Married On Paper To The Billionaire
Chapter 62: Finders Keepers

Kane felt like smashing his fist into something. He was so angry he couldn't think straight. He should never have left Emilia alone.

He should have given his Qatari business partners an excuse for not showing up to the contract signing ceremony. Now, he would still miss the event and his wife's life is in danger as well.

"I am going to kill that guy when I see him again," he muttered angrily.

Emilia had suggested that Matt could be the stalker but he had written off that possibility because he was so certain that his wife's ex-lover was safely tucked away in Wyoming. The bastard had waited for him to leave before finally making his

move.

His phone rang. It was his mother calling.

"Yes, Mother?" He answered impatiently.

"The police have found the kidnapper's vehicle," Elsie said shakily.

Kane sighed with relief. "Has he been arrested?"

"Well... that isn't possible anymore."

"Why not?"

"He's dead. They said the vehicle was crushed completely. They'd have to cut it up to bring out the body."

"Oh, my God! Emilia?"

"She's not there."

"What do you mean?"

"They said she's not in the vehicle. I don't have all the details yet but somehow, it turned out that the young man is the only person in the mangled van."

"That doesn't make sense..." Kane whispered.

"Don't worry. The rangers and the police are searching for her already. I'm sure she couldn't have gone far."

"Where's the place?"

She gave him the direction to the accident scene and he instructed his driver to head that way immediately. He wished there was a way he could teleport himself to the scene without waiting for the car to get there.

To keep his mind busy, he called Emilia's mother to replace out how Chloe was doing. It was his mother-in-law who called him to tell him about Matt's brazen attack on their family.

"She has just come out of surgery," she sighed, sounding exhausted. "the doctors said she was lucky. The bullet narrowly missed her heart."

"Wow... is she going to be alright?"

"Yes. She has been taken to the ICU. We haven't seen her yet."

"I am so sorry about this."

"It's not your fault. How would have known that a lunatic would break into our house and wreak so much havoc?"

"I shouldn't have left Emilia alone..."

"Please, don't blame yourself. You couldn't have known something like this would happen."

"Where were the bodyguards when everything was happening."

"Emilia instructed them to wait for her in the car. One of them came into the house after Matt shot Chloe and he too got shot. He's also here, receiving treatment. His injury wasn't severe."

"How is Andrew holding up?"

"Uh... he's trying not to fall apart. I'm surprised he didn't have another stroke because of this. There's a nurse with him, monitoring his blood pressure."

"I'll come to the hospital as soon as I can."

"Where are you? Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Qatar?"

"Not anymore. Our flight got delayed because of the foggy weather. That was why I was calling Emilia to let her know that I was still waiting at the airport." "Oh..."

"I just knew something was off. I felt so uneasy at the airport and when I called her and she didn't answer, I became restless. So, when you called me to tell me what happened, it just clicked in my brain. My instinct was trying to tell me that something was wrong."

"Have you heard anything from the police?"

"No, they think I'm already out of the country but they've been in touch with my mother. She called me a few minutes ago."

"And?"

"There was an accident. The vehicle ran off the highway and fell into a ditch in the woods."

"Oh, my God!"

"Please, don't panic. Emilia may still be alive. She's not in the vehicle and the police are already searching for her."

"Oh, dear... oh, my dear child. How did she survive that?"

"I don't know but I am on my way there to replace out."

"Please, keep me updated. I have to go now, Chloe's doctor is here."

"Alright. I'll call you again soon."

When he ended the call, he noted with annoyance that they were stuck in traffic at the intersection leading to the highway.

"This is taking forever," he complained. "I should have taken a helicopter instead!"

"The road is clearing up already, sir," his driver informed him as they began to inch closer to the highway.

They finally made it out of the bottleneck and got on the highway. Kane told the driver to pick up the speed and within minutes, they were zooming across the asphalt, inching dangerously close to the speed limit.

"This is it," he sighed when he saw the portion of the road that was cordoned off by the police and highway rangers. His driver parked behind the barriers and Kane was out of the backseat in a flash.

"Excuse me, sir. Pedestrians aren't allowed on this side of the road," said a ranger who tried to stop him.

"I'm not a pedestrian. My wife was in that accident," he said impatiently and pushed past the other man.

"Oh, Mr Beaumont," the man said, recognizing him but Kane was already jogging to the accident scene.

He was stopped by a policeman this time who recognized him instantly. "Please, stay back, Mr Beaumont. You don't want to go down there."

"Where's my wife?"

"The search party is still looking for her. We are confident that they'll replace her soon. She couldn't have gone very far."

Kane inspected the scene, taking note of the badly dented rail where the van smashed into it and fell off into the woods. An ambulance was parked beside the road and paramedics were trying to pry open the van to reach Matt who was squashed inside.

"I think you should go back and wait in your car for now," said the policeman. "we'll let you know when we replace your wife."

"Of course," he said with a polite nod and turned around. As he walked away, he stepped closer to the rail to gauge the distance from the road to the ground on the other side.

"Probably a four-feet drop," he mused. "that's not too far down."

"Sir, has Mr Beaumont been found?" His driver asked hopefully as he approached his car.

"No, Benjamin, but I'm about to do something about that."

"Huh?"

Kane ignored his confused driver and then hoisted himself on the rail. He swung his legs over them and jumped.

"Oh, God!" Benjamin gasped fearfully. "What are you doing?"

Kane landed on his toes and straightened himself immediately. He looked up to his driver and said, "Wait for me in the car and be ready to start driving once I return with my wife." "Y-yes, sir. Please, be careful."

"Will do," he said and snuck way into the woods, careful not to let the searchers spot him.

He ran through the woods, dodging leaves and branches as he went. He didn't know which direction he was going but he knew the searchers hadn't reached this side yet. After running a couple of yards, he stopped beside a tree to catch his breath. The air was chilly and he remembered just then that he should have taken his coat with him. "Well, it's too late to go back now," he said to himself.

He heard the rumble of thunder in the distance and he knew it would be a disaster if the rain caught him out here. However, he would not return to his car unless he found Emilia.

His chest squeezed with fear when he thought about her. Was she ok? Was she hurt? Was she even still alive?

Fighting the urge to panic, he rubbed his palms together and continued walking. He would walk a few more yards before changing direction. He checked his wristwatch to time himself. It was fifteen minutes after 1 p.m. "Ok, I'll do one hour in this direction and then head east afterwards," he told himself.

He was getting thirsty but he willed his mind to ignore that and focused on the task at hand instead. He reached a plateau that seemed to mark the end of the woods.

"A dead end," he sighed. "time to head back."

As he turned to leave, his eyes caught a thin wisp of smoke rising from the other side of the plateau. He paused to confirm what he was seeing and soon enough, he began to perceive the aroma of food. "There's someone on the other side," he whispered and returned to the ridge. To his relief, the surface was soft and easy to climb.

The plateau was no higher than ten feet off the ground. When he reached the top, he looked down the other side and saw a small log cabin there.

Smoke was coming out of the chimney of the cabin, indicating that someone was inside. Kane debated whether to go there or call his driver to tell the police and rangers to come this way and investigate the site. He removed his phone from his pocket to make the call but was disappointed to see that there was no signal on it.

"Shit!" He cursed. "I'll just have to go there myself."

He gingerly climbed down the plateau, wondering why any sane human being would want to live here. Thunder rumbled in the sky again, reminding him to hurry up.

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He crept to the cabin and peeped in the front window. Two lanterns were hanging on opposite walls in the main room, illuminating the sparsely decorated space.

"Empty," he sighed and crept around the house to check the other windows. There was a kitchen, a bathroom and then a bedroom.

"Emilia!" He gasped when he recognized his wife as the battered woman tied to a narrow bed.

From where he was standing, he couldn't tell if she was awake or unconscious. He ran back to the front of the house and tried the door knob.

To his surprise, the door was unlocked. He opened it and stepped into the smelly cabin. He looked around quickly to confirm that he was alone before he ran to the bedroom.

Kane heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that she was breathing. He knelt beside the bed and whispered into her ear.

Her eyes fluttered open and when she saw him, she blinked several times as if trying to confirm that she wasn't hallucinating.

"Sweetheart, it's me," he said to her. "I've come to take you home."

"Billie, I'm home!" A man announced in the front room before slamming the door shut. "I got a pouch full of blueberries. You're gonna love them."

Emilia began to whimper and tears gathered in her eyes. Her distress tugged at Kane's heart.

"It's ok, you're going to be alright," he assured her and then rose to his feet to confront the other man.

As soon as he turned around, Hank came into the room and stopped short when he saw Kane.

"What the fuck!" The old man growled. "Who are you? How did you get into my cabin?"

"Through the front door," Kane said calmly.

"Why? What do you want?"

"I'm here to take my wife back home."

Hank snorted. "That's not your wife, that's Billie and she's mine. I found her and I'm keeping her."

"No, you're not."

"Ever heard of replaceers keepers? She's mine and I don't share!"

"How much do you want? I'll give you any amount of money you want right now if you let me leave with my wife."

Hank glared at Kane. "You break into my cabin, try to snatch my Billie from me and then offer me money? Do I look like I need your fucking money?"

Kane felt his temper rising. What the hell did this bastard want?

"The police will be here soon," he informed Hank. "if you accept her, I'll convince them not to arrest you."

His little speech made the old man angrier. "You fucking prick! You called the cops on me too?"

He stormed away and returned a few seconds later with his rifle. He aimed at Kane and said, "Goodbye, you son-of-a-bitch!"

The sound of the gunshot was so loud that the echo drove birds away from the nearby trees outside.