Chapter 48
After fiddling with the lock for sometime, the door finally opened. At the sight of hope, Sandy managed to hold unto her consciousness.
“Help me” she didn’t see the person’s face which was covered and every other part of her body concealed.
She searched the car and found Sandy’s phone. Slowly and carefully, Sandy was brought out of the car.
“Who are you and why are you helping me?” Whoever it was, refused to speak and Sandy gave up.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, they were surrounded by armed men. Her heart hit the pit of her stomach.
“When you see an avenue, run. As fast as you can” It was a female voice. She stuffed the phone into her hand.
“I-” Without waiting for her to speak, she began to fight them. They had guns, but they were not using it.
“RUN!” She heard someone screaming at her and came back to her senses. She did as she was told and began to flee. She had only gone five steps when she heard a gunshot. She looked back and realized her savior was the one who got hurt in the arm.
“GO!” She screamed at Sandy while holding her injured arm. Sandy made a tough decision and ran, but it was only for a short while. She began to pant and rested her back against a nearby wall. She remembered she had given her the phone, and before she could even think of calling someone, he heard loud ringing sounds in her head and fainted.
****************
Valerie stood up and walked towards Jared’s office. She felt her heart beat quicken. She had refused to meet his face since what happened at is office. She took three deep breaths and was ready to knock but halted. She thought she heard Sandy’s name. She placed her ear against the door. She could not ear what they were saying because the room was soundproofed, but she could make out ‘Sandy’ and ‘kidnap’. Her eyes widened and she burst in.
“What were you talking about?” It was Jared and Will in the office. No one spoke. “Answer me!” She was breathing heavily and could not stop her hands from shaking. Jared motioned for Will to leave.
“Look Valerie, you should calm down”
“Is it true?”
He sighed, getting up from his seat. “Yes. It is true. Sandy was kidnapped”
She almost fell back. “How….. wh….” Jared helped her to the sofa.
“When did this happen?”
“Last night”
“Last night? Why did you not tell me? You called- wait, was that why you called me last night?”
“Yes”
“Oh, God! What do we do now? Have you found out where she is? Do you know who abducted her? Do you have plans to rescue her? I mean, your brother is the president, there should be a way, right? You can -”
“Take it easy. We-”
“She is pregnant, for goodness’ sake! Do not tell me to calm down!” She didn’t mind she was basically screaming in her boss’s face. “And you don’t seem to mind it. You don’t seem to care. Is it because you think so little of her?”
“Valerie, what are you talking about? I-”
“Is it because she is not from your social class? Because she is a nobody who just happened to marry your almighty brother because she accidentally got pregnant for him? Is that it?” She had completely lost it.
“Valerie, that’s enough” his voice became hard.
“Why? Because I’m saying the truth? And you know what, this is all your family’s fault. If she hadn’t married your brother, she wouldn’t have become targets to many people who hate your family. But it has occurred, and you act like nothing happened? Like it is none of your business? If anything happens to my friend, I will never forgive all of you!”
She slammed the door behind her.
************
They had visited everywhere they thought she would have been. The places she liked visiting, but nothing came up.
“Mr president, you have a call from the search team”
“Did you find anything?”
“Yes sir. We were able to spot her somewhere at Mount Crome”
“Send people there. I’m on my way”
After combing the area for a while, they were finally able to find her.
“Sandy! Sandy! Are you okay?” She was still warm, and her heart was still beating. He heaved a sigh of relief and made to carry her. He paused when she let out a squeak.
“What is it? Do you have something to tell me”
She forcefully raised her hand towards a direction. “O….. ver … there”
“What is there?”
He received no response.
“Split yourselves into three. One will find out what is going on over there. The other will comb the area. Arrest any suspicious person you see. Do you understand?” He barked.
“Yes sir ”
“And the third will follow me” he swiftly picked her up from the floor and walked away. “Sebastian, tell Jared to get the doctor to my place before I arrive”
He immediately went off to do as he was told.
Blake examined Sandy under the watchful eyes of the whole family.
“I think she should be taken to a hospital for a proper check. She is pregnant and we don’t want any complications. There should be no problem but to be on the safer side, you need to do that”
“Goodness. Poor child. She must have been so frightened. Should we do that now?” Mrs Smith said sympathetically.
“No. Of course not. That can be done when she wakes up. I will take my leave now”
Dylan’s eyes were fixed on the frail woman on the bed. He didn’t look away, neither did he speak.
“Thank you, Blake” Mrs Smith said with a smile.
“I will see you out” Jared said.
It was time for Jared to return to the house.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice”This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.
“It’s perfectly fine”
“See you later then” He turned to leave.
“Wait. There is something I need to…. ask you”
“And that is?”
Blake hesitated for a while. “It is about your secretary”
Jared turned to him fully, his hands in his pocket. “What about her?”
“Is there something between you two?”
“Oh? Why would you think that?”
“I saw how you were exchanging glances at your engagement”
Jared gave a sarcastic smile. “You know, I’m beginning to think your appearance at that café wasn’t a coincidence after all”
“Look Jared, I am your friend and…” he sighed. “I know you don’t like Jane, but cheating on her? Won’t that be a little too much? I suggest you kill whatever feelings you have for her now. It is for your own good”.
“Are you done?”
“Jared…”
“Leave” his voice was cold.
“Listen, I…..”
“Now”
Blake nodded, turned around and left without looking back.
Jared went inside and met everyone in the living room, looking gloomy.
“Mum, Dad, Grandfather, you should leave”
“Is it the same person?” Mr Smith spoke up.
Mrs Smith gasped. “Oh my God! That can’t be” She looked extremely scared.
“Enough with the silly thoughts. It is probably some petty kidnappers who want to rip off wealthy families”
“Did you forget? The incident at Cheryl’s grave. Did that look petty to you? In a matter of months, we have encountered not one, not two, but three mishaps. Does that still look like petty? If we are not careful, something hurtful will happen to each and every one of us in this family. Are we really not going to do anything?” Mrs Smith spoke with tears in her eyes. “You almost died! Sandy almost died! Che…. Cheryl…” she choked. “My Cheryl died and that was no accident! Whoever it was wanted to do the same to your sister-in-law” She burst into sobs. His eyes went to his grandfather who was silent.
“Like I said, it is not who or what you are thinking. Sebastian” He called the man standing in the corner. “Get the best of the elite bodyguards to escort them home” he nodded at them and went to the room where Sandy was, knowing very well that was where his brother was. He never left her side for a second and did not say a single word. Jared knew he was blaming himself deep within.
He knocked and entered.
“How are you doing?” He received no response. “You know this isn’t your fault, right? You just got appointed into office and your workload is naturally heavy. There is absolutely no need to blame yourself”
“I should have protected her more. I should have spent some time with her at least. Mother was right. All I did was work. This wouldn’t have happened if I had been more attentive”
Jared gave up trying to convince him.
“Did you find anything? The culprit, perhaps”
“My men searching the area are not back yet”
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and Sebastian came in.
“The men have brought word, Mr president”
“I go out and find out. Just stay here” Jared stood up and left the room.
He met the men outside.
“Mr Smith” one called in greeting.
“What did you find?”
“We found no one on the mountain. There was only a car that was hanging dangerously by the cliff and somewhere, we saw blood on the ground….. and a bullet”