Love Beyond the Mask by Adelaide Sinclair

Chapter 323

Whitney stood there, her face a mask of frustration and worry, side by side with Ludwik, as they both waited for news from the chief. It felt like an eternity, but it was only ten minutes before the chief hurried out, his eyes darting towards Whitney before addressing Ludwik. "We believe the kidnappers might have ties to the auction house owned by Mr. Percy. One of the suspects used to work as a security guard for him. I need you both to think hard-have you had any recent run-ins with Mr. Percy or anyone connected to him?" The color drained from Ludwik's face as he turned to Whitney, his gaze sharp enough to cut through steel. "Did the police get it all wrong?" Whitney muttered under her breath, puzzled. She had indeed had a falling out with Mr. Percy, but...

"It's all your fault. Offending the wrong people, and now, our son is paying the price," Ludwik hissed, moving closer to Whitney, his eyes cold as ice.

"And you think you're any better? You threatened Mr. Percy for Elaine's sake. You don't love our son. You've never acted like a father should. And you dare blame me?"

"What did you just say?" Ludwik was livid, his voice rising with every word. He couldn't believe her audacity-after everything he'd done for Danny.

"Enough! Both of you, stop it!" Tiana jumped in, trying to defuse the tension. "Isn't finding the kids the most important thing right now?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, I want a city-wide search, now! Follow that van's trail and leave no stone unturned. I want those kidnappers found and brought to justice!" Ludwik's voice boomed through the station.

The chief immediately went to work, combing through surveillance footage. Whitney, feeling utterly powerless, glanced at her phone-it beeped twice. She saw a moving red dot on the screen, heading south from Banyan City. Within seconds, the dot vanished. "That must be Sammy trying to tell me where he is!" she realized, recalling the tracking device they'd joked about as being an 'infallible' link between them.

"I know where my son is!" Whitney exclaimed, but before she could elaborate, Ludwik was already barking orders, convinced the kidnappers had taken Elaine north.

came from the south!" Whitney protested, but Ludwik, blinded by his own

out, "You only

lost in the roar of the engines as the police cars sped away. Ludwik, torn between duty and a gnawing doubt instilled by Whitney's desperate plea, ordered his

choice, Whitney turned to the only person she thought could help-Bryce. With tears in her eyes, she pleaded for assistance. But Bryce, already on another trail at the city's edge, couldn't offer immediate help. His resources were stretched thin, and he

truth-despite believing she'd grown stronger over the years, she was still vulnerable when it mattered most. Her network

heading north, but Sammy's signal came from the south. Could

line of thought, frowned. "You think Elaine has something

didn't matter that Ludwik wouldn't believe her; she knew she had to act fast. Time was running out

cry, we got this. We're going to rescue Sammy together. Let's focus and

---

meters into the earth, with stalactites and stalagmites creating an eerie, damp atmosphere. It was the kind of place

into the cave, their bodies bound and left in the middle of a shallow, filthy pool of water. The icy chill of the water seeped into their bones, making them shiver

look of despair in his eyes. He realized the necklace with the tiny GPS tracker he'd tried to use to send a distress signal to his mom had been discovered by their captors and

mom had received the signal, finding their exact location would