SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 164

The drive to the lake house was a battle against time and his own racing

thoughts. Alexander made calls continuously, to his security teams, to his tech specialists, to anyone who might help locate Camille. He ordered satellite imagery of the area where she was taken. Traffic camera footage. Cell tower data. Anything that might give them a lead.

Victoria was waiting on the deck when he arrived, her face pale but composed. Despite her illness, despite her recent treatments, she stood straight-backed and commanding. The sight gave Alexander a flicker of hope. If anyone could match Rose's determination, it was Victoria Kane.

"The FBI will be here in thirty minutes," he reported. "Stefan Rodriguez shortly after. I've got my own teams setting up tracking operations."

Victoria nodded, gesturing for him to follow her inside. The living room had been transformed in record time. Computer screens lined one wall. Maps covered another. Victoria's assistant directed a constant flow of staff setting up equipment.

"Tell me what you know about the note," Victoria said, moving to a chair at the head of the hastily arranged conference table.

Alexander placed the evidence bag containing Rose's message before her. "The FBI is analyzing it for fingerprints, DNA, any trace evidence. But Rose isn't stupid. She wouldn't leave anything that could lead us to her."

Victoria read the note, her expression darkening. "Forty-eight hours."

"We'll find her before then," Alexander insisted, trying to believe his own words.

"Yes, we will." Victoria looked up at him, steel in her gaze. "Because we know Rose better than she knows herself. She's driven by emotions, hatred, jealousy, obsession. Those make her powerful, but they also make her predictable."

Before Alexander could respond, the door opened. Stefan entered, his face drawn with worry. Behind him came Agent Chen and three other FBI agents, carrying equipment and files.

"The team is setting up a perimeter around the property," Chen informed them. "No one gets within a mile without us knowing."

Victoria acknowledged this with a nod, then turned her attention to Stefan. "You know Rose better than any of us. Where would she take Camille?"

Stefan moved to the maps on the wall, studying them intently. "She'd want somewhere isolated. Somewhere she controls completely. And somewhere meaningful to her narrative."

"What narrative?" Alexander asked.

"That Camille stole her life," Stefan explained. "Rose believes everything Camille has should have been hers, the family, the status, me, everything. In her mind, Camille is the thief, not her."

to that belief. Somewhere that represents what was 'stolen'

to face them. "And

had a hunting cabin here. Camille and Rose spent summers there as teenagers. Rose always said it was where she felt most like part of the family, before things changed

would she take Camille there?" Agent Chen asked. "We'd

family anymore," Stefan explained. "They sold it years ago to a developer. The land

lit in

shell company. Said she couldn't bear for strangers to destroy

her assistant to find records of all property transactions in that area for the past five years. Alexander studied the location on the map, calculating distances,

imagery of that area," he told Agent Chen.

already contacting her team. "If there's a structure there, we'll

it."

outside onto the deck, needing a moment to breathe. The lake stretched before him, peaceful and oblivious to the nightmare unfolding. Somewhere out there, Camille was in Rose's hands.

nearly brought

said quietly.

him, the deadline burning in his mind. "Rose is theatrical," Stefan insisted. "She wants to draw

"And

we're wrong about the cabin. Rose is obsessed with symbols, with proving points. Taking Camille

inside. Her assistant had

was purchased by a company called Phoenix Rises LLC Six months years

symbol Camille had chosen for her foundation, was not lost on any

Stefan confirmed. "Rose would love the symbolism of using Camille's own phoenix against

with a tablet. "Satellite imagery from this morning shows a structure in those woods. Looks like a modern cabin, much larger than the original would have been. And there's

raced. "That's

"The property

structures. Heavily wooded. Limited

have security," Stefan added. "People like the ones who took Camille.

cut through the tension. "Alexander, what do

moment, tactical options flooding his

know how many people are in that cabin. Where they're positioned. Where Camille is