The Heiress He Underestimated novel Chapter 194

The Heiress He Underestimated

Chapter 194 Allies With History

Screens glowed with maps and data streams in the library room. The quiet hum of computers was the only sound, thick with the weight of what they were about to do.

Elera stood at the center of it all, her fingers hovering over a holographic keyboard she’d pulled up from the main console. She has a change of heart to the plan and won’t be doing the pretend signing or doing any press conference because that will be a waste of time since they now have the location of where aunt Margaret is being held captive. So instead of doing the fake press, they are going to rescue her aunt.

On the largest screen was a blueprint of the old textile factory, highlighted with thermal signatures and structural weak points. On another, a dizzying array of traffic camera feeds scrolled past. A third showed the real–time location of every police car in a ten–mile radius, their icons blinking blue and harmless.

“No police,” Drakonius said again, his voice a low rumble in the quiet. He was leaning over the main table, tracing a possible entry route on the blueprint with a finger. “He has donated to every of the police union for twenty years. He’s played golf with the commissioner. Any official involvement gets back to him before the doors are kicked in. This stays private.”

Frost gave a single, sharp nod from where he was checking over a compact toolkit. “Agreed. This is a surgical extraction but not a siege. We go in quietly, we get the asset out, we leave and leave no witnesses.”

“Asset?” Clara’s voice piped up from the corner. She was sitting cross–legged on the floor, surrounded by three different laptops she’d commandeered. “Her name is Margaret. She paints terrible watercolors and makes a lemon cake that could solve world peace. She’s not an ‘asset.”

Frost didn’t look up. “In this context, she is. Sentiment gets people killed.”

“So does being a robot, but here we are,” Clara muttered, plugging in another cable.

The plan was taking shape, but it had a giant, Xan–shaped hole in it. They needed someone who knew Kieran’s mind, his backup plans, his secret places. And as much as it tasted like vinegar to admit, only one person fit that bill.

Elera took a deep breath. “We have to call him.”

Drakonius straightened up, his expression unreadable. “Valdris.”

“He knows things we don’t. He spent three years as Kieran’s… ally. He knows what properties Kieran might use, how he thinks, what his panic moves look like.”

“He’s also emotionally compromised and potentially unstable,” Frost stated. “He confessed his love for you twenty–four hours ago and surrendered all his leverage. That is not the

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Chapter 194 Allies With History

psychological profile of a reliable operative.”

“He’s also the only one who might know where the back door to that factory is, or if Kieran has a panic room we can’t see on these schematics,” Elera countered. “We need every advantage. He wants to help. Let him.”

There was a long pause. Clara looked back and forth between them like she was watching a tennis match.

Finally, Drakonius sighed. It was a sound of pure, pragmatic resignation. “Fine. Call him. But Frost vets him when he arrives. If he so much as twitches wrong, he sits this out in a locked

room.”

Elera pulled out the burner phone Frost had given her for the fake surrender communications. She typed a short message to the number Xan had used before.

We need your help. Kieran has Margaret. Planning extraction. Your knowledge is critical. Come to the coordinates I’ll send. Tell no one. —E

She hit send. The message whooshed away into the void. For a minute, nothing happened. Then, a simple reply.

On my way. 20 minutes. -X

Well. That was that.

*

*

**

Xan Valdris arrived looking like he hadn’t slept. He was dressed in dark, good clothing–jeans, a black sweater, boots–not his usual billionaire chic. His face was drawn, but his eyes were clear and focused. When Frost met him at a side gate to pat him down, he submitted without a word, holding his arms out.

“I’m clean,” Xan said quietly. “I’m here to help. That’s all.”

Frost finished his scan, gave a curt nod, and led him to the library room.

Xan’s eyes swept the high–tech chaos, lingering on Clara with her nest of laptops, on Drakonius studying the blueprints, and finally on Elera. There was a flicker of something painful in his gaze, but he shoved it down and walked to the main table.

“Show me,” he said, all business.

12:28 Wed, Apr 15 …

76

Xan proved why they needed himanied in

**Coushed

m on the factory blueprint. “That’s not in the origin the original t into a warehouse he used for ‘sensitive importe en ports. It’s a dows and reinforced door. If he’s got her, that’s whethat’s where

is loading bay. The door looks rusted shut, but he’d but he’d have ide. His escape route. He won’t use the main doorslin doors.”

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The Helens He Und we

Chapter 195 Step

He knew Kieran‘ hebt. 1 broken streetlight. Beht come for him. His birds undignified. He’d neverta

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