Free Web NovelChapter 294: Chapter 297: Hearing Charlotte Shaw’s Voice
"Should I know?" Riley Chase frowned and retorted, his expression puzzled. "I’m just a maintenance worker. My only job is to inspect the property. As for who the former owner was, who the current owner is, or when the villa was sold... none of that is my business, and I have no obligation to care."
Riley Chase’s reaction was so natural that the suspicion on the burly man’s face faded considerably.
He turned his head and asked his partner, "Are there really maintenance workers for the villa? Have you guys run into any while you’ve been on guard duty?"
"Well..." The other man squinted, trying hard to recall, and didn’t answer right away.
Riley Chase stared at him intently, a fine sheen of sweat forming on his palms.
"...I think so," he said uncertainly after a moment. "I think I’ve run into maintenance workers a few times on my shifts. They wore clothes similar to his, so they’re probably from the same department."
"..." The burly man raised an eyebrow, sizing Riley Chase up again.
"A maintenance worker... If you’re here for an inspection, why come at night instead of during the day? It’s almost two in the morning. What kind of maintenance worker is still on the clock?"
"You think I want to be here this late?" Riley Chase shot him a glare, his face a mask of grievance. "I inspected an entire mountain’s worth of properties by myself today. It was almost midnight by the time I finished!"
"I was planning on checking the remaining villas tomorrow, but my wife isn’t feeling well and needs to go to the hospital. I couldn’t find anyone to cover my shift on short notice, so I have no choice but to get through the rest of them tonight."
After hearing Riley Chase’s explanation, the three burly men exchanged a look, none of them sure whether to believe him.
He quickly scanned their faces and, seeing them start to waver, took two eager steps forward. "Look, guys, it’s getting really late. Don’t hold up my work! I still have to get to the next place after I’m done inspecting this villa!"
"...Hold on." The man in front of him pulled a phone from his pocket. "I’m going to call our boss and see what he thinks."
Riley Chase’s heart sank, a flash of panic in his eyes.
"Hurry up and call, then! The sooner you’re done, the sooner I can get to work!"
The man grunted and dialed a number right in front of Riley Chase.
"RING... RING... RING..."
The looping ringtone echoed faintly in the dark. A long moment passed, but no one picked up.
"Tsk, no answer..." The man lowered his phone, his brows knitting in annoyance.
Riley Chase secretly breathed a sigh of relief but feigned impatience. "Well? Are we done? I’m really in a hurry here!"
"..." The burly man hesitated for a few seconds before finally stepping aside to let Riley Chase pass.
"Go on in and do your inspection. I’ll get in touch with you when the boss calls back."
Riley Chase pressed his fist into his palm. "Thanks!"
Then he strode onto the villa grounds.
The man stared at his back, then suddenly called out, "Wait a second!"
Riley Chase stiffened and froze. "What is it now?"
The man said, "You two, go with him while he does his inspection."
"...The two of us?" one of his partners asked, surprised. "If we go, you’ll be the only one left at the gate."
The man replied, "His inspection won’t take that long. I’ll be fine here by myself."
"Alright then." The partner wasn’t too worried. After all, they had been working here for half a year and had never run into any trouble.
"You hold down the fort, then. We’ll go with him." The partner patted the burly man’s shoulder, and the two of them followed Riley Chase onto the villa grounds.
Meanwhile, watching all of this from the shadows, a surprised smile touched Felix Preston’s lips.
This was Riley Chase’s first time inside the villa grounds, and every path was completely unfamiliar. If the main house hadn’t been so close to the gate, allowing him to guess the way forward by its lights, his plan would have been exposed for sure when he inevitably got lost.
"Let’s see this lamppost..." Holding his phone, he circled the lamppost twice, putting on a show of a very serious inspection.
In reality, he had no idea what a maintenance worker was supposed to check. He just inspected whatever he came across, even giving a nearby rock a couple of perfunctory kicks.
Then he’d scribble some notes in his phone’s notepad app.
"Haaaah..."
The two bodyguards behind him yawned in unison, neither paying much attention to Riley Chase. Having worked at this villa for over half a year, they had nothing to do besides stand guard and patrol.
The long, tedious work had dulled their vigilance, and they didn’t have many doubts about Riley Chase’s identity. From the moment their leader decided to let him in, they had already started to believe he was just some poor, unlucky maintenance worker.
Therefore, as Riley Chase poked and prodded his way around the property, they didn’t pay him much mind.
He headed toward the lights, pretending to do his inspection while observing the surroundings. In less than ten minutes, he reached the yard outside the main house.
There were several lampposts in the yard—plenty for Riley Chase to "inspect."
"Oh boy, this one’s a bit dim. It’ll need a new bulb..." he muttered, standing under a lamppost and pretending to seriously jot something down on his phone.
The two bodyguards were too busy slacking off to pay him any mind, so naturally, they had no idea he was seizing the opportunity to message Felix Preston.
—Preston, I’ve reached the villa.
Felix Preston replied instantly: How is it? Have you seen Charlotte?
While sneaking glances at the two bodyguards out of the corner of his eye, Riley Chase typed furiously on his phone.
—Not yet. The villa is dead silent. No sign of the missus yet.
"Get out! Get the hell away from me! I don’t want to hear you speak!"
The message had just been sent when a shrill woman’s voice suddenly erupted from a room on the second floor.
Riley Chase reflexively blanked his phone screen and glanced up at the second floor.
"Sigh..."
One of the bodyguards sighed in exasperation and shook his head. "There she goes again. How can one young lady be such a handful... It’s constant fighting with her. If it’s not a big blowup, it’s a small squabble. I get tired just listening to her, even if she doesn’t get tired of yelling."
"Tsk..." The other bodyguard nudged his arm and shot a look in Riley Chase’s direction. "Watch what you say..."
"...Oh." The first guard sheepishly shut his mouth, not daring to say more.
But from those few words of complaint, Riley Chase had instantly confirmed the identity of the woman who had screamed.
He stepped away from the lamppost, walked over to another one, and tilted his head back to inspect the fixture.
"This fixture is really rusty. It’ll have to be replaced..."
As he muttered to himself, he lifted his phone, his fingers tapping quickly on the screen as he sent a message to Felix Preston.
—Preston, I heard the missus’s voice.
