True Love Waits novel Chapter 410

Since she hadn't met these people yet, Debbie wasn't sure who was behind the kidnapping. "Aunt Mia, where's the recycling center? I'll go."

"It's too dangerous. Call the police. These guys are too well-organized, and your martial arts might not help you," Mia reminded her. The older lady was so frightened that she couldn't have come up with something so rational.

It was Kasie's father, Mason, who first floated that idea. Mia was just parroting it.

Debbie contemplated the risks and decided to go. "Don't call the cops yet. I'll figure it out."

Before she set off, Debbie had a wild idea and called James. She got straight to the point. "This is your doing, isn't it?" she blurted out.

"What are you babbling about, Miss Nian?" James asked calmly, telling himself to maintain his composure. Before he got nervous, he needed to figure out what she was talking about.

Debbie also collected herself a bit. "Did you kidnap Kasie?"

The man let out a sigh of relief. "So that's why you're calling. Let me guess: they asked you to trade yourself as a hostage," he said in a weird tone.

Debbie fell into silence.

Then James announced through clenched teeth, "Hey, I'm not the only one who wants you dead. I hate you as much as someone ever could, but it's not me this time."

The too proud man would never admit he'd done anything wrong, much less take the blame for something someone else did.

He was right. Too many people wanted her dead right now. And it could be anyone. James, for one, whoever killed Megan, and whoever it was that made off with Kasie.

Now that she knew it wasn't James, she hung up on him without another word.

But none of this was helpful. She was back to square one, totally clueless who she was dealing with. But she couldn't back down. She had to go to the recycling center to face her enemy alone.

She called Mia first before making her way there. "If I don't walk out ten minutes after I walk inside, call the cops."

And this time, she wasn't pregnant. Nothing was going to slow her down. Besides, she was carrying her secret weapons. She would punish these jerks and feel good about it.

Of course, they were ready for her. A group of rather huge men stood at the entrance to the recycling center.

They led her inside the main building. The walls were fashioned from corrugated iron sheet, held up with bars of steel on the inside. There were machines and bins of various types. Even without the men around, it was a bit imposing.

Debbie looked warily around as she walked inside. She found what she was looking for fairly quickly. Kasie was suspended from a rope, her mouth taped, her limbs tied.

When Kasie saw Debbie, she shook her head violently, trying to warn her. But gagged like she was, all she could do was make muffled, incomprehensible noises.

Debbie gave her a comforting smile, then hardened her expression as she shifted her gaze to the men. "I'm the one you want. Let her go."

Just then, a man in a pink suit walked out. He'd been hanging back. He held a knife that glinted strangely in the gloom. Debbie didn't know these men. Why were they targeting her? Especially this pink guy, who looked way too slight and fine-featured to be a man.

She wondered what these guys had against her.

"Did you do this?" she demanded.

The pink guy gave her a sinister smile and replied, "Yeah. I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd have the balls to come alone."

Debbie smiled. "Thanks. Now that I'm here, let my friend go."

"What's the rush?" The man sat down in a chair. Another guy run up to him carrying a glass of water.

"I have a shit-ton of work to do. Quit with the games. What do you want?" Debbie cut to the chase. The longer she stayed, the more danger she was in.

The man placed the knife horizontally before his eyes and slid his left index finger along its edge, as if he was admiring the work of the craftsman. Then, "Leave Ivan," he said. His voice was gentle, soft like a woman's.

'Ivan?' Debbie wondered. 'Is he...'