Chapter 219: VISITING LOZEN FAMILY’S HOUSE
Ares was suspicious when he received a phone call from Ranon in the middle of the night. He wanted to change the location of their meeting the next afternoon to Aspen City.
"You can’t reschedule it at the last minute," Ares grumbled, because Ranon disturbed his sleep with this ridiculous request. His mind was still processing the request, but then something clicked. "Does this have something to do with Hazel?"
As Ranon put a few people around the McKenna family’s house, Ares learned that she was staying the night there, which irritated him even more. That woman was not clueless about what was going on, but she looked for trouble by entering the enemy’s den on her own.
What was her plan?
"Ranon, whatever you are planning to do, I don’t agree with this." Ares sat down, and his sleepiness disappeared without a trace.
"Just rearrange the meeting, Ares." Ranon didn’t want to hear his complaint.
"Ranon, you’ve fallen into the same pattern again," Ares said, out of concern; he knew him. "She is dangerous, Ranon, and you know that." He was exasperated with him. "She has so many secrets that you don’t even bother to ask."
The fact that they renewed their contract was already the main contention between them in the past few days. Ares still disagreed, even though Lucian was more relaxed about it. The latter did say that he disagreed with Ranon’s decision to continue the association with Hazel, but then he didn’t push further.
’You know him, Ares. He will not stop until he meets a dead end. There is no point in talking this out with him.’
That was what Lucian said, but Ares couldn’t accept that easily.
"If you can’t do it, I will ask Lucian." And Ranon hung up the call. He didn’t call Lucian, since he was a heavy sleeper. He wouldn’t pick it up unless Ranon called him several times.
Moreover, Ares would do it, despite what he said earlier, and Ranon was right about it.
When Ranon reached Aspen City, it was three hours before sunrise, and he booked the nearest hotel to the McKenna family’s house.
He couldn’t sleep, so he went downstairs to buy cigarettes, since he would be away from the baby and was now alone.
He spent the night finishing two packets of it and went to the McKenna family’s house after breakfast. He shouldn’t be here. It would give them a good opportunity to shoot him dead.
But logic didn’t seem to work on him. This was one of the reasons why Ema called him crazy. This particular thing about Ranon was too much for her, as she didn’t know how to handle it.
At times, Ranon’s intensity frightened her; however, there was an undeniable charm to it that made it impossible for her to forget him, despite her efforts over the years.
When Ranon was inside the house, he met with Lyle, who took him to the back garden, where Arlo and Hazel were having a tense conversation.
Both of them immediately noticed Ranon’s presence as Arlo freed Hazel from his grip. He smiled at Ranon and greeted him as if nothing had happened. They were still business partners. There were some complications in the factory when they found the dead body, but by now mostly everything had turned to normal.
"Good morning, Mr. Leighton."
Ranon took a long stride as he approached the two of them, with Lyle following closely behind him, just in case.
"Are you done here?" Ranon nodded at Arlo in acknowledgment and took Hazel to his side.
On the other hand, Hazel didn’t seem surprised to find Ranon here. He told her that he was coming last night.
"Yes." Hazel nodded and then looked at Arlo. "It’s nice to see you here, Mr. Barlowe." And Ranon took her away before Arlo could reply to that. "Don’t you think that’s a little bit rude?"
"Holding your arm was rude."
Hazel noticed how upset Ranon was, and she didn’t say anything. The fact that he didn’t misunderstand the situation was fortunate, given that they had a private conversation in the garden.
When Ranon took her away, he already had her bag, and she didn’t have to say goodbye to Olivia. "You can text her." That was what he said when he ushered her into the car that had been waiting for them.
"You shouldn’t be here, you know," Hazel said once they were out of the McKennas’ driveway. She turned on the music. "The hit on you is still up. You need to be careful."
"In that case, there is no more sleepover."
Hazel grimaced. Even though she wanted to have it, she knew better than to tempt danger. Arlo and Deryl would start with their plan.
However, Hazel was not worried about that; her concern was Lyle. He would be the one who carried on this mission. She didn’t want to meet him in the crossfire.
Hazel had nothing against Lyle, and she would hate it if he got hurt because of this mission, but she would be even more upset if it were Ranon.
"What did you talk to him about?" Ranon finally asked after a long silence. Hazel didn’t know where he would take her; she didn’t seem to care about it.
"Nothing; he asked about River," Hazel replied truthfully. She told him about their conversation, but only on the surface level and the things that Ranon could know.
The car stopped at a building that Hazel recognized as an office tower of the Derek family business. She wondered if Ranon had made a business deal with them; she didn’t bother to ask, since she was not interested in knowing.
"What is your relationship with River?" Ranon didn’t turn off the engine as he parked the car and turned to face his wife. His expression looked very serious, and Hazel noticed a faint smell of tobacco on him. He smoked again.
"It’s complicated, Ranon. I can’t tell you because you won’t understand," Hazel said. She didn’t want to lie to him, but how could she explain about River? It sounded like nonsense, even to herself.
"Try me."
"She was... someone that I know."
"You won’t cry like that for just ’someone you know.’"
Hazel pressed her lips. She swore that if she could find the right way to explain this to him, she would, but all the options didn’t seem right. It sounded crazy.
And when Hazel thought Ranon would press further because she kept silent, he suddenly leaned over and kissed her forehead.
"Someone will come to get you to the hotel. I will meet you there after my meeting, and we can go back home together."
"Actually, there is a place that I want to visit," Hazel quickly said. "A coffee shop in this city. I saw it on social media, and it has great reviews. Tell me the hotel’s name, and I will wait for you after I grab some coffee."
"You don’t drink coffee."
He was right; Hazel forgot. "Nah, I meant they have another drink. The pastries are also delicious, from what I read. I want to try. I will buy you some."
"Wait until Nolu and Yara are here. I don’t want you to go alone."
Hazel wanted to protest. This city was the place where she was born and grew up; she knew every nook and cranny of its streets.
"Please, I want my alone time." Hazel looked pitiful, and to her surprise, Ranon agreed after a few more words. He must be in a hurry for his meeting, so he wanted to end the conversation soon.
Ranon left after he gave her the hotel’s name, leaving the car for her to use, and asked someone to pick him up.
Hazel kissed him twice on the lips for his generosity. "You are the best!"
And with that, she drove to the Lozen family’s house.
***
Ranon checked his phone. He got a report that the car was indeed in the coffee shop, but they couldn’t find Hazel anywhere.
Nolu suggested dispatching more people to look for her, but Ranon declined the idea. He knew where Hazel was going even without checking the tracker. They were in Aspen City after all.
"There is no need," Ranon said on the phone when Nolu suggested the same thing again, one hour after they still couldn’t find Hazel. "Bring the car here." He had wrapped up the meeting, and Ares followed closely behind him.
He had been very upset because Ranon didn’t heed his warning about Hazel, and instead, he went deeper to involve himself in this mess.
Yet, there was no amount of talking that he could do when Ranon had determined on something.
"Where are you going now?" Ares jumped into the car and was confused when Ranon didn’t get out of the car when they arrived at their hotel. "Are you going to get her? You don’t know what she is up to out there. She can plan a murder on you right now."
"She has plenty of chances to do that. She doesn’t need an elaborate plan to kill me." She had drugged him before because she needed to check on his devices without interruption. She could just poison him if killing him was her end goal.
"Ranon, you are crazy. I am not getting out of the car," Ares said. He strapped the seat belt on again, refusing to get out like a petulant child, and Ranon didn’t have patience for him.
If he wanted to go, then he could come.
"Where are we going?" Ares was surprised when Ranon didn’t argue with him.