Jay POV
My wrists hurt.
The rope had been rubbing against my skin for nearly twenty minutes.
But it was getting looser.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Kaiser had made one mistake.
He thought tying my hands was enough.
He forgot I had spent years learning how to get out of situations exactly like this.
I twisted my wrists again.
The rope scraped against the metal edge of the chair.
A thin fiber snapped.
Good.
I kept working.
The room was quiet now. Kaiser and his men had left earlier. Probably preparing whatever stupid trap they planned.
Perfect timing.
Another pull.
Another snap.
Finally—
The rope loosened enough.
I pulled my hands free.
I rubbed my wrists quickly.
"Finally."
I stood up carefully and looked around the warehouse.
Metal shelves.
Old crates.
Broken lights.
The place looked abandoned.
Typical villain hideout.
I moved toward the door slowly and peeked outside.
No guards.
My eyes narrowed.
Too easy.
Which meant they were probably waiting somewhere else.
Still, staying here was worse.
I slipped outside quietly.
The night air was cold.
The building stood alone at the edge of an empty industrial area.
No cars.
No people.
No lights.
"Great."
I started walking.
Then jogging.
Then running.
After almost fifteen minutes I finally reached a small road.
A car drove past.
Then another.
Finally I saw a man standing beside a food cart closing for the night.
I rushed over.
"Excuse me!"
The man turned, startled.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry, can I borrow your phone for a moment?"
He looked confused.
"You look like you ran a marathon."
"I just really need to make a call."
He hesitated… then handed it to me.
"Here."
"Thank you."
I dialed the number immediately.
The phone rang twice.
Then—
"Hello?"
"Hannah."
There was silence.
Then Hannah's shocked voice exploded through the phone.
"JAY?!"
"I'm fine."
"Where are you?!"
"I escaped."
"What?!"
"Listen carefully," I said quickly. "Where are you?"
There was a pause.
Then Hannah said something that made my stomach drop.
"…Keifer and the boys went to rescue you."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"They tracked the signal to Kaiser's house. Hex went with them."
My eyes widened.
"WHEN?!"
"Twenty minutes ago!"
"…Shit."
I immediately ended the call.
The man beside me looked worried.
"Is everything okay?"
I handed his phone back quickly.
"Yes. Thank you."
Then I started running again.
Because now I knew the truth.
Kaiser didn't kidnap me to hurt me.
He kidnapped me…
To lure Keifer into a trap.