Accident Prone

Dr. Snow flinched, seeing that Irene's mask fell off completely and he got to see the deranged woman Max spoke about. How come he didn't realize this before? He berated himself for being stupid.

Dr. Snow took a second to compose himself. "Fifteen minutes."

Irene didn't get it. "What?"

"I have our conversation from last night recorded, including this address and everything related to Liz's kidnapping on a share. It's set with a timer to be sent in fifteen minutes to Max, Liz's father, and the police, unless I stop it.", Dr. Snow said smugly. "I am here for at least four minutes, which means that the email will be sent in eleven minutes. Out of my way or everyone will know what you did."

"You will implicate yourself as well.", Irene said matter-of-factly.

Dr. Snow nodded. "If you didn't understand so far, I am willing to risk my everything for Elizabeth. If you insist on keeping her here, I will not hesitate in releasing the information."

Irene was outraged. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me.", Dr. Snow said defiantly and looked at Liz. His gaze turned gentle. "I won't mind going to jail because no riches and status have value if I can't protect the woman I love."

Irene's eyes flashed. "You are crazy."

Dr. Snow snorted. "Look who is talking. How far did you go to reach Max?"

Dr. Snow didn't know that he was looking at Irene Brooks, Max's ex who ghosted him seven years ago and who worked at the Alpha group, and everything that happened after that. Dr. Snow saw Irene as a crazy ex-girlfriend who was willing to hire thugs and kidnap Liz in order to punish Max. If he knew more than that, he would probably realize that Irene is deranged and that he should not work with her, but at that moment, it was too late.

"Look, lady…", Dr. Snow said impatiently, and he hoped that his voice didn't show how anxious he was. "You said that you are after Max and that Liz is only to lure him. He is out of his mind and ready to give you whatever you want in exchange for Liz's safety. I am in this for Liz as I want her to be mine and Max does not need to know that Liz is not in your hands anymore. Do you understand?"

Irene narrowed her eyes and thought about Dr. Snow's words. He was correct. Her main goal was Max. Dr. Snow and Liz are easy targets compared to Max and she can always get her hands on them later. After all, she knows everything about them while Irene is a ghost. Irene didn't know if Dr. Snow was bluffing with the whole fifteen-minute information release thing, but she was too close to defeating Max in order to risk it now.

There was only one thing that concerned Irene... "How do I know that you will not call the cops the moment you step out of here?"

"If I expose you, I will implicate myself. Now I have Liz. I don't want to go to jail."

Irene pursed her lips and moved to the side.

Dr. Snow didn't hesitate in carrying Liz out.

Irene didn't plan to release Liz from her grasp, but she didn't want complications at this point.

Liz slipping away (for now) was a sign that she needed to move to the next stage of her plan.

She got her phone and dialed a number…

…

In the penthouse suite of Bellagio…

They divided into groups.

Mia and Hunter were looking at videos that showed a woman with a blonde bob hairstyle (aka Irene) moving through the mall after she left the restroom.

Brianna and Quentin were looking at the surveillance videos from the White Orchid restaurant.

Max was on the phone with the chief of police and the men on the field, coordinating the efforts with everyone.

Now that they knew Irene was behind it, they had a face and a name, even though Max knew that Irene was using a different identity.

The tracking of the woman with a white bob hairstyle (aka Irene) through the mall was a dead end. She entered the parking lot and disappeared from there, probably through one of the maintenances exits that are not watched.

"If we assume that this is Irene, we know that she cut her hair short and is blonde.", Brianna tried to find a silver lining. A second later her expression fell. "But she can dye her hair or wear a wig, so that does not mean much..."

"OK, I found the video of two men dragging Liz out of the restaurant through the back exit.", Quentin said excitedly, and Max was next to him in an instant. "The camera angle is not good to see who they are, but the woman's legs are not moving, and she is wearing the same dress like the one on the photo of Liz that Irene sent. And the timestamp is matching."

Max looked at Quentin desperately. "Are you saying this is another dead-end?"

"No. There is a camera pointing at the parking lot. They put Liz in this black Ford focus and drove away. We have a partial of the license plate, it's from Nevada, so they are probably locals."

Mia thought that this is something they can work with. Well, they have nothing else at this point.

"My men will scatter and ask about local gangs for hire. Now that we know Irene has Liz, and that two men dragged Liz out of that place, Irene definitely had help. It will be a small group that she can afford, and they will be in the business for a while because they don't mind getting involved in the kidnapping, and…" Mia wanted to say beating up the hostage, but she swallowed that part down.

"The chief of police can also give us a list of known gangs in the area.", Hunter said.

Mia opened her mouth to respond, but Max's phone was ringing, and they all stared as Max answered.

Max put it on the speaker right away.

"Yes?"

"Hi, Max, did you miss me?", Irene asked with a snicker.

"Let me talk to Liz.", Max demanded. Part of him hoped that Irene does not have Liz and that she was only bluffing.

"Easy there… I called you, so I get to say my thing first."

"What do you want?", Max asked stiffly.

"Five million dollars. In cash. You have one hour, or your bellowed fiancée might suffer."

Max inhaled a shaky breath. They already saw that Liz got a beating, what other suffering is Irene talking about? Max didn't want to ask. He wished for a power to move through that damned phone line and reach for Irene's throat so that he can choke her to death.

"I want to talk to Liz."

"You think that is easy to accomplish?", Irene asked mockingly.

"You want a lot of money, Irene. I need to know that you have Elizabeth and that she is alive."

"Let me see if she wants to talk to you…"

There was a faint sound of shuffling for a second.

"Fuck off…", Liz's voice was heard from the speaker.

"Your vocabulary of curses is small.", Irene said.

"Max taught me.", Liz responded. "If he knew that I would get to watch your ugly face for such a long time, I'm sure he would teach me more."

"Fine!", Irene shouted. "Grab her breast!"

After one second of silence, Irene's laughter drifted into the penthouse suite of the Bellagio. "Good, good… It seems you are enjoying it when a man fondles you. Is he better than Max?"

Irene snickered. "Did you hear that? Liz is having a blast with my men. Five million dollars, Max. You have one hour."

"That is not enough time!", Max shouted. The irritation from what he heard was swelling inside him. Even if Irene lied about someone groping Liz, he definitely heard Liz's voice.

"I believe that a man of your caliber will manage to get 5 million dollars in one hour. After all, there are many banks in Vegas which are open twenty-four hours. Pick one. And Max… don't try anything funny or my men will get to do much more than fondling your fiancée. Do you understand?"

Irene ended the call.

Max felt a surge of rage and helplessness and grief assaulting him and he was unable to move for a few seconds.

Mia, Brianna, Quentin, and Hunter were in a similar state. None of them reacted as they stared at the phone in Max's hand.

Of course, they didn't know that Irene's talk with Liz was a recording, but it brought a sense of dread and urgency between them.

"Find her, now!", Max roared. If Irene was in front of him, he would rip her into a million pieces. "Get a list of every gang in the area from the police and get our men to purge each of their hiding spots! Even if they are not involved, they will know who is! Irene is a new face, and she couldn't go unnoticed. She called them 'her men' which means they are working for her!"

"What about the money?", Brianna asked.

Max exhaled forcibly. "We will get that also, just in case we can't rescue Liz before the time runs out."

They swiftly divided tasks and within minutes they were out of the suite.

Max was unable to sit still. Guessing that Liz might be in danger and knowing that she is, were two totally different things. The only good thing was that Liz was talking back to Irene which was a sign that Liz's spirit was not broken.

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