Chapter 334 Life on the Line
By the time Rachel returned to the private room, only Jason was left alone inside the room and he also had quite a lot to drink earlier. “Where is Young Master Porter?”
“He drank too much. Miss Hart has brought him back to a room to rest. I think we’ll end things here today.” She nodded. “Thank you for pulling the strings on my behalf, Jason.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Young Master Porter likes you very much, so you better not have any other strange ideas. Also, it’s best if you draw a clear line with my nephew so that your future will remain bright and promising.”
Rachel did not comment much on Jason’s words and merely drove out of the hotel alone after he departed. Following the instructions on the note that Lila handed to her, she drove around and circled back to the hotel since Millstone Street was just one street away from the hotel. It was an old alleyway that did not permit entry to cars.
She parked her car by the curb and walked into the alleyway. At this time, the sky was completely dark with no trace of anyone else. The only sounds that she heard were that of her own footsteps.
It didn’t take long before she found a public phone booth behind an abandoned bungalow. The phone booth looked like it had been abandoned for a long time and did not look like it could be used, which left her with a slight frown. Turning on the flashlight on her phone, she shone the light at the phone booth and walked around but did not find anything.
It was going to be 11:00PM soon.
Ring… A crisp ringing sound pierced through the night air. The sound that suddenly came from the abandoned phone booth seemed extremely strange in the quiet night and caused Rachel to slightly shiver. Thinking about the relationship between Lila and Coraline, she quickly stepped forward and hesitated for several seconds before she picked up the receiver.
“Hello?”
“It’s me?”
“Miss Hart?”
“Perhaps, you should call me by another name.”
Rachel seemed stunned for a moment before a joyous light appeared in her eyes.
…
Dillon, who should have passed out from being drunk, was currently sitting in the living room of Hotel Platinum’s suite and had a pair of extremely bright, clear eyes. There was a pot of tea on the coffee table in front of him with Lila sitting opposite him. In front of her was a mobile phone with the speakerphone turned on. Rachel’s voice came from the other side of the phone.
There was a cold smile on his face as he looked at the phone with extremely contemptuous eyes. Nobody has ever managed to fool me with petty tricks before.
He had sent somebody to investigate Rachel a long time ago. She apparently had a close relationship with the Investigation Bureau Deputy Chief, Janice Hawkins. How could Jason dare to place somebody with that kind of relationship beside him? Has his greed for money left him insane?
“Where are you right now?” Rachel’s questioning voice came from the phone.
Lila glanced at Dillon, asking for an answer with her eyes.
Dillon raised his chin in the direction of the bedroom.
She answered, “I’m still at the hotel, but I have to return to the ship in a short while. I have something to pass to you. Please deliver it to Officer Hawkins as soon as possible.”
“What is it?”
“The route map for the next shipment.”
“The route map? Where is it?”
“Return to the hotel. It’s just behind the toilet of the private room where we were in earlier.”
After that last sentence, Dillon reached out a finger and ended the call with a tap.
Lila’s complexion paled slightly. “Young Master Porter.”
Before she could finish her sentence, he waved to the side and coldly said, “Tie her up.”
The two bodyguards by the side immediately stepped forward. When they met her threatening gaze, they subconsciously took a step back.
It was enough to immediately make Dillion unhappy. “Are you my subordinates or her subordinates?”
When the two bodyguards heard that question, they stepped forward again. “Sorry, Lila.”
Lila raised a hand to stop them as her cold aura left them losing the courage to act rashly. She expressionlessly said, “Young Master Porter, you only need to inform Master Porter if you don’t want me by your side anymore. There’s no need to use such methods to falsely accuse me. Even if there’s something wrong with me, don’t forget that I work for Master Porter. You will have to answer for your actions to Master Porter.”
“Don’t use my father to threaten me.” Dillon snorted coldly. “You have private dealings with people in the Riverdale Investigation Bureau. If my father learns about this matter, I’ll be able to kill you right now without bringing you back.”
“Young Master Porter, I’m saying this again: I didn’t do anything.”
“If you didn’t do anything, then why did Rachel listen to you? Why did she run off to answer your phone call in the middle of the night?”
“I can only say that curiosity exists in everybody. How did you know that she went there to answer my phone call because she has private dealings with me? Isn’t this matter still undecided?”
He sneered. “Fine. It doesn’t matter whether there’s anything wrong with you. In any case, there’s definitely something wrong with Rachel.” After that, he placed a gun on the coffee table. “Kill her, and I will believe you.”
The pistol was small and compact. Moreover, it was equipped with a silencer—perfect for killing people silently in a place like this.
Lila frowned slightly.
“What’s wrong? Are you unwilling? Didn’t you use to kill others without batting an eyelid? Why are you feeling reluctant now?”
“It’s not that I’m not willing. It’s just that killing somebody here will alert the authorities. I’m afraid we won’t be able to remain in Riverdale for long. If Rachel dies, a lot of people will surely be involved in the investigation. Jason’s nephew is quite concerned about her.” Those words clearly could not convince him. Therefore, she simply took the gun and loaded the chamber in front of him. “If you really want to see me kill somebody, Young Master Porter, then I don’t mind taking action. When Master Porter and Miss Porter scolds us for messing up this business deal, I will just have to suffer the blame together with you.”
“Hmph! I’ll be waiting for your good news.” Dillon was unmoved by those words as he picked up his tea cup and took a sip.
When she heard his response, Lila left the room.
As soon as Lila departed, one of the subordinates standing nearby walked forward to refill Dillon’s cup with tea. That subordinate asked in worry, “Young Master Porter, are we really going to watch Lila make her move here? This is the heart of Riverdale. We might not be able to come here for some time if something happens. Likewise, the business deal with Miss Rachel will fall through.”
“This business deal is bound to fail. There’s something fishy about Rachel. It would have been nothing if she did not come today. Our business deal would have ended there and then and I would have spared her life. If she came then… Well then, I’m sorry.”
“Does that mean there’s something wrong with Lila too?”
“Lila?” The look in Dillon’s eyes darkened slightly. “Rachel claimed that she looked familiar the moment they met. Don’t you think that’s strange? I knew something was fishy when our goods were intercepted by the customs department for smuggling the other day.”
“Lila works for Master Porter, though.”
“The old man is blind from age. Who is to say he did not make a mistake? He would rather kill a thousand than let one go free. The information from the higher-ups claims that there’s a traitor among us. It could very well be somebody beside me.”
While he was speaking, another one of his subordinates turned on the projector in the living room to show the real-time surveillance footage of the hotel’s private room.
“Young Master Porter, she’s here.”
The projection screen illustrated Rachel talking to one of the serving staff where she seemed to have made up an excuse that she had left something behind to enter the private room once more. The serving staff had already unlocked the doors for her to enter.
Dillon’s grip tightened around his cup. When he saw the woman in the surveillance footage, his eyes darkened immensely as he coldly questioned, “She came rather quickly. Where is Lila?”
“She has just gotten out of the elevator and will probably arrive at the private room soon.”
“Tell her to kill that woman in the private room.”
“What if… Lila refuses to take action?”
