However, when Mrs. White got in her car, a strange call suddenly came in.
The voice on the other side of the phone was indistinguishable. Mrs. White couldn’t even tell whether it was a male or a female.
“Stay at home if you still want your great-granddaughter to be alive, Mrs. White. Don’t make any move, or I can’t promise Betty’s safety,” The metallic voice threatened her.
Mrs. White instantly realized that she was being watched.
“What do you want?” Mrs. White hissed.
Getting a call from the kidnapper was not necessarily a bad thing. At least they could communicate with them to secure Betty’s safety.
“We don’t want much. We just want 10 percent of the stocks of your company.”
10 percent!
This was a high price.
“Old woman, 10 percent of the life of the little girl. It’s not a hard decision to make, is it? By the way, don’t walk around and cause us trouble, or I can’t assure you how many days the girl’s gonna live. We don’t want trouble, and you better not cause us any. Or we will kill her before the police can find us.”
And then, the call was hung up with a sharp sound.
10 % of the stocks?
Kidnappers who asked for such big money wouldn’t be normal kidnappers. Mrs. White’s chest was still heaving after the call was over.
She felt that the kidnapper must be in one of the big houses.
Mrs. White knew her action had been exposed. These people didn’t feel scared of the police at all. They probably even had their forces among the police. That was why the police still hadn’t found anything. She didn’t know what would happen if they delayed their action. She knew she had no choice but to ask for help from the Bradley and Weston family.
Since those people had started to keep an eye on her, she must use the oldest way to ask for help.
Mrs. White used newspapers. It was a secret signal she had discussed with other leaders of Bradley, Wayne, and Weston a long time ago. It was absolutely safe.
Franco and Mr. Weston only got to know what happened to the White after getting the signal from the newspaper.
They summoned Linford immediately.
“What is this?” Franco asked as he pointed at the news he had just searched online, “Why didn’t you tell us about this before?”
“Oh… Betty,” Linford said, “I don’t want you to get too worried, Pop.”
Franco sighed, “Ann is asking for help. Those kidnappers asked for ten percent of their company’s stocks. It’s crazy.”
10 percent?
Linford exchanged a look with Drew, “That’s a lot.”
“The most important thing is… Ann doesn’t want to give the kidnapper what they want, and she also doesn’t want bad things to happen to Betty. She hopes we can help her for old days’ sake.” Franco sighed, “Linford, I know you…”
“It’s okay, Pop,” Linford suddenly said, “I’ll help her.”
Franco’s mouth fell open. He couldn’t believe Linford would like to help Mrs. White, “Are you serious? Are you not doing this to fulfill your secret plans?”
Linford smiled, “What are you talking about, Pop? Just like you said, this is for the old days’ sake. I would never make you disappointed just because I don’t like someone. Besides, Betty is innocent. Leaving a little girl to those kidnappers just sounded too cold-blooded. It’s just not who I really am.”
Franco still couldn’t bring himself to believe what Linford had just said. He thought his grandson hated Mrs. White’s guts.
Before he could ask anything, Linford suddenly turned to Mr. Weston, “Mr. Weston, you need to be really careful if you want to send your men to help Mrs. White. Don’t let those people find out your intentions. It would be even better if you could find out the main culprit of the crime. Just call me if you need my help. I would be happy to aid you.”
Franco and Mr. Weston looked at Linford as if he was a stranger to them.
Linford didn’t want to explain anything to the old men. So he stood up from his seat and was ready to go upstairs, “So, as said, feel free to ask me if you need any help. The girl is the twins’ classmate. They are also quite worried about her safety. Drew has something to tell me upstairs. Excuse us.”
****
“You wish you could have a chance to investigate those kidnappers, don’t you? Instead, you want to use them to get the evidence of Miles Johnson’s crimes. So you can wipe him out for good. If my guess is right, you must have already contacted the Walters. You’re gonna make them think twice about the ally they chose, aren’t you?” Drew narrated his observation loudly in Linford’s study room.
Linford only smiled, not saying a thing.
“But who would Walters choose? Miles or us?”
Linford shrugged, “If the White didn’t fall on our side or Miles kidnapped Candace successfully, Walters would probably have chosen him. But now, things are pretty unclear. Why would Walters rush to make any decision so soon? If I were Mr. Walters, I would deliberately show my wavering attitude so that both parties would try to persuade me to join them while giving out generous offers. And the two parties would bite each other’s arms off during this time. If Walters had any plan to grab away our market, he would just sit back until Bradley and Johnson both took huge trolls in this war. It’s a great opportunity to get everything without doing anything. Rushing to choose an ally right now is a fool’s decision.”
Drew felt a shiver down his spine. The war between big companies was scary.
“So, what are you gonna do next?” Drew asked, deliberately using a light tone.
“They can’t stay out of this as they want,” Linford took a sip from his coffee, “I’ve sent Alfred to Europe to contact Walters’ enemies. Walters is not the only option we have.”
Linford was prepared for this coming war a long time ago. Miles thought he was smart, but he was only slowly walking into Linford’s trap.
“By the way, Drew,” Linford said, “I need you to keep a close eye on Betty’s case. We need to take this opportunity and grab Miles’s tail.”
“No problem, I’ve got this,” Drew nodded, “I’ve contacted our men. They promised that they would let me know if they get anything.”
Linford only felt relieved after hearing that.