章節 8: A Weak Link

When the President and his team reached, the smoke and fog had reduced, the two back doors were open.

A few quickly helped the lady officer and the driver out of the car.

Lady officer had fainted so they quickly arranged to send her to the hospital while the driver confessed the developments to Bernard Collins.

There was worry and a hint of panic in his tone, "Sir, some men pretended as one of us." He could clearly remember the way the person spoke. It was like they were trained for their speech and tone. He had doubts that one of their men was involved in the incident but he was allowed to speak his speculation unless asked.

He continued, "They took Mr. Reynolds out first. He wasn't wearing a seat belt. He was conscious and in his senses during and after the collision. He was a bit hurt." Even though the seat belts aren't compulsory for the passengers of a car, It is always advised to keep the seat belt on for the ones who work closely with the President and including the president too. So that, they sustain minimal injuries during such accidents. He hadn't checked on Kyle as he hadn't expected the man to sit without fastening the seat belt. Was it negligence or purposeful?

The driver continued without a pause, "Then they hit Ms. Owen. As far as I could make out the noises, she fell unconscious, that man took her away like a slack. Ms. Owen is probably kidnapped." He couldn't say Kyle was kidnapped because he didn't feel that way.

Bernard's expression hardened hearing the driver. If he had stopped the car sooner, they could have avoided the kidnap. He turned to the chief officer in a hurry and ordered them, "Anya is wearing my blazer. Track my GPS now. I don't care about the information. I want them safe. Quick."

Since he was the president of the country, according to security protocol, he had to follow numerous rules. His life as President wasn't exciting as people think. Presidents had a hell set of rules to follow, including the food he eats or water he drinks. Similarly, in case of emergency or any kidnap, he was obliged to keep the GPS. It was in the blazer that he gave to Anya. He hadn't thought giving her the coat could rescue her. So he was glad he did that.

When everyone started to react to the situation, they didn't notice, Bernard, staring at the accident car's driver. The latter faintly nodded at him, indicating what he said in front of all was the truth. That driver will be taken for more questioning so Bernard wanted to confirm it.

The team was quick to divide the work. Their priority was the President of the country and his safety, the rest comes next. They safely escorted Bernard Collins to the President's mansion. The security for him was increased on the safer side.

At President mansion,

Unlike the luxuriousness in the mansion, it was minimalistic. Bernard kept everything light without wasting the public money on his interest. One of the reasons, public admired him.

The male and female secretary of Bernard followed him closely. They crossed a few blocks of a small living hall before reaching the main living hall. Due to Bernard's safety and working round the clock, there were small quarters for his subordinates and other quarters for security personnel. In the center, his big quarter was present.

The secretaries stood aside and watched Bernard pacing in the living hall for a few minutes. Suddenly he went towards the stairs and the secretaries followed him.

Another thing Bernard hated being president was, he absolutely gets no privacy. While eating or even getting ready, there will be one person to assist him, in the name of rules, protocols, and what not.

He paused at the stairs and turned behind, "Secretary Harris, Ricardo, reported to the work on time. You can go to your quarters. I will call you if needed."

Secretary Harris aka Yulia Harris, the female secretary, and Ricardo Baker, the male secretary of Bernard looked at each other. Bernard rarely gets angry, he believed in working together rather than ordering around. So from the time of the accident, they could feel he was angry for various reasons and he was holding back. Assuming he was angry at himself for not protecting Anya and Kyle, both didn't pressure him to have them around.

Both could only nod at the President, "Sir, would you like to have your breakfast early or at the usual time?" Asked Yulia with due respect to the man.

Bernard furrowed hearing Yulia, he wanted to hiss at them as if they still had an appetite to eat after the morning incident. However, he held back because it was her duty after all. Even though he wanted to say he doesn't want to, he will get persuaded with a heap of reasons so, "Usual." Then he left without waiting for their counter.

Ricardo and Yulia breathed out slowly once Bernard disappeared at the corner. "That was intense." Numerous times they felt like Bernard was finally going to scold, anyway, he proved he was different from all the presidents.

Yulia stretched her neck and breathed in relief, "I need to catch some sleep. We have a long day." They have to handle the reason behind the canceled conference and be prepared to help Bernard with tons of calls and visits of parliament members. Many would try to bring down Bernard taking this opportunity.

They left from there exchanging a few words without noticing somebody was keeping an eye on them.

Bernard was hiding behind the wall and watched them leave. He had gone towards the bedroom, once they left, he rushed to his study room where the privacy was high. He looked around to make sure none were keeping an eye on him and locked the door.

Fishing his mobile out of pockets, he paced in the room while he made a call to a number that was saved as Linus.

It rang for a long time before it was answered. The voice from the other side sounded groggy, [Dad, it's just half past 6.]

"Wake up, Linus." Bernard hissed and continued, "You had said the work was done."

The other side yawned without bothering about the angry voice, "Yes, Dad. We have the information." His voice trailed, ready to go back to sleep.

Bernard's face darkened hearing no seriousness from the other side, "You rascal, I asked you to kidnap the lady with the information. Somebody kidnapped her now."

Bernard could still recall the confidence on Anya's face. He had reached there expecting her disappearance to be reported but found her sitting on the ground. He was kind of sure she was playing safe and very, very smart.

A voice with a hint of irritation sounded, "Why should we kidnap her when we got what we want?"

Bernard had no time to counter with his son. If Anya wasn't kidnapped, he could have tricked or convinced her to speak everything and take the required measures. Now he could only hope his security team could find her soon before they lose her track completely.

"Take your ass off the bed and check if the information is real or duplicate. She might have fooled you guys." He ended the call after it and breathed.

He knew Anya was quick-witted. But she was the best choice he had. Kyle stays with the Reynolds family and sneaking there and succeeding easily was impossible. The other employees from the secretariat team were with the families and he didn't want the bloodshed. Anya was staying alone which gave a weak link for them to plan this for a whole week.

Bernard strongly felt there was another person who tried to get the information from Anya. Since it wasn't him, the only other person who knew about the information was Kyle. Bernard didn't doubt Anya and guessed Kyle to be playing behind their backs.

But everyone around knows Kyle loves Anya. He always tried to give her a hand in her work so that she could go home soon to her son.

Why will Kyle put Anya in danger?

Bernard's fingers were fidgety on the mobile screen when he thought of calling Harper Johnson.