Chapter 61 - Finally Here

His silence had made Nina's suspicious as normally if she had told him what she had just said, he would have either be hurrying to comfort her that nothing would happen to Selena or if he knew that Selena's was already safe and he had seen her, he would have told her right away without mincing words.

So, Justin only noticed that Nina's voice abruptly changed and carried a dangerous edge as she asked.

"Justin, what are you hiding from me?"

Justin's face changed immediately on hearing her question and his wandering thoughts instantly snapped back into place. As he urgently guessed at what had made Nina suspicious, he tried making a final struggle while hoping that it wasn't what he thought that she was asking about.

"Justin! Don't try to play tricks on me. I want to know what happened to Selena!", He heard Nina's furious hushed voice that made it seem like she was trying to prevent someone from listening to what she was saying.

Unfortunately, Justin had no time to think about why was that and could only sigh helplessly and told Nina the truth 'cause he knew that he would have to face her wrath if he still continued pretending that he knew nothing.

"Selena was kidnapped..."

"What! Selena was kidnapped?!"

Justin closed his eyes and rubbed his already aching forehead helplessly. He just knew that this was going to happen.

He should have stuck to his guts and pretended not to see her call earlier, yet, he could only grit his teeth and continue cleaning the mess he made.

"Yes. That's what happened. She was kidnapped the moment she landed at Nova Airport. Now, I need your help to keep this news from her parents. No matter what, they can't know about this but don't worry, we are on our way to rescue her right now and she would be able to inform them about her safety personally in a few hours. Do you understand me?", He asked with rare seriousness on his face.

The other end of the phone remained silent for a few minutes and just when Justin thought the call had been hung up, he heard Nina's hesitating voice and he couldn't help the bad feeling that arose in his heart.

Somehow he knew that he definitely was not going to like her next words.

"That... I am afraid it's too late..", He heard his wife say and though the bad feeling in his heart intensified, he couldn't help but ask.

"What is... too late?"

"...that we should try to keep it from Selena's parents.."

Justin: "...". F*ck!

"The Anderson family?" Which Anderson family?", Selena asked uncertainly.

The scar-faced man looked at her in surprise, probably wondering why she seemed not to have any idea of the identity of the person who ordered her capture. But he still answered her truthfully, "The aristocratic family made up of officials."

Shock and confusion appeared in Selena's eyes the moment he said that. She had heard of 'that' Anderson family and knew that almost all the members of this particular aristocratic family held offical positions in the government from generation to generation.

However...

She had no memory whatsoever of ever crossing paths or offending any member of the said family and therefore, couldn't understand why she was kidnapped.

Even at this moment, it never crossed Selena's mind that Ryan's surname was Anderson as well and that her kidnapping was related to him in any way or that he was even the main reason. This was because the idea that he was an orphan like her(well, until recently) had long been deeply entrenched at the back of her mind and therefore, she didn't even think towards that direction.

The scar-faced man saw the shock and confusion in Selena's eyes and immediately understood that she had no idea of Ryan's real identity. But thinking about it, that wasn't really a surprise as even he who was also a member of the mercenary world, although now retired had no idea that he was a member of the Anderson family prior to today.

This was also the reason why he was being so respectful and cautious in dealing with Selena in addition to his employer's orders. It was all because he later found out that the object of the kidanapping was Ryan's woman and as someone who had got wind of Ryan's reputation for being ruthless and cruel, he could only pray that after Ryan saw that he hasn't disrespected his woman he would be more merciful in dealing with him.

To be honest, he regretted accepting this job after knowing who Selena was, but considering the fact that he was in the employment of the Anderson family, he had no choice but to do so. If he didn't want to, he could only resign from working from them but was it going to be that easy?

The answer was no, considering that he had helped them in settling many of their dirty deeds over the years and was privy to many of their secrets.
So, it was sure to say that the moment he informed them of his plans to resign was the day he says goodbye to this world.

Selena had no idea of the activity going on in the man's head and asked the question she really wanted to know.

"Why... Why did they kidnap me?"

The scar-faced man heard her question and shook his head in reply. He was really clueless as to the reason why the Anderson family wanted Selena kidnapped.

And although he could have told her about the fact that Ryan was the biological son of the Anderson's and maybe after knowing that, she might be able to deduce why she had been kidanpped, but in the end he decided against it.

One, was because it wasn't his place to say it and the second reason was that he had no idea why Ryan hadn't told her about this layer of identity in the first place and he was unable to tell whether it was because she wasn't that important to him or if there was any other reasons.

Therefore, he wisely chose to remain silent.

At the same time, Selena wasn't surprised that the scar-faced man had no idea why she had been kidnapped as she knew he was at best only an executor. However, she had been able to glean some information from his attitude towards her as well as his willingness to tell her everything he knew and understood that she was in no danger for the time being.

After realizing this, Selena somewhat relaxed and this made some of the thoughts she had been suppressing all along burst out from their confines and became all that she could think of.

'Would Ryan get the news that I am back and come rescue me when no one finds me?'

'I wonder how worried my parents would be at the moment, considering I have yet to contact them that I have arrived safely?'

'Nina too...'

However, moments later, she violently shook off those thoughts and regained her senses while chiding herself inwardly.

'Stop this, Selena! Think of something yourself instead of waiting for imaginary rescue!'
'No one knows you are back! Not Ryan, not Nina.. No one does!'
Only her parents knows that she was coming back to Nova and even if they later finds out that something has gone wrong, it would take time before they could come to her rescue. Since like they say, faraway water can't put out nearby fire.

And even though she seemed not to be in danger at the moment, no one could say that the situation would remain the same in the nearest fuure when the person who had ordered her capture finally arrives. Not to mention the fact that she still had no idea why she had even be kidnapped in the first place.

So rather than sitting around passively until something finally goes wrong, wouldn't it be much better to use that time to look around and see if there was a possibility that she could escape?

With that, Selena started looking around furtively and just like she had concluded for the first time after waking up, this was indeed an abandoned warehouse. However, she wasn't able to see any clues of where they might possibly be as her surroundings looked shrouded in darkness, making it a bit impossible for people to know that it was morning.

If not for the tiny window at a corner of the warehouse from which the morning sunlight leaked through, Selena would also have made the same mistake.

And due to the darkness in the warehouse,though she unable to tell if it had always been so or if it had been specially designed to appear that way in order to deliberately confuse her, Selena soon looked discouraged as she wasn't even able to tell if they were other people around apart from the scar-faced man in the place, not to talk of searching for clues.

She could only shift her gaze helplessly towards the scar-faced man who had retreated silently to the side at some point in time and asked him with a hint of catiousness in her voice when she remembered how readily he had answered all her questions before.

"Can you tell me where we are at the moment?"

The scar-faced man looked in her direction on hearing her voice and after assimilating her question, realisation dawned on him as to why she asked that question.

Although he admitted he once harbored thoughts of letting Ryan's woman escape in order to be able to keep his own life when Ryan comes knocking, the scar-faced man also admitted that when the opportunity to do so really arises, he didn't dare to do it. Mainly because he knew just how vicious those that Anderson father and son could get after working for them for so many years...

And so if he really did let Selena escape and later claims that it was unintentional on his part, he could still imagine how miserable his fate would be by then.

He could only tell her the truth as it is, " Look. I won't try to stop you from having thoughts of escaping but honestly even if you know where we are, you still can't escape from this place."

Selena knew he had a reason for saying that and hurriedly asked why.

"This place where we are is actually an abandoned refinery and this is one of the warehouses for storing their products."

The scar-faced man waited for that to settle in before ccontinuing, "You will know that I am telling the truth just by sniffing the air."

Understanding flashed in Selena's eyes on hearing that as she finally knew why she always felt that the air here smelt a bit strange. But that still doesn't tell her why she couldn't escape from here right?

"The fact that this place is an abandoned refinery is not why I told you that you wouldn't be able to escape, rather it is because this refinery is located far away from human dwellings. You have to spend a few hours driving to get here and if you will be moving on legs... Imagine it yourself how long that would take.."

Selena's eyes dimmed instantly on hearing his words as she understood that everything he had just told her was the truth.

But doesn't that mean that she could only wait powerlessly and hope that someone comes to her rescue?, Selena moodily thought to herself.

No! She didn't want that!
No! I have to think of something... There have to be some way after all, this isn't some impregnable prison..