Page 76 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable

"Listen to me." I force him to look at the monitors. "This was coordinated. They knew exactly how to breach our perimeter. We handle this wrong, we'll miss whatever game Garrett's playing."

The approaching sirens grow louder.

"Thirty seconds until contact with local PD," Wolf reports through comms.

Levi's jaw clenches. "The second we clear this—"

"We'll both go up," I promise. "But right now, we need to get through this with the cops."

The next couple of hours blur into a carefully orchestrated dance. Colt handles the initial contact perfectly—spinning a story about a private security training exercise gone wrong, a controlled explosives malfunction. The officers buy it completely—the proper permits and a little cash go a long way. I cycle through cameras, documenting everything while keeping our teams coordinated.

I watch the last police cruiser pull away, relaxing slightly when they finally fade into darkness. We're missing something. Something important.

Levi doesn't wait for my confirmation before bolting toward the stairs. His footsteps thunder upward, and I switch camera views to track his progress. At least Sunny followed the lockdown protocol and stayed in her room.

The feed from the hallway shows her already opening the door as Levi approaches, her face tight with worry.

"I'm fine," she insists, backing away from Levi's reaching hands. "But I need to check on Jade."

"You're not going anywhere until—"

"She's my best friend, Levi!" Sunny's voice carries clearly through the audio feed. "We need to make sure she's okay!"

I toggle between cameras, watching their argument play out across multiple angles. Sunny's hands are clenched at her sides, her whole body radiating tension. Levi towers over her, his protective instincts clearly at war with her determination.

"At least let me check the room first," he growls.

"Fine." Sunny crosses her arms. "But hurry up."

I switch views as they move down the hallway to Jade and Colt's room. Levi knocks once before pushing the door open. The camera catches their expressions changing as they scan the empty space.

"Jade?" Sunny calls out, pushing past Levi into the room. "Are you in here?"

The silence that follows makes my stomach clench. I quickly cycle through other camera feeds—bathroom, kitchen, living room. No sign of her.

"JADE!" Sunny's voice echoes through the house, panic starting to edge in. "Where are you?"

Levi's already on his comm. "We might have a problem."

I pull up the footage from the last couple of hours, wanting to track Jade's movements once she made it inside. Except, there is none. It doesn't look like she ever made it inside.

"Z," Levi's voice crackles through my earpiece. "Tell me you have eyes on her."

I start rewinding through multiple camera feeds. The timestamp shows 23:20 when Jade reaches the back door, whiskey bottle still clutched in her hand. She types in her code,and yanks at the handle repeatedly. Her shoulders grow more tense with each failed attempt. She sets the bottle and glasses down, and tries one more time.

The door should've been functioning perfectly. There was no alarm, no indication of malfunction.

I lean closer to the monitor, watching as a shadow detaches itself from the darkness behind her. The figure moves with practiced efficiency, wearing a black balaclava and night goggles. Before Jade can turn, they've got her in a chokehold, pressing something against her neck. Her body goes limp almost immediately—some kind of fast-acting sedative.

The masked figure catches Jade as she slumps and drags her backward into the shadows. Fifteen seconds from first contact to disappearance.

I force myself to rewatch the footage, my hands clenched around the edge of the desk. Fifteen seconds. That's all it took.

"All units, report to command center immediately." My voice sounds hollow even to my own ears. "Priority one."

The security feeds show Sunny and Levi still searching upstairs, their movements growing more frantic. Colt's already heading this way, his stride purposeful. He thinks we're gathering to coordinate a search for the men who got away. He has no idea.

I pull up the footage on the main screen, queuing it to the exact moment everything went wrong. My throat feels tight as footsteps approach the security room. This is going to destroy Colt. And Sunny.

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