Chapter - 250


    As Rick''s car sped away, the sound of the truck''s crash still echoing faintly in the distance, thedy on the Harley sat motionless a few paces back, her helmet reflecting the dim streetlights. She had seen everything — the truck purposefully trying to run over Rick''s car, Rick escaping by a very thin margin, and the truck crashing afterwards. The scene left her seething with irritation.


    She waited until Rick''s car disappeared from view before reaching into her jacket and pulling out her phone. With an annoyed sigh, she tapped a number and held the phone to her ear, her jaw clenched. The call connected, and without wasting a breath, sheshed out herint, her voice heavy and simmering with dissatisfaction.


    "You told me I was here to watch, not to watch a damn hit job in action," she hissed, her tone dripping with irritation. "I''m supposed to investigate Rick, find out how he got all that money — legally. That''s it. No Warner''s goons, no police muscle, no hit jobs! I was promised this would stay clean!"


    "And what do I see? Hours after I''m assigned, Warner orders a truck to take him out! Unbelievable! You''d better get this under control because this wasn''t part of the job, and I''m not sticking around for Warner''s personal revenge."


    From the other side of the line, themissioner''s voice responded, surprisingly calm amidst her fieryint. "Detective Sharon, there must be some misunderstanding." His tone was measured, almost tooposed for the situation. "I''m sitting right here with Mr. Warner himself. He''s been very clear — no violence, no direct involvement that could link him to Rick."


    Sharon''s jaw tightened, her grip on the phone tightening in frustration. "Really?" she shot back, voice dripping with scepticism. "Because that truck looked pretty direct to me."


    Themissioner paused briefly, likely turning to confirm with the assistant. After a few murmured words in the background, he came back on the line, voice steady and clear. "I assure you; Warner isn''t behind this. We''re sticking to the original n. Whatever that was… it''s not us."


    Sharon scoffed, the tension in her voice sharp as a knife. "Yeah, right," she muttered, unimpressed. "You better hope you''re right about this."


    Without waiting for a response, she cut the call, tossing the phone back into her jacket.


    Themissioner''s expression tightened after Sharon cuts the call. He turned cautiously towards Marnus Warner, who was sitting across from him, his face already beginning to tense with irritation. Themissioner shifted uneasily in his seat, swallowing hard before he finally spoke up. "Mr. Warner, did you… order the hit on Rick?"


    Warner''s eyes burned with fury, a dark fire flickering behind them as his jaw clenched.


    "Do I look like an idiot to you?" Warner snapped, his voice sharp, dripping with venom.


    Themissioner flinched, his hands trembling slightly as he raised them in a dismissive, apologetic gesture. "N-no, Mr. Warner, of course not," he stammered, trying to maintain someposure. His eyes darted nervously, desperate to avoid Warner''s piercing gaze. "I didn''t mean you, sir. What I meant to say was— I just thought... maybe it was Zack.. who—"


    Before he could finish, the assistant interjected, voice cold and firm, cutting through themissioner''s faltering words. "That''s nonsense." The assistant''s sharp gaze silenced themissioner. "Zack is still in the hospital bed, under close supervision by Mr. Warner''s trusted men."


    The assistant''s tone grew more severe, emphasizing every word. "They''ve been explicitly ordered to keep Zack from doing anything stupid, and warned not to repeat the mistake Graves made. There''s not a chance Zack had anything to do with this. The Warner family is in no way involved."


    Themissioner, still shaken from Warner''s fiery outburst, nervously adjusted his cor, eyes darting to the assistant and then back to Warner. His shoulders slumped slightly, a sign of his growing difort. After Warner made it clear that the family wasn''t involved, themissioner stammered, "Then... it must be some other enemy of Rick''s."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Warner''s eyes narrowed, hismanding presence filling the room. He leaned forward, voice steady but sharp. "And what are you going to do about it?"


    Caught off guard, themissioner blinked, his face momentarily nk. A confused expression took over as he struggled to form a coherent response. His brow furrowed in deep thought, and he nced down, clearly searching for an answer. After a long pause, he straightened up, a sudden flicker of smugness shing across his face.


    "Well," he began, a sly grin creeping onto his lips. "Maybe... maybe we let it happen. Whoever''s after Rick could be doing us a favour." His voice took on a more self-satisfied tone, and he gave a low chuckle, shrugging as if the idea were brilliant. "If someone else takes him out for us, no matter who they are, we get all the benefits—none of the blowback."


    He smiled like a smart jackass, eyes gleaming with misced confidence, clearly pleased with his own reasoning.


    Warner''s face twisted in disappointment, his expression morphing into one of pure disgust as he looked at themissioner. His lips pressed into a thin line, and his eyes narrowed, giving themissioner a withering stare that screamed, "How could you be this ipetent?" The smugness on themissioner''s face faded quickly, reced by confusion, and then, as he realized the gravity of Warner''s displeasure, fear. His bravado crumbled, and he shifted ufortably, eyes wide.


    The assistant, quick to step in and speak for Warner, broke the silence. "And what if they fail?" he began, or even worse, what if they seed? Due to Rick and Master Zack''s quarrel being very recent, the suspicion will fall squarely on us."


    Themissioner, desperate to salvage the situation, stammered, "But we''re not involved at all! Even if the police investigate properly, without our influence, we''ll be in the clear."


    The assistant chuckled darkly, shaking his head. "Oh,missioner," he said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "The media won''t care about that. They''ll scream that Warner''s pulling strings from behind the scenes, iming we bought the police''s silence. Even if we''re clean, that''s how they''ll spin it. They might even throw more dirt, more than we expect, which might worsen our situation."


    Themissioner''s face drained of colour; his earlier cockiness reced by growing unease.


    "And let''s say the attacker does fail," the assistant continued, leaning forward, "we''ll be back to square one. Rick walks free, and we lose the advantage, we might have to start from the scratch. But…" He paused, locking eyes with themissioner. "If this attacker is somehow tied to how Rick got his money, we have a win-win situation. Rick gets taken down with solid proof. That benefits Master Zack immensely. And the police? You get to bring in some serious criminals. A big pie for everyone."


    Themissioner blinked, his mind slowly processing the potential upside. He nodded, though more out of obedience than understanding.


    "So," the assistant said, his voice cool and firm, "you better tell your officer to keep even a closer eye on Rick and to investigate this thoroughly. Find out who''s behind the attack before things slippletely out of our control."


    Themissioner swallowed hard. "Understood," he muttered, shaking his head like an obedient dog.


    Rick pulled the car into the driveway of Olivia and Emily''s house.


    "Let''s get you inside," Rick said, his voice steady as he unbuckled Emily''s seatbelt and gently helped her out of the car. Emily leaned on both of them as they walked slowly to the door.


    Rick remained focused on the task at hand, The earlier tension from the chase didn''t show on his face.


    Emily seemed trying to rx and forget what happened. Trying to chat up and make joke to shift the attention.


    Olivia, though, was a different story. Her movements were mechanical, her eyes zed over as if she was still back on the road, reliving that truck speeding toward them. She said nothing, her mind too caught in the shock to register what was happening around her. Every few seconds, she''d blink as if trying to snap herself out of it, but her bodynguage remained rigid and nk.


    Inside the house, Rick helped Emily settle onto the couch. She exhaled deeply, sinking into the cushions as if the weight of the whole ordeal had finally left her body. "Thanks," she whispered.


    Emily couldn''t see her mother like that anymore. "Mom! Can you make something nice? I am really hungry and craving for something else than nd hospital food."


    It took a few seconds for Olivia to registered her words. "Oh! Give me a moment and I will make something really quick.", Olivia replied breaking her silence.


    "No need for that! Both of you should rest. I have ordered some pizzas, and it will be delivered in a blink.", Rick calmly suggested.


    As the idea of making food escaped Oliva''s mind, it soon drifted back to the ident. Although still disturbed, she was trying to make sense and organise what happened.


    "Rick! It didn''t look like the truck was just out of control. Maybe that boy who came to hospital…"


    "Let''s forget about that already.", Emily cut her off turned on the TV, she quickly surfed through the channels and turned on aedy program. Olivia''s focus slowly shifted towards the show, as began letting out someughs at the jokes.


    Soon the pizza arrived and they quickly started to eat it.


    "Oh god! I missed this! Finally, some proper good food!", Emily eximed as she tried to gobble up therge slice at once.


    "Be careful there Emily. You might choke on the pizza and then we have to take you back to the hospital. I think you might enjoy your second time there>.", Rick yfully suggested.


    Emily scoffed at Rick''s suggestion," I am not going there anymore even if someone threaten me with death. Oh god! What horrible and nd food they had! The bad taste is still lingering in mouth. And the beds? They smell like harsh and horrible chemicals. I wonder how I was able to sleep there. I am really forward to get a good sleep on my own bed."


    After finishing the pizza, Emily took her medicine. Olivia helped Emily into her bedroom. As she came out after helping her daughter to sleep, Rick fixated his gaze on her. She still seemed disturbed and shocked, unable yet to let the past go.


    "Maybe I can divert her mind!" Rick quickly decided as he got and went near Oliva. He slowly ced his arms around her waist, and moving his face close to hers, trying to lock a kiss. But Olivia suddenly brushed him away and dismissed him.


    "Sorry, Rick! but I need to be alone for some time.", replying with a low whisper she went inside her room locking the door behind.