(Zyair)
As planned, Kail and I decided to sneak into Ranold’s house. But someone had already beat us to it.
My heart almost stopped when I found Karsten carrying Arata out wrapped in a blanket.
Every fatherly instinct in my body screamed to just snatch her away from him and never let any of these men ever see her again.
Karsten had acted exactly as he had said on the phone or maybe he just did that to shift the blame from himself.
At that moment, I didn’t care. All I needed to do was take my daughter away from him and get her the medical attention she needed.
Karsten was surrounded by armed men, but I wasn’t afraid; I had dealt with his kind before, and I would die protecting my children from the likes of him.
I snatched her from his arms and warned him to stay away as we rushed to the car.
Getting inside, Kail drove like a madman while my eyes focused on Arata. Her face was hardly recognisable because of the bruises.
Her eyes were closed and she weighed like feathers in my arms.
"Arata! Baba is here. Nothing will happen to you," I whispered, more to myself than to her, a reassurance that she was safe now. Tears slipped out of my eyes and fell on her.
Once Arata would be stabilised I planned on obtaining a restraining order against Karsten and every other man that had caused her pain. I was done with men hurting her and leaving her bruised.
We arrived outside the hospital and emergency paramedics rushed her inside, telling us to wait in the waiting area.
Kail called Zaylen and Stella while I called Skyla and choked out.
"We got her, Sky. She is in bad shape, but she is alive. Doctors are treating her."
She breathed out with relief. "I knew you would, just bring her home as soon as she can travel and keep me updated." seaʀᴄh thё NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"I will. Don’t worry; no one else is going to hurt her," I tried to reassure both of us.
I ended the call as the desk attendant asked me to fill up the emergency form. I knew they would be calling the police soon.
By the time I was done with the form and other formalities, Zaylen and Stella rushed inside and found us.
"How is she?" Both of them asked with pale faces.
"She is unconscious, doctors are treating her." My hands shook as Zaylen grabbed my shoulders. I was standing but hardly.
"You know her dad. She will pull through. She is a fighter."
Brave, my daughter has always been so brave. Although I always tried to spoil her, she was extremely resilient.
We didn’t raise her soft. She knew how to voice her opinions.
"I know, but the police might be here soon for the statements."
"So, did they find Karsten? What happened?" Zaylen asked in all seriousness. I offered him a short version.
"Does that mean we were after the wrong man?" He questioned, rubbing his temple in confusion.
"We don’t know until the police carry out their investigation. But one thing I know is, that man is never getting in her proximity again," I told my son so he knew that he needed to be there for his sister if it came down to protecting her. He squeezed my shoulders while intently staring at me. "We will protect her, whatever the cost. Don’t worry about it."
The time was still for us; every second passed like we were trapped at the bottom of hell.
I found it difficult to breathe, there wasn’t enough air to fill my lungs.
Stella fetched everyone a coffee. Offering me one cup, she kindly said, "Uncle Zyair, please have some. It will keep you warm."
I accepted it but found it difficult to even take a sip.
The police arrived to take my statement. Detective Pimber seemed pissed, to say the least. He walked over in all his authority, his nostrils flared.
"Do you even realise how dangerous that vigilante mission was?" He said, hardly holding himself back as he tapped his black boot on the hospital’s tiled floor.
I was already pissed and he was testing my patience.
Raising my head, I glared at the detective.
"Firstly, it was your job to rescue my daughter and not delay it." I placed the thermoplastic coffee cup down. "Secondly, we didn’t even go inside the house. Thirdly, even if I had to take a life to protect my daughter, I would. So you should be thankful, we did the job for you."
He shook his head at me.
"We were still in the process of acquiring a warrant from the judge. You understand these things take time."
I scoffed, rising to my feet and facing the detective.
"The time my daughter didn’t have. She is in there," I pointed to the operation theatre. "Struggling with her life after who knows what those demented people did to her. You better bring all of them to justice, every last of them involved." The dead serious tone I used seemed to instil some sense into him.
"We will ensure everyone involved is captured and prosecuted according to the laws...now if I can have your complete statement."
I told him whatever I knew and saw. He wanted me to go down to the precinct with him but I refused to budge until Arata woke up.
"Did you even catch all the people involved? That Ranold guy?" I asked and he shook his head.
"Seems like when he tried to hack into the system of the call company and failed, he got alerted. He must have been out of the house when Karsten visited him and didn’t return, finding out his house had been invaded. At least that’s the version we have gotten so far," Pimber said in frustration and I gritted my teeth in annoyance.
"You better catch him and his mother."
"We got his mother, all right." Some relief wove its way into my heart as I asked.
"What about Karsten?"
Detective Pimber seemed unsure as he scratched his head. "Initial evidence seems to paint Mr Chevalier as innocent. But your daughter’s statement will be crucial to reveal the whole truth. We can’t apprehend him for now."
That man kept evading the police even after what he had done. That annoyed me but I held my tongue.
"We will be in touch."
After he had jotted down all the points, Detective Pimber left with Kail accompanying him, leaving me to pace relentlessly.
Zaylen and Stella were huddled together on two stiff chairs in the waiting area. Zaylen had his arms around her while she rested her head on his shoulder with her eyes closed.
Both of them had always been close and were each other’s protectors.
And then the door opened and in walked the man I didn’t wish to see at all, followed by two of his bodyguards.
How did he even find where we had taken Arata?
His desperate eyes roamed the area and landed on me. My fists clenched at my sides as he walked up to me and halted.
"How is she?" He asked, his eyes wavering towards the operation theatre.
"Why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to stay away from my daughter? I am not going to let you see her." I narrowed my eyes at him but he didn’t even blink. His next words caught me completely off guard though.
"I am here to ensure she is properly taken care of. No force in this world can stop me from seeing the woman who is carrying my child." My eyes widened in shock as he added further.
"Arata is pregnant with my child and not even her father can prevent me from seeing her.