After a 30-minute drive, Heather finally found the place where the Great Detective was. It was a remote area, which was a good choice when one wanted to hide from the public.
A smirk played by the Great Detective’s lips as he looked at her walking toward him. I’ve really missed her, he thought to himself. Then, he spread his arms wide and said to her, “Hattie, let me give you a hug.”
Heather rolled her eyes at him. “Zayne, be serious. I’m not in the mood to joke around with you.”
Upon hearing her words, he put down his arms in disappointment but the smile on his face remained as bright as ever.
“Hattie, who made you so angry?” he asked in a girly voice. He was not only a pervert but feminine in character, not to mention bisexual.
“Please act more normal. You are becoming rather gay lately,” Heather responded with a look of disgust on her face.
Zayne Lee was unfazed by her reaction and said, “You dislike me for being a pervert, right? So, I thought that you may like me if I act this way and think of me as your bestie!” he purred in a British accent that sounded so annoying that Heather wanted to beat him up.
“Did you stay in Britain for too long? Why do you have a British accent?” She rubbed her temple and was starting to regret asking him to come over.
“Don’t you like it, though? It sounds gentle.” He spoke with his pinky raised.
The way Zayne behaved in his burly build made his overall image seem incongruous. In all honesty, Heather even suspected that he was actually putting up an act because she couldn’t imagine him as a bottom, nor could she imagine anybody having such a peculiar taste to actually accept him as a partner.
Although Zayne was no longer the pervert he used to be when she met him, this time around, she still found his image now unacceptable.
“Let’s get to business.” She cleared her throat and found a spot to sit down, trying her best to stay as far away from him.
“Alright, I understand that you didn’t invite me here to become your bestie,” he stated as he took a seat beside her.
“Is there any progress after so many days?” Heather asked with a frown. With Zayne’s capability, it is impossible for him not to find anything after investigating things for so long.
“What kind of progress do you want?” he countered with a raised brow. Truth was, he looked rather handsome after dropping the feminine act.
“I want to rescue Myra as soon as possible.” Heather murmured and her brows were tightly knitted.
However, her request put him on a spot. “This will be difficult.”
“Difficult?” she repeated in disbelief. It was rare to hear Zayne using the word ‘difficult’, as he would usually complain that things were too simple to him.
“Is there any better method?” she asked, refusing to believe that he had no better ideas.
“Heather, I am but an insignificant detective. What other ways do I have?” This was the first time she heard him describing himself like this and it made her even more anxious.
“Zayne, don’t brush me off. I know that you definitely have a way!” Heather roared, thinking that he must be pulling her leg. This can’t be true!
However, Zayne merely shrugged and smiled at her. “This matter is not as simple as it seems. The kidnappers may seem like mere criminals from the surface, but they are supported by unfathomable forces behind them.”
Truth be told, he did not expect Heather to be so irritable because of this and it was giving him a headache. She seldom lost her sense of judgement, but the kidnapping incident this time had obviously made her lose her calm.
Upon hearing that, Heather tried to calm herself down because blowing up at him would not help the situation since it wasn’t his fault to begin with. “Do you have any good suggestions?” she asked.
“Stay put. Don’t worry, though; your bestie’s life is not in danger for now,” he reassured her, finally getting serious.
“Myra is pregnant, so of course I’m very worried for her!” Heather stressed this point again to him.
Zayne raised his brows and replied nonchalantly, “Heather, you know very well that this sort of thing happens every day. Even if the one who is being kidnapped is a pregnant woman, so what?” Zayne did not wish to see her losing her composure, so he had to find a way to make her view this kidnapping case without personal feelings.
However, Heather countered, “She has been my best friend since I was young. In my heart, she is more important to me than my real sister.” This was the first time she confessed her heartfelt feelings.
Zayne looked at her in distress, but he couldn’t allow her to be emotional. He had to remind her to think with reason.
“The more you care about her, the more likely it is for you to fall in the kidnappers’ trap.” He revealed the truth bluntly. “You are now being led by the nose. I have to say, Heather, I’ve never seen such a stupid side of you.” He intentionally stressed on the word ‘stupid’ as he could not bear to see her continue on like this.
“Do I really look stupid now?” She, too, felt that she seemed to have lost her judgement and kept doing stupid things.
“Yes, incredibly stupid, I might add.” Zayne held nothing back as he recklessly degraded her.
“What do you think I should do, then?” She looked into his eyes with a piercing gaze. She needed an answer right now, one that could show her the way.
However, Zayne raised his voice and muttered, “Like I’ve said—stay put. This is a kidnapping incident, so you should understand that this kind of case is the most challenging one to handle.” He really couldn’t bear to see Heather this way. She seemed totally different from how graceful and glamorous she used to be.
“I understand. I understand it all but if I don’t do anything, I feel useless.” Heather had been racking her brain to think of a better way these few days because she just couldn’t bear not doing anything.
“You don’t understand that you are only acting foolishly.” Zayne shot her a cold look. He never expected Heather to become this way when they met again, and he found it an utter disappointment.
“How should we rescue Myra from the kidnappers, then?” She was especially concerned about this matter. She had placed all her hope on Zayne, who had now practically become her savior.
“Calm down. I can’t think of any way at the moment, but I’m not pulling your leg either—this case is too complicated, so I don’t know how to explain it to you,” he explained slowly. It will be easier to deal with this if my words can get through to her.
“Explain it to me in a way that is easiest for me to understand, then.” On the other hand, Heather required an explanation so that she could understand the entire situation.
“You are very irritable now, so I’m afraid that you may hit me if I say something wrong.” As Zayne was speaking, he tried to match his words with his actions by giving her a timid gaze—he really pulled out all the stops for his act.
Upon seeing that, she raised her hand in frustration. “I will hit you right now if you don’t give me a good explanation,” she muttered bluntly, as she knew that the generous Zayne never picked on her faults for trivial stuff like this.
“Alright, alright. Please forgive me, O’ Master Heather. I’ll tell you everything,” he helplessly replied in aggrievement, which looked rather hilarious on him.
“You’d better give me a good explanation,” Heather growled in an intimidating tone.
“This incident probably involves a lot of parties. Now that Myra is in their hands, they have got something on us, so we can’t just barge in and snatch her back even if we find their hideout,” Zayne explained vividly.
“So?” Heather seemed to understand what he implied and looked at him thoughtfully.
“Have you forgotten that they are criminals? Even if they are treating Myra fairly well now, things will not be the same if we try to barge into their place to save her. Do you really think that they won’t make a move on Myra by then?” He threw her a question and had her figure it out herself.
“You are saying that our actions are limited and we can’t do much because Myra is in their hands?” Heather responded with a question, finally understanding what he had in mind.
“You don’t say!” He revealed a bright grin, which she found rather ugly.
After listening to his analysis, Heather managed to calm herself down because what he had said made sense. Upon seeing that her expression had eased a little, Zayne inwardly heaved a sigh of relief.
“So we are going to remain passive?” she pressed on, reluctant to accept that there was nothing they could do. If we continue to do nothing, how are we going to rescue Myra?
“Have you heard of a kidnapping case where the kidnappers kidnapped a wealthy businessman for three months, and the latter managed to return unharmed?” Zayne suddenly brought up a case in a high spirit—it was a case that he was involved as well.
“Three months?” Heather repeated in disbelief. “We can’t possibly let Myra give birth at the kidnappers’ place, can we?” Myra’s delivery date was approaching and it left them with not much time.
“Stay calm. Trust me; I will try my best to get Myra back unharmed and as soon as possible.” Zayne was picking his words carefully as Heather now was too irritable, and he was afraid that he might accidentally say something that would offend her.
“I trust you and your capabilities as well, but I need a timeline. I can’t just wait blindly,” she countered. It was hard for Heather and it never had been her intention to urge him this way as well, but whenever she thought of the fact that Myra was still in the hands of the kidnappers, she would feel so restless that she was unable to do anything.
“One month.” Zayne reluctantly replied.
“So long?” Heather asked incredulously.
“Yes. This case is somewhat similar to the kidnapping case of the wealthy businessman. At that time, the kidnapper didn’t name their conditions even after quite some time and kept holding him captive, but of course, he didn’t torture the businessman. When I accepted the case, I was the same as you—I had no idea what to do.” He continued to comfort her. He believed that an intelligent person like Heather would surely understand what he implied.
“And after that?” She was more concerned about what had happened next.
“It was a complicated case that involved the interests of many parties, so it would be difficult for me to tell you everything at once. However, you have to trust me that this isn’t something that can be rushed,” Zayne reassured Heather, who had anxiety written all over her face.
Upon hearing that, she sighed. She initially thought that a kidnapping case like this would be rare, but it turned out that strange occurrences were never rare in a world as large as theirs. It was great that Zayne had experience in this sort of case and she was glad that she did not find the wrong expert to help her.
“All you need to do now is to trust me completely and listen to my every command, alright?” He had to gain her complete trust as there were a lot of things that required her to work very closely with him.
After some contemplation, she nodded seriously. “Okay. Consider it a deal.”
