After he closed the door, Justin’s face was clouded with gloom. He tossed Rachel’s phone to Frankie and said, “Give the phone to the private detective. I’m sure the kidnappers will call again.”
“Certainly.”
“Also, inform the project manager in Brookville and prepare to withdraw the bid.”
Frankie looked at Justin in amazement and disbelief. They had been discussing this project for a long time, in which the entire company knew its importance because it was not only reflected in the profit value, but also in the opportunities for long-term cooperation in the future.
However, Justin had ordered them to withdraw the bid.
Over at Riverdale the following afternoon, an argument was close to ensuing.
“Miss Hochmann, you can’t enter now. Miss Hochmann!”
“Justin!” Gloria pushed open the door and barged into his office in a rage.
Justin had just finished his morning meeting and he was sitting behind the computer. Upon seeing her appearance, he frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re still asking me what’s wrong? Where is Rachel?”
“She has something to attend to and won’t be back for a while.”
“She’s not coming back for a while?” Gloria nodded. “Okay. Then, I’ll ask, where’s Rachel’s grandma?”
He frowned but did not reply.
“She has been kidnapped; do you know about this?”
“Yes.”
“Yes?” Gloria’s anger immediately rose and she raised her voice. “Then, how can you still sit here to leisurely drink coffee? That is Rachel’s only family member. Do you know that if anything happens to her grandma, Rachel will never forgive you?”
Justin asked, “Who told you this?”
“Never mind! Just tell me whether you care about this matter or not!”
“I’m not a police officer, so how can I resolve this?”
“The kidnappers are obviously after you. What has Rachel and her grandmother done wrong? If they weren’t involved with you, who would disturb them? I know that better than anyone!”
“What you mean by that is that you are blaming me for having endangered you all these years?”
Gloria’s face stiffened as her anger froze at the corners of her mouth.
“Get out. I still have things to do.” Justin converged his gaze on her, his pair of cold eyes frosty.
She clenched her fist indignantly and shouted, “Fine, I’ll leave!”
After she left the Burton Group, Victor stopped her at the entrance. “How did it go? Did the talks fall apart?”
“You saw that and you’re still asking?” Gloria glared at him. “I really didn’t expect Justin to be so stone hearted. Is Rachel’s grandma’s life less important than money? If the kidnappers want money, just give it to them! How is he short of money?”
He only knew that Rachel’s grandmother was kidnapped and Rachel had suddenly lost contact with the world, so he could only come to look for Gloria. It had already been two days, but Justin was drinking coffee in the office leisurely like nothing was wrong. When Gloria saw this, she lost her temper..
“All business is treacherous. I have already said that before. Anyway, do you know where Rachel is? Did you find out?”
She was taken aback as she replied sheepishly, “I forgot.”
Victor stared at her. “So, you just went to quarrel with him?”
“When I am angry, I forget everything!”
“You’re really something! I might as well not look for you!”
“Wait for me!” Gloria caught up with him and said analytically, “I probably know where she is! They went to Brookville; it’s a place where Justin and I have been before. He always stays in the same hotel!”
“You mean we should go directly to Brookville to find Rachel?”
“Yeah, let’s do so!”
Once Gloria left, Frankie cautiously entered the office. “President Burton, the coffee is cold. Shall I get you another cup?”
“No need. How are things going?”
“There’s progress. It’s as you expected-it was Jason Burton who had people do the deed. Although the surveillance cameras in the area did not capture the suspect, it caught the suspect’s vehicle cruising around that day and the license plate number belonged to one of his men.”
Justin’s expression slowly fell. “He is too hasty and intends to go all out.”
“I’m afraid that in his view, he is intending to fight to the death. If we withdraw the bid, he can take advantage of Golden Growth Corporation and seize the opportunity to work with them to establish another business.”
“That’s not the issue right now.”
Frankie returned to his senses and replied, “Yes, I understand. The private detective is already following up on the address of Jason’s hideout. There should be news soon. By the way, the private detective also added that on the day your second aunt died in that car accident, Amber visited the hospital morgue, where Jason was also present. However, she did not leave the hospital that day.”
“Amber?” Justin suddenly raised his eyebrow. “Let’s go to the Hudson Residence then.”
Brookville was a long way from Belleview, so in order to save time, Gloria and Victor had boarded the high speed train, saving half the time on their journey if they had driven.
“This is the hotel.” She pointed at the doors. “Justin will only stay at this hotel when he comes to Brookville. I’m 99% sure of it.”
“Then, how about the remaining 1%?”
“Don’t jinx it!”
Gloria glared at Victor and went into the lobby, going straight to the reception to ask about Rachel’s stay there
“Rachel Hudson, right?” The receptionist carefully checked the records and suddenly had a strange look. “Sorry, but we don’t have this guest in this hotel. You and your friend may have come to the wrong place.”
“Wrong place? That’s not possible.”
“How is it impossible?” Victor rolled his eyes. “Brookville is a large place with many hotels. Are you confident that Justin will definitely come and stay here? You’ve been cocksure. I think I’m out of my mind to come here with you. I might as well head home and go to the market to find out who kidnapped her grandma!”
However, Gloria was extremely stubborn as she asked the employee, “If Rachel Hudson did not stay here, then what about Justin Burton? He is your VIP guest here.”
“Sorry, there’s no such guest too.” This time, the receptionist didn’t even check the guest list.
Upon seeing this, Gloria understood what was going on.
As Victor argued to return to Riverdale, she pulled him toward the hotel’s employee room before they sneaked inside.
“What are you doing?”
“Shh.” She covered his mouth. “Keep your voice down or they’ll discover that you did not leave.”
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Wearing a disguise to save someone.”
“Save who? Didn’t they tell you that Rachel is not here?”
“You believe what they said? Where’s your brain?” Gloria snorted before continuing, “I don’t even have to thil … to know that the employee was lying. He first looked at Rachel’s information and he must have stumbled upon something because his expression changed. When I mentioned Justin, he did not even check and simply denied it.”
“So what? Even if Rachel is in this hotel, how can we find her? Do we have to check one room at a time?”
“Who said we have to do so?”
She handed a couple of employee’s uniform to Victor. “Justin only lives in suites and there are only two of each per floor. It’s not much trouble at all.”
He suddenly felt that the blonde girl in front of him was actually intelligent. “So, what are we going to do now?”
Gloria responded with a straight face, “Go to each suite and knock on the door to clean the room!”
