The Bond Between Us novel Chapter 887

Herman tried calling Anastasia again. This time, her phone was off.

She never turned off her phone. Ever since she became a mom, unless her battery died, her phone always stayed on. Even if she was furious with him, she’d ignore his calls, but she wouldn’t just switch the thing off.

He remembered seeing her phone at full charge before she left. It’d barely been two hours. No way the battery was dead.

A cold dread settled in his gut.

Three unanswered calls later, Herman’s worry turned into certainty: something was wrong.

He called Monica, hoping maybe Anastasia had gone to her. No luck—Monica hadn’t seen her either.

Nelson jogged over, a little out of breath. “Mr. Salstrom, I asked the security at the gate. They said Mrs. Salstrom left in a taxi, headed north.”

“Find out that taxi’s license plate. Now,” Herman ordered, his voice sharp. “And get Dailey over here.”

But the car had left right from the banquet entrance, just outside the cameras’ reach. None of the guards got the plate number. Tracking her by the taxi was probably pointless.

Herman quickly tried to locate Anastasia’s phone.

Half an hour later, following the last signal, Herman drove out toward the northern outskirts. There, in the weeds, he found her phone—smashed to pieces.

Anastasia was gone. Just like that.

Dailey showed up soon after. “Boss, I checked—nothing from Asher tonight. No movement at all.”

Herman had suspected Asher might come after Anastasia for the chip. He’d had people watching Asher for weeks.

So if it wasn’t Asher, then who?

He felt lost. Anastasia had been missing for nearly an hour. A bad feeling gnawed at him, his nerves raw.

“Start pulling traffic cam footage from this road. There’s gotta be a camera at some intersection,” Herman said, gripping the shattered phone so hard his knuckles turned white. His eyes were cold and dangerous.

Her disappearance was suffocating—like someone had a hand wrapped tight around his throat.

***

Meanwhile, somewhere far away—

Terror jolted through her. She tried to spit it out, but someone clamped a hand over her jaw and poured a bottle of water down her throat.

Her body reacted on instinct—she swallowed. The drug was inside her now.

She couldn’t see her captors. They didn’t say much, just tossed her back onto the ground after forcing down the pills.

“What do you want?” Anastasia’s voice trembled. Panic was starting to take over.

Moments later, the drugs hit—fast and hard.

A wild, consuming heat swept through her body. Her mind spun, her skin burned, and she started to hallucinate, her limbs jerking, thoughts dissolving into chaos.

“Who are you? What do you want?” she cried, biting her tongue, desperate to stay conscious. “Is this about the chip?”

No answer.

The four men stood in front of her, faces bare. With her blindfold in place, they didn’t bother hiding themselves.

When the drugs had her fully in their grip, the leader nodded to the others. “Alright. Get the camera. Record everything.”