“Drive faster!” When Rachel was talking to Julian, she had a pale look, and her voice was shaking. He was already driving at the maximum speed limit as he consoled, “Rae, don’t worry yourself too much. Things might not be as bad as you think.”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to think.” Clenching her cell phone tightly, she had her gaze fixed on the screen as she read Jolly’s message over and over again. She couldn’t imagine what the worst thing could be.
Half an hour later, they stopped outside the hotel. The police had handled the scene and set a perimeter around it. The crowd forming outside the hotel room was talking about the incident. “The police arrested a man this morning.”
“Why?” “I heard that he was trying to get his hands on a minor. I saw that girl this morning. She looks like she is around sixteen or seventeen. What a rotten guy.” “The pervert has no shame.”
The crowd fell into silence as they learned the truth. The room had limited access as outsiders were not allowed, and no police were guarding the scene while they left with the evidence. Rachel was desperate as she grabbed the first person she saw on his arm in a strong grip, and she asked, “Where’s the girl you’re talking about?”
The person was surprised by her sudden outburst. “Who are you?” “I’m her older sister! Where is she now?” “Rae.” Julian caught up with her and made an apology to the person. “We’re truly sorry about that.”
Shooting Rachel one last glance, the person walked away from the scene hastily. Seeing her eyes turn red and puffy, Julian held her hands to comfort her. “Don’t worry. Let me ask around first.”
“Chris!” Jolly’s voice echoed across the hallway. while they were talking. “Chris.” “You’re finally here!” She made a beeline to Rachel. “The police have left.”
“Where’s Jess?” “I don’t know. She wasn’t here ever since I arrived. I asked the police officer, but they didn’t tell me anything due to the policy of privacy.” Rachel struggled free from Julian’s grip and turned on her heels toward the exit.
“Rae! Where are you going?” “The police station.” The police were already half done with recording the statements for the investigation when Rachel made it to the police station. “You’re Jessica Egerton’s older sister?”
“I know her older brother. I’ve been looking after her since she came to Riverdale.” “I see. The police officer flipped through his notes. “I’m sorry. We can’t disclose her condition to you. The record here shows that the suspect and you were husband and wife.”
“We had a divorce! Besides, he’s not the kind of person who will do this!” Rachel wouldn’t believe that Justin would really harm Jessica.
Thinking that she was defending the suspect, at pleat formed between the officer’s brows. “We will rely on evidence. A few words aren’t helping us to solve the case. You can leave now until we summon you for further investigation.” She clenched her fists on her sides. “I want to see Officer Hawkins.”
The police officer was taken aback. “You know her?
“Where is she now?” “Officer Hawkins left Riverdale to attend a meeting due to the order. She isn’t available for the time being.” “Impossible! We were talking to each other a few days ago. “At that, she took her phone out and made a call for Janice.
“Sorry, the number you’ve dialed is not available.” “Miss Hudson, Officer Hawkins is attending a meeting. For safety measures, she needs to turn in her cell phone.”
Rachel’s hopes were gone by the harsh truth. “How’s it going?” Jolly greeted her outside the police station and held her hands in concern. Rachel shook her head. “They won’t tell me about Jess’ whereabouts.”
“Don’t worry. ‘No news is good news. Julian is asking around for the information. None of us actually believe Justin would do this.” Rachel didn’t want to think, and she was at a loss for words. “Jolly, what if something happened to Jess? What am I supposed to do?”
Not only had she caused Hans’ death, she had also endangered Jessica’s life. “I should have asked Justin to leave Riverdale earlier! I shouldn’t agree with Jess when she asked for Justin to look after her! He’s a man, after all! A grown man!”
“Chris! Calm down. Do you really think Justin would do that?” “I don’t know what to make of it! I don’t know!” Leaning on the car, Rachel slowly slid down into a crouching position as a lot of thoughts were burdening her.
It wasn’t a matter of her believing it or not; it concerned Jess’ well-being. Rachel would never forgive herself if anything bad happened to Jess.
Jolly felt sympathy for her, but they couldn’t do anything until the results were out. The next morning, Julian showed up at the apartment with the news. “I got the test results from the police.”
Rachel could already guess the answer from his serious expression, but she still had high hopes. However, Julian’s words were against her hopes. ‘Justin fits the suspect’s description for the analysis result of the hair and seminal fluid retrieved from the victim.”
At that moment, Rachel fell onto the sofa as her heart sank. The statement struck her hard, and she couldn’t pull herself together from the lingering feelings.
“No way!” Jolly refused to believe. “Justin hurt Jessica? Is he out of his mind?” Julian said calmly, “They also performed a blood test on him; the result shows that he was drugged with a powerful dosage of aphrodisiac. “He was drugged? By who? Is it Jessica?” She had no doubts about Jessica. “It must be her! She wants to frame Justin!”
Julian shook his head, disagreeing with her theory. “It isn’t her. The culprit is a former. employee of Burton Group. Even though he was arrested, I believed that someone was behind all of this. It isn’t the first time our former opponent tried to set him up, but I didn’t expect Jessica to be dragged into this mess.” “I don’t follow.” Jolly was confused. “If it wasn’t Jessica herself, then how would Justin-‘
“To put it simply, someone set Justin up. Another woman was supposed to be sent to his. room. I investigated her background and found that she is a club hostess. She had been hesitating outside the hotel for a long time when Jessica suddenly showed up.”
“Furthermore, someone made an anonymous call to the police. It wasn’t Jessica.” “All these things can’t be a mere coincidence.” Jolly had her doubts. “Why did Jessica go to the hotel?”
“It’s because of me.” When Rachel rejoined the conversation after a long silence, they both turned their attention to her. Grabbing her own hair with force, she spoke with agony. “I told her my plan to send her back.
That’s why she went to him after that. It’s all my fault! I put her in danger!” “Don’t take the blame on yourself.” Jolly embraced Rachel to comfort her. “It isn’t your fault!”
She shook her head in disbelief, as she couldn’t accept herself as the cause of everything. It was even more difficult to accept that Justin had wronged Jessica, no matter what the reason was. She blamed herself. If she had revealed the truth of Hans’ death to Jessica, everything wouldn’t have come to this point. Rachel sobbed. ‘Where’s Jess?”
Julian shook his head regretfully. “We haven’t found her.” Jolly frowned at her condition, then suggested cautiously, “Chris, something’s off. We shall see Justin first and hear his story.”
