SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 168

Stefan paced the length of the makeshift command center, running his hands through his hair for the hundredth time. The room buzzed with activity, Alexander's security team, FBI agents, police liaisons, all working frantically to find Camille. Twenty-six hours had passed since her abduction. Twenty-six hours of dead ends and false leads.

"This isn't working," Stefan muttered, stopping at the map where pins marked locations they'd already searched. "We're missing something. Rose wouldn't just take her anywhere."

Alexander looked up from a table covered with files, dark circles under his eyes. "Every property connected to Rose or her aliases has been searched. Twice."

"It's not about property records," Stefan said, something nagging at the back of his mind. "It's about meaning. Rose does everything with purpose. She'd want somewhere that... that connects to their past."

He closed his eyes, trying to focus. Images flashed through his mind: Camille showing him old family photos, telling stories of her childhood. Stories from before Rose came into their lives.

"Wait," Stefan said suddenly, the memory sharpening. "The Lewis summer cabin. Cedar Lake."

The room fell silent.

"What cabin?" Alexander asked, standing up straight.

Stefan grabbed his phone, dialing with shaking fingers. "Mr. and Mrs. Lewis might know. They had a vacation property when Camille was young."

Within twenty minutes, Richard and Margaret Lewis rushed into the command center, their faces lined with worry. Margaret clutched a photo album to her chest like a shield.

"Cedar Lake," Richard confirmed, his voice rough with emotion. "We had a cabin there for years. Sold it to the Hendersons when Rose turned sixteen. She never quite fit in there, it was Camille's special place first."

Margaret opened the album with trembling hands, revealing photos of a young Camille standing proudly on a wooden dock, fishing rod in hand. "We taught her to swim in that lake. Richard would sit on the dock for hours with her, fishing."

"And the cabin itself?" Alexander pressed, leaning forward intensely.

"Two bedrooms, stone fireplace," Margaret said, flipping to another photo that showed the cabin's rustic interior. "Camille carved her initials in the mantel when she was eight. I was so angry at the time." Her voice broke. "Now I'd give anything to see those marks again."

Richard pointed to the fireplace in the photo. "That stone was brought from a local quarry. The builder told us it would 'last through anything.' Outlast us all, he said."

"Rose was obsessed with the place," Margaret added, her eyes distant with memory. "After we sold it, she kept asking to go back. Said it was the only place she felt like a real part of the family."

Alexander snapped his fingers at his head of security. "Check property records for Cedar Lake. Focus on recent transactions involving the Henderson family."

"We checked all Lewis family properties," an FBI agent said, frowning.

changed hands recently," Stefan countered. "Rose plans for everything. She could have purchased it from

his pacing, while Margaret continued turning pages

distinctive features?" Alexander asked. "Anything that would help us

at the water's edge. Lightning struck one, split

something," called a woman at a computer terminal. "Cedar Lake property, previously owned by the Henderson family, sold one month ago to Phoenix Rising LLC."

"That was Rose's last name in the

his voice tight. "She's been

transaction. Sale price well above market

"Send me those

leading to it, a small dock extending into the lake behind

voice thick with emotion. "That's our cabin." Victoria, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, conserving her strength during her cancer recovery, leaned

show at least three people inside. One hasn't moved from this

settled in

rooms. Likely Rose." The security chief pointed to another blip on the thermal imaging. "Third signature stays

face set in hard lines. "I want schematics, approach routes, extraction plans.

erupted into

marking entry points and escape routes. He felt useless, an outsider

her, you know," Stefan said quietly when Alexander paused

eyes were cold.

Genuinely good. I didn't value that." Stefan swallowed hard. "And Rose.... I never

turning back to the maps. "The only

they refined the plan. The property sat isolated, three miles from the nearest neighbor. Satellite images showed

a call. "Storm front moving in. Helicopter approach impossible in these conditions. We'll need to go in by ground, and the only road is likely

the map. "The lake touches the

You can barely see it from the cabin. We used to keep a rowboat

Silent approach. Two teams, one from the road as a distraction, one from the water for

her feet, her face

Alexander said firmly.

had built her empire. "I'll stay in the support vehicle. But I will be there when you bring her out." Alexander looked as if he might argue, then nodded once.

tense silence filled the room. Finally, Alexander spoke. "Fine. You go in with

relief and fear

Stefan, pressing something into his hand. It was a small wooden fishing lure, weathered with age. "Camille made this at the cabin when

her we're waiting for

of preparation.