I wasn’t paying attention to her. “Hey, could you help me take a few pictures?”
“Huh? What do you suddenly need pictures for?”
“Help me get a nice shot of the three of them, thanks!”
I had a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Harrison’s friend was Jackson, and the baby was Macy’s kid.
Stacey gave me her word before hanging up the phone. I gave a call to Macy, but no one picked up.
After thinking for a while, I decided to call Nick instead. To my surprise, the call went through. “Ms. Stovall, my dear, how did you suddenly think of contacting me?”
“Mr. Harrison, are you in J City right now? One of my friends has gotten into a spot of trouble over there. Could you help me sort it out?”
There was a pause on the other side of the phone. Nick replied warily, “I’m in M Country right now. Is it very urgent? I’ll get my men in J City to go over instead.”
“Oh, it’s alright then. I’ll give my other friends a call. I’ll hang up now! Let’s catch up another time.” Why was Nick lying to me?
Stacey’s text message came very quickly. The picture she sent was taken in a building in J City’s city center. Nick was wearing a brown coat, with both his hands stuck in its pockets. He looked both dashing and very bored. The image was a little blurry, but that was Nick in the picture—there was no doubt about that.
Jackson was standing right next to him, wearing a dark-colored sweater and a casual pair of shorts. Both of them were pushing a pram about. The entire picture was so strange that it was bound to draw some attention from passers-by.
I gave Stacey another call. She was probably on her phone again, because she picked up instantly this time.
I jumped straight to the point. “Stacey, I need your help again. Can you help me find out where they’re living? Pay special attention to the man and baby who are with Nick. Also, I need you to find out if Macy is with them.”
Jackson had told me they were in M Country. The weather in J City was too cold, he claimed, and it wouldn’t be good for the baby. They were going to return after the new year, but unbeknownst to me, they had arrived in J City ahead of time.
With Macy’s personality, she would probably give in and contact me eventually. In fact, according to my calculations, she should’ve called me to ask after the baby by now.
However, it had been some time, and Macy still hadn’t contacted me. In fact, I had seen neither hide nor hair of her. Every time I gave her a call, I had a distinct feeling that she was avoiding me on purpose.
“Alright, I’ll be keeping tabs on them. Don’t worry!” However, as I hung up the call, I couldn’t help but worry even more.
I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen.
…
The next day, I discovered for myself that John was extraordinarily efficient at his job. Just as Ashton left for work, I received a call from him.
“Come down to Joy Luck Boutique for your gown fitting! Do you want me to send a car over to fetch you?”
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