Chapter 430
Chapter 430 Mind-boggling
Before the man could throw the rock, a muscular guy stepped in, grabbing the man's waist and throwing him onto the pavement with a loud crash.
Raegan's eyes widened as she saw Stefan standing before her. How he appeared on this deserted road was beyond her understanding.
Seeing her son being roughly handled, the lady attacked Stefan without a second thought.
Stefan was good at dealing with men, but he struggled with women. He awkwardly avoided the lady, moving like a shy schoolboy trying to dodge her grabs.
As the chaos escalated, Raegan quickly rolled down her car window and called out, "Stefan, leave her alone!"
Seeing Raegan's intervention, the lady, filled with fury at being outsmarted, charged at Raegan with fierce anger.
Stefan kept his cool as long as he could, but eventually, he lost his patience at the sight of the lady charging at Raegan. With lightning speed, he grabbed the lady and tossed her roughly onto the asphalt.
The lady fell to the sidewalk, flailing and screaming, "Murder! They're murdering me!"
Stefan's brow furrowed. This level of hysteria was new to him. Suddenly, the air was split by the loud blare of sirens.
The lady on the ground let out a sharp scream, jumped to her feet, and shot Raegan a furious look. "You called the police!" she accused.
Raegan nodded, unfazed. "Yep, using your phone."
The lady flew into a rage, realizing Raegan had been covertly signaling the police all this while!
The lady's cheeks reddened as her blood pressure spiked. This scam she'd been running with her son, targeting luxury cars because of their distracted owners, had never gone wrong until now.
She'd even made a point of learning about various luxury car brands to pick her targets wisely. The owners of these fancy cars were typically too preoccupied to bother with anything under a few grand.
"Fine! I'll just tell the police you and your friend assaulted me and my son. I'll make sure you regret this!" the lady snapped.
Her son, still on the ground and holding his head, groaned. "Hit me... He hit me..."
Raegan leaned forward, a smirk playing on her lips. "Do you really think you can fool everyone when there's a dash cam recording everything?"
The lady's face turned pale. "A dashcam?" How could she have forgotten about that? Nobody had ever challenged her on it before. They'd always just paid up without a fuss, so the thought had never even occurred to her. Now it all clicked into place. That explained Raegan's calm demeanor. Raegan had been banking on this from the start.
The police had leaped out of their cars and were handcuffing the lady's son faster than she could react.
The man, completely unaware of the situation, had a huge grin on his face as they escorted him away.
The lady cried out, "Oh, my son! They're taking you away!"
Hearing this, the man began to struggle wildly. Foam formed at his mouth as if he were having a seizure.
The cops were caught flat-footed and radioed for an ambulance.
When everything calmed down, the lady had disappeared without a trace.
Raegan couldn't believe her eye. The lady had just abandoned her son and fled the scene.
After the police put the man into the ambulance, they asked Raegan for a brief statement.
"We're looking into it, ma'am," one of them said. "We've gotten a few leads on these guys before. The problem is, people hesitate to report them to the police, and by the time they do, they are nowhere to be found. But you did great."
Raegan felt proud of her contribution. She hoped her actions could prevent others from being ripped off.
"Also, that lady had run away, but I caught her on my dashcam, The video's pretty clear. It might help you guys out," Raegan added.
"Thanks," the officer replied.
Once the police had left, Stefan gave Raegan a thumbs-up. "You really handled that well," he said.
Raegan smiled. "What brings you here?" she inquired.
"I just finished a seminar. I'm heading back to downtown." Stefan glanced at the flat tire of Raegan's car, barely attached. "Where are you off to? I can give you a lift."
Raegan waved off the suggestion. "No, thanks. I've already called for a ride."
Stefan nodded. "Alright. I'll stay with you until your ride arrives."
Raegan thought that was a good idea. After the recent struggle, she didn't like the idea of waiting alone.
However, as time passed, her ride was still nowhere in sight. Raegan realized her phone screen was cracked beyond repair, and when she tried turning it on, all she got was a blank screen.
She used Stefan's phone to call her driver. The driver clarified that a misunderstanding caused by a miscommunication over the phone led him to a different location. He had attempted to contact Raegan, but since her phone wasn't working, he began to worry.
Raegan asked where the driver was now, and found out he was quite far away.
Seeing Raegan's growing concern, Stefan gestured to her. "I'll take you."
Realizing she couldn't wait any longer, Raegan nodded. Then, she dialed the driver and provided the new pick-up location, instructing to bring her flat-tire car back.
Raegan took the black duffel bag from her car and turned to Stefan. "Sorry to bug you."
Stefan laughed softly, saying, "I'm done for the day."
On the road, Raegan gave Stefan an address. Driving down a deserted road, she asked him to stop. "It won't take long," she assured Stefan.
The advice from Nicole, to keep things secret, lingered in Raegan's mind. Thus, she didn't tell Stefan exactly what she was going to do, despite their closeness.
Stefan didn't question her. He simply offered her his backup phone. "Let me know if you need help."
Raegan responded with a grateful nod.
Raegan took a turn down a side street, led by Nicole's directions to a brick-red building hidden at the alley's end. Its hidden location surprised her as she got closer.
As Raegan reached the entrance, the sound of a child's cries broke out from inside.
Raegan hurried in to find a well-built man dragging a child across the floor, a cigarette dangling from his mouth and a malicious smile on his face. "Pay up, or this child is getting sold!" he threatened.
A woman in a yellow dress was holding onto the child, her sobs cutting through the noise. "Please, you can't take him! He's ill!" she begged.
The man was unfazed. "Your child ruined my watermelons. Ten thousand dollars won't even cover the damage. Those were imported, mind you!"
"He didn't mean to! Your watermelons were in the way on the sidewalk. He barely touched them. Plus, he's just a child and couldn't have crushed them," the woman protested.
"So, what are you implying? You think I'm trying to trick you?" Despite suspecting the man's scam, the woman hesitated to argue back. Being a single mother made her feel vulnerable, aware of the danger she and her child faced.
Falling to her knees with a desperate look, she pressed her hands together. "Not at all. It's just I don't have that kind of money with me right now. Please, just give me some time."
"So, you think playing the helpless victim will work? Waiting for a hero to save the day? You think I'm easy to trick?"
Suddenly, filled with anger, the man kicked the woman hard, causing blood to spray from her mouth. Despite the pain, she held on to her child with all her might.
The man had barged into the woman's home, wrecking everything in his search for money, but found nothing. "You've got it hidden somewhere!" he yelled, kicking the woman twice more fiercely. "You think you can play games with me?"
Raegan's eyes widened when she saw the child's face. This little boy seemed oddly familiar, as though she had met him before. But the woman's and child's screams snapped her back to the harsh reality.
Grabbing a shovel from the front porch, Raegan charged at the man and hit him hard on the head.
The man crumpled to the ground, nursing his bleeding skull. "Who in the world did that?" he shouted.
Raegan quickly took the woman and her child by the hand, whispering, "Nicole sent me. Let's go."
Worried the crazed man would rise to his feet soon and cause trouble, Raegan pulled the woman and ran.
What Raegan didn't expect was to run into someone as she rushed through the door.
Raegan's eyes widened in shock. What a twist! It was the very lady who had wanted to rip her off and then skedaddled!C0ntent © 2024 (N/ô)velDrama.Org.
And to make matters even stranger, the man Raegan had just knocked out with the shovel was calling the lady, "Mom!"
A chilling revelation struck Raegan. These scammers were all in it together!
The lady's eyes sparkled with wickedness as she saw Raegan. She lunged at Raegan, holding on to her tight. "Kolton, lock the gate! I'm going to kill this bitch!"