Warming

Chapter 50

“What’s he proud of? It’s Ms. Johnson, not him!” Kenneth thought.

Meanwhile, Lucille returned to her office. She clicked on an icon on her desktop that wasn’t visible to others.

Then, she quickly typed a long string of symbols that no one else could understand. The screen flashed with lines of code and numbers.

Her slender, white fingers flew over the keyboard. The screen flashed images too fast to see, but Lucille understood everything clearly.

Five minutes later, she smirked and said coldly, “Did you think you’d be able to erase your tracks and I wouldn’t be able to find you?”

Samuel had just finished dealing with the situation and was at the elevator when he met Bailey. “Ms. Moore, what brings you here?”

Bailey looked worried. “I saw the news about the company. Where’s Lucy?”

Samuel replied, “Ms. Johnson is in her office. We’re close to solving it. The women who posted the videos are college students who were tricked. We just don’t know who’s behind it yet.”

As he finished speaking, they saw Lucille walking toward them, carrying her bag.

“Babe, where are you going?” Bailey asked.

“I’m going to find someone,” Lucille replied.

“Do you think the Johnsons are behind this?” Bailey had immediately thought it was a trap set by the Johnsons when she’d seen the news.

Lucille replied, “I don’t know yet. But if we find the man who paid those college students, we’ll find out.”

When Samuel heard that Lucille was going to find the culprit, he immediately volunteered, “Ms. Johnson, let me go with you.”

He was concerned for her safety; after all, that man might harm her.

Lucille shook her head. “No need. Stay and handle things here. I’ll be back soon.”

Bailey’s eyes lit up with excitement. She was sure Lucille probably knew where to find the man. She wanted to tag along too!

So, she said, “Babe, take me with you. I’m the deputy CEO of the company. I have the right to go with you and handle this matter.”

Lucille looked at Bailey helplessly but nodded.

An hour later, a black Mercedes–Benz G–Class.drove into the East District of Whiteloop City. This old part of town, mostly home to migrant workers, was now facing demolition. The area was rundown and nearly deserted.

The streets were narrow and winding, lined with old buildings covered in a layer of moss and stains that seemed to tell tales of the past.

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+15 BONUS

“Oh, my gosh, it’s an hour’s drive, and my back is killing me. This guy’s really hiding out in the sticks,” Bailey grumbled, stretching after getting out of the car.

“Babe, this old part of town is huge. How do we find him?” Bailey asked.

“Follow me,” Lucille said, heading into a narrow alley. The buildings were so close together that two people couldn’t walk side by side. They twisted and turned through the alleys like a maze.

Bailey muttered complaints, “Good thing it’s daytime. This place would be terrifying at night. They couldn’t get me to live here even if they paid me millions of dollars.”

Lucille chuckled and said slowly, “If you had millions of dollars, why wouldn’t you move out?”

Bailey couldn’t argue with that. Lucille got a point.

After about 15 minutes, they reached an open concrete area surrounded by tall buildings. As they looked up, they felt like they were at the bottom of a well.

Bailey saw a wide road ahead where a car could have easily driven through. She couldn’t help but ask, Babe, we could have driven in here. Why did we go through all those alleys instead?”

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