Chapter 191
Byron learned that Zack had been kidnapped and was being held at an abandoned auto parts factory on the outskirts.
Byron didn’t hesitate. He reached for his phone. Joanna lunged and grabbed his arm, her voice shaky. “Wait, don’t call yet!”
Byron whirled around, suspicion flashing in his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”
Joanna’s eyes welled up with tears as she stammered anxiously, “I… I’m just worried this might make things worse.”
Byron fixed her with an icy stare and fell silent.
Joanna secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to herself, ‘Byron will definitely see things my way. There’s no way he’ll actually take Sylvia’s advice and go to that outskirts factory.
Yet in the next moment, Byron dialed anyway. “Mobilize all available men. We’re heading to the outskirts.” Although Joanna had a point, Byron was more inclined to trust Sylvia’s judgment–after all, she was Zack’s mother.
“Take Joanna with us,” Sylvia added coldly.
Joanna blinked, then nodded. “Alright.” She had barely stepped into the hallway when she suddenly doubled over, clutching her stomach. “Something’s wrong… I need the restroom…” Her voice was faint and strained as she rushed toward it.
Sylvia blocked her path. “Hold it. Hand over your phone.”
Joanna looked up, her eyes filled with confusion. “Why?”
Sylvia fixed her with a cold stare. “Not a word gets out until we find Zack.”
Joanna’s face instantly darkened with anger. She snapped, “Are you accusing me? Do you really think I’d hurt Zack? That I’d tip off the kidnapper?”
Sylvia ignored her and repeated firmly, “I said, hand over your phone.”
Joanna shot Byron a pleading look. He was the only one who could still stop Sylvia.
“Give it to her,” Byron said, his gaze inscrutable and his tone leaving no room for argument.
Joanna’s heart skipped a beat as she once again sensed Byron’s obvious favoritism toward Sylvia. She wanted to defend herself, but when she met Byron’s gaze, his eyes narrowed with impatience, and the words died on her lips.
Joanna gritted her teeth. She reached into her pocket and tossed Sylvia the phone. “Fine. Here.”
Sylvia dropped it into her bag, then waited by the restroom door. Once Joanna came out, she grabbed her arm and dragge building.
ged her straight out of the
Now that Joanna knew their plan, they had to keep her under constant watch until Zack was rescued, regardless of whether she was involved with the kidnapper.
Outside, over a dozen black sedans were lined up in perfect formation. Men in suits stood at attention, their expressions grave as they awaited Byron’s command.
Byron strode to the front of the motorcade, narrowed his eyes, and said, “Move out.”
He got into his Lincoln while Sylvia gave Joanna a pointed look. “I’m riding with you. You drive,” she ordered.
Joanna was deeply indignant. ‘Seriously? Sylvia’s making me her driver?‘ But that wasn’t her main concern. What truly worried her was how to contact Dallas and warn him that Sylvia had already discovered his location.
Chapter 191
The motorcade roared to life and sped off toward the outskirts. While speeding down the road, Sylvia’s phone suddenly rang. She quickly fished her phone out the screen showed the same unknown number as before. Taking a deep breath, she answered, “Hello?”
On the other end of the line, Dallas’s icy voice demanded, “Sylvia, do you have the 16 million ready?”
Sylvia’s voice quive
I slightly, but she quickly composed herself. “I’m working on it. Don’t you dare harm Zack.”
As Joanna drove, her eyes flicked to the rearview mirror before she said casually, “Hey Sylvia, there’s a shortcut up ahead to the outskirts. Want to take it?”
As soon as Joanna spoke, Sylvia’s face instantly darkened with alarm. Meanwhile, Dallas caught Joanna’s words and grew alert. He was paranoid by nature, and Joanna’s words were clearly tipping him off–Sylvia was heading to the outskirts.
And he was right there in the outskirts at this very moment. His location was compromised. So, without a moment’s hesitation, Dallas hung up the phone.
“Hello?” Sylvia called frantically into the phone, only to realize Dallas had hung up. Her heart sank like a stone. She shot Joanna a sharp look. “Joanna, were you just tipping off the kidnapper?”
Joanna put on an innocent face. “No way, Sylvia. I swear, I didn’t say a thing.”
In the outskirts factory, Zack was bound to a rusted metal post. He thrashed wildly, but the ropes only dug deeper into his arms, sending sharp pains through him.
With great effort, Zack reached for the backpack nearby, which held TeddyBot he’d meant for Ruby. He fumbled inside, managed to power TeddyBot on, and whispered, “Teddy, you’re an Al robot, right? Can you call Mom and Dad for me?”
TeddyBot’s lights flickered a few times, but nothing happened–it just lay there, completely still. Zack lowered his head in disappointment. It looked like TeddyBot was no help at all here.
“Who were you talking to?” Dallas’s furious voice cut through the air. He stormed over in a rage, untied Zack from the post, and grabbed him by the collar. “Tell me right now–who were you talking to?”
Zack burst into tears. “I wasn’t talking to anyone. I was just talking to myself.”
Dallas shot Zack a vicious glare. After making sure no one else was around, he hauled Zack away and quickly left the spot. After catching Joanna’s hint, Dallas knew their hideout was blown.
It wasn’t long before Sylvia and Byron’s cars pulled up outside the factory. Byron ordered his team to surround the factory, then they cautiously rushed
inside.
The factory interior was shrouded in shadows, littered with piles of rusted auto parts. But after conducting a thorough search of the premises, they turned up no sign of Zack. Sylvia’s face instantly drained of color.
Joanna looked at Sylvia with a smug, gloating glint in her eyes. “See, Sylvia? This is all your fault. I told you we shouldn’t have barged in here. Now you’ve spooked the kidnapper, and they’ve moved Zack.”
As she spoke, Joanna glanced at Byron, thinking, Sylvia’s made such a huge blunder. Surely Byron won’t let her off the hook for this.
Byron was equally agitated, but when he saw the anxiety and tension in Sylvia’s eyes, his heart ached inexplicably for her. He gently draped his jacket over Sylvia’s shoulders and whispered, “Don’t worry. I’m here.”
Joanna watched the scene, burning with jealousy. She snapped, “This is on you, Sylvia. What if something really happens to Zack? What if the kidnapper
decides to kill him?”
14:02 Mon,
Chapter 191
Just then, Sylvia’s phone buzzed. Her eyes instantly lit up when she saw the message–it was from TeddyBot: [Ms. Sullivan, it’s Teddy. Zack’s been to cen by a bad guy. I’m with them now, and the bad guy hasn’t noticed me.]
