Audrey POV:
The massive blades of the custom Sikorsky helicopter sliced through the night wind. Inside the cabin, it was perfectly still. I couldn't feel the vibration of the engine.
I was lying face down on a mobile medical bed.
Elliot stood over me, his hands hovering, afraid to touch my ruined skin. He had carefully positioned me to avoid putting any pressure on the severe acid burns covering my back.
A team of elite private trauma doctors moved in. They used medical shears to cut away the remaining shreds of my clothes. The cold air hit my wounds, making my muscles twitch.
The ECG monitor next to my head beeped in a rapid, terrifying rhythm.
"Sir," the lead doctor whispered to Elliot, his voice tight. "She is in severe hemorrhagic shock. The infection from the burns is spreading fast. We need an OR immediately."
Elliot’s face was carved from granite. "Push the engines to the absolute limit. Fly straight to the Manhattan private hospital."
A wave of agonizing pain ripped through my nervous system. My consciousness flickered. The memory of the dark, damp basement crashed into my mind. The guard. The needle. The acid.
My body reacted before my brain could. I violently curled into a tight ball, trying to protect my face. I thrashed against the doctor trying to insert an IV.
"Stop touching her!" Elliot barked.
He waved the medical team back. He dropped to one knee beside the bed. He reached out and firmly grasped my uninjured left hand. His palm was large and incredibly warm.
I forced my eyes open halfway. The cabin lights were a blur. My lips parted. The torn edges of my mouth burned.
"Help..." I rasped, a pathetic, broken sound.
I didn't call for Jack. I didn't call for my husband. That part of me was dead.
Elliot’s chest hitched. He leaned down, pressing my hand against his cheek. I could feel the rigid tension in his jaw. He had watched me walk away from my family to marry a man beneath me, respecting my choice. Now, he was looking at the physical cost of my delusion.
"I'm here," Elliot whispered, his voice thick with a dangerous, protective vow. "I swear to God, Audrey, no one will ever lay a finger on you again."
The deep, steady cadence of his voice anchored me. The frantic tension in my muscles slowly drained away. The darkness pulled me back under, and I let it take me.
***
Jack POV:
The wind howled across the asylum's rooftop, whipping my hair into my eyes. I stood at the edge, staring at the flashing red tail lights of the helicopter disappearing into the dark clouds.
My assistant scrambled up the roof access stairs. He was clutching a satellite phone, his face completely pale.
"Sir," he stammered. "The FAA... they refused the lockdown request."
I grabbed him by the lapels of his suit, lifting him onto his toes. "Why?!" I screamed over the wind. "Are the millions I pour into their political campaigns every year just toilet paper?!"
He swallowed hard. "The helicopter is broadcasting a Level One exemption code. It's a restricted channel used only for national security or... or top-tier financial syndicates. They have absolute priority."
My hands went numb. I let go of his suit.
I was a tech billionaire. I was the king of Silicon Valley's new money. I bought politicians and judges. But right now, staring at that empty sky, I felt a massive, invisible wall slam down in front of me. This wasn't a street gang. This was real, ancient money.
I snatched the phone from his hands and dialed the private number of the NYPD Deputy Commissioner. "I need roadblocks on every bridge and tunnel. Now."
The Commissioner's voice was evasive. "Jack, listen. The airspace clearance came from way above my pay grade. The forces moving tonight... we can't touch this. It's out of our jurisdiction."
He hung up.
I stared at the dead screen. A primal roar ripped from my throat. I hurled the satellite phone against the heavy wire fencing of the roof. The plastic and glass shattered into a hundred pieces.
A cold gust of wind hit my face. I looked down. My hands were still coated in Audrey’s drying blood. The dark red flakes clung to my skin. The suffocating terror wrapped around my throat again. She was gone.
***
Audrey POV:
Inside the helicopter, the doctor pressed a sterile gauze pad against the corner of my mouth. The rough stitches the guard had used had torn the flesh. The white gauze instantly soaked through with bright red blood.
Elliot stared at the blood. A storm of pure, unadulterated violence brewed in his eyes.
He pulled a heavily encrypted black phone from his pocket. He typed a single, brief command and hit send.
***
Jack POV:
My assistant’s backup phone buzzed frantically. He answered it, and all the color drained from his face.
"Sir," he whispered, his voice trembling. "That was the CFO. Our two primary offshore accounts in the Caymans... they were just frozen. A massive influx of phantom capital triggered a hostile freeze."
I turned slowly. My eyes felt like they were burning out of my skull.
Whoever took Audrey wasn't just escaping. They were casually, effortlessly crushing my financial arteries from the sky.
I forced air into my lungs. "Activate the backup liquidity pools. Get the entire tech department online right now. Trace the attack."
***
Audrey POV:
The helicopter banked over the Hudson River. The glittering skyline of Manhattan spread out through the windows, but the cabin remained thick with tension.
The doctor pushed a heavy dose of painkillers into my IV line. He leaned close to Elliot, his voice barely a murmur. He delivered his medical assessment of my face.
Elliot’s hands curled into fists. His knuckles turned bone-white. His manicured nails bit so hard into his palms I thought he would draw blood. He looked down at my pale, ruined face, his eyes flashing with a terrifying, cold-blooded intent to kill.
***
Jack POV:
I sat in the driver's seat of my Aston Martin. The rain pounded on the roof.
I looked at the empty passenger seat. A sudden, vivid memory flashed in my mind—Audrey sitting there, her hair blowing in the wind, smiling at me with that gentle, submissive warmth I had taken for granted.
My chest caved in. I slammed my bleeding fist into the reinforced glass of the window.
"I don't care who it is. Even if I have to turn New York upside down, I will bury them."
