgh Hospital, she was abducted by a van.

Wyatt stared at the screenshot on his phone—Yunice, hooded with a sack. His face was stormy. Almost two days had passed since her abduction, and no one had noticed. A young girl like Yunice in the hands of criminals—no good could come of it.

Bang!

The deafening crash of a gong jolted Yunice awake. Her eyes widened as she stared at the blank paper and pen in front of her. She was in what appeared to be a warehouse, windowless, with corrugated metal walls. The only light came from a single bulb dangling overhead. The room was empty except for the chair and table on which she sat.

She only knew that every time exhaustion caused her eyelids to droop, the man behind her would strike the gong, bringing her back to consciousness.

After more than a dozen cycles, Yunice’s head was throbbing. Irritation simmered beneath her skin. She dug her fingers into her hair, clutching her forehead in frustration. The man watching her spoke. “Ms. Saunders, as soon as you transcribe the medical records, we will release you.”

Yunice gritted her teeth. “My head hurts. I can’t write. Let me sleep.”

“Write first, then sleep.”

She glared at him, knowing Quinton was trying to break her. If this continued, she’d collapse from exhaustion. Her eyes drifted to the lone light above. Trapped here, no one would ever find her… No, that wasn’t quite right. No one would even look for me. In this world, no one cared about me except Dad. No one would notice that I’d been kidnapped. No one would come for me. I could die quietly here, my body encased in concrete, buried where no one would find me for decades. But I refused to die like that.

Swallowing her discomfort, she propped her head up with one hand and scribbled on the paper with the other. When she was done, she turned the paper over and tossed it to her captor. “Take this to your boss.”

A new guard replaced the old one as the first one left to deliver the message. Inside a Vertex, Quinton unfolded Yunice’s note. Only a few hastily scribbled words stared back at him. “Draw a tiger with a cat as a model. Live to make use of it.”

The messenger assumed Yunice was mocking Quinton and tensed. “Mr. Quinton, I will interrogate her properly this time!”

“Wait.” Quinton raised his hand, still studying the words. Why those words?

Back in the warehouse, Yunice was dozing again when footsteps approached. She forced her bloodshot eyes open as polished dress shoes stopped in front of her. Quinton placed the note in front of her. “What does this mean?”

Yunice leaned back in her chair, irritation sharpening her voice. “You want my notes. But could you even understand them? Could you use them?”

Chapter 71: The Doctor’s Gambit