She looked up eyes with a man whose gaze was as cold as ice. She’d seen him before at the McCarthy family dinner–Leda’s older brother, Carney.
Carney strode over, his eyes flicking to Blanche and the laptop in her hands. Fortunately, the screen was black; there was nothing for him to see. “Well, if it isn’t Ablett’s fiancée,” he drawled.
“What brings you to work with Mr. Jordan?”
“She’s our office assistant,” Mr. Jordan replied breezily. “Carney, your company’s IT manager, Kermit, is a suspect in a cyber theft case. Where is he?”
Mr. Jordan showed Carney no courtesy.
Carney, in contrast, remained polite, though the grating tone of his voice was like rusty metal scraping stone. “Mr. Jordan, I haven’t seen Kermit at work for two days. I was actually looking for him myself. Who would’ve thought he’d get mixed up in something illegal?”
“Did he…” Mr. Jordan pressed the word, “…act alone?”
A twisted smile curled at Carney’s lips, disturbing in its sickly amusement. “Maybe he had a partner. Who knows? I’m just a businessman; all this is above my pay grade. I’ll leave the investigating to you.”
“Just make sure you and your company cooperate fully. If there’s anyone else pulling the strings, or any accomplices, I’ll find them and root them out,” Mr. Jordan said, resolute. Carney only responded with a thin, humorless laugh.
By the time Blanche and the others finished gathering evidence and headed back, it was already noon the next day.
High above the city on the top floor of the skyscraper, Carney stood gazing down at the ant–like people below. Suddenly, he smashed the glass in his hand, shards digging into his palm.
“Mr. Harvey, now that I’ve been exposed, what should I do?” Kermit asked, crouched nearby.
“Kidnap her–throw her in the lake.” Carney nodded toward Blanche as she got into
the car.
Kermit squinted to see her at the distance. “You want me to kidnap her?”
“I’ll wire
you
half a million to disappear,” Carney said flatly.
265.00
Chapter 203
“Thank you, Mr. Harvey,”
Without another word, Kermit started tailing Blanche.
After working through the night, Blanche was utterly exhausted. Eddy had spent the same night waiting outside Fernando’s house.
“Our company tried to trace the IP address last night, but it wasn’t specific enough. The chief brought in a top expert, and they cracked the case. The suspects are being rounded up now, so we’re no longer needed,” the head bodyguard reported in one breath, glancing at the desolate, shadowed look in Eddy’s eyes.
Eddy got out from the backseat, radiating a dangerous energy, his dark eyes unreadable as he strode toward the villa and rang the doorbell.
“Who is it?” Caleb opened the door, only to stumble back at the sight of Eddy’s imposing presence. “Who are you looking for?“.
“Where’s Fernando? Tell him to come see me.” Eddy stepped inside, the head bodyguard following close behind.
When Caleb heard they knew Professor Reese, he rushed upstairs. “Professor Reese, there’s someone downstairs to see you.”
“He’s kind of intimidating.”
Fernando was still on the phone with Blanche, walking downstairs as he spoke. “Get some rest in the staff lounge–I’ll come pick you up.”
“Who are you picking up? My wife?” Eddy’s voice cut in.
They hadn’t seen each other in a year, and Eddy’s aura was even more intense and unnerving than before. Fernando froze at the sight of him.
Eddy plucked the phone from Fernando’s hand and pressed it to his ear, finally hearing the voice he’d been longing for.
“I’ll rest for a bit, then,” Blanche said softly.
09:59
The call disconnected in an instant.
