Chapter 8
The warehouse was blazing, firefighters working frantically to contain the flames. “There’s no other way out-if she ran, she would’ve had to jump into the water!”
“Don’t stop me!”
Renric was fighting like a madman to throw himself over the pier, but his men held him back with all their strength. Of course, they couldn’t really stop him if he was determined. Just as Renric was about to leap, a fist slammed hard into his face.
“Snap out of it!” It was his brother Evander.
Evander’s hand was shaking slightly as he caught his breath. “Elara’s smart as hell-how do you know she’s not faking her death?”
“What are you talking about…” Renric held his face, his voice trembling as he stared at his brother.
Evander’s chest heaved as he decided to keep going with the lie. “They haven’t found a body or the kidnappers. What if this is all just some elaborate show Elara’s putting on? She wants to see you panic, and if you actually jump, then you’re really letting her play you
like a fool!”
Renric opened his mouth, then actually laughed. “Right… she could be faking it. She’s not dead…”
He stood up, his eyes red-rimmed from stress. “It’s fake… of course it is…”
“We found the body!” someone shouted.
Renric spun around. A sheet-covered stretcher was being carried out, and he rushed toward it like a man possessed.
“Don’t!” Evander tried to stop him but got shoved aside. “Don’t look!”
But Renric had already ripped away the white sheet. The body was charred black, the face unrecognizable. But the build matched
Elara’s…
His gaze dropped lower and his pupils contracted sharply. “Where are her fingers?”
His voice shook as he grabbed one of the workers. “What happened to all ten of her fingers?”
The worker looked completely bewildered by his aggressive questioning.
“Stop it! They’re just doing their job-leave them alone!” Evander wrapped his arms around his brother from behind.
But Renric was losing it. “Where are her fingers? Where the hell are they?”
“Renric!” Evander shouted with everything he had.
Seeing his brother on the verge of collapse, he sighed heavily. “Let’s go home… we need to go home first…”
But once they got back, Evander regretted bringing him there. A package had arrived from the kidnappers. Inside, arranged in neat rows, were ten bloodied fingers…
