Chapter 85 Walking into a Trap
"It's on me,” declared the team leader as he stepped forward. He pulled out his wallet and handed over his bank card to Daphne.
Daphne glanced at the card, snapped a photo of the number, and handed it back to them. She then forwarded the phone number to Kevin for investigation and the bank details to her assistant for the transfer.
After finishing up, she tucked her phone away and brushed off the day's events. "Someone will transfer the money to you soon," she said. "Once you've settled up the penalty fee, send me the details of the account you paid. And in the future, steer clear of these sorts of jobs."
"Got it!"
"Yes, of course."
"Thank you, Daphne."
Everyone was especially polite, their faces etched with apology.
"One more thing," Daphne said as her eyes landed on a cell phone lying on the table. Her voice grew colder. "Who does this phone belong to?"
"We don't know..." they shook their heads. "We were only told to bring the phone here, place it on the table, and knock you out when you arrived. That's all we were given."
"Understood." Daphne’s eyes darkened slightly. Seeing they were still lingering, she added, "If you're worried about the money, you can wait until the transfer is complete before leaving."
She planned to wait there for half an hour longer, curious to uncover the purpose of the person behind all this.
"That won't be necessary; we trust you!" said the head bodyguard sincerely. "You're good people. You're going to do well."
"Thanks," Daphne replied coolly.
In short order, the group of six or seven departed.
To ensure her safety, Daphne kept a baseball bat within reach. She shut the room door, picked up Evan's unlocked phone, and went straight to WhatsApp. There, she saw a new message in the chat with herself—the very message she had received earlier.
Soon her phone rang. It was Kevin. "Daphne, this number is fresh. It hasn’t been registered with an ID."
"Got it," Daphne muttered, feeling a headache coming on.
Lately, I seem to be a magnet for trouble; first, the odd incident midway through my trip, now someone going to the extent of hiring thugs to knock me out.
This isn't child's play or the work of an enemy I've made—it doesn't add up.
Who could be behind this?
"Daphne." Kevin's concern was evident as he addressed the escalating situation. "Have you noticed that people seem to be gunning for you lately? Did you cross someone?"
"I doubt it's that," Daphne held onto her previous hunch, "It's likely someone pining over Charles. If it were someone I'd angered, we wouldn't be dealing with kid gloves."
The people Daphne crossed paths with played for keeps.
"But I've looked into it, and there's no one suspicious." Kevin was at a loss.
"Let's not dwell on it. No use wasting more energy than necessary," Daphne dismissed, confident she could handle whatever came her way. "We can look into it later on if these troubles persist after the divorce from Charles."
"Just be careful, okay?"
"Will do."
The call had barely ended when her assistant's text came through: [The money has been transferred.]
Daphne replied simply: [Got it.]
After tending to the matters at hand, Daphne made a thorough sweep of her room, ensuring there were no hidden cameras or listening devices. Satisfied, she grabbed her baseball bat and headed to the bedroom suite to lie down and rest.
About twenty minutes passed before a telltale sound of someone picking the lock echoed at the door.
Instantly alert, Daphne got up, bat in hand, ready to give an unwelcome intruder a warm welcome.
Click.
The lock turned, and a tall figure with long legs stepped inside, his polished shoes shining with each step, the sound striking a chord of unease.
But not for Daphne.
Shortly, the man approached the bedroom door, his hand on the doorknob, twisting it open.
As the door swung open, Daphne swung her bat with restrained force, not wanting to accidentally kill the intruder.
Thwack!
But the bat was caught mid-air.
The man seized the bat with an icy grip, exuding a chill as he snatched it away. Reacting quickly and realizing she faced a trained adversary, Daphne tightened her hold, lashing out with a kick.
The man dodged swiftly, still catching a glancing blow before he stepped back, putting “a few feet between them.
The entire exchange lasted barely a second.
As Daphne squared off, ready to confront the intruder, recognition dawned, and with a hint of surprise, she called out, "Evan?"
"Daffy?" Evan recognized his assailant.
In unison, they blurted out, "What are you doing here?"
"Just minutes ago, someone knocked on my door, left a letter and a room key outside," Evan said, his whole body relaxing as he adjusted his gold-framed glasses. "The letter mentioned a woman being held captive in this room."
Daphne raised an eyebrow, silently prompting him to continue.
"They said they didn't dare cross the kidnapper, nor did they dare call the cops. So they slipped me the key, hoping I'd play the hero," he explained.
A new emotion flickered across Daphne's eyes. "You're staying at this hotel?"
"Yeah," Evan nodded, that scholarly charm of his particularly alluring today. "I thought about calling the police first, but I was worried about the victim. I decided to check it out myself and, ironically, it turned out to be you."
Daphne nodded. She knew Evan's reputation for sussing out plots like this. The guy was certainly sharp.
"And what about you?" Evan turned the question to her.
Stepping out from the bedroom, Daphne placed a baseball bat on the table and handed his phone back to him. "Someone used your phone to send me a text. It addressed me as 'Daffy', which didn't raise any red flags, so I headed straight here."
Evan received his phone and his brow furrowed when he saw the message.
Daphne made herself comfortable on the couch, teased him a bit. "You've got to up your game, Evan. You didn't even notice your phone was gone. If the team ever calls you back, the captain will have a field day with you."
He pondered a moment, guessing the phone was pickpocketed while he was helping someone in the parking lot.
"Your ability to discern truth from lies isn't much better," he said with a self-deprecating smile after securing his phone with a new lock. "The captain would come after you just the same."
Daphne said nothing, mentally bidding farewell to this topic.
Instead of quipping back, she reflected on the day's events. "This isn't over," she mused.
If the whole point was to lure her here and then bring Evan as well, what was the endgame?
"Could it be Kayla’s doing?" Evan speculated. "To place both of us in this room to be spotted by Charles?"
That would lead to Charles misunderstanding Daphne, causing her disdain for him to grow.
"There's the angle," she said.
"She’s not that clever," Daphne dismissed the idea of Kayla masterminding such a plan - she had a very clear assessment of her IQ. "And she couldn't have pocketed your phone."
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