Chapter 29 - She didn't, she couldn't!

Rajat rushed out of his Pajero and closed the door with his foot. In his hands were two coffee cups and in his mouth was the handle for his briefcase.

He ignored everyone's greetings and ran to his desk. He dropped his briefcase and rushed to Rose's office. He didn't have to get there to know that she wasn't in. She was no where to be seen in her glass office.

Rajat turned to her secretary and by the look on his face, even he didn't know where she was. Without another word, he got into her office and placed her coffee on her table. The table was the same as it was the previous day. Not a thing was out of place. That meant that Rose hadn't been there that morning. She too was running late.

"Thank goodness I am not late after all." Rajat sighed in relief.

Staring at her empty seat, he thought back to her sitting there yesterday looking at the GPS tracker. A cold sweat down his spine and his eyes widened in fear.

"She wouldn't, she couldn't and she didn't!" he panicked.

Rajat snatched her landline and hastily dialed her number.

Rose's phone rang in the basement of the Packet brothers. She helplessly watched it ring while Danny glared at her. It rang and rang until it cut.

Rajat tried it again but this time, Danny smashed the phone to bits against the wall. When Rajat realized that it went off, he dialed Rose's home number. His heart thumped in his chest as he waited for her to pick up. The phone rang and rang until he was sent to voicemail.

Rajat cut the call and tried again. His adrenaline peaked. All a sudden, Rose's air conditioned office felt like a typical summer in India.He took a seat and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Perhaps she is already dead."

His thought was squashed when a feminine voice spoke up from the other side of the line. Rajat held his heart and sighed in relief.

"Miss. Peterson!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"This is her cousin. She isn't in at the moment. Please call her office." she lazily said and ended with a yawn.

Rajat's heart dropped, "Um, thank you," he said and disconnected the call.

Knowing how suicidal and daring Rose was, Rajat assumed that she went looking for the Packets alone. Rajat picked up the laptop and dashed out of the office.

Everyone, including Steve, watched him storm out in surprise. Steve adjusted his glasses and went back into his office. He sighed and sat on his chair.

"Asher, where are you?"

****

"Those are the new orders from the queen, huh?" Commander Naraygeous of Asia, asked the two men kneeling before him.

It was winter in Tokyo when Commander Naraygeous was told of the new orders. He was puzzled by Queen Sharaina's sudden interest in the Infinite Medallion. By the look of things, finding the medallion was of utmost importance. Commander Naraygeous dismissed the messengers with a wave of his hand.

"I know you were eavesdropping, Melonina. You might as well come out now." he said and she revealed herself.

"It appears after so many years, the medallion has been found." she said, unfazed after having been caught spying.

"What puzzles me more is how it ended up with a vampire."

"That must be one daring vampire, Commander."

"In deed,"

****

Danny and Jack inspected Rose's car for bugs or wires but found none. They, however, did not let their guard down. They refused to believe that anyone would be dumb enough to face them alone.

They searched the area for any signs of other people being there. After two hours of searching through the woods, they found no trace of anyone else. They then retreated back to the woods.

"Do you really think she came here all by herself?" Jack asked Danny.

"I'm not sure but I'm starting to think so," Danny quickly answered.

The first thing that they saw when they got into the cabin were Monique and Maggie sleeping on the couch. Billy walked into the room, groaning at his bullet wound. He shook his head at his sweaty brothers and concluded that they found nothing.

"I never thought that anyone could be so dumb." Billy said underneath his breath as he walked into the kitchen.

****

Rajat stormed into the police department. He bumped into a good number of people. The laptop was slapped off his hands. He dived for it and caught it before it hit the ground. Rajat sighed in relief, thanking Krishna.

Rajat gasped at a pair of black polished shoes right in front of his face. He faced up to an angry police officer. Rajat smiled awkwardly, got up and rubbed the back of his head while holding the laptop close to his chest.

All eyes were on him.

"Mind explaining to me why you have disrupted the order here?" the officer asked him.

"Um, I want to see the chief detective. I have something important to tell him."

"He is busy at the moment. Come some other time or wait in line like everyone else." the officer pointed to the queue.

Rajat shook his head, "You don't understand, sir. It is a matter of life and death."

The officer held his forehead with two of his fingers. "Peter dear, be a policeman. It's gonna be so much fun," he muttered to himself in a squeaky condescending voice, "Listen here, I have told you that he is busy. If you can't come later, wait for him in the lobby like everyone else."

Rajat looked around and spotted the door with Chief Detective Harvey Brown. He ran past the officer and got to the door. Three police officers ran after him. Rajat opened the door and met the eyes of an elderly man on the phone. He tried to speak to the detective but the officers pounced on him and began to cuff him.

"Sir, please listen to me. I have reason to believe that my boss is in trouble!" he exclaimed.

The policemen dragged him out the door but Rajat was adamant.

"She has been kidnapped by the Packet brothers!"

Upon hearing the words Packet brothers, the Chief detective stood up, "Mike, let me call you back," he said and hung up. He turned to the policemen. "Uncuff him," he ordered and they obeyed. Turning back to Rajat, he asked. "What did you say, boy?"

"My boss has been kidnapped by the Packet brothers. This laptop has a GPS tracker that can lead us to her. Please you have to help her."

"I'm going to need you to tell me everything you know."

Rajat sat down and told the detective everything he knew. He told him how Rose embarked on a dangerous mission to prove that the Packets were guilty. He also told them of Rose suspecting Steve to be Robert Packet. He opened the laptop and explained to the detective that the red dot was Danny's truck.

"Gather units five, six, seven and eight. Send it the S.W.A.T as well. It looks like we have found the Packets. They are not getting away this time."

Now the police know about Steve. What will become of him?

Will the police make it to Rose on time?