Chapter 559
The sudden ringing of her phone startled Jean. When she saw that the caller was Hank, she quickly pressed the answer button. “Hey! You trying to give me a heart attack? Where the hell have you been? Why aren’t you at school yer?”
“With the speed you usually bike at, there’s no way you wouldn’t have arrived by now. Don’t tell me you got a flat tire? Where are you? I’ll come pick you up!” She fired off a series of questions the moment she picked up the call
But on the other end, there was only silence, as if the person had been caught off guard by her rapid questioning.
Jean found it strange. “Why aren’t you saying anything? You’re usually quite talkative.”
She waited patiently for Hank’s response.
After a few seconds, a young girl’s voice finally came through. “Hello, I’m not Hank. I’m Clara from Charity Orphanage
Jean froze for a moment. It took her a second to process before she asked, “Clara? Why is it you? Isn’t this Hank’s phone?”
Clara answered, “Yes, this is Hank’s phone. I don’t know why it was on the ground. I was outside picking flowers when I found his phone, backpack, and bicycle all just lying there.
“I have no idea where he went or why he didn’t take his things with him to school.”
Jean’s eyes widened in shock. Something must have happened. She quickly said, “Clara, listen carefully. Take Hank’s belongings back to the orphanage immediately and tell Maeve about this. And from now on, don’t go out alone unless necessary, okay?”
After hanging up the phone, Jean exhaled deeply. There were still a few minutes left before class ended, but she couldn’t wait any longer.
She rushed back into the classroom and told Cherise, “Ms. Leach, something might have happened to Hank.”
The entire class gasped, their faces filled with worry.
Cherise immediately stopped what she was doing. “Zander, take over for me,” she instructed before turning to Jean. “Let’s go.”
The two of them hurried to the parking lot and drove toward Charity Orphanage.
On the way, Jean quickly explained everything Clara had told her. Cherise frowned at the information and stepped hard on the gas pedal.
Thankfully, the orphanage wasn’t far, and they arrived in no time.
As soon as they stepped inside, Maeve rushed up to them. “Ms. Leach, did something happen to Hank? Look, these are the things Clara brought back. They all belong to Hank.”
Cherise glanced at them and said calmly, “It’s okay.” Then she walked over to examine Hank’s belongings.
There was a phone, a heavily modified electronic watch, a backpack, and a few other items. Every electronic device Hank carried that could be used for tracking had been left behind.
Given Hank’s abilities, the fact that he had been forced to abandon these items likely meant he had encountered someone extremely cautious and difficult to deal with.
After inspecting everything, Cherise turned to Maeve and said, “I’ll hold on to the phone and the watch for now. I’ll return
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them to Hank once he comes back
Maeve nodded. At this point, she could only true Cherke
After speaking with the director, Cherise crouched down and gently acked Clara, Clara, can you take us to where you found Hank’s things?”
Clara nodded. “Okay. Ms. Leach, Jean, follow me”
A moment later, Clara led Cherise and Jean to the spot where Flank had left his belongings. Upon arrival, Cherise carefully scanned the surroundings.
It didn’t take long for her to notice that this stretch of road was right at a turn–there were no surveillance cameras nearby, and the nearest one was quite a distance away. In fact, this spot was a complete blind zone for security cameras.
Besides that, she also spotted several footprints of different sizes imprinted in the soft dirt along the roadside Judging by the dampness of the soil, these footprints had been made not too long ago. Clearly, there had been multiple people involved in taking Hank away.
As she pieced these observations together, Cherise became even more convinced that Hank’s disappearance was far from simple. In other words, this could very well have been a premeditated act.
Realizing this, she turned to Jean and Clara. “Let’s head back first. From here on out, it’s all up to Hank. I trust he’ll find a way to get himself out of this.”
After speaking, she glanced down at the phone and the modified electronic watch clutched tightly in her hand.
Two hours had passed since Hank was taken to the forest villa.
Ever since Lydia had gone upstairs, he had remained seated on the sofa without moving. However, beneath his glasses, his eyes constantly scanned every inch of the villa.
If his guess was correct, he was currently in the basement level of the villa.
It was daytime, and he could see the natural light. But based on the direction he had walked while blindfolded earlier, he was certain he was on the negative first floor.
Judging by the lack of movement and noise, there weren’t many people around. If he wanted to escape, he would need to go upstairs first and find an exit.
After thoroughly observing his surroundings, Hank finally reached up and removed his glasses.
To anyone else, it looked as though he was simply rubbing his eyes. That was exactly what Lydia, who was monitoring him from the villa’s top–floor surveillance room, assumed.
However, that wasn’t the case. The moment Hank took off his glasses, he lightly pressed his fingertip against a tiny screw on
the frame.
His glasses appeared to be ordinary, but in reality, they were a signal jammer. In the past, he had used this tool to interfere with signals.
Since his electronic watch wasn’t with him, he couldn’t be certain if it would work. But at the very least, he could try to disrupt all signals within the villa for a short time.
It was a gamble.
After pressing the button, Hank put his glasses back on and resumed his previous sitting posture, silently counting down in
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Chapter 559
his mind. “Three, two, one
Sure enough, three seconds later, a barely audible beep sounded from the glasses, and all the surveillance feeds in the villa
froze.
The villa was already eerily silent, and since the security footage was stuck on a still frame, no one noticed anything unusual.
Sensing that the timing was right, Hank slowly rose to his feet and carefully made his way up the stairs, one step at a time.
Meanwhile, at the exact moment Hank’s glasses emitted their alert tone, Cherise–who had just dropped Jean off at the Jarrett residence–noticed a small flashing light and a beeping sound coming from the electronic watch beside her.
Jean, who hadn’t yet gotten out of the car, glanced over and asked, “Cherise, is that…? Did Hank make a move?”
Without hesitation, Cherise quickly picked up the electronic watch. Seeing the screen display a Bluetooth connection prompt with her phone, she visibly let out a breath of relief.
