Chapter 554

Hannah immediately ducked her head and adopted a servile tone, though internally, she was fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "I wouldn't dare. You were the one who'd shot decisively."

She didn't dare take credit.

Brixton's mood had clearly improved dramatically as he kept fondling that three of clubs. "I'm keeping this card as a memento."

Hannah's mind reeled with disbelief. His twisted collecting obsession was really baffling. Outwardly, she remained perfectly compliant. "Whatever pleases you. Everything on this ship belongs to you anyway."

She seized the moment to make her reqquest. "I'm absolutely exhausted and feeling sick right now. I need to go back and rest. Please don't disturb me tonight. Even hostages deserve adequate sleep."

Brixton appeared to lose all interest in her activities and dismissed her with a casual wave. "Go on then."

Relief flooded through Hannah as she immediately spun around and hurried toward her cabin.

The instant she shut the door behind her, her knees buckled and she slumped against it, desperately trying to catch her breath. She'd actually pulled it off. One simple playing card had successfully deflected Brixton's suspicions about the missing phone.

Once Hannah departed, Scorpio quickly reported to Brixton."Mr.Ward, the majority of Rodger's crew has agreed to switch

"Mr. Ward, the majority of Rodger's crew has agreed to switch sides and join us."

Brixton's response came flatand emotionless. "Good. Any luck finding your phone?"

Scorpio shook his head grimly. "Still nothing. We've torn this place apart but haven't located it anywhere."

Brixton didn't seem too concerned. "Forget it. It's just a phone.Make sure to remotely wipe all the encrypted data for security purposes."

Scorpio nodded briskly. "Consider it done. I'll take care of it immediately."

Meanwhile, in Dorbarrow, Vincent paced inside the executive suite atop the Jones Group tower.

Days had crawled by painfully. Hannah had been missing for several days despite their relentless search.

Erica kept refusing to yield any useful information, offering nothing but that infuriating mantra: "Wait for them to make contact."

Vincent had thrown every resource at his disposal into the search, both legitimate and underground, dangling an enormous bounty, yet it was like shouting into an abyss with no echo returning. Whoever had taken Hannah had vanished completely, leaving no trace behind.

This frustration and loss of control were slowly driving Vincent toward the brink of madness. His eyes burned red with exhaustion and fury, radiating such dangerous energy that everyone instinctively gave him wide berth.

Even Derek, his most loyal assistant, barely dared to breathe when delivering updates.

"Mr. Jones, we've hit another dead end. We've combed through every piece of surveillance footage from the ports,highways, and airports multiple times, but there's absolutely no trace of suspicious vehicles or individuals leaving with Ms. Scott.She seemed to have evaporated into thin air." Exhaustion and defeat weighed heavily in Derek's voice.

Vincent's eyes blazed with barely contained fury, his voice coming out as a ragged whisper. "Evaporated into thin air?People don't just vanish like magic tricks."

Suddenly,Vincent's private phone buzzed against the desk surface. The screen flashed to life, showing an unknown number with no location data attached.

Vincent's pulse spiked as a strong gut feeling seized him.His private line was locked down tight, known only to a handful of trusted contacts. Random calls were virtually impossible. Could this be some sick joke? A scam?Or...

Just as the call was about to roll to voicemail, he lunged forward and snatched up the phone. "Hello?" Wariness crept into his tone.

Nothing but silence greeted him from the other end.

The connection felt hollow, as though someone had dialed by accident or the signal was barely functioning.

Then, the line went dead.

The entire call had lasted less than three seconds.

Vincent stood completely motionless. The next instant, he bellowed at Derek, "Track that number's signal right now.Move!Throw every resource we have at this, cost be damned. I need to know exactly where that call originated!"

The Jones Group's elite technical squad sprang into action.Every tracking tool at their disposal-satellites, cell towers,

Every tracking tool at their disposal-satellites, cell towers.everything-went online immediately.

Vincent couldn't stop pacing around his office. Those three fleeting seconds replayed endlessly in his mind like a broken record. He felt certain it had been Hannah trying to reach him.

Minutes ticked by before Derek burst back through the door,his expression caught between triumph and concern. "Mr.Jones, we've got something. We managed to catch the signal,but..."

"But what?" Vincent froze mid-step, his stare cutting through Derek like a blade.

"The signal's incredibly weak and keeps fluctuating, like they're using some kind of military-grade encryption and anti-tracking technology. The location data is all over the place." The technical supervisor's voice crackled through Derek's speakerphone. "We only managed to grab a brief signal burst,with the approximate location somewhere in international waters. But we can't nail down the exact coordinates. The signal just vanished completely, like something jammed it or cut the connection instantly."