“Where is she?”
“The car is right here, so I bet she must be somewhere nearby.”
“You can have a look there while I check this area out. Start searching now.”
Judging from the sound of the footsteps, Jolly was able to tell that there were only two people outside the dumpster. At the thought of that realization, she clenched her fists, thinking her years of experience in some novice sparring training should be enough to help her fend off some thugs. However, she wasn’t confident enough to take on some dangerous outlaws who had no regard for their own safety. Not knowing how long had passed, Jolly began to hear footsteps coming closer and closer to her. As soon as the dumpster lid above her was lifted, she started to swing her fists wildly. Shortly after that, she heard a man moaning in pain and saw him covering his eyes. “Don’t you dare come close to me!”
“Jolly!” When Jolly heard a familiar voice, she snapped out of her frantic state and stopped swinging her fists crazily.
“Chris.”
As Jolly wanted to hug Rachel, the latter stepped back and said, “Wait a minute. Just step out of the dumpster first.” At that moment, Jolly’s body was shrouded by the reeking stench from the dumpster. Although she wished she didn’t have to turn Jolly’s hug away, she couldn’t stand the disgusting smell that was wafting from her.
After struggling to come out of the dumpster, Jolly walked up to Justin and apologized to him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was you.”
Justin covered his eye and shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“Let’s get you to the hospital later.” Frankie said, “But for now, we must go, Mr. and Mrs. Burton.” Before they could react, they were suddenly blocked by a silhouette.
“Where do you think you are going?”
“Wait a second. It looks like we have three more unexpected ‘guests here.”
“Who cares? Because that means we’re going to get even richer now.”
It turned out that there were two muscular men with a menacing look, which suggested that they were thugs who lurked in the hidden alleys around Enistan. However, they didn’t seem to be working for Shannon, judging from their conversation. Instead, they looked more like they were trying to blackmail Justin and the others for money.
In that instant, Justin quickly stood in front of the ladies and shielded them behind him. “If money is what you guys are after, I can give it to you. All I’m asking is for you to let us go.”
One of the men spat and asked, “How much can you give us?”
“How much do you want?”
“This much.” The thug stuck out all five of his fingers.
“No problem. Just let us go.”
As they didn’t expect Justin to agree to their request so quickly, they couldn’t help but feel doubtful upon hearing Justin’s reaction. “I haven’t even said how much before you agreed. Are you trying to mess with us? I want five million!”
“Sure.” Justin agreed without any hesitation. After all, his priority was to keep himself and the ladies safe, so even if he had to pay five billion, he wouldn’t even hesitate to fork over the money.
The thugs sized them up and replied, “Good. We like your generosity, but we only accept cash.”
“Five million in cash? Are you out of your mind?” Jolly lost her patience and berated the thugs. “Do you know how much cash there is for five million? Where do you expect us to get you that kind of money?”
“Do you think we don’t know that, b*tch?!”
Fearing that the thugs would get pissed, Justin raised his hand and said, “I can give you guys this watch for you to sell it. It’s worth at least four million. If you insist on having cash, I have no problem paying you that, but are you sure you can walk away with it in one piece?”
The two muscular thugs looked at each other, whereupon one of them walked closer to Justin and said, “Throw it over here.”
Without saying a single word, Justin threw his watch at them, but just as the thug stretched out his hand to reach it, Justin immediately landed a kick on him and shouted, “Frankie!” Frankie, who was quick to react, grabbed the golf club he had taken with him from the car and swung it across the air, only to miss his target.
In the meantime, the guy who took a kick in the chest was seen with a painful look on his face. “Goddamn you! You guys are making a big mistake!” The next second, the thugs each grabbed a metal pipe and closed in on them.
Needless to say, Justin and Frankie stood in front of the ladies and shielded them behind them. “Mr. Burton, you should leave with the ladies. I’ll hold them off and buy you some time.”
“We’ll hold them off. Rachel, take Jolly with you, Justin said.
“We’re not leaving.” Rachel gritted her teeth with a pale look on her face.
At the same time, Jolly also reacted with a determined look on her face. “No, we’re not leaving without you all. We’re all getting out of here-together!”
“None of you is walking out of this alley in one piece!” One of the thugs snarled, his voice echoing in the alley.
Nevertheless, a painful moan was soon heard from the shadows of the alley the next second. As soon as the thugs looked back, they were knocked out by someone with a brick before they could even identify who their attacker was. While the two men were down on the ground, Rachel was slowly able to make out the silhouette that was emerging from the shadows. “Nathan?”
“Miss Hudson.” A familiar voice came from the shadows at the end of the alley as the person who saved them showed himself. Soon, Nathan. was seen manhandling the thugs whom he had just tied up and left in the corner. He then turned his attention to Rachel and said, “The police will find them the next morning, so don’t worry about it.”
Rachel nodded. “Thank you, Nathan, but how did you know we’re here?”
“Master Keaton was afraid that you all would become a target for those scums in Enistan. After all, there are all kinds of people around here, which is why I was told to follow you all these few days. Guess what? It turns out that Master Keaton was right.”
“Mr. Keaton?” Rachel and Justin looked at each other. Justin then said, “Please give our thanks to Mr. Keaton. I’ll be sure to pay a visit and thank him in person soon.”
“Not at all. In fact, I’m here to protect Miss Hudson.” Despite Nathan’s intimidating tattoos, he was actually a simple-minded guy who only sought to protect Rachel. After all, if she hadn’t been in danger, he wouldn’t have interfered with them. “It’s getting late. You should probably get back to the hotel now.”
Although Rachel’s mind was filled with question marks and confusion, she only nodded, knowing it wasn’t the right time to find out more about Nathan’s strange behavior. Concerned with Jolly’s safety if she continued to stay with them, she probingly asked, “Nathan, can you do me a favor?”
“Please say it, Miss Hudson.”
“Can you escort my friend back to the hotel for us?”
Nathan shifted his gaze to the lady standing behind Rachel, while Jolly freaked out and complained in a hushed tone, “Really? Are you seriously going to let this big guy take me away?”
“Relax!” Rachel seized her friend’s sleeve and said, “He just saved your life.”
“Nathan, she is not safe with us, so can we count on you to keep her safe? I’m worried we might run into further trouble again.”
“Sure,” Nathan answered. “One more thing. Can you please pick her up at the hotel tomorrow in the afternoon? Take her to the venue where the wedding is held.”
“Alright.”
How could he not ask anything at all before saying yes to my every favor? Rachel couldn’t believe that Nathan would agree to help her so easily. However, she quickly put her confusion about that behind her, considering the dire circumstances. After Jolly left with Nathan, she took Frankie’s ride back to the hotel with Justin. Sitting in the car, Rachel couldn’t stop thinking about the intense encounter she just went through. “Do you guys think it was all a coincidence?”
Frankie replied, “Judging from the way they spoke to each other, it seemed to me that they were just after money.”
“Or it could just be a cover to mislead whoever is listening.” Justin’s voice was heard echoing in the car as he knitted his eyebrows and said, “Frankie, I need you to find out where Ryan is recently.”
“Ryan?” Rachel was perplexed.
“If those people had been sent by Mrs. Bennett, they would have come straight for Jolly without worrying about blowing their cover. However, if Mrs. Bennett isn’t behind all this, he is the next suspect on the list, considering how much he wishes to stop Jolly. Don’t you think so?” Justin replied.
