Chapter 341 Martin Faces a Challenge
Jade jumped at his sudden move, her hand pressed against her chest as her heart pounded wildly.
"Did something really happen to your mommy?" she asked, her voice tense with concern.
Charles didn't intend to hide the truth from her. He nodded gravely.
"Yes, something "Something has happened to Mommy. Jade, please take care of Fannie and don't let her find out about this. I need to call Daddy."
"Okay!"
Jade nodded, quickly but quietly getting to her feet and returning to Fannie's room.
Charles wasted no time and dialed Martin's number.
As soon as the call connected, he burst out, "Dad, it's bad, Mom'ssaid, "Daddy, Mommy's in trouble—"!"
Half an hour later, Charles arrived at King's Road by taxi, meeting Martin almost simultaneously. Following the tracker, they found thestopped next to a trash can where Patricia had ditched her phone.
. Father and son exchanged a glance.
"Is this the place?" Martin asked.
They looked around; the area was deserted.
No sign of Patricia.
Charles, a serious expression etched on his face, circled the area but didn't find the phone. Then his eyes settled on the trash can. After a brief hesitation, he stood on his tiptoes and peered inside.
Just as he thought, atop the pile of rubbish lay Mommy's cellphone.
Atop the pile of rubbish lay a cellphone in eerie silence.
It was Patricia's.
He was half-reaching into the can when Martin yanked him back by the collar of his jacket and bent over to retrieve the phone himself. Their expressions darkened; now they were certain Patricia was in trouble.
Their expressions darkened in unison; now they were certain Patricia was in trouble.
"Damn it..."
," Martin ground out the words through clenched teeth, his eyes blazing with an icy rage reminiscent of a provoked lion.
Ignoring whether he looked foolish or not, Charles turned off the phone, pulled out ahis laptop from his backpack, and began tracing the last incoming call while sitting at the side of the road garden.
"As you can see, the timing of this call coincides with Mommy's disappearance, so it's definitely from the kidnapper. I'll check the registration info for this number; maybe we'll find a lead."
Though he talked a confident game, inwardly, he wasn't so sure. Since the kidnapper managed to abduct Randy without leaving a trace, a savvy and shrewd mind must be at work. It seemed unlikely that such a person would have left their own information so exposed. The number was likely a burner.
Internally, he wasn't so sure.
If the kidnapper managed to abduct Randy without leaving a trace, it showed a savvy and shrewd mind at work.
Indeed it was. It seemed unlikely that such a person would have left their own information so exposed.
The number was likely a burner.
And indeed it was.
The contact information section was completely blank, with just a number and nothing else.
For the first time, the always composed and confident Charles felt a wave of panic, his hands trembling slightly as he worked the keyboard.
He kept shaking his head, reassuring himself.
saying, "No way... I refuse to believe there's nothing to find... There has to be some clue. If someone was here, there must be a trace. How could there be nothing?"
Martin, who had been carefully watching the screen, felt a sudden drain of energy at the sight of the blank information and slumped in his seat.
"Nothing at all?"
"I'll find her, MartinDaddy. I promise you, I'll find Mommy," Charles comforted him.
If the number turned up nothing, they still had the surveillance cameras.
Charles glanced up, pinpointing the locations of the cameras with ease before seamlessly accessing the national surveillance system to pull up street footage.
It seemed the person hadn't bothered to disrupt the surveillance or pick a blind spot; they chose here deliberately.
On screen, Patricia ended her call, switched off her phone, dumped it in a trash can, and then crossed the street.
Charles quickly switched to the camera across the street and there he saw Patricia picking up a phone from a flowerbed, taking a call, and then climbing into a van parked at the curb.
The moment he saw the van, Charles's heart started to pound as if it was about to leap out of his throat.
"With the van, we can track down Mommy's whereabouts."
He zoomed in on the van's license plate.
But, but what he saw made his heart sink. The blue plate read:. "HAHAHAHA" in bold letters.
Both plates on the van had been deliberately falsified.
And since it was nighttime, with no traffic cops patrolling, they roamed unchecked.
Martin forced himself to remain calm, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them, his gaze snapping back to the monitor—.
Was it there?
Just then, PatriciaCharles, who had been vigilant at the screens, spotted something, swiftly packed her his laptop into herhis backpack, and dashed into the street toward the very flowerbed where she found the phone.
Without a second thought, Martin followed quickly.
"Charles, what's wrong?"
"I saw... Mom wroteMommy write a few words in the flowerbed..."
As Charles explained, he searched meticulously through the flower bed.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for him to find traces of red. It was his mommy's blood.
It was blood—left by his mother.
Regrettably, the message was mostly washed away, leaving only five faint dots surrounded by damp patches that hadn't yet dried.
Firing up his laptop, Charles rewound the security footage only to see someone in a hoodie, sporting a cap and a face mask, approach the flower bed and methodically douse the bloodstained message with bottled water.
What really boiled Charles' blood was theThe brazen smirk directed at the camera. boiled Charles' blood. It was as if the figure knew he'd be scrutinized later, silently taunting him.
Yes, there was absolutely a taunt in that smile.
Even hidden behind a mask and captured by the digital eye, heCharles was certain the intruder was smirking—smug and self-satisfied.
Mocking He was mocking them as if they were mere puppets in his twisted game, with everything under his sinister control.
A prickly sweat broke out on the backs of both Charles and Martin.
"Daddy, this guy didn't just take Randy and Mommy; he's calculated our every move!. He's terrifyingly clever—a real nasty piece of work," Charles whispered, a chill running down his spine.
Martin's usually composed face clouded over with a dark aura as he glanced meaningfully towards the camera,. "Let's head home. We'll sort this out there."
With a nod, Charles packed up his laptop, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and together with Martin, briskly left the scene with Martin.
...
Meanwhile, at another location.
"Mommy, please...! Mommy, what's wrong? Wake up, Mommy... Mommy..."
The sound of crying stirred Patricia from her unconsciousness, her shoulder being shaken aggressively.
Blearily opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was the red, swollen eyes of her son Randy, followed by his scared and startled face.
"Randy?"
After a moment of stunned silence, Patricia's instincts kicked in, and she quickly scrambled to her feet, pulling Randy into a tight embrace.
"Randy, are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" she said.
Despite being held captive all day, despite the fear, Randy had stayed strong and hadidn't shed a tear. But now, seeing his mother, his defenses crumbled, and he sobbed uncontrollably.
"Mommy, why are you here too? Where's Charles and Fannie? Were they caught as well?"
Patricia's heart ached as she leaned over and kissed his forehead, murmuring words of comfort,. "Don't you worry, honey, it's just us. Everyone else is home asleep, safe and sound. Mommy's here to protect you..."."
Though deepDeep down, she felt anything but certain.
But, but right now, she had to be the reassuring figure for her little one.
Randy burrowed his head into her embrace, whimpering,. "I'm scared... so so scared..."
"There, there... Don't be scared. Daddy's going to save us, just like he always does. Remember when he rescued Charles and Fannie? Everything turned out fine then, and it will now, too," Patricia said, gently stroking his back, soothing him and herself all at onceboth.
The memories of Charles' kidnapping, Fannie's brush with disaster at sea, and their father's daring rescues flooded back. Randy's fears began to subside, his ragged breaths easing.
Randy's fears began to subside, his ragged breaths easing.
Yes!
. His daddy was formidable, a real-life hero. Surely, he would save them.
He had to.
Unfortunately, just asAs Randy began to find solace, the door burst open, and Charlotte strode in, silhouetted against the moonlight.
Chapter342
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