The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 199

Chapter 179: The Panic

Bella POV

The school’s head teacher, Mrs. Jane, was a careful woman. I registered her deliberate calm voice immediately.

“Mrs. Black, we’ve completed a full sweep of the building. Tom is not on the premises.”

The world went very quiet.

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“The last confirmed sighting was at 2:47 PM,” she continued. “The gate camera shows him walking toward the pickup area. After that, there’s a blind spot between the side gate and the main road. Our security company is pulling the full footage now.”

“How long has that blind spot existed?” My voice was surprisingly calm.

A pause. “We’re looking into that.”

“That’s not an answer, Mrs. Jane.”

“I understand”

“My five-year-old has been missing for over thirty minutes on your property,” I said. “I need the footage timestamp, the name of every adult who was in the pickup area between 2:45 and 3:00, and I need you to confirm whether the side gate was locked or open. Right now, not in five minutes.”

She started giving me names. I wrote them on the back of a receipt as I hurried toward the elevator, my heels clicking on the marble floor.

I called Caleb the second she hung up and he answered instantly.

“The school has a blind spot on the side gate camera,” I said. “He was seen at 2:47, but after that, nothing. There are thirty-two minutes unaccounted for.”

“I have Lena on it,” he said. His voice was steady but tight. “She’s pulling the street cameras for a two-block radius.”

“The head teacher gave me staff names from the pickup area. I’m texting them now.”

“Send them to me also. I’m also calling the FBI field office directly.”

I heard a car honk on his end. “I’m a few minutes from the school. Don’t go in alone-wait at the gate.”

“Caleb”

“Wait at the gate, Bella. Please.”

I didn’t answer, I was already in the elevator.

The school looked disturbingly normal. Children were playing and a teacher sat on the steps with a coffee. Nothing suggested my son had vanished into a blind spot minutes ago.

Mrs. Jane met me at the gate, she was a woman in her fifties with curly hair. Her face showed she knew

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Chapter 179 the Panic

this was no ordinary crisis. “We have the partial footage ready,” she said, leading me to the office.

“The side gate camera has a hardware fault,” she explained. “It cut out at 2:51.”

“When was it last working?” asked.

She hesitated. “Last Thursday.”

I stopped. “So there’s been an unmonitored exit for four days.”

“Show me the footage,” I demanded.

The forty-second clip showed Tom walking with purpose, his dinosaur keyring swinging. As he turned toward the side gate, the feed cut to static. On the third viewing, I spotted a dark grey car parked just beyond the gate. No plate was visible.

“That car,” I pointed. “Has anyone checked street cameras?”

“That’s Lena’s team job,” Caleb said from behind me. He looked composed, but his eyes held the same terror I’d seen when he thought Grace almost stopped breathing in the NICU.

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He studied the monitor, then called Lena. “Grey vehicle, east side gate, 14:50. Pull everything within four

blocks. Now.”

“Mrs. Jane,” Caleb said, his voice quiet and final. “Everyone out, only you can stay.” The staff left immediately.

He turned back to her. “I need the full maintenance log for that camera-every record and call for the past year. Printed and digital in ten minutes.”

Mrs. Jane began to offer assurances about the school’s security, but he cut her off. “The fastest thing you can do for my son is get me those records and give us the room.”

She left, and the office went silent. I sat down as my legs finally gave out. Caleb was beside me instantly, his hand steady over mine.

A few minutes later, my phone lit up with an unknown number, I answered.

“We have your son,” a distorted voice said. “Fifty million dollars. No police, or he dies.”

The line went dead. The room was silent. Caleb had heard it; his hand went still. Then his jaw tightened in

anger.

“They made a mistake calling this number,” he said quietly. “I’m going to find them.”

I didn’t pick up my phone. I stood in the office and felt something crack. Everything I’d been holding in since the school called-the static on the footage, the voice treating my son like a transaction-it all broke.

“Bella” Caleb started.

“No,” I choked out. I pressed my hands to my chest, trying to hold myself together, but I couldn’t. I started crying.

Caleb reached for me, and I hit his chest. I just needed somewhere to put the pain.

Chapter 172 the Panic

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“This is your fault,” I said. I knew it was wrong the moment I said it, but the fear had to go somewhere.

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