Chapter 292 This Time, He Didn't Have Time to Intervene
I was freaking out, couldn't think straight. "Something's up, Claire's gone," I blurted out.
Cecil tried to calm me down, "Chill, I'll help you find her."
"But aren't you here for work? You should handle your stuff first," I said.
"Nah, Claire missing is way more important. Let's roll!" Cecil gave me a reassuring pat and we headed into the nursing home.
In the ward, only Grant and his assistant were there. Grant looked at me, clearly annoyed. "Ms. Royston, what's going on? Mrs. Harris is in a critical recovery phase; how could she just disappear?"
"Mr. Quill, I'm sorry; I just found out too." I scanned the room; everything looked normal, which made me even more nervous.
I needed to know more. "Mr. Quill, given Claire's recovery, could she have gotten confused and wandered off?"
"No way," Grant said firmly. "Mrs. Harris is almost fully recovered. She could be discharged after today's and tomorrow's treatments. Even if she missed them, she wouldn't relapse quickly; her nervous system is mostly healed."
"So, Claire's mind is definitely clear?" I pressed.
Grant nodded. "Yes."
I clenched my fists. The neat room suggested Claire was taken while unconscious.
Cecil frowned. "Could it be Kimberly and her crew?"
"Maybe." I pulled out my phone to call the cops, but an unknown number popped up.
Normally, I'd ignore it, thinking it's spam, but given the situation, I answered, "Hello?"
"Should I call you Ms. Royston, Ms. Harris, or Ms. Ortiz?" A creepy voice came through.
Just one sentence and I knew he had done his homework on me, while I knew zilch about him.
A shiver ran down my spine. "Who are you?"
"Not important," he dodged. "Mrs. Harris is with me, and that's what matters to you."
"Who the hell are you?" I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "What do you want?"
"Smart people make this easy," he chuckled. "I'll text you the address. No cops, come alone."
"Alone?" I frowned.
Cecil's face hardened. He grabbed the phone and said, "I don't care who you are, but she's not going alone. Either I go with her, or we call the cops."
"Cecil," I whispered, worried about pissing off the guy, but Cecil shook his head and continued, "You probably don't want to kill anyone. I'll go with her to make sure she's safe."
"Fine!" The guy agreed after a pause, "You have half an hour, or I can't guarantee Mrs. Harris's safety!"
He hung up.
I glanced at the address he sent and bolted to the parking lot. It was an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city.
From the nursing home, it would take at least half an hour to get there, no time to waste.
As I went to open the driver's door, Cecil stopped me and nodded toward the passenger seat. "Hop in the passenger seat; I'll drive."
"Okay, thanks, Cecil." I gave him a grateful look and didn't argue.
I was too freaked out about Claire to drive safely.
On the way to the abandoned factory, I shot a text to Elissa, canceling our plans.
Then I tried calling Jerry, but no answer.
My nerves were shot, thinking something might've happened to Jerry too.
Cecil, hands on the wheel, glanced over at me. "Jerry not picking up?"
"Yeah." I nodded, lost in thought.
"Don't stress too much; try him again," Cecil suggested.
"Alright." I dialed again, but still, no answer.
Seeing my worried face, Cecil tried to reassure me, "The Hammer Group's patent mess is blowing up. He might be swamped and missed the call."
The more he talked, the more uneasy I felt. But there was nothing I could do right now, so I had to get to the outskirts and see who was behind this.
I then called the Harris family.
Kimberly picked up, "Hello, who is this?"
"Did you have someone take Claire?" I asked bluntly.
Besides them, I couldn't think of anyone else right now.
Kimberly quickly recognized my voice and chuckled, "Hope, you need to back up your words with evidence."
"Just make sure you can sleep at night!" I took a deep breath and said coldly, "If this is about the Harris family’s assets, if anything happens to Claire, you won't see a dime!"
I hung up, feeling more certain this was tied to the Harris family.
Kimberly listened to the dial tone, her face flashing with anger, then worry. She looked at Skylar, who was sitting beside her. "Mom, are you sure there won't be any slip-ups this time?"
"Don't worry." Skylar lifted her chin, eyes full of confidence. "The Harris family’s assets will be yours."
Kimberly sighed in relief and curiously asked, "Who did you get this time? They managed to snatch Claire from the nursing home without anyone noticing. Why didn't you use this trick earlier?"
If they had, she would've smoothly become the Harris family’s heir and wouldn't have been overshadowed by me at last night's banquet.
Kimberly couldn't stand seeing me so triumphant. And I even became Madison's goddaughter; how lucky!
Skylar looked at her and smiled. "Because he just got back to the country last night."
"An overseas connection?" Kimberly asked.
"You could say that." Skylar affectionately patted her head. "I'll introduce you someday."
"Why should I meet him?" Kimberly looked puzzled. "He's a thug, just pay him to get the job done."
After all, she was a Harris family socialite and had no need to associate with gangsters.
Skylar saw the disdain on her face and hesitated before saying, "We might need him for the Harris family’s matters in the future, so it wouldn't hurt to meet him."
"Alright." Kimberly reluctantly agreed, then asked, "Are you sure about this? If Jerry finds out, he'll definitely step in."
"This time, he won't get the chance!"
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
