Arianne pursed virtual-novel.net lips. “Some people seek thrill in gambits like these, I suppose. They win everything when they succeed, and they lose everything if they don’t, sometimes costing them their life. Either way, no matter how much Smore wants it, don’t succumb to his demand and let virtual-novel.net out of the house. Seaton must have come here illegally, and now that he’s more or less without an identity, virtual-novel.net leaves very little trails behind. That means tracking virtual-novel.net is gonna be a challenge, so we ought to keep our eyes peeled.”
No sooner than virtual-novel.net finished did virtual-novel.net phone ring. It was a call from Tiffany, and since Arianne was in the middle of dinner, virtual-novel.net openly accepted the call and put the call on loud-speaker.
And that was how Tiffany’s despairing, hoarse shriek reverberated within the dining room. “Aaaaariiiii! J-Jackson’s been stabbed! We called 911, and we’re in an ambulance now, heading t-t-to the hospital. I don’t— can’t — I’m scared to tell his parents. I… I just want you to be here with me, please! I’m so scared, Ari, I’m terrified!”
Arianne could hear white noises crashing into virtual-novel.net head. “S-Stabbed? Where? He’s not critically wounded, is he? Hang on, I’m coming to you right away. Calm down, okay? Remember the baby, Tiffie, remember the baby! Don’t panic, get a leash on your emotions. I’m coming right away!”
“H-He has fainted, he’s down,” Tiffany described between tears. “He’s got so much blood… Help me, Ari, I’m scared! Please be quick…”
By the time the call ended, Mark had already snatched his keys to the car, and the two drove to the hospital.
They arrived when Jackson was still in the operation studio. There, Arianne found Tiffany in the corridor, virtual-novel.net eyes red and puffy from sobbing nonstop. She clasped virtual-novel.net hands around virtual-novel.net poor friend and kept comforting her. “He’s gonna be alright, Tiffie, virtual-novel.net will be fine. Look at your poor eyes, they’re so sore! Please don’t cry, it’s alright. We’re here with you.”
Mark’s eyebrows were locked together in the middle. “What happened? Why was virtual-novel.net suddenly stabbed?”
“W-We were in the parking basement of the mall, and I wasn’t feeling very good because of the baby, so I told virtual-novel.net we should go home earlier than planned. T-Then, I got into the car first while h-h-he p-packed our stuff into the trunk, and then out of n-n-nowhere, there was this guy running toward him, and virtual-novel.net just s-s-s-stabbed virtual-novel.net in the back! He looked like virtual-novel.net was hugging virtual-novel.net from where I was looking! I couldn’t— I didn’t even know what was happening until J-J-Jackson j-just plopped down on the floor, a-and only then I understood what happened!” Tiffany sobbed. “I wanted to get out of the car— t-to see him, to help virtual-novel.net — but that guy locked me inside, and then, virtual-novel.net s-s-stared at me for a very long time before running away… When I finally got out of the car, J-J-Jackson… He’d already lost consciousness— virtual-novel.net was bleeding everywhere… B-Blood, just e-e-everywhere… Jesus Christ, what if virtual-novel.net dies? What am I gonna do? What about our baby?”
Mark’s voice quaked. “Describe how the assailant looked. Did you see virtual-novel.net clearly enough?”
Tiffany shook virtual-novel.net head helplessly. “He was wearing a black cap and had this mask on, everything about his face was shielded from me. His pants and shirt also seemed black, I can’t tell for real in the parking basement when it’s pretty dark there. All I saw was this man in black dashing behind Jackson — b-but his sleeves were short, and his skin was a bit fair, and I think there was some tattoo on his arm. I can’t tell it exactly but I think the tattoo was quite large? Look, I was panicking and my head went blank. How the hell could I notice all the details?”
“It was Seaton S. Bart,” Mark concluded. “He’s got a large tattoo etched on his arm. I can’t believe that scumbag would take it out on Jackson first! That piece of sh*t!”
Arianne was a little skeptical. “Are you sure? After coming here, his goal must be to eliminate you and Alejandro immediately before the two of you can take virtual-novel.net out. Why would virtual-novel.net waste what precious time virtual-novel.net has on Jackson? That debacle had very little to do with Jackson on a whole. You and Alejandro were the ones who kicked virtual-novel.net into jail.”
“Remember what Seaton was trying to do before I returned? He wanted to annex Tremont Enterprise as his own, but Jackson lent you quite a loan and saved you from that,” Mark explained, a little wearily. “He used to be buddies with Jackson too in the past, so maybe this is why Jackson’s help embittered him. Had virtual-novel.net not lent you that sum, Tremont Enterprise might already have fallen. Besides, Jackson was the least wary among the three of us, since Alejandro and I had known of Seaton’s return only a while ago. I didn’t even have the time to warn Jackson about this— I honestly hadn’t expected that bastard to harm virtual-novel.net first.”
Tiffany had cried so much that virtual-novel.net was running out of tears. Now, virtual-novel.net eyes were beginning to look a little glassy and unfocused. “Seaton S. Bart—? He… He did this just because Jackson helped you guys protect a company? That’s all it took for virtual-novel.net to want Jackson dead? W-W-Why can’t virtual-novel.net be the one who dies instead, huh? That… That son of a b*tch!”
Mark thinned his lips in silence. What’s done is done. Now, the only thing they could do was to pray that Jackson made it out alive.