Chapter 94─Bruce in the mountain lodge

Bruce could not believe that he had been mesmerized into walking towards a strange vehicle and then getting into it.

“Now I’m in this resort-like place. If only I knew how far out we are. There’s a mountain outside, but I don’t know which mountain it is because I don’t know how long we took to get here.

I was out, completely knocked out,” he told himself now as he looked around the bedroom where he found himself.

“I wonder if they’ve got my phone. If this is a kidnapping I would have had some news about them asking for money. It doesn’t seem like it.

So, if they’re being spiteful then they will be in charge of my phone, impersonating me and sending messages to say that I’m fine,” Bruce thought to himself as he laid back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling above.

“Wait, a minute!” he exclaimed suddenly.

“If this is a lodge at a resort then there must be other people around who will begin to notice that something odd is going on,” he commented as he looked at himself in the tall mirror of the dressing table. The furniture in the room looked ornate enough for a guest lodge.

He could not escape by changing into his wolf form because there were burglar bars in front of the windows.

“I won’t be able to break those bars. Not without an instrument,” Bruce remarked as he looked at the window again.

Since he woke up, he had kept looking for a way of escape and then his gaze rested upon those bars of steel in front of the windows.

“Those rocks and the river stream out there don’t look familiar and I don’t see anyone moving around.

Maybe later,” he told himself as he tried to focus on what had happened to him.

“What if I try to overwhelm them when they come in at the door again? But then, there could be others outside, waiting for me to do something like that,” he thought.

He had seen two men so far. A muscular one with a gun who warned him against trying to escape and another one who brought him food and water.

“Let me get used to the surroundings first. I should get used to sounds that they’re not paying attention to then I will figure out where I am and what’s going on. Who can be behind this?” Bruce questioned the empty room around him.

“At least they haven’t threatened to kill me. Or are they still gonna get to that point?” he whispered as he began to try and listen to outside sounds again.

***

Graham was done speaking to Lyle. Now there was the lining up of suspects in his mind.

“Would Jean really resort to kidnapping Bruce just because he’s not interested in her?” Graham asked himself as he sat alone in Bruce’s office.

It was late, but he couldn’t get to even think about going to bed.

The leader of the Sunridge village pack was going to investigate every possible suspect.

“Theresa and Jean have caused enough trouble in Bruce’s life for them to be the number one suspects,” Graham muttered to himself.

“I wonder why they were still at the party after Bruce was gone then? Were they just pretending to be innocent? Or were they hanging around because they heard that Mishka was there?” Graham asked himself.

“Well, if they heard about how well Bruce and Mishka’s music video recording was received by the public then they’re bound to become blind with jealousy.

But, how could they arrange a kidnapping so fast? On the very same day of the video recording and release?

They must have some very efficient people working for them then. Yes, with Jean’s witch aunt they can find it easy to abduct someone very convincingly?” Graham asked himself, rising from the chair in front of the desk.

“But, will they try something this daring after the stern warnings that they’ve received from the leaders of the pack?” he asked himself as he paced up and down.

He then went to sit on the armchair near the window and buried his face in his hands in frustration.

“If they can be this spiteful towards Bruce for not being interested in Jean, then what will they do if they find out that I’ve been fooling with them by sending gifts and flowers to them as a mere distraction?” Graham asked himself when the thought struck him.

“Anyway, let’s hope that they keep Bruce alive, whoever’s got hold of him,” Graham mumbled before he drifted off to sleep.

He woke up with a start when his phone rang.

“Hello, have you found out something?” he asked when he noticed Tony, the local pack leader’s name on the phone screen.

“We’ve just remembered something. Bruce is wearing his watch which has a hidden tracking device on it. We checked its signal and we traced him a distance away from this town, in a mountain resort,” Tony responded.

“That’s amazing! I didn’t even know that he wore something like that. So, let’s hope that we can find him still alive,” Graham remarked, his voice rising in excitement.

“I am going to send out some guys who have experience in this kind of thing. They won’t alarm the kidnappers and cause them to be cruel to Bruce. They’re gonna creep up on them real stealthily and skilfully,” Tony stated in a calm tone of voice.

“Well, I hope it all goes well and Bruce doesn’t get injured,” Graham responded.

“They haven’t demanded money yet. Anyway, we will keep everyone updated as soon as we have a breakthrough,” Tony promised before ending the call.

“Great! Now, there’s Mishka. She needs to know that we’re making headway. She was very worried at the ball last night. I wonder, is she falling in love with Bruce?” Graham asked himself as he leaned back into the armchair, thinking.

“If she’s in love with him and him with her, then we have to make sure that nothing happens to either of them.

I wonder if I should call Jean on my own and ask her outright if she had Bruce kidnapped to keep him away from Mishka?” Graham asked himself.

It was morning already and he felt stiff from sleeping on the armchair. He stretched and got up from the armchair and picked up his phone.

“The pack leaders have asked me not to interrogate anyone, but Jean doesn’t play according to the rules either. Neither does her aunt, the witch.

I wonder what they will do if I accuse them? Will they do something worse like abduct Mishka or attack me for interfering?

But, I’m sure that I made a pretty good impression on Jean last night. Is it enough to make her stop her plans if she is behind Bruce’s abduction, though?” Graham asked himself as he stared at the phone in his hand.

“What now? Should I continue that sweet seduction and only make subtle enquiries or should I accuse her of kidnaping?” he asked, ruffling his hair in frustration.