The Abandoned Wife Dumped Him First (Victoria and Elias) novel Chapter 58

The moment he spoke, both Elias and Hawk looked at him.

Jonah placed a file and several photos on the desk. The photos showed a plainly dressed mother and daughter.

"Hawk," Elias said coldly.

Hawk picked up a photo to examine it. "Mr. Shawn, it's them."

They were the ex-wife and daughter of the arsonist who had trapped Elias in a fire five years ago.

The arsonist had committed suicide in prison shortly after his conviction, and his ex-wife and daughter had vanished without a trace not long after leaving the Capital.

Although the case was closed without any loose ends, Elias had always suspected there was more to it. He never believed it was a simple case of an arsonist lashing out at society.

So after they disappeared, he had tasked Jonah with finding them.

But once a person goes off the grid, finding them is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

It had taken Jonah five years.

"For the past five years, they've moved around a lot, mostly in places with transient populations, and they were using fake identities," Jonah explained.

"Fake identities?" Hawk frowned. "No wonder we couldn't find them, even with all the manpower and resources we deployed."

Jonah nodded. "But I guess the child reached school age and had to be enrolled, so they had to use their real information, which put them on our radar. To be able to hide for so long with fake IDs, I'd bet my life someone was helping them. To avoid tipping them off, I've just had my people keeping an eye on them from a distance."

Elias's gaze fell on the photos. After a long moment, he spoke. "Hawk, book a flight to Havenport."

"Yes, sir."

Hawk immediately left to make the arrangements.

Jonah stretched and let out a long sigh. "Five years. I can finally breathe..."

"I need you to look into one more thing for me."

Jonah's sigh hitched, the air he'd been expelling getting sucked right back in.

"What is it?"

Elias's voice was low and cold. "Garnett Sanger has a heart condition. I want to know who's pulling the strings to get his medical parole applications denied."

Jonah's eyes glinted with amusement.

One second, he was swearing up and down that he had no feelings for Victoria, and the next, he was worrying about her father...

Men. You couldn't trust a word they said.

That didn't mean it wasn't bad.

"Tobias, you're a cardiac specialist. I need to know, based on his test results, if he..." Victoria's voice caught, a lump forming in her throat. She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. After a moment, she forced the words out. "If he doesn't receive treatment... how long does he have?"

Tobias met her gaze. He was silent for a long time before answering, his tone heavy, "Six months. At most."

Victoria staggered.

"Victoria!" Tobias's eyes widened, and he quickly reached out to steady her.

The color drained from Victoria's face. She looked up at Tobias, her eyes moist, and repeated his words in a strained whisper, "Six months... at most?"

"Victoria, Mr. Sanger is a good man. Things will work out. There has to be a way."

Tobias didn't answer her question directly. He also didn't tell her that the six-month estimate was only if Garnett's heart condition didn't worsen.

If it did, he might not even last three months.

Her phone screen lit up.

Cerys had sent an address, followed by another message.