CHAPTER 118: THE HUNTER’S PLOT.

Mrs. Hendricks arrived exactly twenty minutes later, her sedan pulling into the hospital’s service entrance with Mr. Thorne on the passenger seat.

Jonathan sat in the wheelchair the nurse had brought, his broken ribs screaming with each breath, but his mind was focused. The pain was irrelevant. What mattered was getting back to Maren’s side, proving his loyalty after the disaster at the bridge.

Mrs. Hendricks approached the nurse at the station with a warm smile. "Mr. Rivers is being transferred to a private facility for continued care. His employer has arranged that for him."

The nurse barely glanced at the papers, showing no interest. Her shift was nearly over, but she was already tired from hours of standing. "He should rest for at least two weeks. Those ribs need time to heal properly."

"Of course," Mrs. Hendricks assured her, already wheeling Jonathan toward the elevator. "We’ll take excellent care of him."

Thorne walked ahead, clearing their path, and within minutes they were in the parking garage. A black SUV with tinted windows waited in a corner spot. Mallory Woods sat in the driver’s seat, her expression unreadable as she watched them approach.

"You look terrible," Mallory observed as Thorne and Hendricks helped Jonathan into the back seat. His face was pale, sweat beading on his forehead from the effort of moving.

"I’m functional," Jonathan replied through clenched teeth, settling against the leather seat. "That’s what matters."

Mallory pulled out of the garage smoothly, merging into the night traffic. "Principal Maren is disappointed by your performance," she said after several minutes of silence, her eyes finding his in the rearview mirror. "The chase, the crash, letting Bella and those boys escape with Angela Rivers and all that evidence. She wants to know if you’re still committed to our cause."

Jonathan’s jaw tightened, anger flooding through him. "More committed than ever. Marcus just visited me in the hospital."

That got Mallory’s attention. Her eyes sharpened in the mirror. "Marcus? The Moonblood leader? When?"

"About thirty minutes before you arrived. He tried to recruit me to their side, tried to guilt me about Carla and Bella. Even offered me some healing vial if I’d betray Maren and leave Angela alone." Jonathan leaned forward despite the pain lancing through his ribs. "I sent him away. My loyalty is to Maren. It always has been."

Mallory’s expression remained neutral, but her fingers tightened slightly on the steering wheel. "What exactly did he say?"

"He tried to convince me," Jonathan said, his voice dripping with contempt. "Claimed Carla sacrificed everything for me, that she gave up her throne as Liora after the war to be with Bella and me. That I betrayed her by joining Maren’s pack. That I ordered the accident that almost killed her three months ago."

Mrs. Hendricks turned in the passenger seat. "Did he have proof of any of that?"

"I didn’t ask. He was trying to manipulate me emotionally, to make me question my decisions." Jonathan shook his head. "But he gave me valuable information without realizing it. He’s in direct contact with Angela. Which means I can use myself as bait to draw her out."

Mallory’s eyes met his again in the mirror, this time with genuine interest. "Explain."

Jonathan smiled coldly. "Angela threatened me, according to Marcus. She’s emotional, angry, probably terrified that Maren’s going to find her before she can get that evidence to the Moonblood Council. If I reach out to her, play the remorseful father who nearly died and had a change of heart, claim I want to help her contact Bella safely... she might take the bait."

"She knows you work for Maren," Thorne pointed out from the front seat. "Why would she trust you?"

"Because she’s desperate," Jonathan said with cold certainty. "And because people want to believe in redemption. If I tell her the crash made me realize what I’ve been doing is wrong, that I want to make amends before it’s too late, her need to protect Bella will override her caution. Especially if I offer specific information about Maren’s plans."

Mallory drove in silence for a moment, considering. Then she nodded slowly. "It could work. But we need to do this carefully. Angela’s survived this long by being smart."

They arrived at a safe house on the outskirts of the city, an apartment building in a quiet neighborhood where they carried out several operations outside of Whitethorn.

Mallory, Thorne, and Hendricks helped Jonathan up the flights of stairs, each step an agony as they climbed. The living room was furnished sparsely with only a couch, a table, and black curtains over the windows.

They settled Jonathan on the couch, and Mallory pulled out a laptop and several burner phones from a locked case. "If you’re going to use yourself as bait, we need to be strategic. What’s your approach?"

Jonathan leaned back carefully, his mind working through the angles. "Angela’s emotional weakness is Bella. Everything she’s done since Carla died has been about protecting her niece. If I offer her a way to contact Bella safely, to get a message to her, that’s irresistible bait."

"But she knows you’ve been suppressing Bella’s powers," Mrs. Hendricks said. "She knows you threw that powder at her in the Sanctuary. Why would she believe you’ve changed?"

"Because I nearly died," Jonathan said simply. "People, especially Angela, believe in near-death experiences changing someone’s perspective. I’ll tell her the crash made me see things clearly, that lying in that hospital bed thinking I might die made me realize what I’ve done to Bella is unforgivable. That Marcus’s visit planted seeds of doubt I can’t ignore. All I need to do is sound convincing enough."

Mallory typed on the laptop, pulling up surveillance reports. The screen showed a map with several red dots marking locations. "We’ve been tracking Angela’s movements since the bridge chase. She’s changed locations three times in the past eighteen hours, smart enough to keep moving. Last ping on her phone was about four hours ago. She’s probably ditched that phone by now."

"Then we force her to come to us," Jonathan said. "I’ll send her a message through a channel she’ll check. Tell her I’ve had a change of heart, that I want to help, but I need to meet in person to share information about Maren’s plans for Bella."

"She won’t believe it," Mallory stated flatly.

Jonathan’s eyes gleamed with calculation. "I’ll make it credible. I’ll tell her I have access to Maren’s schedule, that I can help her get a message to Bella through me before it’s too late."

Thorne crossed his arms, his expression skeptical. "Where would this meeting happen? She won’t come to a secondary location that screams trap."

"Somewhere public enough that she feels safe initially, but isolated enough that we can grab her without witnesses." Jonathan thought for a moment. "The old textile mill. It’s abandoned but there are street vendors who set up nearby during the day. If I suggest meeting at 6am tomorrow morning, before the vendors arrive, it’ll seem like I’m being discreet rather than setting a trap."

"And if she brings backup?" Thorne pressed. "Marcus or those Moonblood survivors from the Sanctuary fight?"

"Then we take them all," Mallory said, her smile cold and predatory. "Maren would consider that a significant bonus. Capturing Marcus alone would be worth more than a dozen Angela Riverses."

Mrs. Hendricks looked slightly uncomfortable but didn’t object. "What about the evidence? The USB drive and journal. She won’t bring them to the meeting."

"No, she won’t," Jonathan agreed. "She’s smart enough to hide them somewhere safe. But if we capture her, she’ll talk eventually. Maren has methods for extracting information that are very effective."

Mallory pulled out one of the burner phones and handed it to Jonathan. "Craft your message carefully. It needs to sound genuine, vulnerable, but not so desperate that she suspects manipulation."

Jonathan took the phone, his fingers hovering over the keys. He needed to strike the right tone, broken enough to be believable, specific enough to be tempting. He began typing...

*Angela, it’s me Jonathan. I know you have every reason to hate me. I know what I’ve done to Bella and your sister, Carla is unforgivable. But the crash changed something in me. I nearly died on that bridge, and lying in the hospital bed thinking about everything, I realized I’ve been on the wrong side. Marcus visited me tonight, told me things about Carla I didn’t want to believe, about how she sacrificed everything for our family and I threw it away. I need to talk to you.

I have information about Maren’s plans for Bella, specific dates and locations, what she’s planning for Bella’s 18th birthday. I can help you get a message to Bella safely through the counseling sessions Maren has scheduled. Please. I know I don’t deserve your trust, but this is about saving my daughter before it’s too late. Meet me tomorrow at 6am, at the old textile mill. Come alone or bring whoever you need to feel safe. I just want to make this right.

Jonathan.*

He showed the message to Mallory, who read it carefully, her lips moving slightly as she analyzed each word. "It’s actually convincing," she said after a moment. "The mention of Marcus visiting adds authenticity, she can verify that with him. The admission of being on the wrong side without fully committing to their cause, that’s smart. She might think you’re conflicted rather than fully turned, which is more believable than a complete conversion."

"Exactly," Jonathan said. "Because that’s what Marcus will tell her when she asks him to verify my story. He’ll confirm I was hostile, that I rejected his offer and sent him away. But he’ll also have to admit he tried to plant doubts about Maren. That makes my message more credible."

Thorne nodded slowly. "She’ll still be suspicious, but the specifics make it harder to dismiss outright. The mention of counseling sessions, of Bella’s birthday, those are details she needs."

"Send it," Mallory ordered.

Jonathan pressed send.