The news of Ari's disappearance hit Eva like a physical blow, cracking through the fragile shell of triumph that still lingered from the board meeting. The red dot in the photograph. The veiled threats. The chess moves made in shadows. They had all been leading to this.
Her throat tightened, her pulse thundered in her ears. But she didn't allow herself to spiral. Years of journalistic instinct kicked in, forcing her to breathe, assess, act. Emotions later action now.
Across the room, Lucian looked as if someone had ripped the floor out from under him. His usual composure had evaporated. His face was ashen, his jaw clenched so tight she could see the muscle twitching. The phone in his hand trembled as he barked into it with a ferocity she'd never heard before.
"Marcus, I want every asset we have on this every drone, every satellite, every goddamn informant! Lock down the city if you have to. Find her!"
Eva crossed to him, placing a steadying hand on his arm. He flinched at the touch, then met her eyes. What she saw there chilled her pure, unfiltered fear.
"We'll find her, Lucian," she said quietly, urgently. "We have to."
His eyes usually calculating, distant burned with something desperate. "This is Derek. This is him making his move. He wants the trust. And he'll use Ari to get it."
The room transformed into a war room within minutes. Lucian's security detail mobilized, private investigators flooded in, screens lit up with satellite imagery, maps of San Francisco sprawled across glass tables. But Eva knew these channels powerful as they were might be too slow. And too visible.
She pulled the burner phone from her purse the one Detective Reyes had given her weeks ago and with trembling fingers, dialed the encrypted number.
Izzy answered on the second ring. "Eva?"
"Ari's gone," Eva said, barely able to keep her voice from cracking. "I need you. Now."
Izzy arrived fast, trench coat flaring behind her as she strode into the chaos of the penthouse. She wasted no time. Eva pulled her into a quiet corner and unloaded everything the photo, the red dot, her father's confession, the names: Vivian Thorne and Derek Chad.
"Vivian Thorne," Izzy repeated slowly, her fingers already moving across the keyboard of her laptop. "I've heard whispers. A shadow player. Very few digital trails. That's hard to do at her level unless you're seriously connected."
"But Derek Chad's not as clean," Eva said. "He's reckless. Sloppy."
Izzy nodded. "Exactly. And people like that always leave footprints." Her brows furrowed as she worked. "He's been calling a burner phone same number, multiple times this week. That phone just pinged a cell tower near the Presidio. Same tower hit three times this afternoon. That can't be a coincidence."
Eva's breath caught. "The Presidio?"
A beautiful, tree-covered expanse overlooking the bay. Parks, walking trails, historical buildings. But nestled within its outer limits hidden behind old military facades were several private estates protected by shell companies, used by the ultra-rich to disappear from public view.
"It's a perfect place to hide something... or someone," Izzy said darkly.
Eva's fingers itched as memories aligned Henry's confession, the scandal around the exposé, the way everything had unfolded with surgical precision. This wasn't just about a child. This was about power, revenge, legacy.
She dialed Detective Reyes next.
"I need to talk to you," she said when he picked up. "And this can't go through official channels."
She didn't hold anything back. She told him about the manipulation of her exposé, the pressure on her father, Vivian and Derek's endgame. The way everything led to the Thorne empire and the trust that controlled it.
There was a long silence on the other end. Then Reyes exhaled. "We've suspected Vivian Thorne for months. She's been running an illicit operation racketed shell companies, offshore laundering, even insider trading. But she's slippery. Untouchable. Derek Chad? He's the brute. He runs the enforcement side."
Eva's stomach turned.
"We've been tracking a property in the Presidio," Reyes continued. "Belongs to a shell company with links to her. It's secluded. Surveillance is hard. But if she's hiding Ari, it's likely there."
"We're coming," Eva said.
"No, you're not," Reyes snapped. "This is a high-risk op. My team is already in motion. Don't interfere…"
But the line went dead. Lucian had taken the phone from her hand.
"You've been talking to a detective?" he asked, his voice cold and stunned. "Behind my back?"
Eva didn't flinch. "I had to. We were being played. Vivian and Derek used me to weaken you. They used my story to incite a scandal. They coerced my father. And now they've taken our daughter."
Lucian stared at her. The weight of her words fell like bricks in his chest.
"My aunt?" he whispered.
Eva nodded, her voice tight. "She's behind all of it. Derek's her weapon, but she's the brain."
A beat of silence. Then Izzy broke it.
"I've got it." She spun her laptop around. "The burner phone Derek's been calling just pinged again. Same estate. Presidio. The shell company is registered in the Caymans under Thorne Holdings. It's her. It's her."
Lucian's face darkened. A storm brewed in his expression. "Marcus. Get the car. We're going."
"No!" Eva stepped in front of him. "Lucian, listen to me. The police are already en route. Reyes is launching a tactical operation. We'll ruin everything if we barge in.."
He gripped her shoulders, his eyes fierce and unwavering. "They have Ari. I'm not sitting here while someone else handles it. And you're coming with me."
Her breath caught. "What? Lucian.."
"You know Vivian. You know how she thinks. And I need you there, Eva." His voice dropped. "I need you."
She looked up at him, saw the fire behind his gaze, the desperation of a man who'd lost everything once and would burn the world to prevent it from happening again. They were no longer on opposite sides of a war. They were partners now. In love. In battle. In blood.
Eva nodded, her voice low. "Then let's go into the serpent's nest."
Together.