About thirty minutes later, Julia appeared in the hospital room, panting heavily.
Seeing her best friend sitting on the hospital bed, she quickly walked over and asked nervously, "Let me see, are you really okay?"
Ever since she heard Lance say that Deanna was forced to jump off a building yesterday, her heart had been in her throat.
Deanna looked at her frightened friend and quickly reassured her, "I'm fine. Although it was dangerous yesterday, the firefighters arrived in time, so I wasn't hurt. Don't worry."
"Thank goodness you're okay. You scared me to death."
Julia patted her chest in relief.
After a few seconds, she calmed down and asked, "What exactly happened? I don't believe you would jump off a building."
"I definitely wouldn't jump off a building. Here's what happened."
Deanna briefly explained the situation.
Finally, she asked curiously, "Did you lend your phone to anyone yesterday?"
She didn't believe Julia would harm her, so there was only one possibility: someone borrowed Julia's phone.
Hearing this, Julia understood what Deanna meant.
"I didn't lend my phone to anyone. My phone was stolen."
Julia recounted the robbery she encountered after work yesterday. She even mentioned that the incident was recorded at the police station to ensure Deanna believed her.
Deanna hadn't expected her best friend to encounter such a thing and quickly expressed concern, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but my ID and other things were stolen. I need to get them reissued."
Julia shook her head, sounding helpless.
Lance, however, was cautious and signaled Xavier, who was waiting nearby.
Of course, he trust Julia; he just thought this might be an opportunity.
After all, he and Mr. Martinez had been investigating Duncan for some time without any leads.
Now that the person had made a move, it indicated that he was likely close by, though it was unclear where he was hiding in Cloudmere.
Julia and Deanna didn't notice Lance's subtle gesture.
They continued their conversation.
"If your hypnosis isn't lifted, won't it be a constant danger? If the person behind this steals one of our phones again, we won't be able to prevent it."
Julia looked at Deanna with concern.
Deanna also found this to be a tricky problem.
Seeing her furrowed brows, Lance said softly, "That's easy to handle. From now on, when your phone rings, let Shannon or Nightingale check it first before handing it to you."
Hearing this, Deanna agreed it was a good idea.
Julia stayed with Deanna for a while longer before leaving with Lionel.
Once they left, Deanna urged Lance to get some rest.
Lance slept until the afternoon.
When he woke up, he found that Deanna wasn't in the room; only Gunner was there.
"Where's Deanna?" he asked.
"I sent her to walk in the garden downstairs."
Gunner looked up and said in a cold voice, "Tell me everything you've found out about yesterday's incident."
Yesterday, he had gone out of town because an old friend wasn't feeling well, so he couldn't arrive immediately when the incident happened.
Lance didn't hide anything and shared the information he had gathered.
"We can now confirm that Duncan followed us back to the country and is hiding somewhere in Cloudmere."
"In that case, those two robbers are key. Have you checked the surveillance along the way?"
Gunner asked, raising his eyebrows.
Lance nodded. "I've already sent someone to the traffic police department to retrieve the footage. We should have news by tonight."
As soon as he finished speaking, his phone rang. It was one of his trusted aides from abroad.
"Boss, there's news about the doctor you asked me to investigate."
"Where is he now?"
Lance asked immediately.
The aide replied, "Three months ago, the doctor lived in a small town in western Uyrila. Later, there was a fire at his home. The doctor and his family all died in that fire."
Hearing this, Lance's face darkened instantly.
It was clear that someone had found the doctor before him and silenced him.
Even so, he didn't believe there wouldn't be any clues left behind.
"Are there any of his belongings left? Is the house still there?"
"I'm not sure about his belongings, but the house is still there. Because people died there, the villagers avoid it."
The aide described the situation over there.
Without hesitation, Lance said, "Since the house is still there, stay nearby for the next few days and don't let anyone approach. I'll come over with Deanna in a couple of days to investigate."
He said this because he knew that Deanna wanted to personally investigate her mother's death.
After hanging up the phone, Lance put it away and apologized to Gunner before continuing their conversation.
Later in the evening, Deanna returned.
Lance told her about the news he had just received.