Chapter 113: Kaiden
Chapter 113: Kaiden
Kaiden’s POV
The first light of dawn cracked through the trees, casting long, jagged shadows across the clearing in front of the old cabin, just a few steps away. The world stirred with a quiet tension, the air still heavy with the remnants of night. The sky was painted in deep violet, stars clinging faintly to their place before vanishing into the fire of the coming sun.
I moved like the shadows themselves–silent, calculated, nearly breathless.
Every step had to be perfect.
Every sound I didn’t make could be the difference between life and death.
I hadn’t brought Selena with me–for good reason. Her attitude alone could shatter a plan. She had this infuriating habit of filling tense moments with snark and static, like she couldn’t help but light matches in a room full of gasoline. One wrong word from her tonight, and I would’ve lost my grip completely. So I’d left her behind at the farmhouse with Ross, despite her protests.
Out here, chaos wasn’t an option. I needed clarity, precision–not distractions with too much eyeliner and even more unnecessary opinions.
The police had been fed the same intel, probably even earlier than I had. Yet here I stood–alone–staring down an abandoned cabin in the middle of nowhere. No flashing lights. No sirens. No backup.
Typical.
They were always a step behind. They never fail to wait till things fall apart before stepping in like saviors. Always reactive. Never ready. I stopped counting the number of times they’d failed and disappointed civilians like us.
The place, cabin, looked like something pulled straight from a horror movie–weather–worn wood, boarded–up windows, silence so thick it pressed against my chest. And yet, I could feel her inside. I knew Lucy was in there. Every instinct screamed it.
But slipping inside wasn’t going to be simple.
I had made the rookie mistake of underestimating Barbara. I thought I’d crash in, find her gloating behind a locked door, take her down, and carry Lucy out into the sunrise like some goddamn hero.
But then I saw him. A keeper.
He stood outside the cabin like a statue carved from stone–broad, muscular, a hulking figure in a black T–shirt that clung to his massive torso like a second skin. Denim jeans stretched tight over thick legs, every inch of him a warning sign.
His biceps flexed as he paced, veins bulging, the kind of body that didn’t come from ego but from relentless discipline. My gut sank. This wasn’t just a normal bodyguard. This man had training. Military, maybe. Mercenary, more likely. He moved with that deadly kind of awareness–head on a swivel, eyes constantly scanning.
Barbara didn’t hire amateurs. I had to give her that.
I crouched behind a cluster of underbrush, my breath shallow as I studied him.
“Come on, Kaiden. You’ve fought worse,” I reminded myself. “You got your ribs cracked and hospitalized. But still, at the end–you won. It was messy, sure. But you walked out of that fight wining. If you can handle that then you can definitely handle this.”
I flexed my fingers, grounding myself, letting the adrenaline sink into my limbs. My entire body was coiled like a spring, hyper–aware of every leaf, every branch beneath my boots.
“Come on, Kaiden,” I whispered under my breath. “Broken ribs can heal. Lucy can’t wait.”
He turned, pacing back toward the edge of the porch. I slipped left, circling through the woods, avoiding his line of sight. My feet were ghosts on the ground, my breath in rhythm with the wind.
Closer. Closer.
He had no idea I was behind him. That was my edge. I couldn’t afford noise. No punches. No dramatic takedowns. Just swift, silent damage. One wrong move, and Barbara would know I was here. And if she did… Lucy wouldn’t have a chance.
I rose like a shadow behind him, my heart pounding so hard it hurt.
One breath.
Two.
Now.
I launched forward, grabbing his wrist and twisting it behind his back in a brutal lock. He grunted, but before the sound could escape his throat, my other hand clamped over his mouth. He bucked, tried to turn, but I had leverage. I dug my knee
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Chapter 113: Kaiden
into the back of his leg, forcing him to drop.
His elbow jammed toward my ribs–I blocked with mine.
His boot scraped the dirt, almost finding footing–I swept his legs out from under him with a quick hook of my ankle.
He hit the ground with a muffled thud, still struggling.
No brawl, I reminded myself, tightening my grip. “Come on, Kaiden. You’re not here to win a fight. You’re here to save Lucy.”
I shifted my weight, applying pressure to his throat with surgical precision. Not enough to kill–just enough to dim his lights.
His veins pulsed wildly beneath my fingers. His breath came in rapid bursts. I whispered in his ear, low and steady. “Sleep, big guy. You’ll thank me later.”
And then–he slumped.
I held him a moment longer, ensuring the job was done. Then, gently, I lowered him to the ground, careful not to let his body rustle the leaves too loudly. My arms were shaking now–part adrenaline, part the sheer weight of what was still ahead.
There was no time to feel proud. No time to feel anything.
Lucy was still inside.
Somewhere beyond these wooden walls, breathing the same stale air as Barbara–the psycho woman twisted enough to call her cyber crime as a gesture of love. I can’t waste another second and give her any opportunity to traumatize Lucy.
My fists were still trembling from the fight outside, adrenaline crackling beneath my skin like a live wire, but I pushed forward, slow and silent as I entered the cabin.
The air inside was heavy, stagnant, as if it had forgotten how to move. Morning light seeped in through the cracks in the walls–just enough to show silhouettes and cast shadows that played tricks on the eyes.
I moved deeper, every step measured. My boots kissed the floor without a sound, trained by necessity, by fear, by the kind of desperation that drills itself into your bones. Shadows draped the walls, and the dim light cast long, uncertain shapes. My eyes sharpened, scanning every inch.
No signs of struggle. Nothing overturned, no streaks, no broken glass. Everything looked too neat. Polished. Innocent.
But there was no sign of Lucy either.
My jaw clenched. I could feel the pressure building behind my ribs like a scream that couldn’t find its voice.
All this effort–breaking in, staying quiet, gathering intel–and still, I came up empty. Maybe I wasn’t silent enough. Maybe Barbara heard me. Maybe that’s why she left, taking Lucy with her. But how could she disappear so perfectly? Not even a bent chair, not even a smudge out of place.
How-
And then I stepped into a room–doorless, hollow.
And froze.
What the fuck?!
Barbara.
She lay on the wooden floor, her body unnervingly still. Blood–dark and thick–was pooling beneath her head, spreading out slowly, crawling into the natural lines of the floorboards, as if marking its territory. The sight of it sent a shiver down my
spine.
I froze.
Not from fear.
But from calculation.
This silence, this moment–it could turn on me in an instant. Letting my guard down now would be a grave mistake.
I moved closer, every step more cautious than the last. My eyes never left her, assessing, analyzing.
To be continued…
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