Chapter 406

About ten minutes later, Shane arrived at the location marked out by the coordinates he’d received. It
was a small bungalow that appeared to be built by hand. Two SWAT officers were stationed at the front
door.

They walked towards Shane when they saw him. “Mr. Shane.”

“Where is she?” Shane asked, his fists clenched tightly.

One of the SWAT officers waved his hand in an inviting motion as he said, “Please follow me.”

Shane followed him to a room located on the second floor of the bungalow.

The officer opened the door to the room.

Shane was greeted by the sight of Natalie sitting on a bed, dressed in dusty, floral print clothes. There
was a bowl in her hand, and she was taking small sips of chicken soup from it.

It’s really her! She’s alive!

The tension finally left Shane’s body when he saw her safe and sound. He called out softly, “Natalie!”

At the sound of his voice, Natalie paused in surprise. She lifted her head to look at him. Her eyes were
reddened with tears as she bit her lips. She answered him pitifully, “Mr. Shane.”



Shane couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He took several big strides towards the bed and pulled
Natalie into a tight hug.

Natalie froze, stunned at the contact.

Shane released her abruptly and gently cupped her face, checking for any signs of injury.



After confirming that she had no other injuries beyond a slightly swollen cheek, he heaved a sigh of
relief. Then, he lifted her chin tenderly and kissed her on the lips.

Natalie felt muddled, and her eyes widened at his kiss. She took a long time to regain her composure,
and then she pushed him away with a furious blush on her face.

Shane let go of her immediately.

She quickly shrunk back against the bed. She touched her lips as she tried to avoid his gaze. “Mr.
Shane, y-you-”

“I’m sorry I came late,” Shane cut in. “I’m so glad that you’re ok.”

Hearing the remorse and relief in his words, Natalie couldn’t suppress the fear she’d felt any longer. She
launched herself into his arms and burst out in tears.

No one knew how scared she’d been the moment the van had crashed through the guard rails and
plunged over the cliff.

I thought I was going to die back there. I was lucky I lived.

Feeling her tremble, Shane hugged her even more tightly. Patting her back gently, he comforted her,
“Just cry it all out; it’ll make you feel better.”

Natalie cried uncontrollably with her head on his chest.

She cried for a really long time. After a while, her sobs grew softer and eventually subsided.

Shane tilted his head down to look at her and realized she’d fallen asleep after crying herself to
exhaustion.



He lightly positioned her so that her head was resting on a pillow. After covering her with a blanket, he
left the room and went downstairs to search for the two SWAT officers.

“Mr. Shane,” the SWAT officers greeted.

“Where did you find her?” Shane asked sternly as he wiped his tear-stained shirt with a handkerchief.

An officer replied, “When we were searching the area, we overheard some residents talking about a van
that’d fallen off the cliff. They said it fell into a river. We approached them, and they brought us to the site
of the crash. We found Ms. Smith knocking on the window of the van when we arrived.”

The other officer added, “Luckily, the van landed in the river with its rear-end in the air. Since Ms. Smith
was at the back of the van, she was safe when the river began flooding the van. Otherwise, she might’ve
drowned along with the rest of the passengers in the van.”

So this was what happened!

Shane nodded his head.

I have to say Natalie is blessed with luck. She’s been through a lot of tough situations, but she has
always managed to turn them around. I guess fate is on her side.

“Did all of the kidnappers drown?” Shane asked as he tossed his handkerchief away.

“One of them was alive, but a lot of water had accumulated in his lungs. The team leader arranged for
him to be airlifted to the hospital, but we’re not sure if he’ll make it.”

“Let me know if he survives; I have a lot of questions for him.” Shane stared at the two officers intently.










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