THE GENERAL’S REDEMPTION

CHAPTER 3: THE SEARCH

Marcus walked with long, quick strides toward the black Audi that was parked outside the hotel, waiting for him.

His mind had already shifted away from the wedding and the Hayes family. There were more important matters that needed his immediate attention right now.

"What happened?" Marcus asked David as soon as they were both inside the car and the doors closed behind them.

"Sir, we have finally located the woman from that night five years ago," David began speaking carefully, like he was afraid of how Marcus might react. "Her name is Elena Rodriguez. She comes from a third-tier family here in Grandview."

Elena. Marcus turned the name over slowly in his mind trying to connect it to any memories. He barely remembered anything about that terrible night because of the drugs they gave him. His mind had been clouded and confused. He never even learned her name before everything in his life fell apart completely.

"After the incident happened," David continued with his report, "the Rodriguez family became very afraid of being associated with any scandal. They decided to cut off Elena's immediate family completely and removed them from the family registry, as if they never existed."

"Shortly after that Elena's father was framed for causing an accident at one of the family's warehouses. Several workers died in the accident. He has been locked up in prison ever since that day. Her mother barely survives now by selling vegetables at the local market to make ends meet."

"Elena herself works as a music teacher at an elementary school to support her family. But there is something more you need to know." David hesitated, as if he was not sure how to say the next part.

"Go on and tell me," Marcus said firmly.

"She has a son. His name is Leo Rodriguez. And sir, based on our thorough investigation and checking the timeline carefully the boy is definitely yours."

The news hit Marcus like someone had punched him hard in the chest. His hands gripped the car door tightly without him realizing it.

A son. He had a son somewhere in this city. All these years had passed and he never knew.

The woman whose life he had accidentally ruined through no real fault of his own had carried his child. She raised that child all alone while he was off fighting wars in distant places halfway across the world.

Marcus had faced enemy gunfire many times without flinching even once. He had made life and death decisions that affected thousands of soldiers under his command. But right now, sitting in this car, he felt completely unprepared for this news.

So many different emotions crashed over him all at once like waves. Joy at discovering he had a child in the world. Guilt for being absent from that child's life. Anger that he had missed five whole years of his son growing up. Anxiety about what kind of father he could possibly be after everything he had been through.

Then David's next words cut through all the confusion in his mind like a sharp knife.

"Sir there is an urgent situation happening right now. The boy was abducted from his school about two hours ago. We have already located where he is being held prisoner."

Every other emotion vanished instantly from Marcus's mind. All that remained was ice-cold fury that made the air in the car feel heavy.

"Where is he?" Marcus's voice was deadly quiet in a way that made David nervous.

"A villa in the Lakeside Gardens district on the east side of town. The man who took him is named Felix Grant. He is known for loan sharking and has been harassing Elena for many months now."

"He thinks the Rodriguez family is too weak to fight back against him. He also believes he is protected because he has connections to the Montgomery crime family," David explained while checking his notes.

Marcus's jaw clenched tight enough that his teeth hurt. Someone had taken his son. Someone had dared to put their hands on his child and frighten him.

"We are going there right now," Marcus said in a tone that left no room for discussion. "And David make sure you bring your knife with you. We are going to send a very clear message today."

The car engine roared to life and they sped through the city streets toward Lakeside Gardens.

Across town in a fancy villa, a large, muscular man carried an unconscious boy into the expensive living room.

The child had very striking features that caught your eye immediately. His thick dark hair fell across his forehead and his face was so handsome he almost looked like he belonged in a painting. Even though he was unconscious right now you could tell he would break many hearts when he grew older.

"Boss, I brought the kid exactly like you asked me to," the large man said to the middle-aged figure who was coming down the stairs slowly. "He tried to make noise and attract attention from people so I had to knock him out cold."

Felix Grant looked down at the boy lying on his floor with a cruel smile spreading across his face. "Good work. Do not contact the mother yet. Let her panic and worry for a while longer. Let her feel real fear building up inside her."

"That stupid woman took my money but then refused to sleep with me when I wanted her to," Felix continued talking and his voice was full of anger and malice. "Who does she think I am? Some kind of fool she can just take advantage of?"

"I am going to make her crawl to me on her hands and knees begging for mercy. Then I will take exactly what I am owed from her body whether she likes it or not."

He pointed with one finger to a metal cage sitting in the corner of the room. The cage was barely large enough to hold a medium-sized dog.

"Lock the little brat in there for now. If she refuses to cooperate with me then I will just sell him to some people I know. A pretty face like that will fetch a very good price from certain buyers who pay well."

The large man picked up Leo and started walking toward the cage. But suddenly the boy's eyes snapped open wide. For just a moment he looked confused about where he was. Then memory came flooding back and he saw the scary face of the man holding him. He remembered this bad uncle had tried to grab him in the school restroom.

Leo began struggling with all his small strength and shouted as loud as he could. "Let me go right now! I want my mommy!"

The large man was having a surprisingly tough time holding onto such a small child. Felix walked over to help and grabbed the boy's chin roughly with enough force to make Leo wince in pain.

"You listen to me you little brat. You'd better behave yourself nicely, and I might give you some candy. Otherwise, you will get hurt badly."

His threatening words were cut off suddenly by a loud scream. Leo had bitten down as hard as he could on Felix's finger. The expression on the little boy's face seemed to say he was not stupid enough to fall for tricks about candy.

"You little demon!" Felix yanked his bleeding hand back and looked at the bite mark in shock and rage. Without thinking he slapped the boy hard across the face. The sharp crack of the hit echoed through the room. Five red fingerprints appeared immediately on Leo's soft skin and his small face began to swell up.

Leo's eyes went wide with shock and terrible pain. He was only five years old and had never been hit by anyone before in his whole life.

Felix looked at his finger and saw it was already turning purple from the deep bite. His anger grew even hotter. He grabbed Leo with both hands and threw him roughly into the metal cage. The boy's small body hit the iron bars hard.

"You are just as stupid and stubborn as your foolish mother! When I finish having my fun with her I will feed you to my dogs and watch them tear you apart!"

Leo curled up from the pain of hitting the cage so hard. He began to cry because he was only a little child and had never been in such a terrifying situation before. All of this would not have happened if he had not gone to the restroom by himself. He did not understand that it was actually the school's fault for having such poor security.

But right when Felix finished making his terrible threat the front doors of the villa suddenly burst open with a loud crash. The large bodyguard spun around quickly.

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

Before he could finish his angry sentence, something silver flashed through the air, moving incredibly fast. The man's eyes bulged out in shock as he grabbed at his throat with both hands. A throwing knife had buried itself deep in his windpipe. He collapsed to the floor and blood began pooling around his body.

Felix barely had time to react before a figure appeared in the doorway moving like lightning. David stepped inside the villa and calmly walked over to the dead bodyguard. He pulled his knife free from the man's throat without even looking at all the blood. Then he turned toward Felix with cold eyes that showed no emotion at all.

"You should have chosen your victims much more carefully," David said in a flat voice.

Then he stepped to the side as Marcus entered the villa behind him.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly. Felix felt genuine fear for the first time in many years as this stranger's dark gaze swept across the room and landed on the cage in the corner.

Marcus saw his son for the very first time. The resemblance between them was impossible to miss or deny. The boy had his eyes and his jawline and even the same stubborn look around his mouth.

And someone had hurt him. Someone had dared to put marks on his child's face.

Marcus's hands clenched into tight fists at his sides but he forced himself to stay calm and in control. He walked slowly toward the cage and knelt down beside it. His voice came out gentle in a way he had not used in years.

"Everything is okay now. No one is going to hurt you anymore. I promise you are safe. I came here to take you home to your mother."

Maybe it was the unexpected kindness in this stranger's voice or maybe Leo was just desperate for anyone to save him from this nightmare. Whatever the reason, he reached out with one small, trembling hand toward Marcus.

Marcus carefully helped the boy climb out of the cramped cage. His heart twisted painfully at how much Leo was shaking.

Behind him, Felix was starting to panic and beg. "Wait just a minute! Do you people have any idea who I am? The Montgomery family will completely destroy you for this! My godfather runs half the criminal operations in this entire city! If you just leave right now and forget this happened maybe I will not tell him what you did!"

David walked over calmly and slapped Felix hard across the face without any warning. The force sent the man flying backward onto an expensive leather couch. One side of his face swelled up immediately and started turning dark purple.

"People like you do not deserve any mercy or forgiveness," David said in a quiet voice that was somehow more frightening than yelling.

He moved toward Felix with clear purpose and intent.

"No! Please stop! I have lots of money! I swear I will never bother that woman again! Please do not do this to me!"

Felix's desperate begging cut off in a horrible scream as David's knife found its target. The man's eyes bulged out in pure agony as he realized in that moment he would never be able to function as a man again for the rest of his miserable life.

Marcus had already covered Leo's eyes with one gentle hand. "Do not look at any of this," he said softly to the frightened boy.

Felix's screams slowly faded to pathetic whimpers as shock began setting into his body. David cleaned his blade carefully and returned to Marcus's side like nothing unusual had happened.

"We should leave now sir. The child needs to see his mother as soon as possible."

Marcus nodded in agreement and carried Leo carefully out of the villa. They left Felix lying there to think about all his mistakes in a growing pool of his own blood.