Loretta scowled at Gabriella as the eyes of both ladies met.A certain uneasiness overwhelmed Gabriella.Loretta suddenly took a few steps to where Ethan stood and slipped her delicate hands into his palms, her gaze swiftly returning to meet that of Gabriella.Gabriella gave a slight frown as if responding to the non-verbal message from Loretta.The men from the financial crimes unit suddenly halted their search and returned to the living room where Ethan and the others stood.“Ahh..gentlemen, I see you are done with your search…..” Mr. Wedge suddenly halted in the middle of his remark as he spotted a familiar backpack in the hands of one of the men.Mr. Wedge's jaws dropped instantly as his gaze moved from the man with the backpack to their leader before finally settling on Ethan.Thomas, Daniel, and Gabriella also stared at the backpack and instantly observed the look on their father's face.“How….How….did you get that? Where did it come from? Did someone put you up to this?” Mr. We
Mr. Wedge beamed with excitement as he spoke, “Officer, what if I told you that the bag in your hand does not belong to me!”The leader furrowed his brows, “What do you mean, Mr. Wedge? What are you trying to say?”Mr. Wedge's eyes sparkled with even more excitement, “That bag doesn't belong to me! It was planted here by the same fellow that brought you guys here!”The leader stared at Ethan momentarily as he thought about what Mr. Wedge said.Thomas was even more confused than the officers as he knew for certain that the bag belongs to his father. He stared at his father with curiosity, observing his every move like a chess player learning from a master.Ethan narrowed his gaze at Mr. Wedge, casting an icy glare at him.A chilly feeling shot through Mr. Wedge and he took a few steps backwards in terror.“You…You…. should open it. Open the bag and I'll prove it to you!” Mr. Wedge added shakily.Loretta stared at Ethan at that instant, swallowing hard.From the looks of it, Mr. Wedge h
Mr. Wedge chuckled, almost instantly forgetting what Daniel just said to him.“And after you have confirmed what I'm saying, I want you to also take these ladies into custody as well!” Mr. Wedge added.He remembered Thomas' tale about his first confrontation with Ethan because of the girls and he wanted both ladies to suffer for it as well.Samantha's gaze turned cold as soon as she heard Mr. Wedge's instruction to the officers. She wished Ethan hadn't previously spared him.Gabriella as well wasn't too pleased with her father's response. She didn't like the idea of Ethan going to jail, “Father, what have you got in those mobile devices anyway?” She suddenly asked him, causing Mr. Wedge to turn to her in shock.Something about his daughter's recent remarks has been somewhat confusing to him.He glared at her but smiled after a few seconds, “I'm sure our fine officers here are capable of finding that out for themselves.”Loretta felt more uncomfortable by the second. Her fears became m
The leader scrolled through the device in his hand and was shocked at the numerous fraudulent transaction records that it contained.Both devices were like a treasure trove to any genuine official of the financial crimes unit, capable of guaranteeing a very successful career!Mr. Wedge swallowed hard as he saw the look on the leader's face.You didn't know about all that, right?” Ethan asked the leader, shaking his head.“You were willing to throw away a fulfilling career, one that any right-thinking person would jump at…..all for what? Temporary financial gains?” Ethan glared at the leader who now wore a guilty expression on his face.Mr. Wedge had only left crumbs of evidence that could easily be manipulated to set Ethan up but Ethan had recovered several hidden files in both devices that were capable of ending Mr. Wedge's criminal activities for good.All the other officers of the financial crimes unit also had remorseful expressions on their faces.They were to resume as clerks at
Ethan stood before an old dilapidated apartment with a piece of paper in his hand.He glanced at the address written on the paper, “This is definitely the place,” he whispered.The stairs creaked under his feet as he slowly approached the door, rolling a key around his finger.A few seconds later, the door made a creaking sound as Ethan gently pushed it, taking out the key from the keyhole.The air within the house was stale and from all indications, no one had been there in a very long time.Ethan stood in the middle of what seemed to be the living room and an image flashed before him.“What? But I've never been here before,” Ethan whispered, rubbing his chin in confusion.“You came!” A voice suddenly rang out behind him.Ethan turned around to find an unfamiliar figure with a hat over his head that covered most of his face.Ethan could tell the man was smiling.“Who are you? And why am I here?” Ethan asked with a frown as he tried to figure out who the man was.The apartment had ver
The second man gave a loud chuckle and attempted to grab the wristwatch from Ethan's wrist.“I wouldn't do that if I were you!” Ethan's terrifying tone caused him to instantly halt.There was something about Ethan that scared him. ‘Why doesn't he look scared?’ The man wondered.A part of him nudged at him to run but if he did, word was bound to get out that he wasn't as tough as he appeared to be, so instead he garnered courage and remained.“From where I'm standing, you boys have only two options.”The first man suddenly asked with a disdainful smile on his face, “And what are they?” He asked, flashing a concealed weapon for Ethan to see.Ethan remained calm, paying no attention to what the man had just shown him, “You both can either run off like two scared little girls or keep pissing me off and have my fists redesign your faces, your choice!”Both men broke into a fit of laughter.Even the one who had flashed a weapon at him was dazzled by Ethan's boldness.Suddenly he nodded his
“Hey, that's not fair, you are cheating,” Samantha protested after the third defeat by Loretta in a game of Scrabble.Loretta chuckled at her sister's demeanor.“But you didn't hear me say that when you defeated me the last time in chess,” Loretta responded, rolling her eyes at Samantha.Samantha smiled softly, recalling how she had defeated her sister in chess using some moves that Ian had taught her.Ian was a chess master and Samantha had learned virtually all her moves from him.“Sis, I haven't seen Ethan, any idea where he went to?” Samantha suddenly asked after realizing that Ethan was absent.“Yeah, he said he had something he needed to sort out,” Loretta responded, peeping at the wall clock.She had also started to worry about Ethan and was even considering calling him.Samantha stared at her sister for a few seconds and smiled.“And…why are you smiling? Why do you have that look on your face?” Loretta suddenly asked, observing Samantha.“What look?”“The one you have just bef
Mrs Barrington banged her fist against the table in fury.Ethan had ruined their perfectly well-thought-out plan!“Calm down my love,” Mr. Barrington gestured to his wife, in a bid to calm her down. He and Nash had gone into similar fits of fury, so he understood how she felt.“I thought you were coming to break the news of our imminent release to us, not this!” She responded through gritted teeth.“That fool is smarter than we thought!” Mr. Barrington announced with a slight smile as if just realizing the source of their problems.“Kikikikiki…” Mr. Wedge suddenly chuckled, causing the trio to stare at him in shock.“From the looks of it, you plan on taking another shot at Ethan, my advice, forget about it!” Mr. Wedge warned, shutting his eyes as he swallowed the last bit of his tasteless food.“Forget about it? Are you being serious right now?” Mr. Barrington asked him in shock.Mr. Barrington shook his head in disbelief.His friend had suddenly become a shadow of himself!Their plan