Chapter 55: Held Hostage!
James was cooking when he suddenly heard his mother-in-law, Kaitlyn's voice, "James, your phone is ringing."
"Oh, Mom, can you check who it is?"
Soon, Kaitlyn came in holding James's phone, "It's Jennifer calling you."
James was slightly surprised. Jennifer was calling him? His first reaction was that Jennifer had dialed the wrong number. They had been in a cold war for the past couple of days, not even speaking to each other face to face. Why would she call him now? Moreover, at this hour, Jennifer should still be at work.
Nevertheless, he answered the phone, "Hello?"
There was no immediate response from Jennifer, only the sound of suppressed breathing. James asked again, "Do you need something from me?"
Finally, Jennifer's voice came through the phone, "Hello, James, where are you?"
Something was wrong!
Jennifer's voice was trembling, full of fear, as if she was being forced. James immediately stopped what he was doing and glanced at Jennifer's parents watching TV in the living room. He walked to a corner so as not to disturb them, and said, "I'm at home. What's the matter?"
Jennifer took a deep breath and trembled. "I sprained my foot. It's very painful, and I can't walk. Can you come and pick me up? I'm in the underground parking lot of the DW building."
James's tone remained unchanged, as if he didn't sense anything unusual, "I'm cooking right now. Do you really need me to come over?"
"Yes, please come now... and remember to bring my bank card, it's in the safe, the password is XXXX..." Jennifer's voice was broken, revealing panic and guilt, "James, before you come, please let my parents know, so they don't worry."
"Okay." James nodded and hung up the phone.
If anyone had seen him at that moment, they would have been frightened by the look in his eyes.
His gaze was cold, filled with murderous intent!
Jennifer had been taken hostage, which explained her tone on the phone.
Who could it be? He had kept a low profile in Lindwood City these years, with hardly any enemies and very few people he quarreled with... Soon, a name popped into his mind: John!
Due to the recent incident, John Johnson had lost his job and was being investigated for various misconducts, possibly facing prison time.
It was almost certainly him.
James clenched his fists, snorted, and despite enduring all the insults from John in the past, he had remained silent, not giving a fuck to him. His tolerance didn't mean he could be taken advantage of! Now that John dared to hold Jennifer hostage, he had crossed a line! It was best that John hadn't done anything inappropriate to Jennifer, or else he would make sure John regretted ever coming into this world!
Taking a deep breath to compose himself, James walked out and told Dennis and Kaitlyn, "Dad, Mom, Jennifer needs me for something so that I won't be back for dinner. You don't have to wait for me."
"Is everything okay?" Dennis asked. After the previous incidents, his attitude towards James had improved.
"Yeah, it's quite urgent." James smiled and said, "Jennifer and I will eat out and come back later."
Not arousing suspicion from the elders, James rushed out. He didn't call the police because if Jennifer spoke to him like that, it meant John didn't want him to. Reporting to the police might provoke John and endanger Jennifer. Besides, it wasn't necessary. If he even couldn't cope with someone like John, he wouldn't deserve to be the most outstanding genius in the Perry family's history.
Although many of the seals on him hadn't been lifted, dealing with John was still a piece of cake.
The place Jennifer mentioned was a bit far from home. To get there quickly, James droves fast. What was supposed to be a twenty-minute drive took him just over ten minutes.
Arriving at the location Jennifer mentioned, James didn't see anyone. He called Jennifer and immediately heard her phone ringing from the adjacent fire escape.
Without showing any unusual expression on his face, James walked towards the fire escape, "Jennifer, I'm here, are you okay?"
The lights were on in the fire escape, and soon Jennifer's voice came through, "I'm okay, James, I'm sorry..."
As she spoke, two burly men suddenly emerged from behind James, surrounding him. They held small knives against his back, sinisterly smiling. "Kid, we've been waiting for you for a long time."
James looked startled, "Who are you!?"
"Hahaha." John walked out of the fire escape laughing while Jennifer was being held by him, looking terrifying, "Surprised? Didn’t see this coming, did you?"
If he was going to play a role, he would play it thoroughly. James acted very surprised and shocked, "John?!! What are you doing here? What do you want? Let my wife go!"
James carefully observed Jennifer and realized she was just frightened and agitated, with no physical harm visible, and her clothes were neat. He breathed a sigh of relief.
He had been worried that John might have gone crazy and bullied Jennifer. Seeing that Jennifer had protected herself well, he calmed down. As long as Jennifer was safe, everything else could be dealt with.
"Let your wife go?" John held a small knife to Jennifer's neck, his expression full of mockery and resentment, "James, you think you're so great and capable. Show me how great you are now!"
James turned pale with fear, his legs trembling slightly, "John! aren’t you supposed to be so capable and impressive? Show me how impressive you are now!"
James paled with fear, his legs trembling slightly, “John! I-I’m warning you, don’t do anything stupid! I know Michael Brown. If you hurt us, you’ll be in big trouble!”
Jennifer had hoped that James would come to her rescue in a manly and heroic manner, but now it seemed she had overestimated him. Even though he knew Michael, he was still the same cowardly James, allowing himself to be humiliated without fighting back or speaking up. His previous display of dominance at the airport was only because Michael was backing him up. Now that Michael was absent, his true nature was revealed, returning to his cowardly self.
To be honest, Jennifer was disappointed to see James like this, extinguishing the last bit of hope in her heart. James was not a hero, just a weak-willed man.
Seeing the disappointment on Jennifer's face, James's brows furrowed slightly. He stared at John, quickly calculating in his mind. Could he successfully rescue Jennifer if he acted now with his real strength? With his current abilities, he could easily knock John out with one punch!
"What's wrong, cat got your tongue? Look at you, pale with fear, legs shaking, Hahaha, you're just trash! Even if you suck up to Michael, so what? In front of me, John, you're destined to be trash!" John laughed arrogantly.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
