Soon, they reached Sadieâs house with Devin.
Holden entered without hesitation.
The villa was unsettlingly silent, as though it had been empty for days.
Holden took out his phone and dialed Sadieâs number.
The call connected quick, but the voice that answered the call wasnât Sadieâs.
Sadieâs agent, Chloe, answered the call.
âHello, is this Mr.
Frederick?â Chloe asked, her voice trembling.
âs
âItâs me.
Whereâs Sadie?â Holden cut to the chase.
âSadie suffered a heart attack last night and is now in the hospital.
Iâm with her,â Chloe explained hurriedly.
âLet me speak to her,â Holden said.
âWhat? Sheâs still unconscious and canât talk right now.
What do you need? Iâll make sure she gets the message when she wakes up,â Chloe responded.
Holden scoffed, âReally? Which hospital is she in? Iâll go visit her.
â
Chloe clearly hadnât expected Holden to suggest visiting.
She hesitated.
âUh, sheâs at, um, Mercy Hospital.
â
She quickly added, âBut the doctors have already checked her; sheâs fine.
There is no need for you to come.
Iâll tell Sadie you are worried about her.
I wouldnât want to waste your time.
â
Holden sneered and hung up without another word.
He knew there was no way Sadie had gone to the Mercy Hospital last night.
If she had been admitted, he would have heard about it from his sources.
Since he hadnât got any news last night, it was clear that Sadie wasnât in Mercy Hospital.
Sadie and Chloe were clearly lying.
At that moment, he heard Devin shouting from outside, âHey, I found something in the garage! Come here!â
Holden and Mitchel both rushed to the garage, where Devin was crouched by a white Land Rover, waving them over.
âLook at this,â Devin said, pointing at the mud stuck in the tire treads.
âThis stuff comes from mountain roads.
â
The only way to the farm was through those roads.
Devin continued, âAnd this mudâs still wet, so itâs definitely from a mountain road after the recent rain.
Considering how damp it is, itâs probably from about a day ago, which lines up with when Miss Edwards had the car accident-it was raining that day.
â He stood up.
The clues were adding up.
Why would Sadieâs car be covered in mud? Was it just a coincidence?
Everyone was thinking the same thing.
Mitchel looked around and said, âLooks like she came back here that night.
Letâs search the place for more clues.
â
They split up and started combing through the area.
It didnât take long for Mitchel to find a pile of wet black clothing and a hat with burn marks, tucked away in a corner of the garden.
Clearly, Sadie had tried to burn them, but the damp fabric wouldnât catch, so she had buried them instead.
Mitchel had noticed the loosened soil and dug out the clothes.
The clothes matched exactly with what they had seen on the security cameras.
It had to be Sadie.
Holdenâs expression turned cold.
He grabbed the clothes, his fists clenched tight, the veins in his hands bulging.
His eyes were dark.
âSadie, why do you keep pushing me? Do you really want to play this game?â he muttered.
He had cut her some slack before because she was Adeleâs mother.
But now, she had crossed a line.
Holden fixed his gaze on the clothes, like he could rip them apart just by looking at them.
âSadie, Iâm not going to kill you.
Iâll make you wish you could die.
Youâll suffer until you beg me to end your life,â he muttered to himself .
The garden was dead quiet.
Then, Holdenâs phone blared loudly, interrupting the silence.
It was Adrian calling.
The moment Holden picked up, Adrianâs voice came through, full of panic.
âHolden, the kids are missing!â