Tony and the hired men discreetly followed Mehdi’s car until it entered a white mansion that was known to belong to Mehdi. It had been shown countless times on the news so everyone knew it was his.
The mansion was as big as a small community with gigantic gates and tall walls. It had a state-of-the-art design and exuded wealth.
In the mansion were armed guards stationed both in and out to secure the building as well as surveillance cameras scanning the ground.
The mansion was built like a fortress, proof of Mehdi’s wealth and power.
Tony surveyed the area, wondering why he was home so early. It was rare to see a man like Mehdi who was always busy actually spend time in his house. To make things worse, he didn’t have a wife and his parents lived in a different city.
“Could he be hiding Lily here?” Tony wondered.
It would make sense since no one would expect him to keep a hostage in his residence. It would be absurd to think that.
But, Tony had a feeling.
One of the hired men who had gotten into Tony’s car earlier leaned in from the back seat and asked. “How do we get in with all the security? That place looks impenetrable.”
The other men in the backseat nodded in agreement as they had their eyes fixed on the gate.
“It might be possible if we create an opportunity.” One said and the others, including Tony turned to hear what he had to say.
“A chaos that would make them panic and leave their posts. The door doesn’t look locked to me so I’m guessing they are relying on the security men to keep watch. If we create a ruckus that could take them out of their posts for a few minutes, we can get in.” He explained.
“That makes so much sense.” Tony nodded and turned to the others.
“We could start a fire.” He suggested.
“Pardon me, Mr Martinez but, how do we do that?” Another asked and Tony looked around until his eyes caught something they could use.
“First, we need to get down from the cars.” He said and drove backward, making sure the car was at a distance that was not too far from the building. Then, they all got down and waited to hear his next command.
“We’re going to blow up the car.” Their eyes flew open and their mouths parted in disbelief.
“S…sir. Isn’t that a bit too much? I’m sure we can think of something better.” One of them said but Tony shook his head.
“That’s the only thing big enough to pull their attention. Tell the guys at the back to take their car far enough and they should make sure they do not get caught. When I rescue Lily, we’ll use that car to get her back.” He instructed and after hesitating for a while, they nodded.
“Rico speaking. Get the car away. It should be out of sight but close enough to be reachable when we return.” One of them instructed.
“Roger that.” The others replied and drove backward.
“It has been done, boss,” Rico told Tony and he nodded.
“I’m guessing you have a grenade somewhere.” He said to Rico who smirked and shook his head slowly.
“Of course.” He replied and dipped his hand into a box which was amongst the other things they had removed from the car and brought out one and handed it to Tony.
As Tony held the grenade in his hands, ready to blow his car up, he said a silent prayer, hoping that this was not in vain and that Lily was actually inside Mehdi’s mansion.
Taking a deep breath, Tony opened the grenade and threw it into the car.
“Run!” He screamed immediately and they all took cover.
The car blew up in seconds with a big bang, causing the ground to shake. The weight of the explosion was felt by the security men at Mehdi’s place who immediately rushed to check it out.
Tony watched from his position, heart pounding as the guards abandoned their posts one by one.
“Now!” he whispered into his earpiece, and his men moved swiftly, slipping through the now unguarded gates.
Once in the compound, Tony and his men stayed low, moving discretely as they struggled to find their way around the large building.
“How are we going to find her now?” one asked. “She could be anywhere for all we know.”
“Or, she could be elsewhere.” Another added but was quickly dismissed by his colleague who threw him a harsh glare.
“We search everywhere. I don’t care how we do it but I know that we are not leaving here until we find her.” Tony replied sternly and began to move.
Meanwhile, Mehdi walked down a narrow staircase into the mansion’s basement, a single key dangling from his hand. The air grew cooler as he reached the bottom, where a solid metal door awaited him. With a turn of the key, he unlocked the door and stepped inside.
The room was poorly lit with bad ventilation. It was a room that was built for the sole purpose of fulfilling Mehdi’s twisted desires.
At the far end of the room was Lily, sitting on the bare floor with her hands and legs tied. Her eyes were wide open but the exhaustion in them was obvious.
“Have you come to a decision yet?” Mehdi asked his voice smooth and mocking.
Lily glared at him, refusing to speak.
He clicked his tongue and approached her slowly, his footsteps echoing in the dark space. “You’ve been given a chance to make this easy, Lily. Come with me and I’ll give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of. I’d even spare your darling, Tony.”
“Over my dead fucking body.” Lily spat, her lips quivering and her voice trembling.
“Careful there,” Mehdi said, his expression darkening. “Careful what you wish for. I might just take your word for it and actually kill you. Then, you’d become mine to keep.” He said with a devilish smirk and Lily felt her insides twist in disgust.
“You’re an animal. Rot in hell!” She yelled at him but as he opened his mouth to respond, a distant noise caught his attention.
He thought it was nothing at first and tried to ignore it but the commotion grew louder with every passing second.
Less than a minute later, the door burst open and one of his men rushed in, breathing loudly,
“What’s happening? Why the fuck us everywhere so damn noisy?” He asked with a frown.
“W-we are under attack!”