Chapter 167

Stefan paced the length of the makeshift command center, running his hands through his hair for the hundredth time. The room buzzed with activity, Alexander’s security team, FBI agents, police liaisons, all working frantically to find Camille. Twenty-six hours had passed since her abduction. Twenty-six hours of dead ends and false leads.

“This isn’t working,” Stefan muttered, stopping at the map where pins marked locations they’d already searched. “We’re missing something. Rose wouldn’t just take her anywhere.”

Alexander looked up from a table covered with files, dark circles under his eyes. “Every property connected to Rose or her aliases has been searched. Twice.”

“It’s not about property records,” Stefan said, something nagging at the back of his mind. “It’s about meaning. Rose does everything with purpose. She’d want somewhere that... that connects to their past.”

He closed his eyes, trying to focus. Images flashed through his mind: Camille showing him ol