“I’m sure it’s safe,” said one of the team members.
“Mrs. Tyler herself went down there? Who was the one who fell off the cliff?”
“Mr. Tyler’s nephew,” Karl replied.
Realizing that, the captain was on the verge of passing out. The entire rescue team stood nervously on the cliff’s edge. They were worried about Emily the entire time, even wishing they were on the cliff themselves.
And at the same time, Tammy clung to Peace, nearly crying her eyes out. Then Peace carried her to the car and left her to rest.
“Where’s Wayne?” Peace asked after closing the car door, “I dialed his number, but he did not answer my calls.”
Without answering her question, Karl pulled Peace to the side.
“What? What happened to him? Does he even care about Matthew?” With a darkened face, Peace snapped.
“Shh, keep your voice down. Don’t let Tammy hear what you’re saying,” Looking at Tammy warily, Karl made a shush gesture to Peace and said in a low voice.
As Karl lowered his voice, Peace lowered her voice, too. She asked, “What exactly is going on?”
“He should be on the plane by now,” Karl said quietly.
“What? Where is he going?!”
Karl responded when looking up at the sky and saying, “Fleosil. His plane has been in the air for two hours. Wayne flew to Fleosil this afternoon without telling anyone because he didn’t want us to go to the airport to see him off. Who would’ve expected Matthew to have an accident at such a critical time?”
***
An hour later, Emily said over the intercom, “I’ve found the car.”
Hearing that, everyone felt relieved. Then Ryan asked, “How’s Matthew?”
“I don’t know. No one is in the car.”
“Where is he?” Clenching the intercom more tightly, Ryan asked nervously.
“I have no idea.”
The next morning, the headlines read, “Carousel Group CEO Falls Off Cliff, Missing.” In the morning, the anchor of the local morning news told the public about it.
“How could he have vanished?” Karl asked, perplexed. At that time, he and his friends were staying in a hotel near the accident site.
Peace appeared to be very worried. “Is it possible that Matthew survived the fall and left on his own?”
“It can’t be. Emily went down to find him, and she couldn’t be wrong. After all, they’ve already brought his car up here and there’s still no sign of Matthew.”
“That’s not what I meant! Why are you misinterpreting my words?” Peace asked furiously. When Peace saw Emily walk out of the bathroom, she said, “Emily, you know that’s not what I meant. I’m just… Sigh… I just want Matthew to be okay.”
Emily nodded, “I get it. Actually, I am as anxious as you are. “
“Peace, I think you’re right. I’ve always thought the accident might not be as simple as it seems,” Andrew abruptly said.
Then everyone stared at him in surprise. Under their gaze, Andrew continued calmly, “He was in his car when he fell off the cliff. Since the car was there, Matthew should be there as well. So, how could it be?”
“What?”
“No one would have known where Matthew had gone if Tammy hadn’t called him. When I asked the employees at the venue, they said Matthew went to the finish line on the spur of the moment. So…”
“So what? Don’t keep us guessing.” Peace expressed concern.
“They wanted to divert our attention with this accident. In fact, Matthew may not have even been in the car at the time the car drove off the cliff,” Emily said.
“I’ll have them look up all the surveillance in the neighborhood right away,” Ryan said as he stood up.
“I’ll go with you,” Emily said.
Peace remained frozen as she had no idea what was going on. Looking at her with sympathy, Karl grabbed her hand and said gently, “Peace, we should leave this matter to Ryan and Emily. After all, they’re professionals. Also, let Tammy stay at our house for the time being. I don’t want anything to happen to her, either.”
Then Andrew said, “I’ll take care of the social media. Wayne and Anna are both out of the country now and they can’t come back for a while. If they hear the news, they will be worried.”
“So we’re just keeping it from them?” Peace asked, surprised.
“I believe we can tell them once we find some clues.”
“Okay.”
***
In the afternoon, Tammy awoke from a long nightmare. When she opened her eyes, she saw Alicia lying next to her.
“You’re awake?” Alicia asked, rubbing her eyes in drowsiness.
“Where’s my brother? Did they find him?” Tammy asked. She could barely keep her eyes open.
“Sorry, there’s still no news about your brother,” Alicia said, shaking her head.
Tammy was about to get out of bed when she lifted the covers. But as she stood up, she collapsed back onto the bed. In a fluster, Alicia immediately helped her sit up, asking with concern, “You have a fever, Tammy! You should rest in bed!”
Tammy began crying once more. She kept asking, “So? I don’t care! Where’s my brother now? I want to see him!”
“They’re all trying to figure out what to do. Don’t cry, okay?”
Tammy, however, cried louder and louder after hearing Alicia’s words. “What happened to my brother?” Tammy asked, her eyes welling up with tears.
“I’ll tell you if you eat some breakfast,” Alicia said, handing her a sandwich and a glass of milk.
Tammy finished her sandwich quickly. Then she asked, “You can tell me now, can’t you?”
“Uncle Ryan is checking the surveillance. We’ll surely hear good news from him in a few minutes. So, all you have to do is wait now.” Alicia then turned around and walked away.
Tammy immediately realized that Alicia was lying to her. So, she tried to smash the cup on the ground in a fit of anger. And meanwhile, she snapped, “You lied to me!”
Hearing that, Alicia quickly took her hand in hers and said, “Don’t! Please calm down, Tammy. You’ve spent the entire morning sleeping. And you haven’t eaten anything. Also, you’re still having a fever. Just listen to me, Tammy. You really need to get some rest. The adults will take care of everything.”
Clenching her teeth, Tammy sobbed. She thought to herself, Matthew, please be safe and sound! You have to be…
***
In Fleosil, Anna and Patrick left the station early in the morning to go shopping in the nearest town. As Patrick decided to drive the car, Anna chose to in the passenger seat. As soon as she got in the car, she began reading through the shopping list. And she said, “That’s so typical of Nancy. She didn’t even forget to ask for a bottle of whiskey.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.