Chapter 1714

Wait. Francesca can’t be trying to pull something, can she? She slipped into my car’s trunk last night when nobody was watching and infiltrated Danrique’s place.

All she had was her backpack. Nothing else. In other words, her money is still at Southridge. She loves money more than her life. She would never give that kind of wealth up.

She can’t be using my treatment as a pretext so she can come to Southridge and run with her money, right? Wait, she can actually do that. She must be trying to pull that off. And she actually made that call right in front of Danrique to mask her motive?

Zachary was both amused and annoyed at the same time. Man, Francesca’s going to drag me into a deeper hole at this rate. If she manages to escape tonight, Danrique’s going to kill me.

Zachary told Bruce, “Take your men to Southridge and surround the place. Do not let Francesca escape.”

“Huh?” Bruce paused for a moment, then he nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Remember, make sure you hide well and do not alert her. If she tries to escape, get in her way. Try to drag it out until Danrique’s there.”

“Yes, sir!” Bruce switched cars and took his men up Southridge. He even called for some reinforcements in case he didn’t have enough men.

Marino wanted to keep up with him, but Zachary said, “Drive slowly.”

“I am sorry?” Marino didn’t understand why Zachary gave that order.

“Are you stupid?” Zachary glared at him. “If we bump into her on our way, we’d be in a dilemma. I can’t catch her nor can I let her go away.”

“I see. We can’t afford to cross either Mr. Lindberg or Dr. Felch.” Marino realized what Zachary was getting at. “If we bump into her, you’ll be in a dilemma. It’ll be better if you aren’t there.”

“You’ve finally got it.” Zachary closed his eyes.

“But the mountain’s big, and there are a lot of beasts. Dr. Felch can escape easily if she wants to.” Marino was still worried. “Should we get Ms. Lindberg to help?”

“No,” Zachary answered slowly. “Danrique must have prepared for this, so we don’t have to worry about it. All we have to do is pretend we’re helping.”

“Huh?” Marino was surprised. “So you weren’t actually sending Bruce in to help?”

“Obviously.” Zachary rolled his eyes. “Do you think Bruce can catch Francesca with just twenty men or so? Gordon, Nancy, Charlotte, and their men didn’t manage to capture her then. They sent a hundred men out for Francesca, and they failed. Do you think Bruce can succeed?”

“I see, sir.” Marino nodded. “So you’re saying that Mr. Lindberg is all prepared, so Dr. Felch can’t escape. You sent Bruce in just to send a message to Mr. Lindberg, saying that you’re on his side.”

“You’re not a total idiot.” Zachary sighed. Ben was still out of commission, so he had a lot on his plate. He wanted Marino to take Ben’s place until he was well enough to return, but he thought Marino wasn’t good enough.

I’d better pray that Ben gets well quickly.

“Thank you, Mr. Nacht.” Marino scratched his head sheepishly, but he looked delighted.

“Look out, Marino!” the passenger shouted, but before Marino could do anything, he saw a silver flash zipping across him, and it disappeared a moment later.

“Um…” Marino was flabbergasted.

“That’s Lindberg.” Zachary smiled. “He came to catch her himself. Looks like he cares about her a lot.”

“So what should we do now?” Marino asked.

“Catch up to them. A showdown is about to start.”

“Yes, sir.” Marino floored the accelerator and drove up the mountain.

The sun was setting, and the scenery was gorgeous. Zachary was enjoying the sunset happily, and he knew that Francesca could never escape now. Or ever.

q