Nicolae and Marion wasted no time, they immediately followed Mischa's tracks from their phones. They were surprised to learn that Mischa was apparently no longer in Paris. The man was in Provins, a small town two hours away from Paris city center.
"I've been there, the place is historical and beautiful ..." Marion commented. "Why did he get there?"
Nicolae just shook his head. He got into the car the hotel concierge had prepared for them and immediately got behind the wheel. The trip should take two hours, but he would try to race to get there before sunrise.
Meanwhile, in the penthouse, everyone who was left behind tried to think of the best way to deal with Vega's disappearance.
"It must have been intentional ..." Caspar Schneider said with a sigh. "There may be people who know who Vega really is and kidnap her to ask for a ransom."
"If that's true, we would have heard from them. After all, why not kidnap Altair as well?" Lauriel Medici asked. He looked at Altair, who was sitting beside his mother, mourning.
"Two people might be considered troublesome, so they chose Vega, who is easier to kidnap," said Caspar again.
"But if this is indeed a kidnapping for money... we should have heard their ransom request," Petra spoke up. "Well.. there is another possibility."
Everyone looked at the man, and for some reason, they understood what he meant. However, no one dared to speak openly. They were afraid of hurting Elios' heart.
One possible reason why Vega was kidnapped was that the mastermind behind the abduction held a grudge against Elios. In a way, the man was the only person who had a myriad of enemies, both from the time he was a professional assassin and also after he ruled the world with technology.
He had eliminated so many people and killed countless victims. If indeed tonight's terrorist attack was carried out by someone who had felt aggrieved by Elios... then they must begin to trace all his previous victims one by one and narrowed down the potential perpetrators.
"We cannot leave any rock unturned," Elios said firmly. He took his cellphone and called Pavel. He also knew what they were thinking, but he refused to grieve and yield.
Anyone who dared to touch his family will know how Elios responded to their crimes.
Do you think I've done the worst thing in my life? You don't know what I'm capable of, thought the man. His chest was filled with wrath.
He would make whoever kidnapped Vega regret ever being born into this world.
"Pavel. While waiting for everyone to gather in Paris, I want to mobilize our people all over the world to look for Vega's tracks. Spread her photos on Splitz and give a one billion dollar reward to anyone who provides information that could lead us to find her.
"Give a strict warning that if anyone tried to provide false and misleading information, they would be sued and sent to prison. I will personally make sure they will rot in jail. They'll know I'm not one to mess with. Also, spread this bounty announcement on Darknet. All RMI employees throughout the world are required to keep their eyes and ears open. Whoever succeeds in providing useful information will also be entitled to the same reward."
Caspar nodded. Elios was right to mobilize all the employees of his group of companies who were spread all over the world. Whether Vega was still in France or had been taken somewhere else, hundreds of thousands of people would be on the lookout for her. Not to mention announcements via Splitz were accessed by billions of people every day. He was sure that they would get results soon.
This way, both ordinary people all over the world and bounty hunters in Darknet will try to do their best to find Vega. Hundreds of millions of pairs of eyes would be watching everywhere in the world. Although they had great access and power, under these conditions, assistance from the public would be more useful.
Caspar then contacted London, his son, who was still waiting in Berlin frantically. He gave the same order to him. All Schneider Group employees must keep their eyes and ears open for any info about the Schneider family's first granddaughter. The same prize was also offered by the group owner to anyone who managed to find Vega.
Jan, London Schneider's trusted assistant, and Terry, his older brother, also immediately took action and held an emergency briefing at their offices. That morning, when the sun was just rising in the east, all RMI and the Schneider Groups' offices in the European continent quickly became busy. They immediately announced the owners' orders to all employees.
***
At 7 am, Nicolae stopped his car in front of a beautiful medieval-style inn in downtown Provins. He parked his car quickly and then banged on the door to enter.
When his hand touched the door handle, he was surprised because it turned out the door was unlocked. Nicolae and Marion looked at each other and immediately went inside. Both of them frowned and held their breath when they saw bloodstains on the walls and furniture.
"There's been a murder here ..." Marion said quietly. She remembered Mischa said that they killed Lisa. Marion could only sigh. She could guess what really happened.
The criminals must have been watching them for the past two weeks and were looking for an opportunity to kidnap Vega. They deliberately used Lisa as a bait to lure Mischa out of Paris.
Since the man still loved his ex-girlfriend very much, he went to Provins to save Lisa. However, unfortunately ... even though he tried, they still killed Lisa after successfully carrying out their mission to kidnap Vega.
"I heard something from the room at the end of this hallway..." Nicolae whispered, pointing to the end of the hall. Marion nodded and walked ahead of Nicolae silently.
Nicolae was right. On the door handle of the room, they could see spots of blood. This must be the place where the murder happened. Marion carefully opened the door and prepared to step inside.
The room was dark because the light was deliberately turned off. Marion swiftly hid behind the wall after the door opened. She would not carelessly enter a dark room. She checked the screen of his cellphone which was equipped with a radar to see if there were any humans in the room from their body heat.
She only saw a figure in a sitting position. Maybe this was Mischa, Marion thought. She gave a signal to Nicolae that it was safe to enter. The man nodded and then stepped into the room.
"Mischa ... it's us," Nicolae said in a soft voice. "I'll turn on the light."
They did not hear an answer, only muffled sobs. Nicolae turned on the light switch next to the door, and the room immediately turned bright. They could already see the person who slumped on the floor.