Filed To Story: Returning to Her Not-So-Poor Family
They were just waiting for those guys to confess, then they’d have a lead.
“Are you hungry? Did you have dinner?”
Only at his question did Mirabella remember that she hadn’t eaten dinner. She had been staking out at Carol’s house for quite a long time to catch those guys.
To keep Romeo from worrying, Mirabella lied, “I’ve eaten.”
“I’ll send over some late-night snacks for you, Clark, and your parents. What do you feel like?
Barbecue? Pastries? Or?”
“I’m not hungry, and I don’t want anything.”
Mirabella wasnt sure how much longer she would be occupied. To save him the trouble of waiting, she said, “I’ll just take a shower and head to bed when I get home. You should sleep early as well.
See you tomorrow.”Romeo’s eyes softened hearing the last three words, “Alright, see you tomorrow.”
He figured Bella must be tired after a day’s work. It wouldn’t be right to disturb her rest now.
Tomorrow it was, then.
As long as they could meet.
“Get home soon, don’t stay out too long.” Romeo added, “Let me know when you get home.”
“Okay.”
Glad that Romeo didn’t ask too many questions, Mirabella breathed a sigh of relief and hung up.
A while later, Clark emerged from the side building, much to Mirabella’s surprise, “Did they say anything?”
“They didn’t spill a word.” Clark seemed a bit down, “Jack stripped them down, but they don’t have any gang tattoos. We can’t tell who they are yet.”
“Don’t worry, Jack will figure something out.”
Clark gazed at the lawn in front of him, his eyes filled with desolation, “Bella, where do you think Carol is now?”
“I can’t tell.”
“It’s been a year,’ Clark lamented, “I can’t believe it took me a year to realize she was in danger. How did you find out? I’ve also been to Stardust Lane, but the villagers there wouldn’t say a word about Carol. Either they played dumb, or they simply walked away. How did you figure out something was off from what they said?”
“I bought a cup of hot milk from her neighbor’s breakfast joint and sat down to listen to their chitchat.”
Clark was in dumb silence..
Just like that?
And she managed to pick up hints from that?
“They’re all from the same town. You, a stranger, suddenly asking about Carol would have made them wary, and they would hide the truth. But if they’re gossiping among themselves, it’s a different story.”
Clark laughed at himself, “I even went to her house, asking her parents abruptly.”
At that time, he was almost going insane, unable to find Carol anywhere. He had to swallow his pride and ask the villagers to visit her parents again and again.
Her parents kept saying they couldn’t reach their daughter either, and Clark thought they were lying.
He thought Carol had fallen for someone else, that her parents didn’t want him to bother her anymore, so they lied to him.
“Looking back now, her parents probably didn’t know anything, but I can’t be sure. We’ll have to wait for the investigation results.””What has she been through this past year?” Clark murmured to himself, “Why are those people calling her a traitor? What kind of situation did she get involved in? Is she safe now?”
“Clark, don’t worry too much,’ Mirabella softly consoled, “Those people are also trying to find Carol. That means she hasn’t shown up yet, and she must be hiding somewhere.”
“Where could she be hiding?” The thought of Carol possibly spending this past year in extreme danger and fear made Clark heartache.
It was all due to his negligence!
He believed Carol when she said she liked someone else.
“While Carol told you she was in love with someone else, she also told her adoptive parents she found her biological ones and then disappeared from your lives completely. I suspect neither of these things are true. She might have had a reason she couldnt stay, or she could have been taken by some other force.”
Upon hearing this, Clark didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried.
The relief came from the possibility that Carol didn’t leave him because she fell for someone else.
The worry was because Carol was nowhere to be found. She might have gotten involved in something dangerous and couldn’t get out safely yet.
Just then, Jack came out from the side building, followed by a few of his men.
They were all wet and covered in blood, showing they had been working hard.
“Boss, those hard-nosed guys won’t spill a thing. They’re barely hanging on. If we keep going, they’ll kick the bucket,’ Jack reported to Mirabella, “I gave each of them one of those life-sustaining injectionsyou developed. Once they wake up tomorrow, I’ll resume the interrogation.”
“Alright; Mirabella instructed, “Take Clark inside to rest for a bit.
Have someone pour some tea and bring some food. I need to check on my lab.”
Mirabella took out two small transparent bags from her bag, each containing a cotton swab which seemed to have something on it.
Clark asked with confusion, “What are these?”
“I made a trip to Carol’s place, sprayed Luminol in the living room and backyard, and caught a hint of fluorescence.”
“You mean someone was hurt? Is it severe?” Clark knew what Luminol was, and his heart clenched at the thought.
“We’re not sure whose blood it is yet. We’ll need to run some tests.”
Mirabella explained, “I sprayed the Luminol, and swabbed some of the glowing dirt and dust with a cotton swab. We’ll have the results soon. Also, I found strands of hair in both Carol’s and her parents’
rooms. There were also nail clippings under the sofa and in corners. I’ve collected them all.”
The nails and hair could be used for DNA extraction, but it might not be successful if too much time had passed.
Once the blood test results were back, they could compare the DNA to see if the blood was theirs.
If it was, it meant that they had been injured at home, with the living room being the primary crime scene and the backyard the secondary.
But if it wasn’t.
Clark’s heart clenched tightly. How did Carol’s parents get wrapped up in this? What else was hidden behind this situation?
“Oh right, boss, here are the hairs from the people inside.” Jack handed Mirabella a few transparent small bags, and there were also traces of blood.”How many did you pluck?” Mirabella took the bag. Blood and hair could be used for DNA testing.
The blood found in Carol’s living room and backyard could also possibly belong to the four people inside.
Mirabella then took out another transparent bag from her backpack.
Inside was just a bit of powder. If they didn’t look closely, they might think the bag was empty.
“What’s this?” Clark asked again.
“This was found in the Vitamin C bottle in Carol’s room.”
Jack was a little puzzled, “Isn’t Vitamin C usually in pill form? Why is it powdered?”
“This isn’t Vitamin C.” Mirabella explained, then looked at Clark, “One of the components in this powder is Aetherbloom.”
Aetherbloom?
Now, Clark couldn’t keep his cool. His heart felt like it was being squeezed. The pain was unbearable.
“What the heck is Aetherbloom?” Jack, who had been by the boss’s side for many years, had never heard of it. But it didn’t seem like a good thing judging from Clark’s reaction.
Clark knew that Aetherbloom was a potent poison, “You’re saying that Carol ingested poison? Is she possibly gone?”
“Not necessarily.’ Mirabella spoke softly, “Aetherbloom can also be used in medicine. It depends on what the other components are.
Clark, don’t worry too much. Jack, take Clark to rest for a bit. I’m heading to the lab.”“Right.” Jack gestured, “Clark, this way, please.”
Clark didn’t know how he managed to walk into the main building.
It was luxurious, just as fancy as the Reflections Villa, but he had no heart to appreciate the decor and trinkets. All he could think about was what his sister had said.
Jack came out in a change of clothes, carrying an assortment of food and drinks.
“Clark, have something to eat first, or maybe a cup of coffee. I’m telling you, this coffee is usually only for our boss. No one else gets to enjoy it.”
Jack sniffed the aroma of the coffee in the air. It was so fragrant.
Clark slumped on the couch, lost in a sea of despair. Had it not been for Bella’s intervention, he would still be oblivious to the danger Carol was in.
How many hidden truths were lurking behind this predicament?
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.