SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 168

Stefan paced the length of the makeshift command center, running his hands through his hair for the hundredth

time. The room buzzed with activity, Alexander's security team, FBI agents, police liaisons, all working frantically

to find Camille. Twenty-six hours had passed since her abduction. Twenty-six hours of dead ends and false leads.

"This isn't working," Stefan muttered, stopping at the map where pins marked locations they'd already searched.

"We're missing something. Rose wouldn't just take her anywhere."

Alexander looked up from a table covered with files, dark circles under his eyes. "Every property connected to

Rose or her aliases has been searched. Twice."

"It's not about property records," Stefan said, something nagging at the back of his mind. "It's about meaning.

Rose does everything with purpose. She'd want somewhere that... that connects to their past."

He closed his eyes, trying to focus. Images flashed through his mind: Camille showing him old family photos,

telling stories of her childhood. Stories from before Rose cinto their lives.

"Wait," Stefan said suddenly, the memory sharpening. "The Lewis summer cabin. Cedar Lake."

The room fell silent.

"What cabin?" Alexander asked, standing up straight.

Stefan grabbed his phone, dialing with shaking fingers. "Mr. and Mrs. Lewis might know. They had a vacation

property when Camille was young."

Within twenty minutes, Richard and Margaret Lewis rushed into the command center, their faces lined with

worry. Margaret clutched a photo album to her chest like a shield.

"Cedar Lake," Richard confirmed, his voice rough with emotion. "We had a cabin there for years. Sold it to the

Hendersons when Rose turned sixteen. She never quite fit in there, it was Camille's special place first."

Margaret opened the album with trembling hands, revealing photos of a young Camille standing proudly on a

wooden dock, fishing rod in hand. "We taught her to swim in that lake. Richard would sit on the dock for hours

with her, fishing."

"And the cabin itself?" Alexander pressed, leaning forward intensely.

"Two bedrooms, stone fireplace," Margaret said, flipping to another photo that showed the cabin's rustic interior.

"Camille carved her initials in the mantel when she was eight. | was so angry at the time." Her voice broke. "Now

I'd give anything to see those marks again."

Richard pointed to the fireplace in the photo. "That stone was brought from a local quarry. The builder told us it

would 'last through anything.’ Outlast us all, he said."

"Rose was obsessed with the place," Margaret added, her eyes distant with memory. "After we sold it, she kept

asking to go back. Said it was the only place she felt like a real part of the family."

Alexander snapped his fingers at his head of security. "Check property records for Cedar Lake. Focus on recent

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transactions involving the Henderson family."

"We checked all Lewis family properties," an FBI agent said, frowning.

"Not if it changed hands recently," Stefan countered. "Rose plans for everything. She could have purchased it

from whoever owns it now."

Hands flew over keyboards. Minutes ticked by. Stefan resumed his pacing, while Margaret continued turning

pages in the photo album, tears silently tracking down her face.

"Were there any distinctive features?" Alexander asked. "Anything that would help us identify it if Rose has

modified it?"

Richard nodded slowly. "There was a boathouse, painted blue. And a cluster of three pine trees right at the

water's edge. Lightning struck one, split it right down the middle, but it kept growing. Camille called it the 'twin

tree.""

"Got something," called a woman at a computer terminal. "Cedar Lake property, previously owned by the

Henderson family, sold one month ago to Phoenix Rising LLC." She looked up, her expression grim. "Registered

agent is R. Thornton."

"Thornton," Margaret gasped. "That was Rose's last nin the foster system, before we adopted her."

"One month ago," Alexander repeated, his voice tight. "She's been planning this for weeks."

The analyst continued, "Cash transaction. Sale price well above market value, suggesting urgency."

Alexander leaned over the screen. "Sendthose coordinates. What's the satellite view show?"

The image appeared on the main display screen: a cabin nestled in dense woods, a narrow dirt road leading to it,

a small dock extending into the lake behind it. And at the water's edge, the unmistakable silhouette of three tall

pines, one with a distinctive split trunk.

"That's it," Richard said, his voice thick with emotion. "That's our cabin." Victoria, who had been sitting quietly in

the corner, conserving her strength during her cancer recovery, leaned forward. "What's the satellite thermal

imaging show?"

Alexander's security chief stepped forward. "Heat signatures show at least three people inside. One hasn't

moved from this room in hours."

A cold weight settled in Stefan's stomach. "Camille."

"And this figure here moves between rooms. Likely Rose." The security chief pointed to another blip on the

thermal imaging. "Third signature stays mostly by the entrance. Probably a guard."

Alexander turned to his team, his face set in hard lines. "I want schematics, approach routes, extraction plans.

We move tonight."

The room erupted into focused activity.

Stefan watched as Alexander pored over maps with his head of security, marking entry points and escape

routes. He felt useless, an outsider in this operation of professionals.

"I never truly saw her, you know," Stefan said quietly when Alexander paused near him. "Not until it was too

late."

Alexander's eyes were cold. "Which one?"

"Either of them. Camille was... good. Genuinely good. I didn't value that." Stefan swallowed hard. "And Rose.... |

never saw the darkness in her. The obsession."

"Save your confession for later," Alexander said, turning back to the maps. "The only thing that matters now is

getting Camille out alive."

An hour passed as they refined the plan. The property sat isolated, three miles from the nearest neighbor.

Satellite images showed minimal security, Rose had relied on secrecy rather than force for protection.

"We have a problem," the security chief announced after a call. "Storm front moving in. Helicopter approach

impossible in these conditions. We'll need to go in by ground, and the only road is likely watched."

"What about by water?" Stefan asked, studying the map. "The lake touches the property line here."

"There's a hidden inlet," Richard added, pointing to the satellite image. "Behind those trees. You can barely see it

from the cabin. We used to keep a rowboat there."

Alexander considered it. "Small boats. Silent approach. Two teams, one from the road as a distraction, one from

the water for extraction."

Victoria pushed herself to her feet, her face pale but determined. "I'm coming with you."

"Absolutely not," Alexander said firmly. "You're still recovering."

"I wasn't asking permission." Victoria's voice held the steel that had built her empire. "I'll stay in the support

vehicle. But | will be there when you bring her out." Alexander looked as if he might argue, then nodded once.

"Stefan stays with you." "No," Stefan protested. "I need to help. | know the cabin. Camille described it toin

detail."

A tense silence filled the room. Finally, Alexander spoke. "Fine. You go in with the water team. But you follow

orders precisely, or I'll have you removed. Understood?"

Stefan nodded, relief and fear battling within him.

Margaret approached Stefan, pressing something into his hand. It was a small wooden fishing lure, weathered

with age. "Camille made this at the cabin when she was ten,"

she whispered. "Give it to he Tell her we're waiting for her to chome."

The next two hours passed in a blur of preparation. Tactical gear was distributed. Communications tested.

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Weapons checked and loaded.

"Remember," Alexander told the assembled team, "Rose is mentally unstable but extremely intelligent. She'll

have contingency plans. Our priority is Camille's extraction. Rose's capture is secondary."

"And if she resists?" asked one of the tactical officers.

Alexander's expression darkened. "Then you do what's necessary to protect Camille."

As the teams prepared to move out, Stefan found himself standing next to Victoria. The formidable woman who

had helped Camille transform from victim to phoenix looked unexpectedly fragile, but hereyes burned with fierce

determination.

"| failed her," Stefan said quietly.

Victoria didn't look at him. "Yes. You did."

"I won't fail her again."

ede

Now Victoria turned, studying his face. "Do you know why she chose you in the

first place, before Rose's manipulation?"

Stefan shook his head.

"Because she saw something in you worth loving. Something beyond the

surface." Victoria's voice was cold but not cruel. "Prove her right. For once."

The loading bay doors opened. Outside, rain had begun to fall, the droplets catching in the harsh light of the

security floodlights.

Alexander stood at the threshold, checking his tactical vest one last time. His face

no longer showed the polished businessman Camille had cto love, but a hunter focused only on his prey.

"Vehicles move out in five minutes," he announced. "Water team, thirty minutes to launch point. Road team,

we'll position at the perimeter in forty-five minutes and wait for the signal."

Victoria touched Alexander's arm. "Bring her home."

"I will." He glanced at the storm clouds gathering overhead. "Whatever it takes."

Venet

As they moved toward the waiting vehicles, Stefan felt a strange calm settle over him. For the first tsince his

betrayal of Camille, he knew exactly what he had to do. Not for forgiveness, he'd long stopped hoping for that

but for redemption.