"Where is she?" Thomas yelled as they entered hispany premises.
70%
Ss followed closely behind, with Wade not far away either. His heart was racing as he watched his brother shout at the staff.
+29
He had hoped for a change, some emotion other than sadness and silence from Thomas. But with this rage, this bitterness written all over Thomas''s face, it made Ss wish for the quiet version of his brother to return.
As they approached the entrance, Ss saw that many of Thomas''s employees had gathered in the reception area.
"Where the hell is she?" Thomas asked again, moving through the crowd.
The employees stepped aside, each of them avoiding his eyes.
"Someone better start talking before I curse you all out!" Thomas snapped.
A murmur went round the staff before one of them stepped forward.
"We... couldn''t stop her," the man said.
"What? You let her go?" Thomas roared, making everyone flinch. "Fuck!"
Ss''s heart sank as he watched Thomas pace angrily around the room. He moved quickly, cing a calming hand on Thomas''s shoulder.
"Hey, easy, bro," he whispered.
Thomas trembled with anger in Ss''s hand but didn''t say anything. He paused, took a deep breath, then turned to face his brother. "Thank you."
Though Ss wasn''t entirely convinced by Thomas''s sudden calmness, he let him go.
Thomas turned back to his employees. "What happened?" His voice was softer now, but the staff still flinched. The room went silent until Thomas spoke again. "Anybody?"
Another man stepped forward. "I... saw her when she came in. When... she saw me, she tried to run into your office using the elevator."
Thomas groaned, tapping his forehead. "And?"
A woman added, "We started shouting. Since everyone knew she had been arrested, we were shocked to see her here."
A security officer spoke up next. "When I heard the noise, I ran over to your office, sir. But... I was toote. She... found a way to escape."
"How?" Thomas growled, the veins on his forehead bulging like they were going to pop.
They all went silent again.
"Who else saw her?" Wade asked.
A few hands went up reluctantly.
"But none of you knew when she left?"
"How is that even possible?" Thomas asked before anyone could respond. "How
did she even get in here? Who was the
16:48 Wed, 21 May?
security in charge?"
A man with a bald head raised his hand.
Thomas''s eyes darkened as he looked at him. "You''re fired. Pack your stuff and leave!"
Gasps echoed around the room, and Ss moved closer to Thomas.
"Don''t you think that''s too much?" he whispered.
"Don''t, Si," Thomas said firmly. Then he turned to the staff. "Did she take anything? Did she go anywhere?"
No one answered.
Thomas groaned again and walked toward the elevator. "I''m going to my office. I need to check if she did anything"
"The detectives are here," Wade announced, tucking his phone into his back pocket. "I''ll go bring them over
Thomas didn''t respond. He simply pressed the elevator button, and Ss followed.
70%
Ss''s heart shattered at the fierce look on his brother''s face. One moment Thomas couldn''t express himself; the next, he was a raging monster. "Thomas..." Ss said, trying to start a conversation, hoping to offerfort. "Not now, Si. Please," Thomas said without looking at him.
Ss sighed and stepped back as the elevator doors opened. He followed Thomas, who stormed into his office.
Everything looked neat and untouched, but Thomas didn''t seem satisfied. He went to his desk and dialed a number on his inte.
"I want camera footage from this afternoon as soon as possible," he ordered, then ended the call.
Ss pulled out a chair, choosing to stay silent and just watch.
Thomas walked to the window, running a hand through his hair. "She wants to drive me crazy. It''s so fucking obvious."
"You have to rx. You''re giving in," Ss said gently.
Before Thomas could respond, the door opened and Wade entered with the detectives.
"Mr. Stone," the female detective said, her hair was now pulled into a ponytail. "I apologize for-"
"I don''t need your damn apology! Just do your job!" Thomas snapped.
"I understand your frustration, but we are working on it," she replied calmly.
Thomas scoffed and slummped into his chair.
"We discovered she used her phone, but by the time we traced the call, it had ended."
*Rosie used her phone?" Wade asked, his voice rising in surprise.
Ss sat upright, equally shocked. Rosie was either bold or stupid.
"Yes," the detective confirmed. "She''s still in the area and active, and we''re on her trail."
"Oh Lord," Thomas sighed, spinning in his chair.
16:48 Wed, 21 May
"The next time she uses her phone, a cash machine, or enters a public space, we''ll find her," the detective added confidently.
The door opened again and another detective walked in, holding arge ck Gi bag with gloved hands.
"We found this on the premises," he said. "It contains liters of gasoline and two boxes of matches."
"That''s just crazy!" Thomas yelled.
Ss shook his head, disbelief coursing inside him. Rosie was clearly unhinged and that scared the hell out of him.
"Take everything into custody," the female detective ordered. The officer nodded and left the room. She then turned back to them. "You have nothing to worry about. We''re doing our best."
"Yeah, right," Thomas scoffed. "She burned down our house, hurt three of our staff, came here to do the same, and I shouldn''t worry? Is that a fucking joke?" Before the detective could respond, a young man in sses entered, holding aptop.
His cheeks turned pink as his eyes darted around the room.
"Come in," Thomas said, gesturing him forward.
The young man approached and set theptop on Thomas''s desk. "What you
asked for, sir."
"y it."
He gingerly bent over the desk and typed. "Here, sir."
"What are we looking at?" Wade asked.
"Footage of Rosie," Thomas said through clenched teeth.
Everyone moved closer to the screen and watched.
The footage was grainy but Ss could easily tell it was Rosie. She wore a ck gown and carried the same ck Gi bag the detective had brought in earlier.
She entered the reception area connfidently, like she was supposed to be there, like she wasn''t wanted by the California police.
It seemed like she spotted someone and dashed to the elevator. A woman followed her, Ss couldn''t hear what they were saying but he could tell that the woman was shouting.
The next clip showed Rosie on the next floor, running frantically. She moved around like she was cornered before she rang into a nearby office.
The final clip showed her jumping through a window, leaving the bag, and getting into a red car.
Ss stiffened when he saw the car, it was the same car that had hit Kim back
then.
"Oh, thank goodness she wasn''t sessful," Wade said, breaking the silence. Thomas said nothing, but Ss could see the relief in his eyes.
The detective watched the footage again before straightening up. "We''ll definitely
catch this woman."
"We are counting on that, Detective," Wade said softly.
She nodded and turned to Thomas. “Apologies again, Mr. Stone."
16:48 Wed, 21 May
Thomas nodded, tapping his fingers on the desk.
"Keep us updated, Detective," Wade added.
"We will," she replied.
U%
The detectives left the room and the young man followed. When it was just all
three of them, Wade pulled out a chair and sat beside Ss.
"It''s getting absolutely crazy. The news is everywhere."
Ss sighed. "There''s nothing we can do to distract the media now."
"Absolutely nothing," Wade agreed. "But on the bright side, Thomas''s reputation is
back to normal."
Thomas raised a brow. "Is it?” His voice was dangerously small. "She''s my wife, for heaven''s sake. It doesn''t make it better."
Ss blinked. He couldn''t believe Thomas was still referring to Rosie as his wife
after everything.
Before he could address it, his phone rang. He reached for it and saw it was Bud
on the line.
"Hey, Bud."
"Hello, sir," Bud said urgently. "I just got a call from the guards at home. There has been a car crash on the street. And... Mike and Andrew were in the car."