The Blackmail contract Bride - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

Cane POV:
It had been nine days.
Nine long days filled with silence.
I hadn’t received any word from the people I had hired, those I had embedded in Dominic’s team, whose job was to keep me posted about Lena.
They had gone completely silent.
And this wasn’t just a case of them being lazy or running late.
No, it felt like something significant had shifted.
I sat in the back of my car, parked on the outskirts of a run-down neighborhood, keeping a close watch on the street. I was waiting. Exhausted. Frustrated. Anxious.
Then, at last, there was a sign.
A short, wiry man with a limp rounded the corner, trying his best to appear nonchalant. He used to be a groundskeeper for Dominic’s family estate until they cut him off. Now he owed me, and I had been eager to get my due.
“Cane,” he greeted me with a brief nod.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I got out of the car and approached him.
He seemed nervous. “It’s not good.”
“Spit it out.”
“I’ve been shut out. We all have,” he confessed. “Dominic has tripled the security. New guards, no phones, no private access. Anyone who steps out of line is gone immediately.”
“So you can’t see what’s happening inside anymore?” I probed.
He shook his head. “Nothing. I haven’t seen the girl since last week.”
I moved in closer. “You mean Lena?”
He nodded. “She’s still there. They haven’t moved her. Just… well, hidden. Protected. Or maybe locked down, depending on how you view it.”
That didn’t ease my worries.
“Is she okay?” I asked.
He hesitated before responding. “I don’t know. Nobody does. She’s mostly in the west wing. They say she doesn’t talk to anyone. Food comes in, barely touched. She’s not herself.”
I turned my gaze away for a moment, my jaw tight.
“She asked about Emma,” I said, mainly to myself.
He frowned slightly. “Emma?”
“Her sister. That’s why I’m asking.” I fixed my eyes on him. “You’re sure she wasn’t moved?”
“I swear she hasn’t. But that place is tighter than I’ve ever seen. It’s like Dominic is expecting someone to come for her.”
I turned and walked back to my car.
“You did well,” I muttered. “Now scram.”
I drove aimlessly for hours. No real destination, just the need to keep moving. My hands were drumming on the steering wheel, and my heart wouldn’t settle down.
I knew Dominic was sharp, but this?
Cutting off all contact?
It meant he was afraid.
And if he was afraid, it meant he was aware that I was on my way.
That wasn’t what troubled me most.
What gnawed at me was Lena.
She wasn’t even trying to reach out to me.
Either she couldn’t… or she didn’t want to.
I pulled into an old auto shop where one of my oldest contacts worked.
Foster.
The guy owed me a lot, and he had a knack for digging up information.
We settled into the back, surrounded by a jumble of broken engines and oil stains.
“I need some intel,” I said. “Stuff on Dominic’s estate. Employee records. Security shifts. Old routes. Anything you can dig up.”
Foster took a drag from his cigarette and leaned back in his chair. “I’m on it. But he shut everything down. No digital files anymore; he’s gone old-school. It’s all on paper now, locked away and probably being hand-delivered.”
“Then figure out how to get hold of it.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but there’s something you need to know.”
I leaned in, my attention fully on him.
“They're saying Dominic has known Lena's sister longer than anyone thought. Four years ago, he was the one who arranged her transfer to that clinic.”
I stayed still, just staring at him.
“What did you just say?”
“He knew Emma before he ever met Lena. It wasn’t public knowledge, but he was listed as an anonymous donor for her treatment.”
That hit me hard.
He’d been involved in their lives far longer than Lena realized.
Far longer than I had even suspected.
And he’d hidden it from her.
And she was still living in his house.
Later, I found a quiet motel off the highway and locked the door behind me for the night. The room reeked of bleach and regret, but at least it was private.
I took out my burner phone and dialed.
No answer.
I tried again.
Still nothing.
On the third ring, someone picked up.
“Hello?” Her voice was soft, a little wary.
“Lena,” I breathed, relief flooding over me.
There was a pause on the line. Then she said, “Cane?”
“Yeah. Are you okay?”
“I can’t talk long.”
“Are you by yourself?”
“Not really.”
“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you,” I said. “The people inside the estate, they’ve gone dark.”
“I know. He changed everything. New security. Locked doors. I barely have access to a phone these days.”
“Why’s that?”
“I think he’s trying to isolate me. Keep me away from everything, and from you.”
“Lena… I need to tell you something.”
She went silent.
“I found out that he knew Emma long before you did. He covered her treatment costs. He was the one who got her into that clinic.”
She didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry,” I added softly. “I know this is tough to hear.”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” she finally replied. “Just when I think I understand one thing, it all crumbles beneath me.”
“I’m coming for you,” I assured her. “No matter how long it takes.”
“Don’t do anything rash, Cane. He’s paranoid, he’s watching every move.”
“I’m not backing down.”
“You could end up dead.”
“Then he’ll really have to work at it.”
“Cane—”
“I mean it,” I insisted. “I’ll find a way in. I’ll get you out.”
Her voice dropped to a whisper. “It’s not just about escaping anymore. It’s about surviving what comes next.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I let the silence linger.
Finally, I said, “You’re not alone.”
“I feel alone.”
“I know. But I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
I could hear some noise in the background.
“I have to go,” she said. “They might notice.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For not giving up on me.”
“Never,” I promised. “You hear me? Never.”
She hung up before I could say anything else.
I sat there with my phone in hand, staring at the wall.
She was still trapped.
Still carrying all of this by herself.
But now I knew the truth.
And now I had a purpose.
I spread out everything I had about Dominic on the motel table.
Maps. Blueprints. Schedules.
All the intel I could find on his properties.
I circled the estate he was most likely using.
Then I wrote one word above it.
Lena.
I wasn’t going in blind.
I was going in prepared.
And next time…
I wouldn’t be making any calls in advance.