Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 524

The kidnappers clearly hadn't expected Olive to arrive so quickly. They scrambled to slam the van door shut, but Olive launched herself forward, kicking the heavy steel door. The metal buckled under the force, rebounding violently and smashing into one of the thug's faces. He screamed, staggering backward while clutching his bloody nose.

Olive lunged for the blanket-wrapped figure. Her fingertips had barely brushed the fabric when the opposite door slid open. A man leaped out, wielding a crackling stun gun, and thrust it at her ribs.

Olive twisted sharply to the side. The stun gun grazed her jacket, sparks hissing wildly in the air.

She retaliated with a vicious backhand elbow to his temple. The man groaned and crumpled to the ground.

But that split-second delay was all they needed. The van's engine roared to life, tires screeching against the pavement as it tore out of the alley.

"Dammit!" Olive cursed, breaking into a dead sprint. But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't outrun a vehicle. The van took a sharp corner onto the main road and seamlessly merged into the heavy traffic.

"Don't just stand there! Get after them!" Olive roared at her security detail. She yanked open the door of a nearby car, hotwired the ignition, and slammed her foot onto the gas pedal.

The remaining thugs on the ground were quickly subdued and pinned down by her men.

The minivan drove like a maniac, swerving aggressively through the evening traffic. Olive stayed right on their tail, pushing the car to its limits. She nearly caught up several times, only to be violently cut off as they swerved into her lane.

Three blocks into the chase, a massive black SUV suddenly blew through an intersection, cutting horizontally across the street. The tires shrieked against the asphalt as it slammed to a halt, completely blocking all lanes.

Olive slammed on the brakes. Her car skidded forward, stopping mere inches from the SUV's doors.

She threw her door open and vaulted out, but the minivan had already taken advantage of the blockade, turning down a narrow alley and vanishing into the night.

"Motherfucker!" Olive slammed her fist onto the roof of her car, leaving a shallow dent in the metal.

She stormed toward the black SUV, ripped the driver's door open, and dragged the man out by his collar. She battered him into submission with three brutal punches and a kick, then easily incapacitated his two passengers. But when she finally looked up, the street was dead quiet. The minivan was long gone.

Olive stood in the middle of the road, her chest heaving violently. Blood trickled from a cut on her split lip, and a gash above her eyebrow sent a warm trail of crimson down her face.

She wiped the blood away with the back of her hand and dug out her phone to call Arthur, only to find the screen shattered and pitch black. It was completely dead.

"Fuck!" She spiked the broken phone onto the pavement, stormed back to her car, and floored the accelerator.

...

Half an hour later, someone began violently hammering on the door of Hudson's hotel suite.

Arthur had barely unlocked the latch when a massive force slammed into the door, knocking him backward. Before he could even register who it was, Olive burst into the room.

"Boss, we have a problem!"

Olive's eyes were red-rimmed, her voice trembling with barely contained panic. The guilt and anxiety were eating her alive. "Nora was taken! I chased them for three blocks, but they cut me off with an SUV. I lost them..."

She looked up—and froze.

Nora was standing right next to the living room sofa, staring at her in total bewilderment.

It rang until it went to voicemail.

She dialed again.

Still no answer.

Her grip on the phone tightened, and she looked up at Hudson in sheer panic. "What do we do? Sienna isn't picking up. Was she the one they kidnapped?"

"Don't panic. I'll have someone check the hotel right now..."

Hudson squeezed her hand reassuringly, then shot a sharp look at Arthur. "Investigate it immediately."

"Yes, Boss."

Five minutes later, Arthur's phone buzzed.

"Yeah..."

Listening to the voice on the other end, his frown deepened into a harsh scowl. "Understood."

He hung up the phone and looked at Hudson, his expression grim. "Boss, it's confirmed. The person they took... was Ms. Quigley."