Chapter 430 Waiting for Her Call
Harper flipped Marion over, grabbed the mop bucket, pried his mouth open, and dumped the dirty water in like she was watering a plant.
"No..." Marion mumbled, barely audible.
Just then, the front door flew open with a bang.
"Harper!" Vincent burst in, looking like he’d seen a ghost, grabbed Harper's shoulders, and gave her a once-over.
"Are you okay? Where are you hurt?" he asked, his voice all shaky and panicked.
He'd just heard from the nanny that Harper was in some serious trouble. He told the nanny to chill in the car with the kid and then bolted over.
Harper saw Vincent's freaked-out face and said, a bit awkwardly, "Vincent, I'm fine."
Vincent then noticed Harper holding a bucket of dirty water.
"Alright then," he said, looking a bit stunned.
On the ground, Marion was gasping for air, groaning like a wounded animal, "You're stepping on me."
Vincent glanced at Marion, a flash of malice in his eyes, zero sympathy. He reached out to pull Harper away, saying, "Let's bounce. The cops will handle this."
"Okay." Harper was just about to drop the bucket when a shrill female voice came from outside.
"Marion!" Lila, who had just run out, found the nanny and the boy but couldn't get the car door open, so she came back to find Marion for help. She didn't expect to see Marion in such a sorry state.
Realizing Corey and Marion were both messed up by the two people standing in front of her, Lila, fuming with rage, grabbed a nearby stick and charged over. "You bastards, you hurt my son. I'll kill you!"
At the critical moment, Vincent shielded Harper behind him. But Harper pushed him aside and chucked the bucket over.
Lila got splashed in the eyes and hit the ground before she could reach them. The stick came down with a thud, hitting Marion squarely. Marion let out a scream and passed out cold.
Lila, on the ground, felt like her body was falling apart.
Outside, the police sirens blared.
Harper had already given a statement and handed over the dashcam footage as evidence earlier; now with the nanny's testimony, the two troublemakers were hauled off by the cops.
Harper looked around the place and said to the nanny, "This place isn't safe anymore. Come with me for now."
The nanny hesitated and said, "But Ms. Koch said we can't leave."
Molly had originally arranged a bodyguard for them, but the bodyguard got food poisoning and ended up in the hospital, leaving them in a bind.
Harper saw the little boy standing silently, looking dazed, and frowned. "What happened here could mess the kid up. Let's crash at a hotel tonight. I'll find a safe spot for you, and then Molly can talk to you. Sound good?"
Taylor, hearing Molly's name, suddenly looked at Harper and asked, "When will she come to see me?"
The nanny was shocked and said, "Taylor!"
Taylor had barely spoken a few words to her in a month.
Harper looked at Taylor's features, feeling more and more heartbroken. She swallowed her emotions and said in a light-hearted tone, "Is your name Taylor?"
Taylor nodded.
Harper smiled and patted his head. "I'll ask her, okay?"
Taylor withdrew his hopeful gaze, lowered his head, and went silent.
With the nanny's consent, Harper took them to a hotel. But thinking that Northfield was Robert's turf, she decided to stay in Willowbrook Falls for the night. She'd take the nanny and the kid to a safe place the next day.
On the way, Taylor suddenly caught a fever. The nanny freaked out. Harper quickly took out some pills from her bag and gave them to Taylor with water from the car.
Taylor's fever didn't seem to go down on the way, and Harper, worried, suggested going to the hospital.
The experienced nanny shook her head and said, "Just give him some cold medicine later. Taylor is weak; going to the hospital would make him more likely to catch something else."
At the hotel, the cautious nanny took out a mask and put a baseball cap on Taylor.
To avoid drawing attention, Harper booked a large suite and they entered one after the other.
Vincent went to the pharmacy to grab some meds.
Taylor's fever just wouldn't quit, but the nanny was dead set against taking him to the hospital. She'd been through this rodeo before, except for that one time when she had to rush him to the ER with a high fever, and it almost cost him his life.
Harper, scared out of her mind, helped the nanny take care of Taylor until midnight. Finally, his head started to cool down. She let out a big sigh of relief, and the nanny told her to go catch some Z's.
Harper stepped outside and found Vincent there, quietly working on his tablet at a table. Feeling a bit awkward, she said, "Vincent, I'm really sorry for all the trouble."
Vincent looked up and said, "No worries. Get some sleep, and I'll drive you all in the morning."
Harper had already asked Ronald to handle the house situation. Jasper had a bunch of properties in the Northfield burbs, with hidden security, way safer than that place.
But Harper got why Molly was so freaked out. Robert was a total nutjob; if he found out about Taylor, he might use the kid to mess with her. Robert didn't give a damn about family.
Harper was dead tired and didn't want to send Vincent away at this hour. But Vincent, being the gentleman he was, picked up his coat and said, "I booked a room next door. Call me if you need anything."
Before leaving, he remembered something and turned back to say, "Oh, by the way, the guy you asked me to find last time."
Vincent showed Harper a photo on his phone and asked, "Is this him?"
In the photo was a man with a sinister look.
Harper's heart skipped a beat as she said, "Yeah, that's him!"
The one who messed her up.
Vincent told her, "This guy is the right-hand man of the Charles family. It's tough to bring him to Northfield because he knows too many of their secrets. If he goes missing, the Charles family will go nuts looking for him."
Harper was stunned and said, "So that's it?"
Vincent said, "The only way is to go to Emerald Isle. I can have someone set a trap to detain him for a few minutes so you can grill him."
Harper was taken aback, thinking, 'Emerald Isle?'
Vincent said, "Don't stress about it now. This guy's protected; he won't go down easy. I'll let you know when my people have a solid plan."
Harper nodded.
After Vincent left, she finally had time to clear her head and suddenly remembered tonight's dinner date. She panicked for a moment; it was already early morning, so technically the next day.She hadn't given Francis any heads-up and didn't know if he had tried to reach her. And it was so late; Francis should be asleep by now.
Harper lay on her bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. In the end, she couldn't resist and called him from the hotel phone.
She told herself that if it rang three times and no one answered, she'd hang up.
The call connected immediately, like he had been waiting for her call.
"Harper?" Francis's deep voice came through the receiver.
Harper was stunned and asked, "Were you waiting for my call?"
"Yeah, where are you?" Francis said urgently.
"I'm out of town on a business trip. My phone broke, and I didn't have time to notify you," Harper said.
"Who are you with?" Francis suddenly asked.
Harper's heart skipped a beat. She was about to answer when she remembered Taylor and the nanny were still there. She had promised Molly not to tell Francis.
She bit her lip and replied, "Someone you don't know."
After she spoke, there was sudden silence on the other end. Harper thought it was a bad signal and asked, "Francis, are you still there?"
"Yeah," Francis replied, and then went quiet again.
Harper felt something was off.
Francis was sitting in his car, looking up at the hotel's colorful neon sign, his voice slightly heavy as he asked, "Do you want me to come get you?"
Harper suddenly got nervous, her voice a bit urgent as she said, "No need, I'll be back tomorrow."
With that short sentence, Francis felt like an invisible slap had smacked him hard in the face.
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