“Let’s talk about how we are going resolve this,” Ashton said sharply. He then threw his documents on the table.
The table fell silent at once, and all eyes were on me.
I was unnerved but spoke slowly and confidently, “The project still has to continue no matter what. As for the theft, we will conduct an internal investigation. It is too big of a coincidence for both the surveillance and equipment to malfunction at the same time.”
Joseph frowned. “We’ve investigated everybody at the base. They’re all clean.”
“Isn’t that the biggest suspicion?” I protested. “How is it possible for everybody to claim an alibi at the same time?”
“I will communicate your concerns to the police,” Joseph said after a pause.
“So we’re back to where we started. There’s no way to proceed with our investigation.” Rachel laughed derisively. “We are always-”
A knock on the door of the conference room interrupted Rachel.
Joseph got up and opened the door. Leedon was on the other side.
“Ms. Stovall,” he said in a panic. “The lady with you earlier is a friend of yours, is she not? Something’s happened to her. Could you come and have a look?”
Nora?
I rose hurriedly. “Mr. Fuller, Mr. Murphy, please excuse me.”
Armond got to his feet as well. After a mumbled explanation to the rest of them, he came out of the room with me.
“What happened?” I asked Leedon, who looked like he was in despair.
“The land adjacent is undergoing some renovation, and the lady fell into one of the holes dug into the ground when she was on her way to pick some fruits,” Leedon explained as we hastily made our way out.
“The foundations that they’d dug aren’t that deep,” I asked with confusion. “Why couldn’t you just bring her up?”
Leedon shook his head. “It’s a little more serious than that. There is no parking lot over here; it would have been a waste to use a plot of land as parking spots. We’ve decided to have an underground parking compound instead.”
I shivered. In that case, the foundation dug must be quite deep to accommodate the dimensions of a parking compound.
“Have you brought her up?” I couldn’t help feeling anxious.
“I’m not sure. When I first came, Ms. Oberick appeared unconscious. She might have been rescued, but she could be injured.”
The route around the outside of the base was difficult to traverse on foot. I jogged along with Leedon leading the way to the site where Nora fell.
A crowd gathered around the spot. With some trepidation in my heart, I joined them.
The paramedics were already there and were preparing their equipment to treat Nora, who was being lifted out at that moment.
She was indeed unconscious. “What happened to her? Where is she hurt?” I demanded.
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