Chapter 128
People who stayed in the borderlands for a long time, due to years of ultraviolet radiation and wind–sand exposure, had distinct appearances.
If Quinlyn hadn’t been fed well after moving to the city, she might have been mistaken for a relative of the kidnappers.
But she could recognize their accents immediately. Their speech was a mix of various dialects, none standard, having gradually lost their original language system for communication convenience.
At four in the morning, the car finally left the urban area and got on the expressway. They changed drivers at the intersection.
Quinlyn touched Quinton beside her, finding him in a deep sleep, unable to escape. First–time ether users have no resistance; he wouldn’t wake up until noon.
Thus, Quinlyn sent a message to Larry: [On the highway. Will take inland provincial roads. Let Bennett deploy surveillance. I’ll inform you of any suspicious people.]
After Josh’s gang was arrested in Yocriton, his subordinates knew nothing about this. Josh knew the transportation routes and checkpoint details. The clues vanished at the borderlands.
The enemy was cautious. In Quinlyn’s view, there were only two or three human traffickers with such a large business.
One, called “Tooth,” had once kidnapped Joseph and other rich kids but was ruled out by the task force.
This time, if the mole was in the glamorous entertainment circle, it fit the lending criteria.
From the kidnappers‘ tone, the commander was a woman. Women selling women had a natural edge and were likely Josh’s partner.
At nine in the morning, the vehicle turned off the highway onto a bumpy dirt road.
“Ouch…” Quinlyn heard a noise from the backseat, opened her eyes, and sat up, coming face–to–face with Harriet.
“Quinlyn, where are we? Who are you people? Let me out!” Harriet looked at her, then quickly focused on the unfamiliar scenery outside, tearing open the curtain to reveal endless farmland.
The man next to her, just starting his shift and still sleepy, slapped her without thinking. “Shut up, or I’ll kill you.”
Harriet screamed, a tooth knocked out, blood in her mouth, and began to cry.
Quinton was also awakened.
“Quinlyn? Why are you here? Wait, where’s that woman?” He rubbed his sleepy eyes, confused at first, then remembered last night and sat up in shock.
“Who are you talking about?” Quinlyn asked him.
Last night, she noticed the choke marks on his neck, which weren’t from the three men in the car, so the culprit must be the mole.
Quinton looked around, not understanding why he was in the car, and instinctively blurted out a name. “Yolanda.”
‘It really is her. Quinlyn wasn’t surprised. She was the only one in the production crew who hated her enough to want her
dead.
“If she colluded with them to kidnap us, then what about you?” Quinlyn glance
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her tone chilly. “Are you her decoy to clear her suspicion?”
Hearing this, Harriet shrank back, too scared to utter a word.
Quinlyn shook her head at Harriet’s foolishness. “You actually think she will let you go after you saw her true colors?”
Harriet jerked her head up, eyes brimming with shock and helplessness, the metallic tang in her mouth shifting to fear. “No, it’s impossible! Ms. Lynch would never treat me like this!”
A kick struck her, hurling her against the van’s wall. “Shut up! Tobias, gag these brats,” the man barked, prodding his companion with his foot, irritation lacing his voice.
Tobias stretched, grabbed a roll of tape, and first sealed Quinlyn’s mouth.
When it came to Quinton, he shrank in fear but was calmed by Quinlyn’s reassuring squeeze.
“You’d better learn from this girl. The quieter you are, the less you’ll suffer,” Tobias grinned, revealing his yellowed teeth.
Quinlyn wrinkled her nose at the odd tobacco smell–likely laced with drug.
As he moved to the backseat and lifted the bruised, tear–streaked Harriet, he glared at the man who had hit her.
“I told you to go easy. You’ve messed up her face. If the swelling doesn’t go down by the time we reach our destination, her price will drop. Ms. Lynch said this is our side job, and it’s all about real money,” Tobias said.
The man didn’t retort, focusing on sleeping instead.
Tobias, after his rant, roughly taped Harriet’s mouth shut.
Harriet’s tears welled up. She had to admit these bandits wouldn’t treat her like this if they knew she was here to help Yolanda. Once again, she felt abandoned.
In contrast, Quinton was much calmer, even somewhat detached.
By mid–afternoon, the van stopped at a rural eatery. After a stern warning, they untaped the kids‘ mouths and took them in
to eat.
Starving, Quinlyn and Quinton devoured three plates of pasta each. And they wanted more.
“No more pasta. Are you trying to stuff yourselves to death?” one of the kidnappers roared.
Quinton shrank back, but Quinlyn, undeterred, loudly declared to the owner of the eatery, “Dad, I’m hungry.”
“Oh dear, look at this girl, starved to nothing but skin and bones,” the owner of the eatery sympathized, taking their plates. “How stingy you are. It’s just some pasta. Just let your kids eat.”
The man, though pained at the pre–payment loss, ordered two more plates of pasta for them to avoid suspicion.
Harriet, injured and unable to get out, only got one plate of pasta.
Full and content, Quinlyn and Quinton returned to the van. They promised not to cause a commotion and thus avoided having their mouths taped again.
As the van turned into a narrow lane, indicating more days of hiding out in the countryside before proceeding, Quinlyn whispered to Quinton.
“Quinton, I’m sorry you’re caught up in this because of me.” She assumed Yolanda had used Quinton as bait.
But Quinton, after a pause, quietly said, “I don’t think so. She said some odd things.”
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Chapter 128
He recounted Yolanda’s words. “I think she might have a crush on my dad.”
Quinlyn, though not much of a judge of character, retorted, “Yolanda? I don’t think so.”
“But I can’t think of any other reason,” Quinton shook his head, troubled by this all the way.
“There’s another possibility,” Quinlyn stared at him, slowly saying, “You’re not your dad’s son.”
Quinton was shocked.
