* * *
"I know! I know and I understand… but a child is in danger while I'm here in this bulletproof car, untouched. It makes me feel so much despair, frustration, and anger towards myself." Daniel yelled as he cried.
"Please…Please let me help…" Daniel begged, pulling on his clothes. He already knew it was useless to ask but he had to try. Listening to Daniel's bawls, Ryan sighed. He really felt bad for the Omega. Of course, he would love to let him do what he wanted, he was specially instructed to let the Omega do what he wanted by his employer, but purposely engaging in danger was out of the question.
"I'm sorry. I don't make the end call here. I'm also just following instructions…" Ryan replied defeatedly, causing Daniel to cry out in pain. Seeing that Daniel didn't plan to talk anymore, he quickly messaged April and reported what he heard from a conversation Daniel and the kidnapper had earlier. As the message was relayed, April had no choice but to instruct Ryan to drive back to the Mo Estate. She understood the situation had become even more dangerous for both Lan and Daniel, so they had to remove them from the area before something unexpected happened.
"That's him!" Ending the call, April pointed at the screen where a man in a dark hoodie was carrying a child. From the way they looked, it seemed like he was a parent carrying his child. Unfortunately, the reality was far more cruel. The man was Lan's kidnapper. Because the CCTV camera was limited and didn't include the alley where the toilets were, it was difficult to pinpoint if the man was the right one or not, but for April, just one look and she knew he was the one they were looking for.
"Follow him," April instructed, and quickly the security department of the academy did so. Meanwhile, in the room with them, the principal and director worriedly stood to the side. Aside from being worried about Lancel Mo being kidnapped, he was also worried about the fact that a Mo was kidnapped in his facility during a school event. If this news gets out, surely his business will suffer the worst from the situation.
"Miss, what can we do to help Young Master Lan?" the director asked, wanting to offer any assistance he could give and hope that the Mos would be kind enough to keep this from the public. Hearing this, April glared at the man, one look at him clearly shows he was more worried about his image than Lancel Andrews Mo.
"Aside from keeping the people from panicking, there's nothing much you can do," April said gravely before turning her attention back to the screen. Hearing her reply, the principal nodded in defeat. He quickly decided to keep quiet or else he would only make the situation worse.
"I understand," He replied, nodding before he wiped his sweat.
"At the back, near the parking lot," one of the security personnel said looking at the last CCTV footage they have of the man. The place where the man was going with the child he was carrying was a blind spot. Just recently the CCTV camera in that area suddenly malfunctioned and they had yet to arrange for someone to change it because it was not necessarily an important location that needed urgent monitoring.
"Keep on following him on the surveillance camera while I check the location. Backup is on the way, leave the post when someone arrives to take over." April instructed, glaring at the screen as she suddenly pulled a 9mm handgun out of nowhere. Since the school is a public facility and there are so many people around, she then skillfully attached a silencer to her gun in case she had to exchange fire with the suspect. When she finished, she quickly left, leaving all in the room surprised aside from Daniel's other bodyguard that knew April personally.
"This fucker is really giving me work when I thought I could finally relax," April whispered to herself, pacing towards the location she needed to be in. When she arrived, she vigilantly looked around. She was confident she could kill the man without much of a struggle since the suspect had been pushed into the corner. April knew this was a suicide mission. His plan didn't succeed because he was found out before he could plan out his escape so he had no choice but to use desperate measures.
Getting near the location, April braced herself. According to Ryan, the kidnapper called Daniel and asked him to come. If the Omega didn't go he wouldn't think twice to shoot Lancel Mo. But now, they had already moved Daniel to a safer location, Daniel won't be able to go to him. A situation like that is definitely a recipe for disaster. Lancel Mo is already in grave danger, they can't involve Daniel further.
Sneaking closer to find the location of the kidnapper, April's eyes went wide when she saw Lan laying on the ground unconscious. His body was tied up tightly with a device that looked like a bomb. She didn't approach, her mind quickly thought of various possible situations at what she was seeing but one question was priority in her mind. Where's the man?
Deciding not to approach, April hid and quickly contacted Mo Chendong. Her call only rang once and quickly the Alpha answered with high urgency. "Sir, I've found Young Master Lan. The problem is I can't approach him yet…" April said the moment Mo Chendong asked what the current situation was.
"There's a bomb on the Young Master's body, I can't identify if it's remote-controlled or ticking," April said as she glanced back at Lan and then the surroundings again. Based on her judgment, it seems that the suspect had left and found a way to escape but she wasn't so sure. The man might be hiding somewhere waiting for the opportunity to strike. He might still be expecting Daniel to come and get Lan himself.
"Yes sir, I'll keep my distance for now," April replied again before ending the call. She then glanced at Lan's unconscious body again, still wondering where the man was hiding when her cellphone rang again. The moment she received the message, April cursed and quickly rushed to Lan.
A few minutes before, after the man called Daniel Mo and asked him to go and get Lan himself, he was actually looking at the car Daniel was in. When he saw that the vehicle drove away, he clicked his tongue and ran back to his car. He knew it was too good to be true for Mo Laotian's hired bodyguards to let his wife go into danger, but it was worth trying. He was out of options. Clearly, if he stayed with the kid, someone would definitely kill him and he won't be able to get his true revenge, so he decided to ditch Lancel Mo and plan out his escape.
By then, it was a race against time. He wrapped Lan's body with a ticking bomb that he prepared before executing his plan. The time was set to 15 minutes. If his enemies find the child before that ends, then he'll be saved. If not, then Lancel Mo will be killed.
The moment April arrived at the location, the man in a hoodie was already at his planned-out emergency exit. He had changed his clothes so no one would suspect him. From there, he easily slipped away from the security personnel while making sure he was in the CCTV's blind spots, disguised as one of the parents attending the event.
"Young Master!" April called. She quickly took the knife she was hiding on her body and untied Lan first. After briefly checking what kind of explosive the kidnapper had on Lan's body, she was glad to find out it was a bomb that's easy to disarm despite the close countdown. When Lan was released, April carefully cut the right wires using her knife, halting the count down at 50 seconds.
"You're safe now, Baby," April whispered as a smile flashed on her lips. She quickly lifted Lan into her arms. She was just about to start walking when the back-up she called finally arrived with her boss, Mo Chendong. It was visible in the old Alpha's expression that he was beyond worried, so April didn't have to be told as she passed the child into his grandfather's arms.
"Sir, the man escaped," April said, bowing her head in defeat. Earlier, she was told that the kidnapper disguised himself as one of the parents in the program hall. The man she left to watch the surveillance camera rushed to the hall but it was too late. The suspect sneaked out the back of the stage where there was an exit door that was nearest to the walls of the academy. The walls of the academy were no more than 6 feet without wires so he easily climbed it and escaped towards the city, where they have no control over further surveillance.
"You've done enough. Thank you for saving Lan," Mo Chendong said with a nod. He didn't blame April because he too was at fault. He allowed Daniel to bring only two bodyguards in hopes to cheer up the Omega, not to pressure him when he was already feeling down since yesterday. He thought no harm would come to them, alas, he was wrong.
Nodding, April watched her Boss leave with a defeated back. "Three, I've just confirmed, the suspect was using a stolen car registered to a man named Jesrel Terell," A subordinate reported to April, but he didn't finish his words when April just raised her hand.
"I'll leave the investigation to you. Report to me tomorrow," She simply said before fishing out her mobile phone. She quickly scanned for Daniel's number and she remembered her promise to the Omega that she would save Lan. At this moment the Omega might still be worrying, so she wanted to tell him that Lan is now safe.
"Hello?" April said the moment her call connected. But instead of hearing Daniel's soft and delicate voice, he heard Ryan talking in urgency.
[Three, this is Ryan… Master Daniel just fainted so I had to send him to the hospital. I'm about to call Old Master and Madam,] Ryan reported, slightly in a panic that both Daniel and Young Master Lan are unconscious. Earlier, Daniel just started bawling, complaining that his stomach suddenly started hurting, so without hesitation, he turned his wheel towards the hospital. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough as the Omega soon fainted.
"You go contact Madam. I'll let Old Master know, which hospital did you bring him to?"
[State General Hospital was the nearest.]
"Okay, we'll be there as soon as possible. Please take care of Daniel, keep this as quietly as you can," April said before they both hung up. After the call, she sighed in frustration, massaging her temples before she ran towards where Mo Chendong had gone. 'This day is so unlucky,' April thought after catching up to Mo Chendong.
Meanwhile, an hour had not passed since the incident happened when the news was sent all the way to Africa to Mo Laotian. The moment he read the message, he stood in a rush, nothing in his mind but the desire to quickly go back.
"Mr. Mo? Where are you going?" Gouta Malisili called, standing as well. Aside from what they were currently discussing about how to escape their current situation, the Alpha was still healing from his wound. He even had just woken up from his high fever yesterday because of the infection from his wound. In addition to that, the doctor said the Alpha's body had too much strain, that he had to rest and avoid any dangerous activities such as activities that require too much physical energy. The Alpha might seem like he was fine, but in actuality, he might have been forcing his body to work and finish whatever he needed to do as soon as possible.
"I need to go back, my wife and unborn children are in danger," Laotian surprisingly explained, making Gouta come to a halt. It was the first time the Alpha actually opened up to him like this, so he nodded in understanding.
"I'll be leaving my men to help and protect you in the meantime, and I will be discussing business with you by video call," Laotian added while urgently looking for a number from his phone. When he found the one he was looking for he quickly pressed on it.
'I never should've left Daniel's side,' Laotian thought in regret. Even if his project was wasted, Laotian thought he should've just moved the project to another time, a time when Daniel was safe and feeling fine.