Chapter 327 Who Are You
The walkie-talkie on the rescue team captain's shoulder crackled to life. "Just found a woman's coat and a pair of shoes about 1,600 feet downstream."
The captain responded, "Got it, I'll be there soon."
Alexander and the others heard it too. Alexander was the first to step forward and hop onto one of the rescue boats. Caleb and Garrett were right behind him, and the rescue team captain had no choice but to follow along.
Technically, family members weren't supposed to join the rescue, but these guys were big shots, so he couldn't really argue. Another twenty minutes went by, and still, no progress.
Meanwhile, in a villa, Nicholas walked in looking serious and in a hurry. He quickly went upstairs. "Something's wrong, there's been an accident."
Nicholas was stunned after getting a call from his son, Leroy. The person in the wheelchair was so agitated they coughed violently several times before hoarsely and angrily saying, "I told you to follow Victoria, not to watch her die!"
Nicholas was speechless; he hadn't seen this coming either. Leroy had gone down to search before the rescue team arrived. Alexander's people were there too, but without rescue gear, they could only search along the riverbank. But nearly an hour had passed, and they still hadn't found anything.
At six o'clock, the sky started to darken. Once night fell, the rescue would get even harder.
An hour and a half passed. "Alexander, we're getting close to the dam downstream," the rescue team captain cautiously told the stern-faced man standing nearby.
The message was clear. If they reached the dam and still found nothing, there would be no hope. If Victoria and Saskia had been swept into the Red Sea, not even God could save them.
They had fallen right in the middle. The river was at least 1,000 feet wide, and swimming to the shore in such fast currents without any tools was nearly impossible.
Plus, Victoria and Saskia had been knocked out by the explosion before jumping from such a height, so they were likely unconscious. This was all logical deduction.
Leroy had been with the rescue team the whole time, but after searching for so long without finding anything, he went directly to the dam downstream.
He suddenly realized that the moat had 30-feet-high concrete slopes on both sides. If Victoria was okay, she would have tried to climb up. But if she was with someone else, she wouldn't have chosen to climb the slopes.
Victoria's physical strength would be limited if she was carrying someone. The only option was the 600 feet in front of the dam, where there was a set of stairs for maintenance workers to access the dam.
Leroy had previously sent her a topographical map of the area around Nine Heavens Tunnel, which included the construction of the river under Nine Heavens Bridge. The downstream area was the exit on the other side of Nine Heavens Tunnel, so Victoria must have seen and remembered it.
Having tracked Victoria for so many years, he and Eric knew her habits well. When Leroy arrived, he wasn't disappointed, but it wasn't good news either because he saw bloodstains.
Leroy was so focused on finding Victoria that he didn't notice Dylan trailing him, suspicious of Leroy's behavior and the fact that he wasn't wearing rescue team gear.
As Leroy crouched to examine the marks on the ground, Dylan approached and placed a hand on his shoulder, asking, "Who are you?"
Leroy was about to resist but turned and saw it was Dylan. He had seen Dylan before, but Dylan hadn't seen him.
Leroy couldn't reveal his identity, so he said, "Tell Alexander that Victoria has already come ashore. She's not in the water anymore. Have them focus their efforts on land." It was impossible for him to find Victoria and Saskia on his own.
Dylan frowned and asked, "How do you know?"
"I know her. Victoria wouldn't give up so easily," Leroy pointed to some dried bloodstains. "And if she comes ashore, she won't leave because she knows someone will come to rescue her. But since she's not here, something unexpected must have happened."
Given the situation involving Victoria and Saskia, Dylan couldn't waste time and took out his phone. "Sir, someone says Mrs. Victoria Howard has come ashore. Yes, 600 feet before the dam on the riverbank."
Soon, Alexander and the others arrived. "Where?" Alexander strode over, his voice tight with tension and a hint of panic.
Dylan glanced at Leroy. Leroy didn't waste any time and pointed to the bloodstains by the stairs. "This blood hasn't dried yet, which means it was left not long ago. I just checked." He then pointed to a small path behind him. "There are clear bloodstains along this path."
One of the rescue team members questioned, "Wait, if she came ashore, why didn't she wait here for rescue? Why did she leave?"
Leroy didn't respond because he knew Alexander had already figured it out. Almost instantly, a chilling aura emanated from Alexander, making the riverside even colder as night fell.
Those who knew the backstory understood the implications of Leroy's words. Either Victoria sensed something was wrong and hid, or she was taken away by someone.
Alexander said, "Dylan, take people and search!"
In the pitch-black night, no one could see the icy, grim expression on Alexander's face, but his presence said it all.
Then, the group began a large-scale search in the direction of the bloodstains. The further they went, the deeper into the mountains they got. But Alexander didn't care; he just wanted to find them quickly.
Alexander watched the drops of blood along the path, feeling increasingly heartbroken. For a moment, he wished he wouldn't see any more bloodstains.
At this moment, only Owen and a few others could understand Alexander's feelings. Owen had been summoned by Alexander's urgent call.
Typically, after a simple treatment, a person wouldn't continue to bleed like this. The continuous blood trail indicated one thing: the injured person's wound was still bleeding uncontrollably.
"Don't worry, judging by the bloodstains, the wound isn't very large," Owen tried to comfort Alexander from behind.
"Honey, the blood from this girl's leg wound just won't stop. What should we do?" A plainly dressed woman, holding a blue towel, knelt anxiously by a wooden bed. The towel was already half-soaked in blood. They had been trying to stop Victoria's bleeding for over twenty minutes with no success.
A dark-skinned man, also plainly dressed, looked equally anxious and helpless. He didn't know what to do either and was waiting for their daughter to bring the village doctor.
They were residents of Rainfall Village. Today, the woman, her husband, and their daughter had gone out to gather wild vegetables for Christmas. On their way back, they passed the dam and found two people lying on the ground, so they brought them back.
But Rainfall Village was remote and underdeveloped. To see a doctor, they had to go to the neighboring village, which was a half-hour walk, and communication equipment was scarce.
Over an hour later, the village doctor arrived. He examined Victoria's leg wound, which seemed to be a cut that wouldn't stop bleeding. The doctor tried several times to stop the bleeding, but each time it started again.
"Doctor, why is this happening?" the woman asked.
The doctor frowned. "Her condition is really bad. Who is she?"
The doctor looked at the pale-faced woman on the wooden bed. Despite her weakness, her demeanor suggested she wasn't from around here.
"We don't know her. We rescued her from the dam. And there's another person. Doctor, please check on her too." The woman pointed to another wooden bed behind a curtain.
"You don't know them, yet you bring them back and delay so long. I advise you to call the village mayor and report this to the police," the doctor suggested. "Especially this woman. If we can't stop her bleeding, she'll die from blood loss."
The man immediately said, "I'll go find the village mayor." Then he left.
The doctor checked on Saskia's injuries. She was better off, with some superficial wounds that weren't serious. With limited supplies, the doctor could only provide basic treatment.
Meanwhile, Alexander and the others continued following the blood trail. Halfway through, the rescue team captain came running over anxiously.
The captain said, "Alexander, three minutes ago, the police received a call from a Rainfall Village resident. They said they rescued two women from the dam. The police knew we are here and passed the message along. I think it might be your mother and wife."
"And this path leads to Rainfall Village. It's a shortcut the villagers usually take," the captain continued. "We can drive there via the main road; it's closer."
"Let's go!" Alexander didn't hesitate.
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