Chapter 170

Chapter 170

The kidnappers ignored Shirley completely, not saying a single word to her.

Shirley panicked, her face turning pale. "Do you know kidnapping is illegal? My family won't let you get away with this."

At the mention of family, the kidnappers reacted slightly. "She's just some heiress who got taken back in recently. How much could they really care? Besides, we've broken the law plenty of times. We're not scared."

But Shirley caught the key part of what they said. Taken back in recently?

"I've been with the Moore family for a long time. What do you mean 'recently'?"

The van went quiet. Then one of the kidnappers let out a relieved breath. "You're a Moore, alright. You scared me. I thought we grabbed the wrong person."

The men chatted among themselves for a bit in a way Shirley couldn't follow at all. She kept trying to get through to them. "How much do you want? I'll pay whatever you ask. Please just take me back. I'll pay double."

Everyone in the van laughed. "Save your energy. We're professionals. We have a code, and we stick to it."

Shirley felt completely hopeless. She checked herself and realized her phone was gone — it must have fallen on the ground along with her shawl.

All she could hope for now was that someone would notice she was missing soon.

But John didn't care about her, and Lisa had her own problems. Who was left to come for her?

Cold sweat ran down her back. She had no idea where they were taking her. All she could do was wait and see.

Meanwhile, Wendy and William had finally tracked down the license plate and traced it to the owner, who said he'd lent the car to a friend — but had no idea where they'd gone.

Wendy's face was tight with worry. If Shirley really had been kidnapped and something happened to her, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

"I'll send more people out to search," William said. He could tell this was serious.

He thought for a moment, then turned to Jack. "Look into Evelyn's recent movements and call records."

Jack got on it right away.

Wendy frowned, racking her brain for who could have it out for Shirley.

Could it be Aurora and Mandy?

No, that didn't seem right. Those two didn't have the nerve. If they got caught, they'd be thrown out of the Green family for good. They wouldn't take that risk.

So who was it?

Just then, Jack came back with news: Evelyn had been in contact with some shady figures, though they hadn't figured out exactly what she was planning.

William had a pretty good idea. He gave his orders right away.

He shared his theory with Wendy, and after thinking it over, she agreed that Evelyn was the most likely suspect.

Working from that angle, the two of them quickly found a lead.

The van had been heading out toward the outskirts of the city — deep into the hills, in the middle of the night. Finding someone out there would be tough.

But Wendy didn't hesitate. She went with William's people without a second thought.

Nothing could happen to Shirley.

She was holding Shirley's phone. The screen lit up to show the lock screen photo — a picture of the two of them together.

It had been taken on Wendy's birthday. Both of them were smiling brightly, the warmth practically spilling off the screen.

Wendy found herself drifting back through her memories of time spent with Shirley. She had to admit — Shirley wasn't a bad person at heart. It was her insecurity that had led her to make the wrong choices, and that was what had driven them apart in the end.

Wendy's eyes filled with tears. No matter what, she had to find her.

On the other end, the van had come to a stop. The kidnappers yanked Shirley out roughly.

"Move it."

Shirley stumbled and fell to the ground. One of the men stood over her, sneering. "Count yourself lucky we're in a hurry to deal with you. Otherwise, we'd have some fun first."

Shirley's stomach dropped. Deal with her — what did that mean?

Were they going to kill her?

The kidnappers found an open clearing. One of them pointed. "This'll do. Nobody's coming out here."

Then they pulled shovels out of the van.

They rolled up their sleeves and started digging.

Shirley felt the bottom fall out of her world. "What are you doing? This is a country of laws. You'll go to prison for murder. Aren't you afraid?"

"Prison? We've done this before. Don't worry about us — worry about yourself. You want to go in face-up or face-down?"

They wiped the sweat from their foreheads, laughing like it was nothing.

That was when the fear really hit her. She hadn't actually believed they would go this far.

She forced herself to calm down and looked around. It was dark, but the moonlight helped her make out her surroundings.

There was a slope not far away. Shirley made up her mind to take her chances.

She was going to be buried alive if she stayed. She might as well try to save herself.

If she rolled down that slope, she might survive.

Slowly, while the kidnappers were focused on digging, she edged toward the slope.

"Damn, this ground is hard. I need a break." One of the men sat down and glanced over at Shirley.

She froze instantly.

They kept digging for another ten minutes or so, and finally they were done.

"Alright. Put her in."

One of them moved toward her.

Shirley scrambled backward, screaming, "Stay away from me! Stay back, or I'll jump!"

"Go ahead and jump. Then we're off the hook. Even better." They laughed coldly.

They'd seen this trick a hundred times. Nothing she did was going to scare them. Besides, women never actually went through with it — especially not in the dark, not knowing what was at the bottom.

If she did jump and died, that wasn't their problem.

Shirley watched the three men closing in on her. She made her decision — and rolled herself over the edge.

The men left standing at the top stared at each other.

"Did she actually just...?"

"Idiot. Go after her!"

They scrambled to climb down.

Then a voice cut through the dark behind them. "Don't move."

Before they could react, they were tackled to the ground.

Wendy stood there, out of breath, and demanded, "Where's the girl? Tell me now."

She spotted the freshly dug hole nearby. They'd made it in time — but Shirley was nowhere to be seen.

William had run out of patience. He drove his foot into one of the kidnappers' stomachs, sending them writhing on the ground. "Talk. Now."

One of them pointed toward the slope, voice shaking. "She went over the edge. She did it herself. That's got nothing to do with us."

"Attempted murder. You're all going to the station." Jack took over from there.

Wendy and William took a few others and headed down to search below the slope.

Please be okay, Wendy prayed. Shirley, please be okay.

The hillside seemed to stretch on forever in the darkness. The wind rustled through the trees, swallowing every sound.

When Shirley had gone over the edge, some branches had broken her fall enough to keep her from any serious injuries — but a rock had torn open her leg, and it was throbbing badly now.

The blood kept coming.

But even so, Shirley felt something close to relief. She was still alive. As long as she hadn't been buried, there was still hope.