Chapter 217: DO YOU MISS ME THAT MUCH?
"Arthur is in Goscht country," Arlo said. "He has been hiding there."
"Goscht country?" Deryl raised his brows. "Is he looking for Elise’s family backup?"
"That’s what my father and I think."
Elise came from Goscht country. She was from an old family in that country, whose members were prominent figures.
"However, Elise held no real power within her family." Deryl leaned against his chair. He squinted his eyes, as if he recalled Elise’s last moment. "She was born out of wedlock and was not the favorite daughter or granddaughter."
"Still, she is part of the Raven family. Her name was registered as such." Arlo poured a glass of whiskey and gulped it down. "We need to be careful."
Hazel listened to their conversation silently, her eyes downcast, as she stared at the tiles under her feet.
This house didn’t change one bit since the last time she was here. She remembered it was at that time she received a mission with Lyle. The McKennas and the Barlowes were both under the Lozens.
But now, they conspired with each other to get rid of the Lozens. It was irritating because it only added to Hazel’s long list of the people she wanted to kill.
"Do you know where Arthur had disappeared to the night of the attack?" Deryl asked Arlo. He wondered if Arthur knew about the attack and chose to save himself.
But it didn’t make sense. Knowing how much he loved Elise and his daughter, he would take them with him if he were about to run away.
"I don’t know. No one spotted him. He went to Ranon Leighton, and after that, his whereabouts were unknown."
"Do you think Ranon Leighton held him captive?"
"I am not sure." Arlo didn’t really care about Ranon Leighton. The only person he wanted to talk to was his wife. "I heard Hazel Leighton is here."
"Yes, she has a sleepover with my daughter." Deryl touched his chin as he was deep in thought. "The situation around that woman is strange. How did she get acquainted with River?"
"I don’t know." Arlo poured another glass for himself.
Deryl was not happy with his curt answer. He didn’t even think when he said that he didn’t know. What kind of answer was that?
"How don’t you know? I thought you were the closest person to her." Deryl tried to tamp down his irritation. "It’s so difficult to be close to her and know what she was thinking, but you were his fiancé for several years. At the very least, you can tell with whom she interacted."
Arlo had his back against Deryl, so he wouldn’t be able to see how his grip on the glass tightened.
Meanwhile, Hazel snickered quietly. Of course, Arlo wouldn’t be able to tell that. He thought River didn’t have any real friends aside from the people within the families and the men under her command. It was not wrong at all.
But as someone who loved to control everything around him, it must vex him to know nothing about his own fiancée, and Deryl just pointed it out.
"I was not with her for twenty-four hours. She interacted with so many people." With her line of work, River could come across Hazel Rose, but she had never mentioned her at all, nor did she show any indication that they were close.
"I am going to stay here." Arlo turned around and stared at the double door that led to the balcony. "I am going to have a conversation with Hazel Leighton tomorrow."
Arlo didn’t ask for permission. He acted as if this was his own property, which irked Deryl. He was not fond of this young brat. Arlo always thought too highly of himself.
However, what Deryl said was different. "As you please."
The night grew quieter, and the howling of wind out there rattled the branches against the window as they discussed another matter related to the next commission.
"The hit on the Leighton is still up," Arlo informed Deryl. "Lyle can take this opportunity to boast about his experience. He has to make a name for himself. All this time, he has been piggybacking River, as they used to be on the same mission."
It was inappropriate for Arlo to attack Deryl with Lyle’s performance, but it was him being petty after Deryl’s remark about not knowing River so well, even though she was his fiancée.
Outside on the balcony, Hazel snickered to hear such an immature comment. Arlo should be smarter than this to know that attacking Deryl wouldn’t do any good for him, especially in light of the early collaboration between their two families.
The blood in the Lozens’ residence had not been cleaned up yet, but Arlo was so eager to draw more blood with the McKennas.
"I am afraid they are going to kill each other before I can kill them." Hazel shook her head. "I need to move faster."
With this, Hazel also learned that they were trying to get the Leightons again. The problem was that they would use Lyle.
Hazel didn’t like the idea that she had to go against him. Aside from Olivia, Hazel was going to spare Lyle. She knew he had no malicious bones in his body, which was an irony considering what they did for a living.
Deryl suggested that Arlo use Hazel, since she was already here with them, but Arlo refused. He said that he didn’t want to get Hazel involved in this matter. He didn’t want to startle Ranon by kidnapping his wife again after Arthur had tried that not so long ago.
Arlo wanted Ranon to lower his guard by thinking everything was fine and the hit on him had been aborted; with that, it would be easier for them to approach him.
Outside, Hazel noted their plan. She already had something planned in her mind. Knowing Ranon, it wouldn’t be easy to take him down; that man was very cautious.
However, Hazel wouldn’t take any chance to be a widow. No way. She was going to lose her comfort and money-maker.
After the conversation, Arlo left the room. He was going to stay for the night because he had every intention to meet with Hazel. This was a rare chance to get to her without getting through Ranon Leighton first.
And with that, Hazel returned to Olivia’s bedroom, retraced her steps, and almost stumbled when she climbed the window.
"Ugh. I am tired." Hazel stretched her body. She still needed a lot of exercises to catch up on, but something caught her attention.
Her phone lit up in the dark. Someone called her, and she went over to pick it up. Olivia was still sleeping, oblivious to what Hazel had done.
"Hm?" She raised her brows when she saw the caller, but then she picked it up with a cheerful voice. "Miss me?"
"Where have you been?" Ranon asked immediately. "I have called you several times."
Hazel held up her phone and saw there were seventeen missed calls from Ranon. "What happened?" Her first thought was that something had happened to Ashlyn or that he had encountered some trouble.
Had the Barlowes and the McKennas made a move on him? They had just discussed their plan on how to take Ranon out. There was no way they had already taken action.
"Did something happen to Ashlyn? Did something happen to you?"
"Nothing. I miss you."
Hazel was speechless. Normally, someone wouldn’t call seventeen times in a row just because they missed them, especially in the middle of the night.
"You called me repeatedly just to say that?"
"Hm. You didn’t pick up my call."
"Crazy." Hazel shook her head. "Didn’t it cross your mind that I might be sleeping? It is still midnight, Mr. Leighton. I know I am irresistible, but please, refrain yourself for the meantime."
Hazel heard a chuckle from the other end and the sound of a car.
"Are you outside?"
"Yes."
"Where are you going?" Now, Hazel was frowning. What was Ranon doing outside at a time like this?
"Aspen City."
"Don’t tell me you are coming here." Hazel widened her eyes in disbelief.
"I will have a meeting around the city tomorrow, so I will pick you up." Ranon sounded relaxed. He had left Ashlyn with Renna, and tomorrow the babysitter would come, so it would be fine with their daughter.
Hazel was in the enemy’s den. He overestimated himself. He thought he would be cool by sending a few men around the house, and it would be enough.
Yet, here he was, driving three cities away in the middle of the night.
"I don’t know that you miss me that much."
"Hm. I miss you in your bunny costume."
"Ranon!" Hazel blushed. She gripped the phone tightly while the man was laughing earnestly. She swore she was not going to wear it again. She was going to burn it. Hazel glared at the sleeping Olivia fiercely. "I will hang up!"
"Okay, sleep well. Don’t be naughty."
"Annoying!" Hazel hung up the phone and tossed it to the side. She was still blushing and tried to get rid of the image from her head. They only spiced things up, okay?
After that, Hazel climbed into bed and slept next to Olivia. She stared at the starless sky outside through the window and wondered about a thousand things.
The next morning, when Hazel woke up and went downstairs to have breakfast with the McKennas, she saw Arlo was already there, which was not surprising.
"Good morning, Mr. Barlowe," Hazel said politely.