Taming My Sugar Mommy
Chapter 72: The chase

Chapter 72: The chase

The unmarked SUV carrying Isabella weaved through downtown traffic with practiced efficiency. Liam maintained a careful distance, his sedan inconspicuous among the evening commuters. The vehicle ahead took a sudden turn onto a less traveled street, moving away from the direction of police headquarters.

’Definitely not standard procedure,’ Liam thought, adjusting his route to follow. His phone sat in the passenger seat, set to speaker mode as he dialed Seraphina.

"Twice in one day," she answered, her voice carrying a hint of amusement. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Cut the act," Liam said, accelerating through a yellow light to keep the SUV in sight. "Isabella’s been arrested and is now being transported in an unmarked vehicle with Marcus inside. I know you have something to do with this."

"Oh?" Seraphina’s tone remained light. "And why would you think that?"

"Because you showed me that footage. You knew about Jonathan Ashworth’s death, and now suddenly Isabella’s being arrested for it?" Liam swerved around a delivery truck. "I know you don’t like her, but this is going too far."

A rich laugh came through the speakers. "My dear Liam, while I appreciate your assessment of my capabilities, I’m afraid you’re giving me far too much credit. Yes, I dislike Isabella intensely, but this particular drama isn’t my production."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I don’t particularly care what you believe," Seraphina replied. "But as a matter of fact, this situation is... inconvenient for my plans. Isabella behind bars serves no purpose for me."

Liam watched as the SUV ahead made another sharp turn. "Then who’s behind this?"

"That’s the interesting question, isn’t it?" Seraphina’s voice took on a more serious tone. "Consider: who benefits from Isabella’s removal? Who has been waiting for an opportunity to strike? Who has the resources to manufacture evidence and coordinate false arrests?"

"Davies," Liam suggested, thinking of Isabella’s primary corporate rival.

"Perhaps," Seraphina conceded. "Or perhaps someone with even greater reach. Someone who found Isabella’s investigations... inconvenient."

Inside the SUV, Marcus’s phone buzzed with an incoming call. He checked the screen and answered immediately. "Yes?"

"You’re being followed," came a crisp voice from the other end. "Gray sedan, three cars back."

Marcus twisted in his seat to look through the rear window. "I see it. Campbell."

"Lose him," the voice ordered. "We can’t have him interfering at this stage."

Marcus nodded to the driver, a man with a military haircut and cold eyes. "We’ve got a tail. Liam Campbell, Isabella’s attack dog. Lose him."

The driver checked his mirrors, spotting Liam’s car. "Copy that." He pressed a button on the console, and bulletproof partitions rose between the front seats and the rear compartment where Isabella sat, handcuffed and silent.

"Hold tight," the driver advised as he suddenly accelerated, cutting across two lanes of traffic and drawing angry honks from other vehicles.

Liam cursed as the SUV surged forward, the gap between them widening. "They’ve made me," he told Seraphina. "I need to go."

"Be careful, Liam," she said, her voice unusually serious. "Whoever’s behind this won’t hesitate to eliminate obstacles."

"That’s comforting," he muttered, ending the call to focus on the pursuit.

The SUV veered onto a highway ramp, accelerating to dangerous speeds. Liam followed, pushing his sedan to its limits. Traffic became sparse as they headed away from the city center, providing fewer obstacles but also fewer places to hide.

For several minutes, the chase continued at high speed, the distance between the vehicles neither increasing nor decreasing. Then, without warning, the SUV took an exit ramp, cutting across multiple lanes.

Liam followed, narrowly avoiding a collision with a semi-truck that blared its horn in protest. The exit led to an industrial area, streets lined with warehouses and manufacturing facilities. The SUV’s tires squealed as it made a sharp right turn.

As Liam rounded the corner, he found himself facing an empty street. The SUV had vanished.

’Impossible,’ he thought, slowing his car. ’They couldn’t have disappeared that quickly.’

He proceeded cautiously, scanning side streets and alleyways. A movement caught his eye—a flash of black paint disappearing into a warehouse lot. Liam accelerated, turning into the lot just in time to see the warehouse door beginning to close.

Without hesitation, he floored the accelerator, aiming for the narrowing gap. His car shot forward, scraping against the descending door with a horrific screech of metal on metal. Inside, the vast warehouse space was dimly lit, the SUV nowhere in sight.

Liam pulled to a stop, drawing his sidearm as he exited the vehicle. Christina had insisted he take it before heading out to track Isabella, pressing the weapon into his hands with a firm "Just in case." At the time, he’d protested, but now he was grateful for her foresight. The warehouse appeared to be abandoned, old machinery covered in dust and cobwebs. The only sound was the ticking of his car’s cooling engine.

"Isabella?" he called out, his voice echoing in the cavernous space. "Isabella!"

Silence answered him.

Movement in his peripheral vision made him spin, gun raised. Three identical black SUVs emerged from behind stacked shipping containers, forming a semicircle around him. The drivers cut their lights, leaving Liam momentarily blinded.

"Put down your weapon, Mr. Campbell," came a voice over a loudspeaker. "This doesn’t concern you."

"Like hell it doesn’t," Liam replied, keeping his gun steady. "Where’s Isabella?"

A different voice laughed. "She’s long gone, Campbell. You’re chasing ghosts."

The three SUVs revved their engines simultaneously, headlights blazing to life, temporarily blinding Liam. One of the vehicles lurched forward, forcing Liam to dive behind a stack of pallets. He fired twice, aiming for the tires, the shots echoing through the warehouse. The SUV swerved, its driver clearly startled by the unexpected resistance.

"Stand down!" the voice commanded as the other two vehicles began to circle.

Liam fired again, catching the side mirror of the second SUV. The third vehicle accelerated toward him, forcing him to roll away from his cover. He squeezed off another shot, striking the windshield but not penetrating the bulletproof glass.

By the time he regained his footing, the vehicles were speeding away, exiting through three different doors of the warehouse.

’A shell game,’ Liam realized. ’And I fell for it.’

He holstered his weapon and jogged back to his car, only to find that his tires had been slashed. Cursing, he pulled out his phone to call for assistance, but found no signal.

"Professional," he muttered, grudgingly impressed by the thoroughness of the operation.

It took him nearly an hour to reach a main road on foot, where he was finally able to call Christina. She answered on the first ring.

"Liam? Where are you? What happened?"

"They got away," he said, frustration evident in his voice. "They split into multiple vehicles at a warehouse in the industrial district. I lost them."

"Where are you now?" Christina asked, her voice surprisingly calm.

"Corner of Riverside and Melton. I need a ride. They disabled my car."

"I’ll send someone," she promised. "Stay put."

Liam paced the sidewalk, replaying the events in his mind. The coordination, the resources, the planning—this was no impromptu operation. Someone had been watching, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Twenty minutes later, a sleek black car pulled up beside him. The window lowered to reveal Christina in the back seat, her face pale but determined despite her injuries.

"Get in," she said.

Liam slid into the seat beside her. "You should be resting."

"No time," she replied, tapping on a tablet. "What exactly happened?"

Liam recounted the chase and the warehouse trap. "Whoever took Isabella, they knew exactly what they were doing. Military precision."

Christina nodded, her expression unchanged. "Did you notice anything unusual about the SUVs? Any markings, license plates?"

"Nothing. They were completely anonymous."

To Liam’s surprise, Christina smiled—a small, knowing smile that seemed out of place given the circumstances.

"What?" he asked. "What am I missing?"

"Isabella planned for this," Christina said softly. "She’s been planning for years."

"Planning to be abducted?"

"Planning for attempts against her," Christina clarified. "After what happened with her father, she never fully trusted the system again. She built contingencies, escape routes, safe houses."

Liam’s eyes narrowed. "What are you saying?"

Christina’s smile widened slightly. "Isabella has a subdermal tracking device implanted in her shoulder. Military-grade, untraceable except by our private systems."

"You’re telling me we can track her?"

"We already are." Christina turned the tablet toward him, showing a map with a blinking red dot moving steadily away from the city. "She’s heading east, currently moving at sixty-five miles per hour."

Liam stared at the screen. "Does she know it’s activated?"

"She activated it herself," Christina explained. "There’s a specific pressure point that triggers it. She’s letting us know she’s conscious and functioning."

"So what’s the plan?"

"We don’t attempt a rescue," Christina said firmly. "Not yet. Isabella is playing a longer game here. She wants to see where they’re taking her, who’s behind this."

"That’s dangerous," Liam protested. "These people are clearly willing to go to extreme lengths. They could—"

"They won’t kill her," Christina interrupted. "If they wanted her dead, they would have done it already. They need her for something."

Liam fell silent, considering this. "What do they want with her?"

"That’s what we’re going to find out." Christina tapped the tablet, zooming in on the moving dot. "For now, we maintain distance but keep tracking. Isabella has another trick up her sleeve—a microtransmitter that will activate once they reach their destination."

"And then what?"

Christina’s expression hardened. "Then we strike. But first, we need to know who we’re dealing with."

Liam shook his head in disbelief. "You’re remarkably calm about all this."

"Because I’ve been through simulations of this exact scenario a dozen times," Christina replied. "Isabella made sure we were prepared."

"She couldn’t have predicted this specific situation," Liam argued.

"No," Christina agreed. "But she knew that someday, someone would come for her. Whether for her father’s death or for her company or for something else entirely. She’s spent years building a network of contingencies."

Liam leaned back against the seat, processing this information. "So now we wait?"

"Now we prepare," Christina corrected, wincing slightly as she shifted her injured ribs. "Because when Isabella gives the signal, we’ll need to move fast."

On the tablet screen, the red dot continued its steady journey eastward, carrying Isabella to an unknown destination—and to whoever had orchestrated her abduction.

"There’s one more thing you should know," Christina added, her voice quieter. "The video that leaked online? It’s not the original footage. It’s been altered."

"I know," Liam said. "I’ve seen the real footage."

Christina’s eyes widened slightly. "Then you understand what this means. Someone has been planning this for years. They’ve been patient, gathering evidence, fabricating new material, waiting for the perfect moment."

"Why now?" Liam wondered aloud. "What changed?"

"The Singapore acquisition," Christina suggested. "Isabella was getting too close to something. Something big enough to warrant this level of response."

The car continued through the night, following at a safe distance as the red dot on the screen moved further from the city. Somewhere ahead, Isabella was being transported to an unknown destination by unknown enemies. But she wasn’t helpless—she was biding her time, gathering intelligence, waiting for the right moment.

And when that moment came, Liam would be ready.

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