Chapter 25
At dusk, a bunch of cars drove into Autumn River Town. Folks from all
around stuck their heads out from under their roofs. These black cars slowly
cruised down the cobblestone road, leaving behind a thunderous rumble.
“What’s going on? Why are there so many out–of–town guys suddenly?”
This inconspicuous guesthouse was run by a young couple.
Mrs. Halliwell, holding her kid, peeked out the door but was spooked by the
scene and took a few steps back.
Mr. Halliwell comforted his wife, “it’s a good news for us, isn’t it? More
visitors mean better business for us.”
Mrs. Halliwell agreed with a nod. She put her child in a stroller, getting
ready to step out.
“Where are you headed?”
“I’m gonna pay a visit to mayor and find out what’s going on.”
“Remember to get back earlier. We haven’t cleaned up the room that the lady tenant checked out of this morning.”
As the sun slowly sank below the horizon, owners of several guesthouses in town gathered outside the mayor’s house. They stood in a circle under the big oak tree, chitchatting away.
“Dozens of cars! There must be around a hundred people, right?”
“Quick, quick, the mayor’s coming out.”
They rushed up, surrounding the mayor, “Mayor Brian, where are those
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Chapter 25
guys gonna stay?”
The mayor explained, “they are developers on a field visit to our town.
There aren’t many hotels around, so they can’t all fit there. Some of them might
stay in guesthouses.”
“Mayor Brian, mine is got plenty of room, and it’s spick and span.”
“Mine can accommodated at least twenty people.”
Mrs. Halliwell listened in silence for a moment and then suggested, “Mayor, how about we divide these guests into equal groups and each guesthouses treat a group? Business has been slow lately for nearly all guesthouses in our town.”
Brian nodded in approval, “sounds fair. Then let the guests decide where they want to
stay.”
Everyone hustled back to their guesthouse to do the preparations.
Mr. Halliwell was tidying up the room upstairs, he found a suitcase left by the tenant with a note “temporarily deposit it here,” so he carried it downstairs.
It was pitch–black outside when the couple finally finished sprucing up. Just as they settled down to catch a breath, the wind chimes at the door jingled, and a man strolled in.
He didn’t look like a local, towering in stature with a fit build, dressed in a black coat.
Cade followed behind Kendric into the guesthouse and immediately began scanning every detail. His search only stopped when he saw a landline phone at the front desk. He took out the note that wrote the number Celeste called her
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father this morning, and then dialed it.
Within half a second, the phone on the front desk rang unexpectedly.
“Boss, right this place,” he confirmed.
Kendric followed the sound, and his stern face softened ever so slightly.
Surveying the surroundings, he strode over and took a seat across from the
guesthouse couple. He pulled out a photo, “remember this girl?”
her.”
Mrs. Halliwell couldn’t hide her surprise, “isn’t this…”
Mr. Halliwell, however, gave his wife’s hand a squeeze, “we don’t know
Mrs. Halliwell looked puzzled but stayed silent.
put the photo away, crossed his at
Kendric and stared thoughtfully at
them.
Mr. Halliwell forced a stiff smile. He insisted, “we don’t know her. We have so many tourists coming through here every day, and there’s no way we can remember everyone.”
His lie was pretty lame. Celeste’s face was impressive and outstanding even among the crowd.
Seeing the couple holding their ground, Cade was about to pull out his persuasion or to say, intimidation routine.
But then, a ripple of giggles filled the air. In the blink of an eye, a baby boy toddled to Kendric’s side.
Originally, the baby boy had been standing next to his mother, but Mrs.
Halliwell got too nervous so that she let go of her grip.
The baby boy was drooling and babbling at Kendric. He waved his chubby
hands in the air, seemingly excited.
Kendric couldn’t help but be drawn to the child. He grabbed his chubby
little hand.
Maybe it was because Kendric didn’t exactly give off a friendly vibe, Mrs.
Halliwell nearly had a heart attack seeing this scene. She blurted, “don’t touch
him!”
Kendric ignored her and scooped up the boy, settling him on his lap.
Mrs. Halliwell panicked, “I know her, I know her. She… she’s already gone.”
Kendric cradled the baby, “where did she go?”
Mrs. Halliwell stammered, “I don’t… I don’t know.”
Kendric held the baby in arms and got to his feet. Now Mrs. Halliwell totally panicked like a deer caught in headlights.
Her husband struggled to say, “she… left a suitcase here, in the cabinet.”
“Bring it here.” Kendric commanded.
Mr. Halliwell mustered some courage, “okay, but you, you… put my son down.“/
Kendric gently stroked the baby’s cheek. The baby burst into giggles, his eyes as clear as a crystal lake.
For a fleeting moment, Kendric’s mind wandered. This pair of crystal clear eyes reminded him of Celeste’s. In the past when she stared at him, her eyes
Chapter 25
were as clear and captivating like this.
“Don’t try to negotiate with me.” he said coldly.
Mr. Halliwell had no choice but to retrieve the suitcase from the cabinet
and hand it over to this intimidating–looking guy.
Kendric bent down and placed the baby back on ground. As he was about to
get up, the baby tugged on a button of his coat.
Mrs. Halliwell clenched her teeth in fear, “sweetie, let go.”
The baby beamed and drooled a bit but kept a firm grip on that sparkling button.
Kendric instructed, “get me the scissors.”