The Heiress He Underestimated novel Chapter 192

Chapter 192 The Zephyr Protocol Initiates

A tiny spark of hope flickered in Elera’s chest. “You think we can find her?”

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“I think we have to.” He stopped pacing and looked at her. “And we’re not doing it alone. We have resources he can’t even imagine.”

He nodded to Frost. “Activate the Zephyr Protocol.”

Frost actually looked surprised for a fraction of a second. “Sir? That’s…”

“I know what it is. Do it. Now.”

Frost gave a sharp nod and left the room, typing on his wrist comm.

Clara looked from Drakonius to Elera. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s the Zephyr Protocol? Is it a secret air force? A team of ninjas? Please let it be ninjas.”

“It’s better than ninjas,” Drakonius said, a faint, hard smile on his lips. “It’s money. A lot of money. And the people who move it.”

What happened over the next few hours was a masterclass in the application of extreme wealth and power.

The Zephyr Protocol, as Elera learned, was Drakonius’s pet name for a web of private investigators, security consultants, digital forensics experts, and “situation managers” he kept on retainer across the globe. They were the people you called when governments were too slow or too public. They were ghosts with PhDs and very high hourly rates.

While Frost worked on the physical evidence and interrogated the mercenaries, the Zephyr network lit up.

Elera sat with one of the digital specialists, a young woman named Lin who wore cat–eye glasses and drank something that smelled like fermented berries. Lin had pulled the video file apart layer by layer.

“Okay, so he used a cheap burner phone to record, but he’s an idiot,” Lin said, her fingers flying across a holographic keyboard. “He didn’t disable the geo–tag on the video file before he sent it. It’s faint, but it’s there. Places him in a three–block radius of the old Garment District when he hit ‘record.“”

On another screen, a team was scanning every piece of footage from traffic and security cameras in that three–block radius for the timeframe. They were looking for a man matching Kieran’s description, or a vehicle large enough to transport an unwilling older woman.

The mercenaries, under Frost’s less–than–gentle persuasion, gave up a few potential locations: a defunct warehouse Kieran had once looked at for “storage,” a rental property he owned under another name that had been recently vacated.

Teams were dispatched to each location. Drones were launched, silent and invisible in the afternoon sky.

Clara, unable to sit still, had taken over the kitchen. She was baking what she called “Anxiety Brownies.” which involved several types of chocolate and a worrying amount of espresso powder. The smell was

intense.

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Chapter 192 The Zephyr Protocol Initiates

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“It’s either this or I start chewing on the furniture,” she explained, handing a brownie to Elera. “Eat. Your brain needs sugar and caffeine. It’s science.”

Elera took a bite. It was so rich it was almost bitter. “It’s like eating a panic attack.”

“Exactly! It meets you where you are emotionally.” Clara leaned against the counter. “He’s not going to win, you know. He’s a bully. And bullies always fold when you stand up to them. They’re hollow inside.”

“He has Aunt Margaret tied to a chair, Clara.”

“I know. And we’re going to get her back. Because we’re the good guys. And in the stories, the good guys win. Usually after a lot of stress and maybe a minor injury. But they win.”

Elera managed a weak smile. “Since when are you such an optimist?”

“Since I started hanging out with a woman who cures death and a man who buys his own ninja network. It’s infectious.”

As dusk fell, the first real break came. Lin let out a small, triumphant “Ha!”

“Got him. Traffic cam at 7th and Grand. A black van with tinted windows. It matches the description of a vehicle registered to a shell company that has a tenuous link to one of Kieran’s old business partners. The van turned off into the old industrial park near the river. There are dozens of abandoned factories and warehouses there.”

On the main screen, a thermal drone feed showed a grid of large, blocky buildings. Most were cold, dark. But one, a low–slung structure that had once been a textile factory, showed a faint heat signature in a small, central room.

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