6
Isabelle thrashed wildly, breaking free from her bodyguards, her red-painted nails pointing straight at my face. “Aria Vance, you bitch! You’re in on it with the Skull Gang, aren’t you? You deliberately had my brother kidnapped to extort my family! You think I don’t see through your disgusting little scheme?”
“Is that Aría Vance? She looks so young, barely in her twenties. I never imagined a Tracker would be…”
“I know, right? A while back, when Mr. Zhou’s son was trafficked to Myanmar, even the police were stumped. She just touched the boy’s rattle and pinpointed his location. They had him back in three days.”
“That Kinsman girl is a lost cause. Ms. Vance found the Austin girl, so how does that mean she harmed her
brother?”
The murmurs grew louder, but Isabelle seemed deaf to them. She lunged at me, spittle flying from her lips. “- You think hiring these people to sing your praises will clear your name? If anything happens to my brother, I will destroy your entire family, and I will make sure none of you ever find peace!”
“Miss Kinsman, right now, Ms. Vance is the only one who can save your brother,” an elderly gentleman plead-
ed from the side.
3/8
12.04
12.04
Chapter 2
“Save him? She wants to watch him die! All of you, you’ve been bought by her! I’m telling you, anyone who sides with her, I’ll deal with you too!”
Her phone buzzed again. The skull icon on the screen seemed to burn into her eyes. Isabelle’s hand jerked, and the phone clattered to the floor. She scrambled to pick it up, her fingers fumbling so badly she could barely unlock it.
The moment the video connected, a bloodcurdling scream erupted from the speakers.
On the screen, the masked man was using a red-hot pair of pliers on Shane’s fingers. A fingernail was being ripped from its bed, and blood streamed from the raw wound. Shane’s body convulsed in agony, a dirty rag stuffed in his mouth muffling his cries into pathetic whimpers. The skin on his back was charred black from a branding iron, revealing the raw flesh beneath.
“Miss Kinsman, enjoying the view of your brother’s manicure?” The man held the bloody fingernail up to the camera. “You have three minutes. If the fifty million doesn’t arrive, I start on his teeth.”
“NO!” Isabelle shrieked, collapsing to her knees. The phone fell onto the thick carpet, the sounds of torture still spilling from it. She tried desperately to grab it, but her bodyguards held her back. All she could do was scream. “I have the money! I’ll transfer it right now! Don’t touch him! Aria Vance, you bitch, make them stop!”
The phone’s screen, lying face-up on the carpet, happened to catch my reflection.
The screaming on the other end of the line stopped abruptly. The man in the skull mask leaned closer to the
camera.
“You… who is that behind you?” His voice suddenly trembled. The pliers fell from his hand with a metallic
clang.
Isabelle was still sobbing hysterically. “What who? Just let my brother go!”
“SHUT UP!” the man roared, his eyes fixed on my reflection. “Is that… a Tracker?! Isabelle Kinsman, you god-
damn idiot! You dared to call a Tracker?!”
The entire banquet hall fell into a dead, ringing silence.
The masked man exploded in a rage, kicking Shane’s limp body. “Did you forget the rules of the Skull Gang? You bring a Tracker into our business to screw us over? You must have a death wish!”
Shane’s body arched in pain, the rag in his mouth now soaked crimson.
