Chapter 7 - The Frantic Pursuit
Rowan slammed his foot on the accelerator, his mind fracturing under the weight of the terrifying news.
Selene had orchestrated the entire extortion plot simply to draw him away from the city.
She had used her own daughter as bait so she could steal Elara without any interference.
Rowan immediately called Ivy, his voice trembling as he asked for updates from the police station.
Ivy was hysterical, explaining that Selene had posed as a social worker to bypass the foster home security.
The unedited video had cleared Ivy’s name, but they were minutes too late to stop the kidnapping.
The police were tracking Selene’s license plate, but she had turned off her cell phone to avoid GPS location.
Rowan told Ivy to stay at the precinct and keep Nova and Aurora safe under police protection.
He ended the call, his knuckles turning stark white as he gripped the steering wheel.
He desperately searched his memory for any place Selene could possibly hide a stolen child.
He remembered a conversation they had years ago about a secluded family cabin deep in the mountains.
Rowan had paid the property taxes on the cabin, but nobody had visited the rotting structure in over a decade.
It was the perfect, isolated location for a desperate woman to hide from the entire world.
Rowan veered off the main highway, driving his truck aggressively up the winding, treacherous mountain roads.
The storm raged outside, pounding the windshield with heavy, blinding sheets of freezing rain.
He navigated the dangerous hairpin turns, risking his own life to reach his daughter in time.
After an hour of terrifying driving, he finally reached the overgrown dirt path leading to the cabin.
He parked his truck a mile away, choosing to approach the property silently on foot.
The freezing rain soaked through his clothes as he crept through the dark, dense forest.
He finally saw the silhouette of the old wooden cabin standing ominously against the stormy sky.
Selene’s car was parked haphazardly in the muddy driveway, completely confirming his desperate theory.
Rowan quietly approached the front porch, peeking through a crack in the rotting wooden window shutters.
A single kerosene lantern illuminated the dusty, decaying interior of the living room.
Selene was pacing frantically back and forth, muttering aggressively to herself.
Elara was tied securely to a heavy wooden chair in the corner of the room, crying softly into her gag.
Rowan felt a murderous, unstoppable rage ignite within his soul.
He stepped back from the window, preparing to kick the front door completely off its hinges.
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Suddenly, he felt the cold, hard barrel of a gun press firmly against the back of his head.
A dark figure stepped out of the shadows of the forest, chuckling softly in the freezing rain.
