Chapter 215: HEIGHT
The men stared at the trees with hesitation before lowering their eyes. They doubted that a fragile woman such as Erika would be able to climb a tree but to not answer their boss, the one who replied to Adrian earlier took off his suit jacket and hanged it over to the ground beside him.
"I will climb the tree boss," he said as he gulped down his saliva in fear. The tree was quite high with a height of 60-70 feet tall. If he slipped and fell, then it would be the end of him.
The guard tried to jump on the branch and grab it. As soon as he did it, he placed his foot on the bark of the tree and lifted his heavyweight.
Adrian glared at the other men who stood staring at the one who was busy climbing the tree while praying to God that he wouldn’t fall. "Why are you just staring?! Shouldn’t you also climb the other trees and check it?" He demanded from the men and they flinched.
"Yes, boss!" They replied in unison and scattered to climb each tree.
"Nothing is here boss!" One of them yelled after he climbed down.
"Same here boss," said another.
One of the men was about to give his reply when he noticed a green snake coiled around the bark of the tree. As if the snake felt the tremor from the man, it opened its mouth to hiss at him.
In fear, the man released his grip too early and fell on the hard ground. Luckily for him, there weren’t any sharp objects around him.
"There’s a snake!" He yelled out.
"Of course, there’s a snake, this is a jungle," said Adrain without feeling any pity for the man who laid on the ground. "Don’t just stand there, continue moving."
"B-but boss, we’ve searched all the trees in this area, except for that one," said one of the men as he pointed at the tree Erika was on top of. "It’s too high, nearing 90 feet boss," he added, hoping that Adrian wouldn’t force them to climb the tree.
Adrain walked towards the tree and glared at it. It was indeed quite tall.
"I don’t think Miss Erika would be able to climb this tall tree," added another man.
Adrian didn’t respond immediately, he flashed his flashlight around the tree suspiciously hoping that Erika would just show up there then he would go and get her.
Erika grabbed the gun and brought it close to her as she hid behind the tree as if she wanted to enter it. She held her breath with the thought that Adrian would be able to hear her even though she was way up there and he was down there.
After flashing the light around the tree for 2 minutes, Adrian became assured and said,
"Let’s go that way," and they left that area to continue in some other areas of the jungle.
Erika didn’t move an inch or breathe until she couldn’t hear their voices or the light that spilled from their flashlight.
After releasing a sigh of relief, Erika stared at the full moon. "At least I won’t get to stay in the dark," she said with a smile.
Now that she was out of that mansion, it didn’t mean she still won’t be caught so she had to be careful.
"I will soon be with you again Ethan," she promised. And in no time, her eyes closed as she fell asleep.
—
"What direction did he take?"
Inside the sports car, Edward, Felix, and Daniel had been tailing Adrian before he suddenly disappeared and what presented itself in front of them was a jungle.
"What direction did he take?" Felix asked Edward again with anxiety. They were so close now and he wasn’t going to leave so easily without finding his sister.
"I don’t know," Edward banged the steering wheel out of frustration.
They stared at the jungle and couldn’t make out any path that could fit a car and it only brought confusion in their heads.
"I’m sure this is the place he brought Erika since it’s so far from the main city. It would take at least 3 hours of driving before we return," said Daniel. "And that bastard had to deny that he wasn’t the one who kidnapped Erika yesterday," he added.
—
The previous day,
With the corner of his lips pulled up to form a smirk, Adrian said confidently,
"You people won’t be able to put me in jail because you have no sort of evidence to do so."
Daniel scoffed, "Is that what you think?"
Adrian frowned. He can only hope that they didn’t have any evidence against him else, he would be locked up in jail for real. And then he wouldn’t be able to make Erika his wife again, he thought.
Adrian felt the car come to a halt and when he looked outside, his eyes bulged right out of its socket. They were at the police station already?! He screamed in his head.
Quickly, Daniel pulled Adrian out of the car and violently held him tightly by the shirt, not giving him the chance to escape and they walked inside.
"Officers, this is Adrain Hart, the kidnapper of Erika Walters," Felix announced. "I want to file a case against him and I want you to threaten the truth out of him."
"Sir, we can’t do any of those until you present evidence," said an officer.
"We knew you would say that," said Edward before he turned to the officer who had given him Adrian’s phone number the other day. "You did say that you made a recording of the phone call between you and Erika right? Well is that not enough evidence to have this man jailed?" He demanded.
The officers glanced at each other before one spoke, "Unfortunately sir, that’s not enough evidence. I mean it could be a prank and we can’t be assured that it was Erika Walters who made that phone call."
"What nonsense?!" Felix yelled with frustration.
