Chapter 139 Setting a Trap
Quinley startled.
Zachary's long fingers seemed to be trying to grip her small hand.
"Are you awake?"
She stared at him wide-eyed, but his eyelids stayed heavily shut. No sign of opening.
Just then, a message from Detective Wilson came through.
[Go.]
Just one word.
Quinley didn't dare linger. She pulled her hand away and headed quickly for the door. Halfway there, she turned back and hugged Zachary briefly.
"Wake up soon. I'll be waiting."
She whispered it firmly in his ear, then slipped out of the room and into the stairwell.
The second she left, Lucas returned. He cautiously pushed open Zachary's door and walked inside. The room looked exactly as he'd left it. But he quickly noticed something off—Zachary's fingers were trembling slightly.
"Doctor—"
Lucas panicked and rushed to call for help. A minute later, a doctor in a white coat entered Zachary's room.
Whatever happened inside, Quinley didn't know. She'd already left the inpatient building and headed to the meeting spot Detective Wilson had designated. He'd shed his disguise and was back to his normal appearance.
"You saw him?"
Quinley nodded. Seeing him, knowing he was okay, eased some of her worry. But watching such a strong man lying in that small hospital bed had added a fresh ache to her heart.
"Don't stress too much. He'll wake up soon."
Detective Wilson sighed heavily, then asked, "What do you want to do next?"
"Help me investigate someone."
"Landon?"
Like he could read her mind—she hadn't even said the name and he'd already guessed.
Quinley nodded.
Detective Wilson looked at her carefully. "I heard his mother's got issues too. Want me to check her out while I'm at it?"
"If you can, that'd be great."
"Okay."
He made a quick gesture and started walking. "Wait for my message."
After he left, Quinley stood downstairs for a long time. She tilted her head back, looking up toward Zachary's room. The building was so tall, jutting into the night sky—she couldn't see anything.
When would he wake up?
Quinley wanted him to wake up, but part of her was also scared of what would happen when he did.
It was late when she finally walked back to the South District apartment. For some reason, she found herself at the door of her old place. The spare key was still under the doormat.
Quinley opened the door. The scene inside startled her. The sheet that had covered the sofa was gone. The room had been cleaned up and rearranged, with new items added.
In the bathroom, there was a men's razor. Quinley recognized it—these were all Zachary's things. After she'd left, he'd apparently moved in here.
His pajamas lay on the bedroom bed. In the kitchen sink, a wine glass he'd forgotten to wash.
Quinley stood in the space for a while, the air thick with Zachary's presence. But only for a moment. She quickly turned off the light and fled.
Detective Wilson worked fast. Within a day, he'd dug up everything on Landon.
"He's been meeting privately with several board members lately. Probably preparing to get back into Apex Global Group."
Quinley already knew most of this. Even though she was just a cleaner at Apex Global Group, she worked around the executive secretaries, so she heard things.
"Who's he been meeting with?"
Detective Wilson quickly sent over a list of contacts. Quinley glanced through it—she recognized all the board members. But there was one woman's name she'd never seen before.
"Who's this Sophie Mitchell?"
"Her? She's Landon's new flavor of the month."
Detective Wilson pulled up several photos of Sophie. Quinley picked one up and studied it carefully. Landon's taste had always been consistent—big eyes, big chest, long legs, tiny waist. All the women he hooked up with fit that mold.
"What does she do?"
Quinley stared at the photo.
"She's a... staff member at Golden Mile Entertainment."
Quinley's eyes darkened. An idea began forming in her head.
Landon liked women from that world—he rotated through them constantly. Those women sold companionship and their bodies for money. Transactional, no strings attached. When he got bored, he'd throw some cash their way and they wouldn't get angry or clingy—they'd even remember him fondly.
If he could buy that with money, so could anyone else.
Quinley gave Detective Wilson some cash. "I need you to arrange a meeting with her for me."
She didn't spell out the details—just gave him a task that wasn't too difficult. Detective Wilson looked reluctant but completed it quickly.
One day, Quinley was cleaning the conference room when Landon suddenly showed up with several board members, looking cocky as hell.
Seeing him, Adela rushed over. "Mr. Landon Jennings, Mr. Zachary Jennings gave explicit instructions—without his permission, you can't be here."
Before she'd even finished, Landon jabbed his finger in Adela's face. "Don't give me that bullshit. Call the other board members now. We're having a meeting."
Adela didn't move. One of the directors spoke up. "Ms. Gomez, go ahead and notify them."
Quinley was right there in the conference room. She saw everything clearly. Before they could walk in, she quickly inserted a hard drive into the display screen's card reader.
"I'm really counting on your full support this time! Don't worry, I won't let you down. I've changed so much recently..."
Landon was still talking as he approached the conference room. Quinley had just plugged in the drive. She grabbed her cleaning cloth and tried to leave, colliding right into Landon at the doorway.
"Mr. Jennings."
Quinley quickly pulled away from him, head down, playing dumb and clumsy.
Landon glared at her with disgust and brushed off his suit jacket. "You blind or something? Running into people everywhere. Clumsy idiot. When I take over, you're the first one I'm replacing."
Quinley said nothing, keeping her head low.
"Get lost! What are you standing there for?"
Landon barked.
Quinley didn't stick around. She quickly gathered her things and left the conference room.
Grace heard the commotion and waved Quinley over to the break room. "Cindy, that must've scared you. Don't worry—that's just how Landon is. Be more careful from now on. Don't cross him."
Grace's comfort was genuine. Quinley nodded hard. "Grace, is he going to replace Mr. Jennings as CEO?"
"No way. Mr. Jennings will definitely come back."
Grace sounded absolutely certain. "Let's get back to work. This isn't our business."
Quinley followed Grace back to their duties.
Adela couldn't argue with Landon, so she had to notify the other board members as he'd demanded. The conference room got noisy—voices raised in argument. Quinley was too far away to hear clearly.
But then she heard Landon's voice explode in rage.
"Who did this? Who the fuck did this? This is slander—complete slander!"
He roared like a madman. Then the others filed out of the conference room one by one, faces dark, shaking their heads.
Meanwhile, Quinley straightened her back, calmly wiping down the bathroom counter. But on her face was a barely perceptible smile.