But she doesn’t get far. I watch as she makes it maybe two blocks before she’s grabbed from behind. She fights. I can see her struggling, trying to break free, but they overpower her quickly and force her into a waiting black SUV. The vehicle pulls away, and she’s gone.
“Declan.”
He appears in the doorway. “Yeah?”
“I need you to trace a vehicle.” I write down the license plate number visible in one of the frames. “Black SUV, grabbed a woman off the street during the Petrov situation. Find out who owns it and where they took her.”
He studies me for a moment, and I can see him putting pieces together. “This woman. She someone to you?”
“Just find the vehicle.”
He takes the paper and leaves, and I’m left staring at the frozen frame on the laptop. Catherine’s face caught in profile as they drag her toward the SUV, her mouth open like she’s screaming.
Someone took her.
And I’m going to find out who.
Declan calls back six hours later.
“The SUV is registered to a shell company,” he says. “Took some digging, but it traces back to Vance security.”
Everything clicks into place so fast it feels like getting punched.
Vance security. The Vance family. They’re old enemies in a cold war that’s been simmering for decades. Both sides respect territorial boundaries through mutual standoff rather than active warfare.
“The Vances have a daughter,” I say slowly. “Aurelia.Early twenties. Ran away from an arranged marriage about two months ago.”
“You think that’s her?”
I think about Catherine. Two months on the run, she’d said. Running from a life she never wanted. What could be the odds?
“Yeah,” I say. “That’s her.”
“So the Vances grabbed their runaway daughter during the Petrov shooting.”
“They didn’t know she was with me. They just saw an opportunity and took it.”
Declan is quiet for a moment. “You want me to reach out? Set up a meeting?”
I should let it go. She lied about who she was, and now her family has her back. Whatever we had was built on false pretenses, and getting involved with the Vances over a woman complicates everything.
But I can’t stop seeing her face in that footage. The way she fought. The terror in her eyes when they forced her into that vehicle.
“Set up a meeting,” I say. “I want to talk to Victor Vance.”
“Cass—”
“Just do it.”
He sighs but doesn’t argue. “It’ll take a few days to arrange. The Vances don’t exactly take my calls.”
“Then find someone who does.”
Business continues while Declan works on getting me a meeting with Victor Vance.
The Petrov situation resolves itself quickly once word spreads that Dmitri is dead. His second-in-command reaches out through intermediaries, offering a truce and a return to previous territorial agreements. Smart. They know pushing further means a war they can’t win.
I accept the truce because I have bigger concerns right now.
