~ Seattle, Anderson family"s villa ~Nathan ended the call with Hunter and summoned his driver to get the car ready.
"Why are you going to the hospital? Is someone hurt?"
Madeline"s voice made Nathan stop in his tracks. He realized that Madeline overheard the end of his conversation with Hunter.
It"s not that Nathan wants to hide things from Madeline, but he does not want to alarm her. Not until he gathers the facts, at least. He decided to downplay the situation. "Yes, someone is hurt, but it"s no one important."
Madeline can see that Nathan is avoiding her gaze. He does that when he is hiding something.
"If that person is not important, why are you going?", Madeline asked suspiciously.
Nathan looked at Madeline and thought how he knows that stern gaze. She will not give up until she gets her answers.
Ah, all of his skills in deceiving people and maintaining a poker face are useless when he is facing his wife! She has the power over him to remove all the layers and to look into his soul, rendering him unable to lie.
The only thing he can do is to tell her: "The thing is, Maddy… Hunter called to tell me that Max and Liz are unreachable and there is a chance that a boy Tyler might know where they are."
Madeline immediately connected the dots and came up with questions of her own: "They are missing? Is it since last night? Why is Max at odds with Tyler? Who is he? Did Max tell you about his plans? Was there any trouble last night?..."
Nathan waved his hands, to get Madeline to stop raining questions on him. "We don"t know where they are, and Max didn"t tell me anything."
Madeline pursed her lips while thinking. "Foxy went with you last night. Does she know something?"
Nathan smiled at his wife. How could he forget Foxy! Madeline is brilliant. "I don"t know what I would do without you. I will ring Foxy and ask if she knows something…"
Madeline put her hand over Nathan"s, preventing him from making a call. "Wait. Before you talk to Foxy, I want to know why some person named Tyler would know where Max and Liz are when no one else can reach them..."
Nathan exhaled. "Tyler was hara.s.sing Liz and Max handled the situation with his fists…"
~ Seattle, the Franciscan Medical Center ~
Room 570
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are in Tyler"s room.
Mrs. Wilson is excitedly talking to Tyler (and her husband) about all the people she met and conversations she had at the fundraiser last night.
Mrs. Wilson didn"t want to come and visit Tyler. She didn"t want to see him at all. The ungrateful child didn"t want to disclose who he offended and how he ended up in this sorry state. Tyler is sticking to his story how he does not know, but Mrs. Wilson can see through her son. He is lying. Unfortunately, she can"t force him to talk.
However, the previous night was amazing, a complete success. She wrote a hefty check and decided that after lunch she will come to the Franciscan Medical Center and make her donation. There is no reason to delay!
Since early morning, Mrs. Wilson is full of this bubbly feeling which is telling her that good times are ahead of her and she could not hold it in, she had to share it with someone. That is why after she gave the check to Rhonda in the administration of the Franciscan Medical Center, she came to visit Tyler and tell him how good it is when your hard work pays off.
Part of Mrs. Wilson hopes that her stories will inspire Tyler to stop his gossiping and get a proper job. A job that does not include upsetting others to the point of threatening her own business!
She is talking excitedly for more than half an hour and she mentioned many people, but the most outstanding in her stories were CEO Anderson as the most successful businessman present, and Dr. Williams as the most accomplished young professional.
Mrs. Wilson"s words paused when she saw the door of Tyler"s room opening.
She gasped and her lips stretched into a big smile. "CEO Anderson! What a surprise to see you! What brings you here?" Mrs. Wilson entered her full-blown fangirl mode in an instant.
She curiously looked at all the people who came with Nathan.
"Excuse me, are you in the right room?", Mrs. Wilson asked when she realized that something is not right.
Other than Nathan, Madeline is also there, and Sabrina and Foxy. When Nathan called Foxy and told her that he can"t reach Max or Liz, she was concerned and decided to join. Sabrina was at her parents" house and she overheard Nathan"s phone call with Foxy. There is no way she is sitting this one out! Of course, Mia and Hunter are present as well. And why Olivia? After Olivia"s talk with Mia, she was worried about Liz, so she called Mia, and Mia told her their a.s.sumptions that the only clue they have is Tyler and they are going to visit him in the hospital, so Olivia joined as well.
And here they are: Nathan, Madeline, Sabrina, Foxy, Mia, Hunter, and Olivia, in Tyler"s room 570, with Mr. and Mrs. Wilson present.
"Mrs. Wilson…", Nathan addressed Tyler"s mom. "We are in the right room. We can"t get in touch with my oldest son and his girlfriend and we believe that Tyler might know where they are."
Mrs. Wilson was obviously confused. "Why would my son know where they are?"
Nathan turned to Tyler and looked at him expectantly.
Tyler frowned and his eyes darted over the faces of everyone present. Why is everyone looking at him? "Why would I know where Max and Elizabeth are?"
"Max and Liz?", Rhonda asked from the door. She saw that everyone is looking at her and she quickly explained her presence while waving a piece of paper for everyone to see: "I am Rhonda Griffin from the administration. Mrs. Wilson donated to our hospital earlier, and I came here to give her a receipt in person because we completed the paperwork."
Nathan nodded stiffly. "I remember you, Mrs. Griffin, from the fundraiser last night."
Rhonda looked at Nathan gratefully. His comment sounded like a ticket for her to join in with this group.
Rhonda knocked, but no one answered, and when she opened the door, she heard Tyler"s question. "What about Max and Liz? Are they missing?"
At Rhonda"s questions, all the gazes moved back to Tyler.
"Why is everyone looking at me?", Tyler asked in disbelief.
"Don"t play dumb, Tyler. We know that you hara.s.sed Elizabeth.", Hunter said angrily.
Tyler nervously glanced at his mother and then his gaze moved to Hunter. He forced a smile. "What are you talking about? I never hara.s.sed anyone."
"You faked a condition so that you get an appointment with Liz on Monday. And on Tuesday you waited for her at the underground parking lot for employees, after work.", Mia reminded Tyler.
Tyler frowned while wondering how does Mia know about that?
"Who is Liz? Why are you hara.s.sing her?" Mrs. Wilson"s voice was rising.
"Dr. Elizabeth Williams. She is the neurosurgeon here.", Rhonda answered Mrs. Wilson"s first question.
"And Max is Maximilian Anderson. Max and Liz are dating.", Foxy added.
Mrs. Wilson thought that she is going to pa.s.s out. "You are hara.s.sing Dr. Williams? Isn"t that the young doctor who came to check on you? She is the girlfriend of one of the Anderson boys?"
Tyler raised his arms up in surrender. "Mom, I"m not hara.s.sing her. I only wanted to talk to her. I didn"t touch her."
Mrs. Wilson didn"t believe Tyler. He disappointed her too many times. And now his actions disturbed the Anderson family? Does he want her to suffer an early death due to stress? "Is this related to how you earn your money? By selling private information of other people?"
"It"s not just him. He worked with someone else to acquire the information on how to get to Liz.", Mia added.
Madeline was losing patience. She turned to Tyler. "If you know where my son and my future daughter-in-law are, you better talk. Or you will regret messing with my family."
"I told you I don"t know!", Tyler shouted.
"What about those people you are working with? Did you pay someone to hurt them?", Sabrina asked icily.
"I don"t work with anyone. Sometimes we exchange information!", Tyler cried, and his gaze focused on Hunter. "Suzy told me how to find Elizabeth."
Hunter frowned. Why is Tyler looking at him like he is supposed to know who that person is? "Should I know who Suzy is?"
Mia remembered that after the inline hockey game she was confronted by some woman in the dressing room. And later, in the hallway, Hunter called her "Suzy". Mia tugged Hunter"s sleeve. "Isn"t that the girl from the sports club?"
Mia jogged Hunter"s memory and he nodded in confirmation.
"Do you think that Suzy knows where Max and Liz are?", Nathan asked Tyler.
Tyler shrugged. "I don"t know, but she is the one who was selling information on Max"s girlfriend."
"How do we find her?", Nathan asked Tyler.
Tyler pressed his lips into a line. He is not sure how to find her. He has her phone number, but it"s probably the best if he keeps quiet. He already said too much. If the word spread that he ratted on Suzy, there is a chance that no one will want to exchange information with him in the future.
"I have a way…", Hunter said and swiftly started messaging different chat groups asking about Suzy.
Olivia glanced over Hunter"s shoulder and saw what he is doing. She got her phone. "I can help with that as well…"
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