Leland Burns felt like a weight had been lifted from his heart. Under Ms. Protich’s care, he no longer hid in the darkness. The curtains were drawn back, the windows opened to let in fresh air, and the room seemed to come alive as the smell of alcohol dissipated.
Ms. Protich made him a bowl of hangover soup. After drinking it, he lay on the sofa and slept until evening. When he woke up, Ms. Protich had already prepared dinner. Knowing he had drunk too much, she made a warm porridge with milk, vegetables, and lean meat to soothe his stomach.
Leland Burns had little appetite and put down the bowl after drinking just one.
“Ms. Protich, you don’t have to stay here. If you want to leave, you can go.” He realized that keeping Ms. Protich around wouldn’t bring Winifred Dawson back.
“I don’t want to leave yet. I want to stay with you until we hear news about Miss Dawson. Only then will I feel at ease.”
Since she didn’t want to leave, Leland Burns didn’t force her. Over the past few days, he had come to see that Ms. Protich had a good heart and understood why Winifred Dawson trusted her so much, even buying her a large insurance policy before leaving.
Ms. Protich knew all the codes for the house, but Leland Burns still gave her a key. “You can come and go as you please. When you decide to leave, just return the key.”
“I’ll keep it safe.”
Ms. Protich glanced at Leland Burns’ left hand. She didn’t know how he had hurt it but was relieved it wasn’t his right hand, which would make eating difficult.
“Mr. Burns, is your left hand alright? How did you hurt it? Should we go to the hospital for a tetanus shot?”
“No need, it’s fine.”
Ms. Protich thought it didn’t look fine and cautiously offered, “How about I help you treat it?”
Leland Burns declined. To him, it was a minor injury that didn’t need bandaging. It wasn’t bleeding anymore; as long as he kept it dry and applied medication regularly, it would heal quickly. However, avoiding water entirely was impossible.
Ms. Protich didn’t press further. Leland Burns stood up. “I’m going to my study to work. I’ll let you know if there’s any news about Winifred Dawson.”
“Alright.”
Leland Burns went upstairs, still feeling weak from the lingering alcohol in his system. He wobbled as he walked and nearly collapsed while climbing the stairs; only grabbing the railing saved him from falling.
By the time he reached the top, he was sweating profusely and his face was flushed with an unhealthy red hue. In his current state, working was out of the question.
He called Wesley to ask if there was any new information about Winifred Dawson.
The answer was no.
He knew finding someone wasn’t a matter of days or weeks, especially since Winifred Dawson had disappeared at sea-finding her would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
“Alright, I understand…”
“Mr. Burns, there’s something else I need to tell you.”
“Is it important?”
“Not really.”
Since it wasn’t important, Leland Burns wanted him to shut up and hang up.
But whenever he fell silent, his mind wandered back to Winifred Dawson and that dream of her floating on the sea.
Leland Burns needed something else to focus on.
“Go ahead, what is it?”
“Mr. Burns, besides us looking for Miss Dawson, someone else is also searching for her.”
“Who?”
“Garrison Reeves.”
Leland Burns fell silent for a moment upon hearing this long-absent name; he was momentarily stunned.
The last time they met was last year; time had flown by so quickly.
He hadn’t expected Garrison Reeves to resurface and wondered what state the Reeves family was in now.
Wesley asked, “Should we intervene?”
“No need. The more people looking for her, the better our chances. Keep searching and add more manpower.”
“Understood.”
After hanging up, Leland Burns opened his computer to search for information on Garrison Reeves.
Garrison Reeves had once been someone Winifred Dawson liked but couldn’t have; she almost ended up with him abroad.
Garrison Reeves was someone young Winifred Dawson loved but couldn’t attain; hence she used Leland Burns as a substitute for him.
Had Garrison Reeves not appeared suddenly with that red mole at the corner of his eye, Leland might never have known the truth.
Back then, out of jealousy or hatred towards Winifred Dawson or both, he targeted the Reeves family maliciously.
After Winifred reluctantly returned home with him because of Garrison Reeves, he never bothered with the Reeves family again; over a year had passed since then and he had no idea what had become of them abroad.
Now investigating again revealed a lot of information; reading through it all gave Leland Burns a headache-an aftereffect of too much alcohol.
He drank a glass of cold water and forced himself to focus on reading bit by bit.
The Reeves family had undergone significant changes-no… Garrison Reeves had changed significantly.