Chapter 89
After I stopped my car, they also stopped one in front and one behind. Several people got out of the van.
I frowned at them and asked warily, "Who are you!"
"Sorry, Ms. Smith, someone paid us to take you away for a while."
After saying that, they grabbed me and dragged me into the van.
My hands and feet were tied with rope. The men seemed confident they wouldn't be discovered, smoking cigarettes and leaning back casually in their seats.
"How much did the person who hired you pay? I can give you double!" I asked through gritted teeth.
The two men in the back seat looked at me with grins: "In our line of work, how can we switch sides halfway? We still need to make a living doing this."
"How much money can you make kidnapping one person? With so many of you splitting it, there won't be much left. Let me go and tell me who's behind this, and I'll give each of you ten million dollars!"
Their eyes clearly lit up, but the driver coughed.
"If we switch sides, we'll all end up dead!"
They immediately went back to what they were doing and stopped paying attention to me.
Watching their actions, I gritted my teeth.
"You can leave the country after getting the money. Once I deal with the person behind this, nothing will happen to you!"
The driver turned to look at me and said with a cold laugh, "Ms. Smith, stop wasting your energy trying to convince us. We won't switch sides. Besides, now that you've made an offer, I'll go ask the other side for more money. Whatever you can give, they can give too."
I gritted my teeth.
So the negotiation failed?
Chase must have noticed I hadn't replied to his messages for a while and called me.
Someone next to me grabbed my phone, opened the car window, and threw it out. I felt hopeless - this way, it would be very difficult for me to contact the outside world.
They drove with me for most of the day. I was anxious about my situation while also worried about what was happening to Michael.
If they sent people to kidnap me, would they also send people to take Michael?
My heart was extremely anxious. For the first time, I realized my feelings for Michael were even deeper than I had imagined.
We arrived at an abandoned factory. I got out of the car with them.
"Ms. Smith, just wait here. Don't think about escaping. This place has been abandoned for a long time; no one comes near. If you run, we'll definitely catch you before you reach the city."
My hands were still tied, but my feet had been untied.
After locking me in a room in the abandoned factory, they played cards outside. I could occasionally hear them talking. I was anxious in the room while also thinking of ways to get out.
After a while, someone came to bring me food.
"You need to untie my hands, I can't eat."
I said through gritted teeth, then raised my hands.
But the person just laughed coldly.
He was the man who had been in the driver's seat earlier.
"I brought you the food. If you don't want to eat, don't eat. I'm not responsible for feeding you."
It was just an ordinary boxed meal, but I ate it anyway.
While eating, I suddenly noticed information on the food container.
The meal was still warm. To deliver it to the factory in such a short time meant this abandoned factory wasn't in the suburbs like they said - there must be restaurants nearby, even if the area was run-down.
If there were no people around here, the restaurant definitely couldn't stay in business.
After I finished eating, no one came to clean up.
I looked at the structure of the room and finally noticed a small iron window above.
The window was very small, but fortunately, I was thin enough to squeeze through.
And the window frame had already corroded - if I used enough force, I might be able to break it open.
I just couldn't let the people outside know.
Luckily, they were playing cards loudly, so if I was careful, I could break open the window.
Just as I was thinking of a way, I suddenly heard someone making a phone call outside.
"Mr. Wheeler, don't worry, I've got the person under control. Just waiting for you to come pick her up."
Wheeler?
Because of all the conflicts with Terrence, I was very sensitive to the surname Wheeler and immediately thought of him.
But Terrence was useless - how could he plan something this complete?
I thought about it, frowning.
So who exactly was it?
Or maybe it was Terrence's father, Sawyer.
Either way, it was someone from the Wheeler family.
After knowing who was behind this, I became more motivated. I spent over an hour taking down the window.
Just then, I heard footsteps behind me. I quickly hid the window in a corner and sat down in a different spot.
Seeing it was the driver coming in again, I asked through gritted teeth: "Won't you reconsider my offer? I'll give each of you twenty million dollars and guarantee I absolutely won't hold you responsible."
"Do you think I'm stupid? If we let you go, we'll definitely end up in prison. I came to tell you to behave, or I'll kill you directly, and then you'll never be able to go back!"
"You mean you will let me go!" I caught the meaning in his words.
"Of course, we'll let you go. Our job is just to keep you here for a few days." He crossed his arms and took another drag of his cigarette.
"That's why we need Ms. Smith's cooperation. You won't lose anything anyway. Good for you, good for me, good for everyone. What do you think?"
In front of him, I pretended to hesitate and nodded. Only then did he leave.
But as soon as the door closed, I immediately stood up.
Fortunately, they only tied my hands, so I could move around fine.
I found something to stand on and struggled to squeeze through that small window. After climbing down from the window and breathing the free air outside, I finally felt relieved.
I found the right direction and left directly. I walked for about an hour and started getting anxious.
If they discovered I escaped and came after me, I wouldn't have another chance!
A car slowly approached from a distance. I finally found hope.
......
"Ms. Smith, you finally called. How are you now?"
I called Michael's assistant, Chase, who was extremely anxious.
"Go back to the Johnson Group for now. Leave Michael's situation to the police."
"But Mr. Johnson..." Chase was worried.
"Listen to me," I said directly.
Chase finally agreed.
"Ms. Smith, we've found your phone. We'll transfer the data over in a bit. I'm sorry, because of my mistake..." Tom said apologetically.
"It's not your fault. You didn't know I went out in the middle of the night. But for the next period of time, keep an eye on the Johnson Group. I have a feeling someone is about to make a move. They want to take both Michael and me away and lock us up."
Saying this, I was worried about Michael.
Since Michael was missing, it meant this was man-made. Otherwise, Michael would have contacted me right away.
So could the people behind this be Terrence and Sawyer?