Chapter 497 Not a Coincidence
It was already the dead of night when they reached Melrose City. Elijah called Courtney and sent Angie to the Melrose Hospital. Lying on the bed, Angie covered half her face with the blanket, leaving only her eyes exposed so she could observe Courtney.
Although Courtney was gently redressing Elijah’s wound, she spoke in a stern tone. “You don’t have to look at me like that. I shouldn’t have let you come to Citron Apparel if I had known what your thoughts were.”
After hearing Elijah’s summary of what happened, Courtney had cold sweat running down her back, as she couldn’t imagine how guilty she would feel if that knife had fully stabbed Angie.
“I’m sorry.”
Since Angie had admitted her mistakes, Courtney did not reprimand her further because Elijah was right in that she herself had a similar personality too. Back then, she had done the same things as Angie at Sunhill, so she wasn’t in a position to say how out of line she acted.
As Courtney’s bandaging techniques were better, Elijah could at least move his fingers now. Nodding satisfyingly, he then noticed Courtney’s wrist when she reached out to pick up the scissors.
Showing a rare smile, Elijah asked, “When did such children’s play interest you?”
Suddenly understanding his words, Courtney lowered her head and looked at the sticker. Not replying, she diverted the conversation while tidying her things.
“Did you say that Walter’s dead?”
Angie remembered that before she left Silvercreek District Hospital, she saw Piper undoing her dreadlocks on the bathroom floor. Feeling somewhat stuffy inside, she nodded.
“Is this a coincidence?”
“I don’t know.” Shaking her head, Angie then retracted her gaze while Elijah said bluntly, “It isn’t”
Taking out his phone from his suit pocket, he tapped into the photo gallery and gave it to Courtney.
“Piper was pestered by a middle-aged man when she first entered middle school. That time, they were both in Melrose. After Walter found out, he even called some people to beat them up. Since then, the man stopped stalking her. Finally, Walter quit and brought his family back to Silvercreek.”
Looking through the photos, Courtney frowned upon noticing something was wrong.
“This Shawn Kaiser person had one million wired into his bank account…”
Nodding, Elijah confirmed her thoughts.
“That man’s name is Shawn Kaiser.”
“Being an avid gambler, he had already racked up quite the debt outside. Three days before, he had a million transferred to his account, which he then went to Silvercreek District to find Piper, so this could not be just a coincidence.”
Angie then finally understood the whole situation.
“Walter got into the crash because he had received the message, but Piper had said that she didn’t send any message to her father.”
Becoming a bit more serious now, Courtney asked, “What about Shawn?”
Standing up, Elijah also had a similar expression.
“Shawn won’t tell. He has a wife and kid, who is just a month old. He has to ensure their safety, so forcing him to open his mouth will only force him to death.”
His words made the atmosphere in the ward even heavier, while Courtney and Angie had awful expressions on their faces. At this moment, a nurse suddenly entered, seeming a bit panicky.
“Courtney, the child is acting up again.”
Standing up, she reminded Angie to rest up earlier when she reached the entrance and told Elijah, “I want you to meet someone.”
Following Courtney, Elijah then reached the VIP children’s ward downstairs. Opening the door, he saw a tanned boy pacing around the ward barefoot. Besides the blanket and pillow on the floor and a bed, there was nothing else in the room.
“Jimmy.”
The moment Courtney entered, the little boy immediately quieted down. With his suspicious gaze turning excited, he ran up and hugged her leg. This scene made Elijah slightly curious.
“Who is this little fellow? I have never seen him before.”
After hearing Elijah’s voice, the child looked up with eyes full of terror and rejection as Courtney patted his head while explaining patiently, “You don’t have to be afraid of him. He’s my friend.”
But her words failed to reassure him as the kid was running behind the bed and growling as soon as Elijah wanted to get close to him.
With an awkward expression, Courtney looked somewhat resignedly at Elijah as she took out a piece of sticker while picking up his unhurt hand.
Sticking it to the back of his hand, Courtney then turned toward the cowering boy in the corner and said, “See, I didn’t lie to you, did I?”
The boy calmed down the second he saw the back of Elijah’s hand, his wolf-like alertness slowly going away. Walking toward them cautiously, he only smiled upon closing in enough to see what the picture was on the paper, and then he grabbed Elijah’s hand.
Elijah only felt a bit baffled by all this.
Although Courtney tried coaxing the kid to go to bed, he kept his silence while holding a whiteboard in his hand. Drawing on it for some time, he showed her. It depicted a fierce-looking woman who had a syringe in her hand and was aiming it at him, who in turn was hiding behind the bed. After seeing this, Courtney then hummed a lullaby to comfort him.
“Your method seems a bit familiar. Did you also communicate with Jordan like this?”
His words reawakened Courtney’s memories of five years ago, and the happy thoughts temporarily cleared up the doubts in her eyes.
“This is why I have an inexplicable feel toward little Timmy here.”
With Courtney at her side, the tired child then fell asleep soon after. Seeing that he was in a deep sleep, Courtney then carefully folded the hem of his pants up and hinted at Elijah to take a look.
Elijah frowned upon seeing the tattoo on his ankle, asking, “What is this?”
Briefly explaining what took place, Courtney had a request for Elijah after he had fully grasped the situation.
“Timmy’s going to be discharged tomorrow. I want to bring him back to the Duncans’ ancestral home. But, there’re a lot of eyes there, so I don’t think that it’s the most suitable place for him. That’s why I…”
“I’ll be flying back to Manhattan in a few days’ time to take care of something, so just send him to my manor. There are not many servants there, and I’m the only one living there anyway.”
With the light casting a dark silhouette, Elijah cut Courtney off before she could finish, his stoic face lightening up a bit.
“I will also check up on the dead lead on Walter, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”
Nodding somewhat gratefully, Courtney then exited the ward with Elijah
“How’s Old Master Duncan?” His cold voice echoed through the corridor.
“He still hasn’t gotten any better.”
