Chapter 74
As Jace and Liam stood inside the opulent but eerily quiet mansion, they could feel the weight of anticipation hanging in the air. Their team-private detectives and police officers-was combing through the sprawling rooms and corridors, searching for any clue that could lead them to Dr. Sanders and Lucy.
Jace held his phone tightly, waiting for Emerald to pick up on the other end. When she finally answered, her voice echoed with concern. “Hi, dear wife.”
“Yes?” Emerald replied.
“You see, Liam and I are on the outskirts of the city next to ours with the detectives and the police.”
“What? Why? What are you doing there?” Emerald asked continuously, worried. “Are you alright?” she added.
“Yes, I’m fine, we’re fine. But the thing is, we tried to locate the location of the device Dr. Sanders used in contacting your landlord. And we think we found it.”
“Really? Then, did you find Dr. Sanders and Mom? Jace, what did you find?” Emerald’s voice trembled with a mixture of fear and hope.
“No, not yet. But we found something and think Dr. Sanders left this for us. It’s a note saying they had left this mansion about three days ago at 4 in the afternoon in an ambulance.” Jace replied, his tone urgent yet controlled.
Emerald gasped. “An ambulance? But where did they go? Why is there an ambulance?” she asked continuously, worry evident.
Jace glanced around at the detectives, who were still meticulously searching the mansion. “We’re not sure yet, but we need Creep’s help. Can you ask him to use the mansion as the starting point to locate any recent activity related to Dr. Sanders or Lucy? The police are also working on it, but I think Creep would do it quickly.”
Emerald nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “Yes, of course. I’ll tell him right away,” young Morgan replied, her mind racing.
“Good,” Jace said, his voice tight with determination. “We need to find them, Emerald. We’re close.”
“Be careful, Jace; I’ll call you again when Creep is ready.”
Meanwhile, at ACEGame, Creep was hunched over his computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he accessed various databases and surveillance feeds. Emerald paced anxiously nearby, relaying the information from Jace.
“Creep, we need to trace any recent movements from the mansion,” Emerald said urgently into her phone. “Can you do that?” her friend nodded, eyes scanning the screen.
“I’m on it, Emerald. Give me a moment.”
Minutes passed like hours as Creep cross-referenced data, searching for any sign of an ambulance leaving the mansion three days ago. Finally, a ping on his screen caught his attention-a record of an ambulance leaving the mansion precisely at 4 PM three days ago, heading towards a location in their city.
“I’ve got something,” Creep said, his voice tense with excitement. “The ambulance was tracked to an establishment called the Red House..”
“The Red House? Why would Dr. Sanders and Lucy be there?” Emerald asked, confused.
Creep hesitated, his fingers still flying across the keyboard. “I’m not sure, but it’s our best lead. I’ll keep digging and see if I can find anything else.”
“Please do,” Emerald said, her voice wavering with fear and determination. “I’ll call Jace.”
As Creep continued his search, Emerald leaned against the desk, her thoughts juggling before she dialed Jace’s number, praying they would find Dr. Sanders and Lucy there, safe and unharmed. For now, it was their only hope.
“Yes, dear wife,” Jace said as he answered the call.
“Jace, Creep said he tracked the location leading to an establishment named Red House.”
“According to the police, isn’t that where Emerose was working?” young Higginson asked, confused.
Emerald suddenly remembered the matter and couldn’t fathom why Dr. Sanders was there, given that Emerose had no connection to that establishment apart from being an entertainer. “Do you think she has something to do with this?” young Morgan still couldn’t help but ask.
“I don’t think so. She’s in jail now and cannot support your mother’s medical needs if that’s the case,” Jace answered.
“What do you mean by medical needs? Did something happen to my mom?” Emerald asked anxiously as fear started to take hold of her again. She wanted to see and be with Ember, so she wanted to be sure she was alright.
“Based on the condition of the room where we found Dr. Sanders’ note, we believe your mom is not in a good state but is being cared for. I think Dr. Sanders’ role here is to take care of her. Whoever took your mom, I believe, didn’t do it to harm her.” Emerald breathed a sigh of relief after Jace spoke. Knowing that someone was taking care of and providing for her mother’s medical needs was enough to ease her mind a bit.
Meanwhile, while Jace talked to Emerald, he faced Liam, who immediately informed the police officers of what young Morgan had said. The officers acted quickly and prepared to go to the Red House.
Jace and Liam got into the car, and the latter drove since the couple was still talking on the phone. Emerald didn’t want her husband to end the call, so young Higginson took the opportunity to share his opinion on the matter.
“I doubt Emerose has anything to do with it, dear wife.”
“What do you mean, because of mom’s medical needs?” Emerald asked.
“We both know Emerose is mad at you and even more so at your mom because she rushed to your office thinking you were Emerson’s bastard with your mom. So I’m sure she wouldn’t want Ms. Ember to live.” Jace explained. Emerald fell silent on the other line, trying to process all the possibilities of what her husband said.
“I agree with Jace,” Liam suddenly said. “It’s not Emerose’s type to keep your mom alive, M. Remember, she managed to have you kidnapped just recently. And Hubert told you she was behind it because she wanted you out of her way.”
“Dear wife, don’t worry, we will get to the bottom of this. We will find out who took your mom. And we will do everything to ensure her safety and Dr. Sanders’.”
“Thank you so much, Jace. Please be careful and tell Liam to keep safe as well.”
“Will do, dear wife,” Jace replied before ending their conversation. He knew his wife was very worried, so he wanted everything happening in their lives, causing her sadness to end as soon as possible. He wanted them to find Ember so his wife could finally be happy and whoever was responsible for her disappearance could be punished for their ultimate peace of mind. Since they were on the outskirts, going to the next city would be a long drive, but Jace remained alert.
Emerald, still in her office, was currently facing Creep. She had sent Daryl home to look after Ace, but aside from that, her father called to inform her that Jace had sent him to their house to look after the child with Mr. Ferguson.
She was very grateful to have a father and grandfather willing to support and help her, especially since she also needed to support her husband, who was doing everything to find her mother.
“M,” Creep called, causing her to look at him. “Don’t worry, we will find your mom.”NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.
“Thank you so much, Creep. You’ve helped me a lot since then until now.”
“How many times do I have to tell you that you helped Elise and me, allowing us to live a safe and peaceful life?”
“Even so, you have played a significant role in who I am today. And I will never forget that.” Creep didn’t say anything further because he knew it would be pointless. Whenever they had a serious conversation, Emerald couldn’t help but mention their past and how they started.
Jace and Liam had just arrived at the Red House and found several police cars parked outside. “What’s wrong? Why haven’t you moved to enter the place?” young Higginson asked in surprise.
“It’s not that simple, Jace,” Liam replied, causing the former to frown.
“Mr. Higginson, I’m sorry, but we can’t just enter and search the premises.”
“What do you mean?”
“We need a warrant first to make our raid on the Red House legal.”
“Shit! So we can’t do anything now but hang around here?” young Higginson asked irritably.
“Relax, Jace, losing your temper won’t help,” Liam tried to calm him.
“What are you doing here?” an older woman angrily asked as she approached them. “You’re disturbing our business. Instead of customers coming in, they won’t because you’re blocking the entrance.” The woman was furious, her eyes glaring because of the inconvenience caused by the police cars with them.
“We learned that a patient and a doctor were brought to that building, so we want to check and confirm,” Jace spoke, causing the woman to look at him mockingly.
“You’re at the wrong place, handsome. Shouldn’t you be checking the hospital if it’s a patient and a doctor? Do you even know what kind of business we have here?” the woman, known as Madam Z, asked haughtily.
“We just want to check the premises. I’m sure you can accommodate us in that regard.” Jace didn’t give up, hoping to persuade the woman.
“If you want to check inside, bring me the warrant. We’re not fools here who will tremble and be scared just because you’re with some police officers. Our business is legal, and we have a permit, giving us the right to complain about your harassment,” Madam Z said. “Now, if you have nothing more to say, leave because you’re ruining our business.”
Jace was about to speak, but Liam stopped him, noticing that Ronnie and Cedrick had already entered the Red House. They just needed to wait and believed those two knew what to do.
The police officers left one by one but stayed nearby so they could respond quickly if anything happened. Jace and Liam remained parked in front of the Red House as a diversion for the two private detectives inside.
“Why did Dr. Sanders didn’t just say who took them? It would have been easy if he dropped a name,” Jace said frustratedly.
“We don’t know what really happened to them, Jace, so we can’t blame him. For all we know, he’s in a tight situation and barely left us that note,” Liam replied as they started to get in the car.
“I wanted to end this now, Liam. I want Emerald to find peace.”
“Me too, but we can’t rush things. We didn’t want to put Dr. Sanders’ life in danger, which he already put at risk by trying to contact us.”
“This is all my fault. If I hadn’t hurt Emerald before, we would have found her mother long ago.” Jace said in a low voice. “I was the one who was paying for her hospital bill, and after my wife left, I went there to check but didn’t find anything. I was focusing on finding my wife then, so I forgot about her mother.”
After Jace said that, Liam heaved a deep sigh, knowing that young Higginson really loved Emerald. He was more than willing to let Young Higginson care for Young Morgan. “Everything is going to be okay, Jace,” he said confidently.