Alex, determined to find Bella, clenched his fist. There was a storm of emotions swirling in his eyes, but he took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
'Now's not the time.' he thought to himself.
He looked at Eleanor, his eyes resolute. "There is a back van parked a block away from here; they belong to the gang and are here to keep an eye on you." He said it in a low growl.
"The nerve…" muttered Eleanor, her face full of anger. "Hey," she said, looking at a guy near her. "There is a black van parked outside, a block away. Drag them in."
"Yes, madam." The guy said, then gestured for his fellow policemen to follow him. A few minutes later, the policemen returned with two guys wearing black clothes. They put them in a cell and went on to investigate them.
"You can investigate them later; we need to go to the factory fast," urged Alex as he walked outside the station.
The rest of the police followed him, got in the cars, and began driving towards the factory.
Alex tightly gripped the door handle as he thought of catching Bella's kidnappers: 'Whoever you are...' Well, let's just say that death would be mercy for them.
Sirens echoed throughout the city as the police moved through its streets. When they were out of the city, they turned their sirens off to not alert the gangsters.
They drove for a while and stopped when they were around a kilometer away from the factory.
Natalie had already reached the place and was waiting forAlex to show up. She looked at Alex and curtly nodded her head. Alex nodded his head in response and approached her.
"Miss Natalie, what's the plan?" He asked, eager to get this over with.
"We are going to surround them on all sides and barge in; you can go into the factory to rescue Bella before they try to take her hostage." Natalie answered.
"But," she continued, "if she is taken hostage and you can't save her by then, we have a sniper with us who will take care of it, so don't do anything stupid." She warned.
Alex looked her dead in the eyes, nodded his head, and replied, "I don't want to die without going to that dinner with you."
Natalie was stunned hearing his reply; not just her; everyone around them froze in shock hearing Alex's reply.
'He really has the balls,' thought one of the officers, his mouth hanging open.
Alex didn't wait for Natalie's reply and moved closer to the factory. The factory was old—very old. It had plants growing all over its walls, and it had cracks all over it, circling like a spider web.
Alex slowly entered the factory, not making any noise. He looked over to see the gang members all asleep; he could also see liquor bottles in one corner.
'Looks like these guys got drunk and fell asleep.' he thought as he wrinkled his nose at the stench of liquor permeating through the air.
Alex made his way to one of the rooms of the factory. He opened the door to see if Bella was in there but was disappointed.
'Tch, these guys drank all over the place.' he thought as he closed the door and moved onto the next.
Alex searched every door but couldn't find Bella or those three boys. He then approached the last door that was left.
'I hope you are in there, Bella, he hoped as he opened the door.
"Huh?" A sound came in from the room as Alex entered the room. He was bewildered to see the three boys but didn't find Bella.
"Who are you?" Carter asked; he was tied to a pole along with the rest of the boys. At Carter's question, the other two guys turned towards Alex. They frowned while watching him approach them with a smirk on his face.
"Well, well, well, if not for the 3 idiots who tried to force themselves upon Bella?" Alex said he had a smirk on his lips, but his eyes weren't smiling; his eyes became devoid of any emotions as he recalled what Maxwell had said.
The boys' faces paled as they listened to Alex. They started shivering as they thought of the possibilities.
He crouched down in front of Aiden, activating his ability, 'Eyes of truth'.
and asked, "Where is Bella? Why can't I find her in the factory?"
"Hmph, why shoul-'' CRACK? "AGHHHH," Aiden screamed as Alex broke one of his fingers.
Alex swiftly covered his mouth so as to not awaken those drunken gangsters.
He then looked at the other two and growled, "If you make a sound, I will snap your necks."
Carter and Brentt gulped in fear and nodded their heads.
"Now," turning towards Aiden, he continued, "Where is Bella?"
Aiden, who was still muffling in pain, stopped when he looked into Alex's eyes. It felt like he was staring at the abyss when he looked at them.
"B-Bella is taken away by the gang leader." Carter answered instead of Aiden.
'True'
Alex moved in front of Carter, covered his mouth, and broke his finger with the other hand. "MMMMFFFFMMMHHHFF!" Carter screamed in pain as he looked at Alex in shock, not understanding why he broke his finger, even when he answered.
"Did I ask you?" Alex asked, his voice chilling.
He then looked at Brentt and asked, "Where did he take her?"
This time, Carter and Aiden shut their mouths up in fear of angering Alex.
"I don't know."
'True'
"When did he take her?"
"About an hour ago."
'True'
Alex clenched his fist and punched Brentt in the gut, making him spill out blood.
"I was so close to finding her." He muttered as he kicked Carter in the stomach in frustration.
Just then,
""POLICE DON'T MOVE!""
The policemen barged in from all sides, startling the gangsters. Before they could understand what was happening, the policemen put guns to their heads, finishing the fight before it even happened.
*BANG*
The door burst open, and Eleanor barged into the room where Alex and the boys were. "Alex? Are you okay? Did you find Bella?"
Alex only nodded his head in reply and turned towards the boys.
"She is not here." Alex replied solemnly.
"What do you mean she isn't here?" Eleanor asked, 'Was all this just a waste?' she thought.
"She was here until an hour ago, but was taken to the one who wanted Bella kidnapped." Alex muttered.
"Who is he?" Natalie asked as she walked through the door.
"I don't know, nor do these assholes," he said while kicking one of them.
Aiden grunted while bearing the pain of Alex's kick.
"Alex, they are minors; you can't kick them like that." Eleanor warned.
"They tried to force themselves on Bella." Alex muttered, his eyes holding his immense rage.
The room turned silent at Alex's response. Both Natalie and Eleanor looked at the boys as if they were worse than demons.
"We have to find the one who ordered Bella's kidnapping; I feel like we haven't got much time." Alex said.
"Alright, we will handle these disgusting shits here; you go try to find her whereabouts." Natalie said this while approaching the boys.
Alex nodded his head and walked out of the room. He then walked over to the corner as he observed.
'Who could it be that ordered her kidnapping?' Alex thought deeply. Just as he was about to give up.
"Hey, who does this factory belong to?" asked one of the policemen to his colleague.
The other policeman looked at his laptop, trying to find the documents of this factory. After a while, he answered, "Sir, This factory is owned by Crawford Steel, but they bought it from Harrington Steel a few years ago."
*CLICK*
Something inside Alex's mind clicked. His mind raced as he tried to remember where he heard the name 'Crawford'."
"Ah! That's right. Crawford is Cassandra's rival; she said they were known for unethical practices." Alex muttered as he clapped his hands.
'Wait a minute.'
"Did they.." Alex stopped talking, and he immediately rushed towards Natalie to inform her and go to the Crawford's mansion.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The Harrington's mansion,
Cassandra was sitting on her sofa, thinking about her daughter. 'Where are you, Bella?' She thought as tears started rolling down her face remembering her daughter.
*BANG*
The mansion burst open, and a man walked towards Cassandra with a few men behind him.
"Hello, Cassandra, look who I've brought here." The man said it with a sinister smile as he motioned his hand towards a girl in the middle of the group.
"Bella!' Cassandra exclaimed in shock as she looked at her daughter.
"Mmmmffffmmmff," Bella muffled; her hands and mouth were tied by a cloth.
She desperately tried to free herself from the restraints, not caring even if her hands were bleeding. She looked at her mother, her expression pleading with her to run away from this man.