The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 136

Chapter 136

Chapter 136

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Hannah slid into the driver’s seat and fired up the engine. Just then. Ethan’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.

“Wait, where exactly are you headed? How are you getting there? Should I come pick you up?” Ethan asked.

Hannah told him the location. “I’m driving myself. You guys get some rest, I’ll be back before you know it.”

She finally had a lead, and she was itching to get moving.

“Alright, just be careful,” Ethan said, then suddenly remembered something. “Wait, do you even have a license?”

With a practiced flick, Hannah turned the car around and sped off, one hand on the wheel, the other pressing the walkie- talkie. “I’ll take the test next year,” she replied casually.

“Holy shit, you actually know how to drive? Pull over! Let me drive you!” Ethan couldn’t help but curse in disbelief.

With the static and footsteps crackling through the walkie-talkie, Hannah said, “I used to drive tractors up in the mountains. It’s easy for me.”

‘Tractor? Seriously?’ Ethan thought, totally thrown off.

He tried to imagine Hannah, with that gorgeous face, driving a tractor… That mental picture was just wild, he couldn’t even.

“A tractor’s nothing like a car! Quit messing around and pull over! If the folks at the station find out I let you drive without a license, they’ll have my head for this,” Ethan said, sounding seriously stressed.

‘Man, he’s so uptight,’ Hannah thought to herself.

“Chill, we’re out in the sticks, no one’s around. Consider it a little early practice. If you keep quiet and I keep quiet, who’s gonna find out?” Hannah said, flooring it as she took a sharp turn.

“Hey, what about me? Am I not a person?” came Vincent’s voice over the walkie-talkie.

Hannah was speechless.

As she spoke, she’d already arrived. “I’m here. I’m getting out to take a look.”

Ethan sighed, knowing this girl was way beyond his control. He could only remind her, “Just be careful. Vincent and I will be there a bit later.”

“Yeah, yeah, Ethan. Even my own brother doesn’t nag this much,” Hannah replied.

Ethan was at a loss for words.

Hannah aimed the car’s high beams at the woods, grabbed her flashlight and shovel, and headed into the trees.

To keep her nerves in check, she told herself, ‘If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear. With that, she marched straight toward her destination.

The closer she got to the fourth tree, the more she noticed the grass had been trampled down, it looked like more than one person had been here. Honestly, after a whole month, those tracks should’ve faded by now.

Hannah’s gut told her something was off. When she reached the fourth tree, the soil around the roots had definitely been disturbed.

She grabbed a larger rock to hold her flashlight steady, then started digging right where the soil had been disturbed.

Chapter 136

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The night wind kept sweeping through the trees, making the leaves rustle, mixing with the steady scrape of her shovel against the dirt.

After ten minutes of digging, Hannah still hadn’t found the box Yvette had mentioned.

That uneasy feeling in her gut just kept getting stronger. ‘Did someone else beat me to it?’ she wondered.

‘But didn’t Yvette send that email just to me?’ Hannah wondered.

‘Or had someone already discovered her email long ago?’ she thought, her mind racing.

Suddenly, a loud crack echoed behind her, a branch snapping underfoot. Someone was definitely closing in.

Hannah whipped around, but the car’s high beams blinded her for a moment.

Squinting and shielding her eyes from the glare, she could just make out two beams of light, like flashlights, sweeping toward her.

She figured it must be Ethan and Vincent, wow, they got here fast. She raised a hand to wave. “Ethan…”

Suddenly, a sharp pain exploded in the back of her head as something slammed into her. Her head spun, but she fought to turn around and saw someone she hadn’t noticed before standing there.

The person was holding a stick and looked surprised that Hannah had turned around. They raised the stick, about to swing, but before they could, Hannah collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.

*****

Meanwhile, on the other side of the grove…

Ethan and Vincent had just run into each other and started cutting straight through the woods toward Hannah.

The grove was huge, even if they took the shortest route, it’d still take them over twenty minutes to get there.

“Let’s race over. Loser owes the winner a drink,” Ethan said, trying to lighten the mood.

Vincent could tell Ethan was worried about Hannah, but he was already wiped out and didn’t feel like running. He waved it off, “Relax, this area’s safe. Nothing’s gonna happen.”

“I think she’s scared of the dark. We should hurry,” Ethan said.

‘She’s obviously freaked out, but she still showed up, pretending everything’s fine. Probably just doesn’t want anyone to know she’s scared, Ethan thought.

“Damn, you’re really paying attention. Don’t tell me you’ve got a thing for her? Wasn’t it you who warned me she’s Mr. Barnaby Thole’s girl?” Vincent teased.

“Cut it out,” Ethan said, all serious. “I’m the one who brought her, so it’s on me if anything goes wrong. If something really happens, how am I supposed to face Mr. Barnaby Thole?”

“Seriously, nothing’s gonna happen…” Vincent was about to reassure him, but then he just barely caught sight of two or three faint beams of light sweeping through the trees ahead. His words died instantly, and his face turned grim.

Ethan and Vincent exchanged a glance, both realizing they hadn’t imagined it.

“You totally jinxed it!” Vincent grumbled.

Without another word, the two of them bolted.

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Chapter 136

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By the time they reached the spot, Hannah was gone, and those flashlight beams they’d seen earlier had vanished as well.

“Shit!” Ethan panted, fists clenched. His instincts kicked in; he started locking down the area, eyes scanning for any clues.

The car’s headlights were still pointed at the fourth tree, its roots freshly dug up.

No telling if Hannah had found what she was after. Her shovel and flashlight were just lying there in the grass, and the ground was a mess of footprints, definitely more than one person had been here.

“I’ll check the car,” Vincent said.

The car had a dashcam, and the front was pointed right at the scene. ‘Hopefully it got the perp on video, Vincent thought to himself.

But when Vincent got in, he realized the memory card had already been swiped.

Even Hannah’s bag was gone from the back seat.

They scanned the area, but it was pitch black, couldn’t see a damn thing. No clue which way the culprit ran off, but with no lights anywhere, they probably hadn’t gotten far yet.

“Find anything?” Ethan asked, hurrying over. It was too dark for him to spot any useful clues.

Vincent lit a cigarette, looking frustrated. “The dashcam’s memory card is gone. Looks like they came prepared. Sorry, I should’ve paid more attention.”

“Get someone to pull up the surveillance footage from around here, especially in the village. We need to track them down before they get away!” Ethan said, already dialing on his phone.

*****

In Kinswood, at Grace Hospital…

Inside a VIP room…

Tristan was sprawled out on the bed, both legs in casts, giving Barnaby his best wounded look.

“Come on, Barnaby, does Hannah have any more of that life-saving stuff? See if she’ll spare me a couple more pills, will ya?” Tristan whined.

At first, Tristan didn’t buy that the pills Hannah gave him were anything special. He stubbornly refused to take them, so Barnaby had someone make him swallow them.

But half an hour later, Tristan had to admit, they were amazing.

“No,” Barnaby replied coldly, glancing at his watch. “Since you’re fine, I’m leaving.”

“Fine? I’m not fine at all!” Tristan protested.

Just then, Barnaby’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He glanced at the screen, it was Ethan. He picked up.

“Mr. Barnaby Thole, Ms. Carter’s gone missing,” Ethan said, his voice tight with urgency.

Mon,