Chapter 244 I'll Be Waiting for Your Good News
"Get the hotel staff to search the place for any clues and make a list of all the employees. Make sure everyone is accounted for," Tristan said, organizing everything like a pro. After hanging up, he called Ryan to tell the hotel staff to work with Matilda.
The hotel manager quickly showed up in the lobby, shouting, "Who's Miss Matilda?"
Still a bit dazed, Matilda replied, "That's me!"
Following Tristan's instructions, she soon had all the hotel staff gathered in the lobby.
After checking, the manager told Matilda, "There's a new employee missing from their post."
"What's their name?" Matilda asked quickly.
"Isla," the manager said after looking at the records.
Matilda's heart sank. Before she could calm down, a hotel security guard found a clue in the underground parking lot.
"This USB drive was found in the underground parking lot," the manager said, handing it to Matilda. "Miss Stuart, can you confirm if this is your sister's?"
"Yes!" Matilda nodded. After the seminar, they had packed up and realized they forgot to put the USB drive in the bag, so Katniss had just put it in her pocket.
The fact that it showed up in the underground parking lot meant Katniss had been there!
Realizing something, she quickly used Katniss's phone to call Tristan.
After explaining everything, she couldn't help but tremble, "Tristan, Katniss will be okay, right? You'll find her, won't you?"
The heavy rain and lightning lit up the whole hotel, reflecting Matilda's worry and fear.
"I will," Tristan said, though things weren't looking great on his end. The rain was so heavy it made driving almost impossible.
One wrong move could mean falling off a cliff.
The rain had washed away all traces on the road, but he was sure the car left in the rain had Katniss in it.
He was also sure the car was heading this way, and there was only one road up the mountain.
The only question was how long and dangerous this road was.
"Tristan, be careful and come back safe. I'm waiting for your good news," Matilda said, imagining the dangerous conditions outside and feeling extremely worried.
After hanging up, she took a deep breath to calm down and said, "Isla is one of your staff, and she's now suspected of trying to harm Katniss. With this heavy rain, she can't leave. I hope you can help me find her. When the rain stops and Tristan and Katniss return, we need to see Isla!"The hotel manager, not wanting to upset Tristan, quickly got the staff to search all the rooms.
Meanwhile, Isla was hiding out in Michael's room, having already changed out of her uniform.
She was really scared, "With this crazy rain, they won't be in trouble, right? I think I saw a car leave just now; Tristan must have found something!"
"Too late," Michael said, standing by the window with a glass of red wine, taking occasional sips. "Samuel's been at the lodge for half an hour. Whatever was going to happen has already happened."
Hearing this, Isla walked over to him and said, "Really? Michael, you promised me that if I pulled this off, you'd invest in the Tudor family and not make me marry that old guy. You're going to keep your word, right?"
"Of course," Michael glanced at her, "Even without this, the Tudor family is still connected to the Astor family. We should help."
Isla breathed a sigh of relief and smiled smugly. The crisis at home was resolved, and she had also set up Katniss!
What a sweet deal; she couldn't understand why Grant didn't agree!
Cold, bone-chilling cold spread through Katniss's body, gradually bringing her back to consciousness.
She was soaked in cold liquid. As she opened her eyes slowly and saw herself lying in a bathtub, a sense of weightlessness followed, causing her to slip.
Her head, which had been above water, was now submerged, and liquid poured into her mouth and nose.
"Katniss!" Hearing the commotion, Samuel rushed in and pulled her out of the bathtub.
The splashing water was even louder than the rain outside, and cold water dripped back into the tub from her body.
Instinctively, she clung to Samuel's arm, gasping for air and coughing violently from the water she had inhaled.
Her previously pale face gradually turned red. Samuel helped her out of the bathroom and gently patted her back. "Sit down first; I'll get you a glass of water."
A steaming hot cup of water was handed to Katniss, and she had fully recovered.
Her memory returned, recalling that she had been knocked out in the hotel storage room and knew nothing after that.
The decor here was not from that hotel, and she was wearing a spaghetti-strap nightgown that barely covered her.
Fortunately, a white bathrobe was over it, though it was soaked, making her shiver with cold.But she could feel that nothing had happened. "How did I get here? Did you bring me here?"
Seeing that she didn't take the hot water, Samuel placed it on the cabinet beside her. "Isla brought you to Mr. Astor. Mr. Astor had me bring you here. You should know what his intentions are. This is as much as I can help you. Now, it's a test of Tristan's trust in you."
Anyone who walked in and saw Katniss disheveled and Samuel in a bathrobe would think the worst.
He said, "The landlady changed your clothes. She took your old clothes away. Rest assured, apart from carrying you from the car and putting you in the bathtub to wake you up with cold water, I didn't do anything to you."
His last act of decency was stopping short of the final step. By doing everything else, he was trying to explain himself to Michael.
Katniss couldn't bring herself to be grateful to him, but she didn't hate him either.
She took the hot water from the cabinet and drank it, but it didn't warm her up much. "Anyway, thank you. Can I borrow your phone?"
She was missing, and Matilda and Tristan were surely worried.
Especially Tristan, who might come out looking for her in this terrible weather, which made her uneasy.
"Sure." Samuel handed her the phone and then went to the window to wait.
From the window, he could see the only road leading to the lodge, with faint lights approaching from a distance.
Katniss held the phone for a while before texting Tristan her location.
She wasn't sure if Tristan knew this was Samuel's phone number, but as long as he had the location, he would come.
After sending the text, she returned the phone to Samuel.
Samuel was surprised that she sent the location directly, "Aren't you going to think of a plan? Maybe it would be better to have someone bring you a change of clothes first."
Otherwise, it would be hard to convince anyone that nothing had happened between them.
"No need," Katniss said softly.
Michael likely prearranged this lodge, and no one could bring her a change of clothes.
With the heavy rain outside, it was difficult for Tristan and the others to find her. Every second of delay was dangerous.
Moreover, being alone with Samuel for such a long time in the middle of the night, even if she changed clothes, those who didn't believe her still wouldn't.
"He's here," Samuel pointed to the car that had stopped at the lodge entrance.
The car door opened, and a dark figure rushed into the rain, heading straight into the lodge.In just a few steps, the rain had soaked his shirt and short hair.
He strode in and stood at the front desk, his gaze cold, more chilling than the early autumn night wind.
The landlady was startled, "Sir, are you checking in?"
"Where is she?" Tristan asked, his dark gaze as sharp as a knife.
The landlady seemed to understand something and got up to lead him upstairs, "Sir, calm down. I'll take you up. The woman inside is your wife, right? She came with a strange man. It's been a long time, so whatever was supposed to happen has probably happened. There's no need to get angry. Just don't cause any trouble here, or I won't be able to run my business."
Though it sounded like advice, it was actually adding fuel to the fire, making things up.
She didn't even knock; she just used the room key to open the door and stepped aside to let Tristan in.
The door faced the window, and Samuel was standing there.
Tristan clenched his hand into a fist at his side, his jaw tight, and in a flash, he was beside Samuel.
His fist came down hard on Samuel's face.
"Tristan!" Katniss rushed out from the corner, clinging to his arm, but his movements made her unsteady. "He didn't do anything to me! Calm down. If you keep hitting him, you'll kill him!"
Seeing Tristan's fists landing on Samuel again and again, Katniss couldn't stop him, her eyes welling up. Did this mean he didn't trust her?
As her body swayed with Tristan's punches, a tear fell from her eye onto Tristan's veined hand.
He paused, seeing Katniss's red eyes, and let go of Samuel, turning to hold her.
Noticing she was soaking wet, he took off his jacket and draped it over her, holding her tightly as if to merge her into his body. "I know. Hitting him was to give him an excuse, not to vent my anger."
Warmth enveloped Katniss, and her cold body gradually warmed up.
Tristan released her and looked her over from head to toe, ensuring she wasn't hurt. A coldness gradually replaced the warmth in his eyes.
"Thank you, Mr. Forbes." Samuel's face was bruised, looking pitiful, but he wasn't seriously hurt.
Previously, for Jasper's sake, Samuel had privately given Tristan information.
So Tristan didn't take his anger out on him. From a rational perspective, if it wasn't Samuel, it would have been someone else.
And if it had been someone else, Katniss wouldn't have been so lucky.
"I'll take you back. We'll settle this with the right person." Tristan grabbed Katniss's wrist and led her out of the lodge.
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