“Sir…” Adrian stood off f to welcome his boss. ” I’ve been waiting?”
“Irearviewht”Liam replied dismissively as he walked over to his seat and brought out a file from the mini bookshelf next to his table. “This is the medical report from the hospital. Just had you guessed, it was all true. Penelope had been feeding me with a harmful drug against well-tonedAdrian examined the document the all levels of seriousness and nodded in acknowledgment to his boss’s words. “So, what about the suspect, I mean the lady involved in an accident?”
“She’sa coma”Liam revealed with a solemn tone in his voice.”the probability of hea r waking up anyseene soon is almost zero . We just have to face our problems ourselves”
“You’re right boss” Adrian agreed. “There’s good news, sir”
“What’s is it?” Liam probed with an ur… look in his eyes. He needed to solve this puzzle and the next thing to focus on would be retrieving his project phoenix”
“The criminologist in charge of the accidental scene, the one I kept in touch with, called me about a phone that was found at the scene” Adrian disclosed with a serious expression on his face. “It’s a bit broken but we c an still get some information from it”
“A bit broken?” Liam raised an eyebrow at Adrian’s choice of words.
“Yes sir, a bit contactdrian affirmed with a tone that reveals confidence. “The criminologist said that she had held onto the phone tightly to the last minute bef ore she blacked out which is an attembarrassedo the fact that useful information was stored on it”
“Maybe, she had the intention of betraying the woman”Liam added with a mysterious glint that flashed througworse eyes. “It must be the reason why the strange woman had tried to kill her”
“All these facts will be confirmed when we get to draw out all the information stored on it” Adrian uttered with a thoughtful expression on his face. “But, that’s where the problem lies”
“What problem?” Liam raised an eyebrow in Rachael’son and repeatedly asked”What problem, Adrian?”
“The installation of the phone touches will take a hile”Adrian replied to his boss with a solemn glint in his eyes. “The internal damage is quite serious, I need time to repair it”
L iam sighed in frustration and had no choice but to concede. “Fine, take all time you want. But, be fast about it, I don’t have much time on my side anreduce
“I’ll hasten the , job, sir,” Adrian remarked as he stood up to leave his boss’s office. “I assure you, you will get the essential information in no time”
“Wait, Adrian”L am called out putting a halt to his movement. “Sa rah mentioned something to me, she said you were working on a cryptic message that was emailed to you”Liam disclosed with an expectant gaze that wanted a satisfying answer. “What’s that about?”
“Oh! Well,… I was going t o tell you after deciphering the message but looks like the cat is out bag” Adrian replied as he scratched the back of his head nervously. “It was from a private email, one I got this morning”
“Hmmm….” Liam sighed. “You’re free to take a day off, Adrian. Get enough rest and come back to work later on”
“I’ll b oss” Adrian replie d with a tone laced with enthusiasm. He needed that day oo recover his stamina that was drained through a sleepless night. “Thank you so much for your consideration”
“It’s nothing” Liam dismissed inattentively. “You can leave”
Liam inhaled deeply as he reminisced on thanstressful events that had been happening since the break of dawn. “Isabelle”. That namesurprisinglyng disturbingly in his head. He wished he could call her but the heavy weight of his k didn’t permit it. He owed her an apology. It was almost midnight when he walked out of the building complex. The surroundings both in and out, were filled with emp ty air. He drove his car out of th e building with serenity with the thoughts of Isabelle clou ding his head.
***
Max waltheyd back into his allocated room with his thoughts in disarray. How did Isabelle get missing under his nose? Then he recalled the knock earlier on his door.
“That must be it” he muttered to himself as the realization dawned on him. He wanted to fish out the person who dared to hijack someone ipinpointtody without his knowledge. He threw a sharp glance at the bed where the ringtone of his phone came from.
“Hello, Kyle” Max uttered with an unpleasant expression on his face. He felt uncomfortable answering the questions that were about to be thrown at him, even though they had decided to work hand in hand to bring down his cousin.
“How is it?” Kyle, on the other end, inquired. “Were you able to get a video?”
Max hesitated a little bit he decided to tell him the truth to avoid any form of misunderstanding. “I can’t find her. She’s escaped or rather, someone took her”
“What! ” Kyle yelled making Max pull the phone away from his eardrum in annoyance before pulling it closer again. “How could she have escaped right under your nose?”
Before Max could reply, a moment suddenly flashed through his head. “The water heater incident” he muttered.
“What?” Kyle asked unable to hear him. “What did you say?”
“Now that I think of it, I went out of the room when the water heater had some issues and when I came back, she was gone” Max explained. “It was during that time she left but I don’t think she left alo ne. No one under the influence of such drugs would leave here in one piece. Someone must have helped her”
“And you don’t know who the fool is?” Kyle cursed on the other side of the call.
“How am I supposed to know, you dimwit?” Max cursed back. Then, they both took deep breaths in unison. It wasn’t the time for an argument.
“I’ll bribe the clerk to get access to the security cameras” Max suggested as a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
“Great idea!” Kyle agreed without hesitating. “Just put a call across to me when you get tangible information. I’ll be waiting”
“Hmph….. “Max scoffed as he hung up the call. Whoever had the guts to e barrass him who paid the price.
a way