SWNOVELS Chapter 495
Yawning, Chad lazily typed out a reply to the email, "Spell it out, buddy. If you don't make things crystal clear, there's no point in us continuing this conversation." After hitting send, Chad stretched leisurely, figuring he had a few minutes to hit the restroom before getting a response.
But no sooner had his butt left the chair than a new email popped in.
Just three words, "Look up Astrid."
Chad couldn't help but chuckle. He quickly ran a search on the account ID and, to his amusement, found it was one of Jay's lackeys, and the guy's name was Karl. A sly grin crept over Chad's face.
Poor Jay must be feeling the burn to be shelling out big bucks for some dirt on his boss!
Had Jay lost his mind?
Paying the boss to investigate herself?
But with his boss tied up filming a show and phone-free, this little issue would have to wait.
Thinking it over, Chad replied to Karl, "My boss' got his hands full with a tricky situation right now and can't be reached. I'll touch base with you once he's back."
As Hank walked in, he caught Chad grinning at his screen and couldn't help but rib him, "You're smiling now, but you're gonna be skinned alive when the Chief gets back!"
"Hank, you won't believe this-Jay's goon actually reached out to our boss' work account to hire her for some digging, offering a cool 1.5 mil!"
"No way! Has the guy got a screw loose? Don't turn him down just yet. Let's wait for the Chief to handle it. That's easy money on the table, man!" Hank said, dumping a pile of files on Chad's desk. "By the way, your brother's chances of joining our company are pretty much toast after he managed to tick off the boss before even starting."
"Whatever, better off without him if he's unreliable," Chad muttered as he flipped through the files, feeling overwhelmed. "When will these endless overtime days ever end?"
"Just think about that year-end bonus, and you'll forget all about being tired. Is there a boss more generous than our boss? Bonuses turn into houses or cars-I've racked up five properties already. Pretty soon I'll be living off rent!"
The mention of houses reminded Chad of something critical, and his expression darkened. "Speaking of houses, there's a new tenant in the building across from the Chief's, and there's something off about her."
"What's the deal? Is Hal here again?" Hank asked, puzzled.
"No, it's Bernice. When I found out, I knew it wasn't good news."
Bernice was no small fry in their book. Everyone knew she had a son, but no one could pin down who he was. Her sudden move across from Astrid was no coincidence.
With Astrid away, Chad and Hank didn't dare make a move; they just doubled down on security for Roman and Lucas who was, still in the hospital, ensuring that no harm came to those Astrid cared about. The live broadcast went on as planned. According to the itinerary, the next day the adventure team would cross the mountain ahead to reach their next destination.
Before setting off, Naylor reminded everyone to bundle up, and the crew obediently followed suit.
But Joana was nonchalant, convinced that a few hours' trek under the sunny sky wouldn't be so cold.
As the group made their way up, Astrid noticed several cameras in the woods had been vandalized, and there were odd markings on many of the tree trunks.