Boyce brushed the branches in the way, turned back, and looked at the leader. “Are there any traps in the forest?”
The leader said yes. “People would set up traps in the forest to get some wild animals.”
Boyce frowned and looked down at his feet, afraid that he would step on a steel trap.
The leader said jokingly, “Mr. Shawn, I didn’t expect that you would fear something as well. You’ve promoted higher and higher, but you’ve become more and more timid.”
Boyce said with a smile, “Only by being careful can I live long. I dare not relax for a moment. The higher I’ve been promoted to, the greater the responsibility I’ll have.”
“Officer Miller likes you so much. I guess after he’s retired, he would recommend you to his current position. I heard that he wants you to marry his daughter, right?” the leader asked with a smile. Boyce’s face turned cold. “Stop the nonsense!”
He truly respected Officer Miller, but he never thought about anything else. He also didn’t want others to spread such rumors.
He was a man, so he didn’t care much about it, but he couldn’t let the rumors impact Officer Miller’s daughter.
“Don’t talk such nonsense in the future,” Boyce said solemnly.
The leader noticed his expression. Hurriedly, he said, “I was just bullshitting just now. How could I repeat it?”
Boyce didn’t respond to him. He looked around and started feeling worried. They had no clue at all until now, and he wondered if they could find them today.
After another three-hour search, they failed to find anyone. Boyce left the forest first and came to Cormac, telling him what had happened in the forest.
“It’s quite difficult to search at night. Limited areas could be lit up. Also, we need to be careful to avoid sliding down the steep slopes. You’d better go home first. I’ll call you if there’s any clue. John has been taken away. I guess he would be on news tomorrow. Declan Bailey would surely go to you tomorrow. You’ll need to deal with him. Please leave everything here to me. We can’t stay here together.”
When they called the police, they also informed some media reporters. Their purpose was to make a fuss about this event. Since such a matter happened in a temple, there must be a big uproar in the public tomorrow.
If the news attracted a lot of attention, the police must do an investigation and announce the result to the public. Now Boyce had the right, so he could look into Declan’s information aboveboard.
After finding everything about him, Boyce wanted to see if Declan would still be so arrogant.
Cormac thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. “Be careful.”
Boyce nodded.
Cormac drove back home.
When he arrived at the villa, it was already half-past ten in the evening. Pushing the door open, he saw Loredana waiting for him at the entrance.
Loredana kept awake, waiting for him. When she saw the flashlight of the car, she walked out. Looking behind his back, she asked, “Are you alone?”
Cormac walked in and wanted to reach out to hug her. However, thinking that he had been into the forest earlier and got dirty, so he withdrew his arms. “Let’s go in and talk.”
Loredana looked down in disappointment. She was certain that they failed to save Theresa. Otherwise, Theresa would be taken here because she didn’t have any place to stay in this city. Now, Cormac returned home alone without Theresa.
“She managed to escape from Declan Bailey. We’re looking for her now. So far, we haven’t found her yet. I guess she must be hiding somewhere. As long as she’s not locked up by Declan Bailey, she wouldn’t be in danger. Don’t worry.” He didn’t tell Loredana the details, afraid that she might be worried.
“For real?”
She turned around and looked at him with an inquiry as if she was trying to confirm if he was lying.
Cormac looked into Loredana’s eyes calmly. He could keep calm in face of such a matter. “Of course. How can I lie to you o this matter? I came back so late because I was looking for her earlier. Probably she’s afraid of Declan’s men, she dared not to show up. This means she’s pretty safe now.”
Loredana nodded. However, without seeing Theresa, she still couldn’t feel relaxed.
Grabbing Cormac’s hand, she said, “Theresa was kidnapped by Declan Bailey mostly because of me. He aimed at me in the very beginning. Probably it was because I had gone to White City, they took Theresa away.”
She had been thinking about this incident at home all the time. Shortly after those photos were shown to her, Theresa was kidnapped. Obviously, it was done by the same person.
The person’s target was Loredana at the beginning.
She had dragged Theresa into the mere. If something had happened to her, Loredana would blame herself and feel quite upset.
Cormac could understand how she was feeling. He couldn’t guarantee anything with her right now. If he comforted her and gave her some fake promises, and something went wrong, Loredana would feel difficult to accept it. Hence, he changed the subject. “I haven’t had dinner yet.”
Loredana looked at him. “You haven’t eaten a meal today, have you?”
He hummed.
“I’ll cook something for you then. What do you want to eat?” asked Loredana. “Noodle soup.” He added, “Noodle soup with stir-fried tomatoes and eggs.”
That was the very first dish that Loredana made for him.
Suddenly, he missed that taste so much.
Loredana cast him a glance and said, “I’ll go cook it for you now.”
He hummed gently.
“Well…”
Suddenly, Loredana called him. She wanted to ask how Armand was doing, but she didn’t speak it out. She wanted to cook the noodle soup for him first. He must be starved since he hadn’t eaten for a whole day.
“Pardon?” Cormac looked back at her.
“Nothing. Go get changed.” Loredana curled up her lips into a faint smile to him.
Cormac could tell that she wanted to ask about something and understand what she wanted to ask. However, he didn’t expose it and wasn’t in the mood to discuss it with her. He couldn’t tell her anything without finding Theresa or Armand.
He went upstairs, and Loredana went into the kitchen. Since she came back with the children, in the afternoon, Coral went to the supermarket and bought a lot of ingredients. The fridge was full already. Opening it, she looked up and down. Finally, she took out the meat, green peppers, some green vegetables, and tomatoes.
She washed all ingredients. While cutting, she put a pot of water on the stove to boil, which could save her some time.
She sliced the lean meat and marinated it with starch and eggs with seasoning. The cured meat would be particularly smooth and tender. She cut green peppers and tomatoes during the marinating time.
On the second floor, Cormac took a shower and put on pajamas. The texture of silk was soft and smooth. Although he wore a long-sleeved shirt and trousers, he didn’t feel muggy at all. He stepped down on white indoor slippers and went to the children’s room to see the two kids. At this time, both children were sleeping. The villa was extremely quiet, and only a slight noise from the kitchen was heard.
He walked over and stood in the dining room, from where he could see the slim figure busy cooing. He didn’t move, just looking at her in silence. He enjoyed it very much, feeling the warmth from the bottom of his heart.
In fact, the life he longed for was pretty simple, which was just like this moment — his kids and wife were with him together. After he finished work and went back home, someone was waiting for him at home. He would ask for much, as long as she was willing to make him a noodle soup personally.
When Loredana was putting the noodles into the boiling water, she was hugged from behind. She looked back, and the tip of her nose touched his cheek. He had just taken a shower, so she smelt the fresh scent of the shower gel.
She gently pushed him with her elbow. “Wait for me outside. It’ll be ready pretty soon.”
Cormac wrapped his arms around her waist, covering her belly with his palm and touching it gently. He bent over his upper body and pressed his chin on her shoulder. “I want to watch you do it.” Loredana glared at him in anger. “I feel bothered if you keep holding me like this.”
“I don’t care.” He insisted on holding her.
Loredana heaved a sigh, feeling quite speechless. “I’m not as good at cooking as Coral. Just make do with it.”
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