Summer had not seen Lynn in the office the whole day. She asked one colleague she was more acquainted with. “Is the president not coming in today?”
The colleague checked her left, right, front and back, then said almost in a whisper. “I heard that the president has gone out of the country.”
Summer’s expression changed. What Lynn was doing aboard at this moment? Then she suddenly thought of what she had said to Lynn. Was he going to see Jarrett Sr., begging him to come home? If so, what she said to Lynn that day was really a decisive moment. Lynn might not be the smartest businessman in the world, but when it came to the decision moment, he still knew which side of his bread was buttered.
She was deep in thought, thinking about Leonardo’s mom. Her abduction was classified as a case of kidnapping going wrong, pissed-off kidnappers killing their abductee. But it was not that simple.
Leonardo’s mom had been sexually violated to death. If what the abductors were after was just money, and the Emerson family had wanted to save her, things would not have come to this stage.
Then there were only two possibilities. One, the abductors had wanted to kill Leonardo’s mom from the very beginning, or two, someone in the Emerson family did not want to save her but wanted her dead.
The case had caused a stir back then. According to what the news said, they had only found Leonardo and his mom after a few days. If the kidnappers just wanted the money, they would have contacted them, and they would not have to take days to find them. All the narratives and judgment did not stand up to scrutiny.
One more thing, whatever she could think of, others could also come to the same conclusion. Let alone Leonardo. Most people would see and forget about things that do not concern them. It is none of their business after all. But not Leonardo. It was his mom, ravaged right in front of his eyes by a bunch of bastards.
He had been living in hatred and self-blame. That explained why he was so grim and gloomy; that explained why he did not want to reveal himself in public; that explained why when she was kidnapped by two men, he so violently killed the kidnappers. With him so adamantly wanting to force Jarrett Sr. to come home, could this mean that Jarrett Sr. was related to the kidnapping back then?
The files suddenly dropped from her hands to the floor, jolting her out of her thoughts. She might have figured out what Leonardo was up to already.
…
At noon, Summer called Leonardo for lunch. For the first time, he rejected her. But at least she got a message from Douglas through Wechat.
“Summer, what do you have for lunch?”
“I haven’t eaten. You?”
He replied with an emoticon of what might look like a good boy. “Really? Me too.”
Summer chuckled upon reading that. Of course, she got what the little rascal meant.
“I will find a restaurant and order the food first, it will all be ready by the time you arrive. I will follow up with an address.”
Not long after Summer ordered their food, Douglas arrived. Sitting down, and all smiles, he tried one of the dishes, then frowned. “I think I still prefer our cooking.”
“Don’t brown-nose me.” Summer shot him a look.
After lunch, and as they were out of the restaurant, Douglas’s phone rang. He stopped, looking at the name displayed on the screen, transfixed. “Ben Burton?”
“Is that the boy whom you hit yesterday?” Summer poked her head over to take a glimpse, finding the name familiar.
Douglas nodded. “Yeah, but why does he even want to call me?”
He answered the phone and Ben Burton shouted hysterically over the phone. “Douglas! Was that you who hired someone to kill my father?”
“Are you out of your mind, Ben Burton? I didn’t hit your head yesterday, or did I? You suffer some brain damage or what?” Douglas was pissed by Ben Burton’s opening speech.
“I want blood for blood!” Ben Burton then slammed the phone, and the line went dead.
Summer had heard what Ben Burton said.
“He said I killed his father?
“Isn’t it crazy? What grudges would I have against his father to make me want to kill him?” After he said that, Douglas did not give it a second thought.
Not long after, two men were walking from the opposite direction toward them. They were well built with no-nonsense faces. Gut feelings told Summer that they could be the police. She stood before Douglas. Sure enough, the two men showed their police IDs as they approached.
“We are from the police department’s Crime Division. Douglas, you’re a suspect in a criminal case. Please give us your full cooperation.” Their eyes were locked on Douglas all the time.
Summer turned to look at Douglas, who was visibly shocked. She held his hand, then said, “He is still a minor. He needs a guardian with him if you’re going to arrest him, am I right, officers?”
“Yes,” one police officer said.
…
As Summer accompanied Douglas to the police station, she called Leonardo, telling him what happened. When they arrived, Summer already saw Tim and Carl in front of the police station.
Carl listlessly walked up to them as they got out of the police car. “captain Gibson. It’s been a long while. You look manlier by the day.” captain Gibson was the one who spoke to Summer just now. Probably he had met too many criminals over the years. He looked fierce and intimidating.
“Carl? What are you doing here?” captain Gibson was all smiles when he saw Carl. They apparently knew each other.
Carl went up, wrapping his one arm around captain Gibson’s shoulder, pointing toward Douglas with his chin. “That kid is my distant relative.”
Captain Gibson chuckled. “You mean you are a distant relative of the Emersons?”
Lesson learned: never try to bluff a cop. “You have his background checked already. And only you dare to do that, knowing that he is from the Emerson family.”
“If the king has done something wrong, I’ll still arrest him,” said captain Gibson with a smile.
Carl gave Summer an assuring look, then said to captain Gibson, “Would you please treat me as the kid’s guardian. I need to be there as you interrogate him.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Come on, bro.”
“Alright!”
…
Inside the interrogation room, captain Gibson looked at Douglas, face grave.
“Is Ben Burton your classmate?”
“That’s right.”
“His father was murdered at six o’clock this morning. He had no enemies, except the grudges you hold against his son, Ben Burton. We suspect that this is a contract killing.”
The call he got earlier came to mind. “Ben Burton’s father?”