Let's See Who Has

Dominic drummed his fingers against the leather steering wheel of his idling luxury car. He leaned forward, his sharp eyes scanning the steady stream of students exiting the school gates. The afternoon bell had rung twenty minutes ago, yet there was no sign of the girl he was supposed to bring home. Then, Finley slouched through the iron gates and walked toward the vehicle. He was alone.

Dominic rolled down the window as his brother approached. "Where's Evangeline?" he demanded, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

Finley opened the passenger door and slid into the leather seat with a nonchalant shrug. "She already went home."

Dominic narrowed his eyes. He knew his brother's evasive tactics all too well. "Tell the truth."

Caught in the clumsy lie, Finley let out an exasperated groan. "Fine. She went to the washroom a while ago. She'll be out soon."

"We wait here," Dominic stated, shifting the car back into park.

A suffocating silence settled inside the cabin. Finley pulled out his phone, firing up a mobile game to pass the time. Minutes ticked by in agonizing slow motion. The sky outside the windshield darkened, the bright afternoon fading into a deep, bruised twilight. The once-crowded campus grounds were now virtually empty.

Dominic shifted in his seat, his anxiety mounting. "Do you have her phone number?"

Finley didn't even bother looking up from his glowing screen. He scoffed, his voice dripping with arrogance. "Why would I? She's a country bumpkin. I assumed she's too poor to afford a mobile phone. Ask someone else."

Ignoring his brother's attitude, Dominic snatched his own phone and dialed his brothers back at the Vane manor. One by one, they answered. None of them had her contact information.

He ended the final call, tossing the device onto the dashboard. A heavy, unfamiliar unease seized his chest. Evangeline was new to the sprawling city. She wasn't the type to wander off recklessly without telling anyone. Dominic grabbed his phone again, bypassing his usual contacts to dial his assistant. Within moments, he began pulling his vast corporate strings, ordering a full-scale sweep of the surrounding blocks.

He turned to Finley, his eyes blazing with an uncharacteristic, protective fury. "Didn't I explicitly tell you to look after her in school?"

Startled to his core by the raw anger in his brother's usually steady voice, Finley dropped his phone into his lap. He frowned, feeling wronged by the sudden accusation. "What did you want me to do? I couldn't exactly follow a girl into the women's washroom."

Dominic took a slow, measured breath, forcing his iron composure back into place. "I already have people looking for her. Let's hope she merely lost her way on the large campus."

Meanwhile, miles away from the main gate, Evangeline blinked against a pitch-black void. A pounding headache throbbed relentlessly at her temples. She tried to shift her weight, but thick, coarse rope dug into her wrists, binding her hands tight behind her back. A thick blindfold covered her eyes, and a foul-tasting gag stuffed her mouth, silencing any chance of calling out.

She lay on a hard, dusty floor. The dry, stale air in the room smelled of rot and abandonment. It heavily hinted she was locked inside a decaying, forgotten space on the school grounds.

Despite the life-threatening reality of her situation, Evangeline cataloged her surroundings with clinical calm. She felt the heavy fabric of her jacket pressing against her side. Her phone sat right where she had left it in her pocket. Her amateur captors hadn't bothered to search her, likely buying into the exact same rumor Finley believed—that a supposed country girl wouldn't possess high-tech hardware.

A thin wooden door separated her from the outside corridor. Through the cracks, a girl's high-pitched voice drifted in.

"Take care of it well, and you can go abroad once the dirty job is handled," the girl promised eagerly over a phone call. "I'll help you, so just clean it up nicely."

Evangeline stilled her breathing. Heavy footsteps echoed on the concrete floor, accompanied by a freezing cold night breeze. The heavy door creaked open, groaning on rusted hinges.

"She's actually pretty hot if you just look at her body," a strange man scoffed, his voice dripping with lecherous intent. He crouched nearby, the floorboards straining under his weight.

"I can't believe you're even remotely interested in someone as lowly as her," Tessa mocked viciously.

"Come on, Miss Vance. I was just kidding," the man cooed.

Tessa's footsteps clicked across the floor until she stood right beside Evangeline. She sneered down at the bound girl. "How dare you try to get your dirty hands on Finley? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Evangeline processed the sheer absurdity of the situation. Tessa had lured her into an abandoned dormitory and staged a brutal kidnapping out of unadulterated high school jealousy.

Before she could formulate her next move, a vicious slap struck her cheek. The sharp sting radiated across her face, ringing in her ears.

"What makes you think you're remotely good enough for the heir of the Vane Family?!" Tessa screamed, her voice cracking with rage.

Her cheek burned painfully, but Evangeline pushed the sensation aside. Mathematical calculation took over; immediate escape was her top priority. She forced her body to tremble, expertly feigning terror. As she curled her shoulders inward, she discreetly slid her bound hands toward the pocket of her clothes.

"Who are you guys? What are you going to do to me?" she whimpered pitifully through the gag, her voice muffled and terrified.

Tessa knelt, her fingers pinching Evangeline's jaw with brutal force. "We're going to take your life, of course!" she sneered darkly.

The male accomplice stumbled backward, his boots scuffing the dirt in instant panic. "Say what? Hey, cold-blooded murder was never part of the plan when you asked me for muscle!"

Tessa let out a wicked snicker, releasing Evangeline's face. "It's just a dark joke. We just need to teach her a severe, unforgettable lesson on behalf of her. Teach her what she should and shouldn't touch."

*Her?* Evangeline's mind raced rapidly. Tessa was taking orders from someone else. Who was the mysterious higher-up instigator hiding behind a high school girl's petty jealousy?

Before Evangeline could piece the puzzle together, Tessa drew her foot back and delivered a sharp, vicious kick to Evangeline's ribs.

Pain flared, but Evangeline used the momentum. Taking the golden opportunity to sell the act, she let out a muffled cry and collapsed naturally to the dusty floor. The awkward angle hid her hands perfectly from view. Her fingers found the smooth edge of her hidden device.

She swiftly pressed the specific button sequence on the side, triggering her phone's silent SOS beacon. The signal transmitted instantly into the night, locking onto her GPS coordinates.

Lying in the dirt, pretending to cower in fear, Evangeline allowed a cold edge to wash over her.

*Are you kidding me? Let's see who has the last laugh!*