Chapter 84. Wren
“How long until we get to I-15?”
"Ten more minutes. Luckily, you live in a motel not too far from I-15."
"Then where have you been since?"
“Breakfast, of course, and buying coffee. What do you think I should do to wait for the shooting to end?”
“Tsk, you should have brought me something for breakfast. I am hungry. Haven't eaten anything since yesterday."
"I didn't expect you to actually leave your sterile world of doctors just to chase after this woman."
"She's worth more than anything. Riley is worth fighting for.”
"Hmm... I think your relationship with Logan is getting worse."
"Very bad. Don't ask me about Logan again because we've been standing on opposite sides."
"Men's greatest enemies are women," Gaston chuckled sarcastically.
"But it's been a long time since Logan was so obsessed with a woman. Is she the same as Brittany?”
"Riley?"
Gaston nodded faintly. He looked straight ahead and was getting excited about hitting the gas when his car had just been overtaken by a Camry.
“Riley is very different from Brittany. I myself don’t know what made Logan so obsessed with Riley. What is clear is that Logan treats Riley and Brittany differently. When he was with Brittany, Logan treated her like an expensive piece of fragile porcelain. Logan was both protective and gentle when he was with Brittany. Meanwhile, when he was with Riley, Logan was so rude and possessive. He didn't allow anyone to touch Riley, but he also hurt Riley. When he hurt Riley, that's what I was afraid of. I brought Riley to Logan. I owe Riley a thousand apologies for leading her to a demon like Logan."
“Tsk, you should have thought about the consequences of handing that woman over to Logan.”
“I regret it. And I mean that."
They hadn't fully arrived at I-15, but they had passed several police cars blaring deafening sirens. Gaston hit the gas deeper and accelerated the car. He was worried he had missed the last part of the shooting he witnessed an hour ago.
“They took the bodies of the victims to the hospital.”
An ambulance siren buzzed in the distance. Wren narrowed his eyes to get a better look at the ambulance as the blinding sunlight blocked his eyes.
"How many bodies can one ambulance carry?"
"You're the doctor. Why are you asking me?” Gaston replied sarcastically.
Wren's heart sank. He was increasingly worried and impatient to arrive at the scene of the crime. His hunch was that Riley was in danger, and might be a victim. More and more police cars passed by them. They then passed an ambulance they saw from a distance, and Wren stupidly tried to peek through the opaque ambulance window.
"Damn it, I can't see anything."
"There it is. They're towing a Roll Royce."
Wren's eyes widened, he couldn't believe what he was seeing because he recognized the car as Logan's car which had been parked in the carport of his luxurious mansion yesterday.
"Could you come over there?"
“We can only see it from here.”
Gaston pulled the car over about fifty yards from the crime scene. Wren growled, annoyed with his limited movement because he couldn't clearly see the process of evacuating the car.
"It's Logan's car. No more mistakes. The car was wrecked and shattered into scrap metal.”
"Then it's obvious, right?"
"What?" Wren looked at Gaston sharply.
"Who is the victim? That woman is probably in the ambulance you saw earlier.”
"No way. We can't jump to conclusions too early."
Suddenly, Wren unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door. The hot air hit his face fiercely. Desert dust splattered around his face and it hurt.
“Hey, what are you doing? Get in the car?” Gaston shouted angrily.
Wren ignored Gaston's screams and walked straight to the crime scene. He will confirm with his own eyes to determine whether Riley was a victim in the shooting incident or not.
I hope not.
Hopefully Logan still loves Riley and won't let her die in this shooting, Wren muttered to himself. He really hoped that Logan would prioritize Riley and not think of her as a bitch to carry the baby.
"Sorry, what's going on here?"
A man in a police uniform turned to him. He seemed displeased to see a civilian approaching the crime scene. His face scrunched up sharply. Wren read the nametag on his chest. Roco.
“A gang fight. Are you a lost tourist? Better get back in your car and stay away from the crime scene.”
“I happened to be passing by. I'm a doctor. Maybe you guys need the help of an expert to deal with the fighting victims here.”
Wren's eyes darted around the messy crime scene. The condition of Logan's Roll Royce looked even more terrible from two feet away. Hardly any parts were intact, everything was shattered, and dented, and broken. Glass shattered and scattered on the ground. He could see dried blood all over the backseat.
"Any victims?"
"Sorry?"
"There's blood in the car."
“Oh, three people were found dead. They have been taken to the hospital for autopsies. So, we don't need your specialty."
Wren's heart sank. Three dead? It could have been Riley, Logan, and the driver who drove them.
No! Wren vehemently denied the allegation. It was too early to conclude that.
"Who are these dead people?"
"We can't tell you. Get back in your car and just continue your journey. Everything has been handled well.”
The police officer gave him a gloomy, fierce look. His shoulders were pushed hard to rotate one hundred and eighty degrees. He was forced to leave the place.
As he walked toward Gaston's car which was waiting for him, he was busy thinking about various things. He then remembered about the GPS chip he tucked in Riley's hand, and he ran to Gaston's car until he almost hit Gaston who was waiting for him outside the car.
"How? You don't look sad."
"Get out of my way. I will confirm where Riley is now. Hopefully she still has the chip with her."
"What chip?"
Wren ignored Gaston's question and flung open the back door of his car. He tugged hard on his duffel bag and rummaged through its contents to find his phone. But he then hit his forehead in annoyance because he had forgotten that he stuffed his phone in his trouser pocket.
"Hey, what really happened?"
"Nothing. Take your damn hand away from me," Wren snapped angrily, because Gaston had just grabbed his shoulder hard.
"Nothing happened. I found nothing there, but a car wreck with blood splattered around the back seat. Three people died in today's shooting incident. The police obviously covered the case because he didn't tell me the truth. Now get your hands off me."
Gaston pulled his hand away from Wren and took a step back to give Wren more space.
"Now, what are you going to do?"
“Tracking Riley's whereabouts. I gave her a GPS chip.”
“Oh, that gps signal. Why didn't we track the signal earlier?!” Gaston shouted angrily.
"Shut up. I'm concentrating."
Wren started fiddling with his cell phone and opened the apps connected to the chip he gave Riley. He needed to wait for the annoying loading of a few seconds, which felt like a century. The app starts syncing his current position before bringing up the vast expanse of the map in a scaled-down digital version. He then looked for Riley's GPS track and found a flickering spot in the west of Las Vegas. The chip was still active. He knew that for sure. Riley was still alive out there. Riley was not dead.
"What's the matter, dude? You suddenly smile after getting angry?”
"She's still alive, Gaston! Riley is not dead. Riley is still alive."
Wren jumped up and down for joy and hugged Gaston like a child who had just gotten a free candy at the carnival.
"We have to go there now."
"Where to?"
"Englewood. Riley is there. No more mistakes. She and Logan must have managed to escape, and now they are in Englewood."
“How can you be so sure? What if it's not Riley?"
"I'm sure it's her. We have to go to Englewood right now to check on her."
Wren eagerly pushed Gaston's shoulder into his car. He even fastened Gaston's seatbelt with a disgusting smile on his face. Gaston snatched the flip of his seatbelt in disgust, then pushed Wren hard away from him.
“Do your own thing. Don't mind mine."
Not bothered by Gaston's harsh words, Wren moved to the passenger side and sat there quietly smiling at the thought of Riley. He would only confirm Riley's condition. And if Logan survived, he would use plan B to get rid of Logan.