Chapter 132: Where Is She?

Raylee forced herself up and kept running. The streets were nearly empty at this hour. Her strength was fading fast; her vision blurred, and her legs wobbled beneath her. Desperation clawed at her heart as she searched for help. Behind her, the madam’s men were closing in. Clenching her jaw, she threw herself into the road, stumbling straight into the path of an oncoming car.

The driver slammed the door open, cursing, “Who the hell jumps into the road in the middle of the night? Are you looking to die!” But the moment he saw her, his expression changed. “Raylee? Is that you?”

Through the haze, she recognized the voice. “Percival… help me…” Her strength gave out, and she collapsed.

After dealing with Raylee, Samuel finally felt at ease. He returned to the Goodridge residence and slept soundly. Suddenly, the door to his room was kicked open. The next thing he knew, Casimir had yanked him out of bed, his face twisted with rage. “You’re actually sleeping right now? Do you even know what time it is! I called you a hundred damn times! Why didn’t you answer?”

Samuel, still half-asleep, scowled at the clock. “My phone’s always on silent when I sleep. It’s two in the morning. If I don’t sleep now, then when am I supposed to?” He rubbed his temples, irritated. “What’s with the dramatics? Barging into my house in the middle of the night?”

“Where’s Raylee?” Casimir demanded. “Where the hell did you send her? My people didn’t receive her!”

“Isn’t she at Hepham by now?” Samuel frowned. “We agreed she’d stay there for a while. Just call the driver.”

“You mean the driver you sent instead of going yourself?” Casimir’s expression darkened.

“I had been drinking and couldn’t drive, so I arranged for a van to take her. Forgot to give you his contact info,” Samuel grabbed his phone, suddenly feeling uneasy. He dialed the driver’s number. The call went straight to voicemail. Despite numerous attempts, the outcome remained the same.

Casimir’s face turned ice-cold. “Why is his phone off? I’ve honestly had it with you. Why didn’t you go with her yourself? How could you just hand her over to a stranger?”

A hint of guilt crossed his face, his sleepiness completely gone. “I didn’t think things through. Enough talk. We have to find her!”

Without wasting another second, the two mobilized every connection they had to track Raylee down. An hour later, Samuel was pacing furiously in the city’s Department of Transportation. “How did a traffic accident happen out of nowhere? Do your jobs, and find out everything, now!”

The chief hurried over. “Mr. Goodridge, we’ve looked into it. The van driver, Ethan Hall, was drunk and crashed into a hillside. He died on the spot. It was a brutal scene.”

“But–” The chief hesitated. “There was no girl in the vehicle.”

Raylee wasn’t in the wreck. That was the good news. The bad news—Ethan was dead, and no one knew where Raylee had gone.

“Where did she go?” Samuel roared. “A person can’t just disappear! Did you check the area properly?”

Casimir, trying to stay calm, said, “Think, Samuel. The driver might have dropped her off somewhere before the crash. Ray-Ray’s missing, but she’s not dead. This is good news. At times like these, we should hold onto hope, not lose our composure.”

Samuel forced himself to stay calm and continued searching for her.

2:30 PM

Chapter 132: Where Is She?

Since their destination was Hepham, finding someone across states was no easy task. They had exhausted every possible resource—transportation, medical records, legal channels—digging up every bit of information on the driver. Yet, Raylee was nowhere to be found. Because the driver had never even gone to Hepham. Worse still, he had taken mostly back roads, areas without surveillance. No one knew where he had gone.

Just as Samuel was on the verge of losing his mind, Casimir managed to track down part of the driver’s route. “An hour before the accident, he stopped at a small town in Huntingdorf. He stayed for about half an hour at the pleasure quarters.”

“What pleasure quarters?” Samuel didn’t get it right away.

“It’s a red-light district,” Casimir said, his expression grim. “We don’t know if he went there for himself or if he sold Ray-Ray off. Places like that… human trafficking and forcing people into prostitution aren’t uncommon.”

“Damn! That bastard!” Samuel slammed his fist into the car, leaving a dent. His knuckles throbbed from the impact, but the pain in his heart was far worse. Just imagining what Raylee might have gone through was enough to make his chest tighten, suffocating him.