"He is. I can't reach him, and his daughter needs his blood to survive. Please, don't hesitate to add some compensation for whoever can find him as soon as possible and haul his ass down here too. I don't care how much."
"Interesting," Officer Guy said. "Does his daughter really need his blood or is that a metaphor of some sort?"
"It is a matter of life and death, officer," Maxwell answered earnestly.
"Do you have a picture?"
"Not at the moment, but I can get it," Maxwell said.
Officer Guy quickly passed the pen and note to Maxwell and told him to write down everything he could remember about the man, including the last time and place he had seen him.
He made a call to the station and called for an urgent announcement.
"I am going to need that picture," he said as he disconnected the call.
Then, as if he had just remembered, he dipped his head into his jacket and took out Reyona's phone. "Here we found this on the dead guy. We thought it was his, so our tech guys unlocked it and went through some stuff. The transaction. A 30 million plus was made from this to a dummy account some hours ago. That was when we realised it was the victim's account. We are currently working on getting the money back. It might take a while."
He couldn't believe she had sent that much money and had not even mentioned it once since she woke up.
Maxwell was humbled by the kind of woman she was.
He collected the phone and fought the temptation of doing what popped into his mind.
But the hesitation only took a second.
This was better than asking her directly for his photos anyway.
Hoping he was right, and she had actually deleted his pictures, Maxwell quickly installed a deleted photo recovery app on her phone and searched for pictures of a certain duration. The pictures came up almost immediately.
Maxwell didn't know he had been holding his breath until then.
He had deliberately not gone into her gallery for fear that she might actually still have his images in her gallery.
But when he saw the deleted pictures and how long it had been, he let out an unconscious sigh of relief.
He picked a very clear, full one and ignored the rest.
"I have the picture now," he said to Officer Guy.
He sent the picture to the man and the latter forwarded it to the right department.
"It is done," Officer Guy said after he made another call after sending the picture.
"Thank you."
"How soon can we get a result?"
"That depends. It could be much sooner or later. In the meantime, I would suggest you check at every place he could be as well. Maybe with friends or family?"
Maxwell could imagine what Lance's opinion would be if he got another call about Lanoth.
Just as he wondered if Reyona would be pissed when she found out what he did on her phone.
As he deleted the picture and app, he thought to himself that she didn't have to know.
This had nothing to do with keeping secrets from her, right?
He just didn't want her to worry.
And yes, it had nothing to do with not trusting her either.
"Why then were you so hesitant about checking her gallery?" his mind whispered.
Maxwell swore beneath his breath, knowing he would eventually tell her anyway.
"But later, much later," he vowed to himself as a disturbing thought occurred to him.
Since when did he start having insecurities about anything?
"Thank you, Officer Guy, please let me know once you hear anything."
"You are welcome," Officer Guy said, then he hurriedly added, before Maxwell could turn, "About the difficult situation…"
"I don't care, officer," Maxwell said firmly. "I don't care what happens to her. Just arrest her as soon as the doctors are done with her. Then take her as far away from me and my family as possible. I am sure you already know she had a case with the KDLEA by now too. Between you and them, you can do what you want with her. The name she has meant nothing anymore. She does not deserve it, and she has exhausted all the grace she could get from it. Thank you." he turned again and heard.
"The doctor thinks she needs amputation."
********
Thomas was all sweaty as he approached the Light and Life hospital.
He couldn't believe how worse his shape had gotten regarding physical exertion.
He was breathing heavily, his mouth and throat were dry, and he wished he had not left that little portion of beer in that tavern.
If only he could get just a drop of that glorious liquid in his throat at that moment.
Maybe he was going to pass out after all.
He would pass out, and then they would carry him to the same hospital too.
Great, then it would be a real family gathering.
Thomas chuckled bitterly at the irony of it all.
His ex-wife, the mother of his children, and his child were at the same hospital.
If he could join them, then the picture would certainly be complete.
He didn't have to think too much about putting two and two together.
He just knew he had been right.
Susan had had something to do with Allysyn's kidnapping.
Why? He supposed he would know soon enough.
At the moment, he regretted ever meeting Susan.
In a rare mood of contemplation the day before, he had realised just how much she had ruined his life.
Apart from being the mother of his children, every other impact she had had on his life had been negative.
If not for her, he might not have become a truant today.
Maybe his mom would even have been alive.
He might have met Reyona anyway and genuinely liked her, because who wouldn't like a woman like his ex-wife?
His body certainly wouldn't have been wrecked by drugs.
And here he was finishing the job off with drinks.
Who was he to mock Trent for falling off the wagon?
When his mind wanted to go to that disturbing night in Sydney, he simply took his mind off it and turned it back to the bane of his existence.