Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 315 - 53

Chapter 315: Chapter 53

To pass time while waiting for the kidnappers calls, Liam took in the sight of the apartment Rayne had been living in with his son.

The apartment was big and had a contemporary setting to it. It had a modern kitchen with the latest appliances and granite countertops was separated from the living space by a large island counter with four stools.

The living room was spacious enough for a pair of long sofas, which faced each other across a glass coffee table and were positioned at right angles to the big pumpkin loveseat in which Liam was sitting on.

Beyond the living space was a large play area with a table and chairs at a child’s height, a board, and what Liam assumed were long toy boxes disguised as window seats. A hallway that was parallel to the room led from the play area to what Liam knew were bedrooms.

Liam picked up a magazine from the end table beside his chair and leafed through it, partly to avoid giving in to the strong urge to go back inside the room to console the crying woman, and to stop himself from worrying about the outcome of the kidnapping and when the kidnappers would make their calls.

The room lapsed into silence, and Liam struggled against a sudden impulse to get up and go over to the play space to look at his son’s things.

A minute later, all that changed.

The detective’s assistant came trotting to the living room, looking tense and in a hurry. He went directly to Will Parker for a whispered conference, then nodded and hurried out of the apartment with two other men following behind him.

Parker got up and walked over to Liam. To Liam’s initial surprise, he directed his remarks to him rather than going to Rayne.

"I think we have a clue where the kidnappers might be hiding. We got a call from a cab driver who said he dropped off a young man in an isolated area near a warehouse. He said the area was so quiet he could hear a faint sound of a child crying from the building. He thinks the young man he dropped there had something to do with the kidnapping because he looked suspicious. We have cars on the way to check things out first, but until then, I don’t think we should risk raising Miss Wallace’s hopes. She’s very fragile right now. We have one more hour before we’re supposed to receive the ransom call."

"The cops we sent to check the apartment where the cab driver mentioned he picked up the guy identified the building as the one Jason Wallace is currently staying in. From our investigation, we think Jason and Milo Thompson are involved in this, but we aren’t sure yet."

Liam’s patience snapped at the mention of Jason and Milo being involved in the kidnapping. He couldn’t sit still knowing his son was in the hands of a psychopath like Milo, who’d heartlessly shot his own father for a piece of land.

Furthermore, he hated the state he’d found Rayne in and hated that he was pitying her.

"I think I’ll take over from here. I was once a soldier, and I have connections to advanced equipment we can use to check the warehouse without alerting the kidnappers to the cops’ presence," Liam said, already pulling out his phone to make a call to the people he knew would help him get his son back before it was too late.

Will Parker seemed ready to reject his offer, but Liam had already started making his calls.

"Colonel Davis, it’s Thompson," he said without preamble when the call was answered. "I need your expertise. It’s urgent. And while you’re coming here, I want you to send men to..." Liam instructed what needed to be done.

Within thirty minutes, Colonel Davis, a decorated military strategist, arrived at the apartment with a squad of elite soldiers. Their presence, along with the quiet efficiency of the police officers already present, brought a cold, sharp focus to the chaotic emotions swirling around Liam.

Before the cops knew it, Davis quickly relayed instructions to his team, who began unpacking an array of high-tech equipment. Drones, hidden cameras, and tracking devices were readied.

"We will use these drones to check and see if they are keeping the boy in the warehouse. We only have about forty minutes before the ransom call, and we have our men surrounding the warehouse premises as you instructed earlier," Davis said to Liam as he connected the cameras attached to the drones his men had sent to check the warehouse to a laptop so they could see what was inside.

Everyone in the room was surprised at how quickly Liam had handled everything within minutes, with men already at the warehouse with drones.

The tension in the room was palpable as everyone gathered around the screen to watch what was going on in the warehouse.

The drones were the kind that doesn’t make any noise as they moved around. They flew towards the warehouse, their cameras streaming live footage for the soldiers and cops in the apartment. Liam’s heart pounded in his chest, his mind racing with a mixture of hope and dread as his eyes remained glued to the screen.

The first drone approached a window and hovered, its camera peering inside.

The screen showed a dimly lit room, with crates and debris scattered around. In the center, a young boy sat on a chair, fidgeting with a gun. Liam’s breath caught in his throat as the camera zoomed in, revealing Milo’s face.

His fists clenched at his sides. Milo, he thought with a rising anger that made him want to beat the boy senseless. He’d overlooked the fact that the boy had framed him for his father’s death, but going as far as to kidnap his son was something he would not allow to slip by.

He’d once loved the boy like his own and was ready to do anything for him, but the boy had proved himself unworthy yet again. He was a pain in the neck just like his father had been, and Liam would make sure to teach him a lesson this time around.

Liam pushed his emotions aside, focusing on the mission at hand for now.

The drone moved to the next window, where the glow of a television illuminated a small area.

A young girl with blonde hair sat on a mat with a boy in her arms, both engrossed in watching SpongeBob SquarePants. The boy looked unharmed and seemed to be enjoying himself, but his face was turned away from the camera.

Despite not seeing his face, the fact that the boy appeared alright made Liam’s knees almost give out from the relief that washed over him. He found himself smiling against his will and patting Will Parker’s shoulder in joy.

Will cleared his throat awkwardly, pretending not to notice Liam’s emotional reaction.

"Alpha Team, this is Command," Davis said into his mouthpiece, his voice steady. "We have visual confirmation. There’s a teenager armed with a gun on the north side of the warehouse. The target child is with a female civilian in the south section, watching TV. No other armed men detected. Prepare to move in. Alpha, retrieve the child. Bravo, secure the armed teenager. Proceed with caution."

The soldiers moved with silent efficiency, their movements displayed on the screen from multiple drone angles.

One feed focused on Milo, who seemed oblivious to the danger approaching him. The other tracked the team moving towards the girl and Ethan.

Liam’s pulse quickened as he watched the teams advance. The silence in the room was deafening, the only sounds being the occasional soft buzz of the drones and the hum of the equipment. He could feel every second stretching out, the tension almost unbearable as his eyes remained on the screen where his son was.

"Target in sight," one of the soldiers reported. The camera showed them approaching the girl and Ethan. "Moving in."

The soldier moved swiftly, gently placing a hand around the girl’s mouth so she wouldn’t scream and alert Milo.

She jumped, startled, but the soldier’s calm demeanor seemed to reassure her, and she didn’t fight or struggle. The other soldier lifted Ethan into his arms, the boy’s face still away from the cameras, and Liam craned his neck as if wanting to catch a glimpse of his face.

Meanwhile, on the other feed, Milo noticed the commotion and his eyes narrowed. He was out of his chair in seconds. He raised his gun and shot at the soldiers approaching him. Before any of them could react, he had jumped out the window with the practiced precision of someone who had done that many times.

He was in the bushes before any of the soldiers could apprehend him. Liam cursed under his breath as the soldiers ran after him. However, Liam’s emotions surged as he saw Ethan being carried into the authorities’ car, his head laying on the soldier’s shoulder as if he was sleeping.

"The boy is safe," announced Davis as he turned to Liam. "The teenager will be caught soon as well."

Liam’s relief that Ethan was safe was so immense, so overwhelming, that he could ignore for now the fact that his maniacal nephew was the kidnapper and had escaped the soldiers. Later, he would deal with that, but right now, he wanted nothing to intrude on his forthcoming meeting with his son.

Then, because he couldn’t resist the temptation anymore, he walked over to Ethan’s play area while the soldiers and cops were discussing about the escaped kidnapper.