Mysterious CEO's Last Surrogate
Chapter Sixty - Seven

"WHAT? We are coming over." He turned to Loney and said, "We have to go. Danica was kidnapped at the mall."

Loney saw red. He didn't wait for Paul to complete his sentence when he raced for his car with the latter chasing after him. His head banged with instant headache, his body went numb. He sat in the car before beginning to process the information. He never expected this and the burden hit so hard he didn't know how to make a comeback. Paul couldn't explain to his sisters but they were used to it. Paul was never available and whenever he was, he always left in a haste.

"Loney, let me drive," Paul offered. He feared from how Loney was driving that they might die before they reached their destination. Loney was jumping traffic lights and using unauthorized routes at top speed. Paul had no idea where he was headed.

"Call Gideon!" Loney shrieked. His eyes desperately searched the road, his jaw clenched. His hands trembled slightly on the steering wheel yet his grip was robust. Paul obeyed. The line went through but no one answered till the call ended. He dialled the second time.

"No answer. Let me call Herty again," Paul suggested, activating speaker mode so as not to repeat everything to Loney.

"Paul, did you replace out anything?" Herty's voice was teary as she asked, as soon as she ended the call."

"Not yet but you can help us. Tell me what happened. Everything. Don't leave out any details," Paul sternly said. He couldn't guess who had done this. There were so many suspects but not enough time to visit all of them. They needed authentic information.

"I don't know," Herty sniffled. "We were shopping and an old lady stumbled. I thought she was going to fall and went to help her when Danica was picking some toys. When I turned around after helping her, Danica wasn't there. I saw through the glass door that she was walking with a man. I was about to go after her when I saw Gideon approach them."

Two men walked towards Gideon and they began exchanging fire. The man walking with Danica shoved her into a van and the van moved almost immediately. Gideon shot the two men but a bullet penetrated his chest so he was taken away in an ambulance.

The two men were also taken but they didn't look like they would make it. One of them had a bullet in the head and the other had it in the neck. There's so much chaos around here," she ended tearfully. Paul was beginning to have a headache. He wasn't getting any clues. "Can you give any details about them?"

"It happened so fast, I couldn't see their faces and Danica was walking calmly, you wouldn't guess anything was wrong. I even thought she knew the person," Herty narrated, remorse streaming through her veins. Why did she have to help that old woman? Someone else could have helped her. She shouldn't have left Danica's side.

"Was there a gun held to her?" Paul's worried voice brought her from her trance.

"From where I sat, I didn't see but the guy had a tattoo on his arm and he had long blonde hair," Herty vividly recalled.

A glint of hope flashed Paul's eyes as he said, "thanks, Herty, where are you now?"

"With the police. They are asking everyone questions."

"Just tell them everything you know okay."

"What about Danica?"

"We will replace her, Herty, don't worry." Paul ended the call before Herty could ask another question.

"It's Ray, Loney. Tattoo on the arm with long blonde hair is Jerome, Ray's second in command. I thought you said Governor Maxwell promised you protection. Why don't you call him?" Paul asked worriedly. "I can't call him because it involves Danica. He doesn't know about her because I kept her secret. Find Ray's location." Loney was unconsciously rude because he was agitated yet Paul wasn't offended. He understood what his friend was going through.

"It's three hours from here," Pauls said after checking a digital screen that looked like an iPad. "Have you called Danica?"

"No. I'm tracking her. Perhaps, they haven't seen her phone. If a call goes through, they can destroy the phone and the contact will be lost."

Paul forced a smile. At least they knew Ray's location and they were tracking Danica too. They could only hope that nobody calls her. "We will replace her Loney, nothing will happen to her."

"How can you be sure? She's heavily pregnant. A very delicate situation. Can you even imagine the trauma? What if they torture her? How will she survive it?" Loney's tone was strangely calm and his eyes blurred with tears yet he kept pressing down the accelerator.

"Loney, slow down a bit. She needs you alive," Paul warned.

*******

Daniella was hiding in the car park. Things hadn't worked as planned. They were supposed to get someone to distract Herty, while Jerome points a gun at Danica and threatens her to follow him willingly without creating a scene. No one should have even known that she had been kidnapped. Then, Daniella would sneak into the van, exchange clothes with Danica and come out like her.

She will then walk to Herty and explain that the guy was an old friend who went to show her something in the van. Perfect plan. Danica would be kept away till she gave birth. Then Daniella will plan a time out with Herty where she would pretend to be in labour. One of Ray's men will pose as a good samaritan and drive her to the hospital where Ray's agents will give her Danica's baby. Once everything is smoothly done, Danica would be eliminated. Simple as that. They would only hear the news that Daniella had died, while in actual fact, it's Danica dead.

For as long as Loney knows it's Danica by his side, there would be no problems and they would live happily ever after. That was how it was supposed to be. However, Daniella had no idea that Gideon would be there and one of the eyewitnesses had called the police too which complicated matters. Now, Loney knows Danica has been kidnapped and Daniella couldn't make it to the van in time due to the gunshots. They ended up driving away without the swap of clothes so Daniella was frustrated.

Worst of all, Ray wasn't answering her calls. Eventually, she called Jerome.

"Are you insane? Why did you leave without me?" Daniella lashed out.

"Are you crazy? Didn't you see the police? Did you want to get us convicted? Two of our men are already down because you gave us the wrong information. You have to double the money. Besides, how do I know you didn't set us up?" Jerome was agitated.

"I didn't. Look. Just give me your location."

"I will share my location on the map. You can catch up to us."

"How about the victim?"

"She's here."

"Don't hurt her till the baby is born okay? That child in her womb is precious."

"As you wish."

Daniella received Jerome's location and set off immediately, jumping cable in one of the cars at the garage and drove off to meet them. She would change into Danica's clothes and tell Loney that she managed to escape from the kidnappers. Simple as that. She also hoped that Jones would get Ray arrested as he said. That way, her secret would be safe.

She kept driving as she kept planning. She checked the map as she drove, still planning. Then she recalled that Jones knew everything. What if he suspected and exposed her? She was gripped with fear.

A trailer appeared from the corner but she didn't see it in time, aside from the fact that her driving skills were not perfected and her mind was far away. She lost her grip on the steering wheel when she tried to veer from the trailer, rather crushing into it from the side. Due to the speed, the car veered from the asphalt road, hitting a tree instantly. Blood oozed from her nose. She felt dizzy. Too dizzy. What just happened? Everything was turning blurry and suddenly, went dark.