Coolest Girl in Town Chapter 1054–“How would I know what it is? You can ask him about it yourself.”
Rylantha rolled her eyes impatiently before remarking with a smile, “Since I did you such a huge favor, you should remember to repay me for my kindness.”
“Ariel is my future sister-in-law and a friend as well. I won’t be helping you with anything that hurts her.” Elise shut down that possibility without allowing Rylantha to state what she wanted.
“How lame. Well, you can at least put in a good word for me with the old fool, right?” Rylantha replied with the look of someone who got shortchanged.
“That I can do.”
“You’re no fool, aren’t you, huh? You immediately refused to do something that’d take a lot of effort, but you readily agreed to something that won’t cost you anything,” Rylantha retorted scathingly.
Then, she got her purse and adjusted her clothes. “I’ve done what I was supposed to do. You’re heading down, right? Come on. Let’s go together.”
They got into an elevator and the doors were just about to close when a janitor who was wearing a baseball cap entered with a janitor cart.
Rylantha covered her nose in disdain and grumbled, “Don’t they have service elevators at a resort as big as this?”
The janitor ignored the comment. He simply pulled his cap a little further down.
Elise couldn’t help but take a second glance. The large trash can was clean and the rag hanging on the side of the cart looked new, but what she was most struck by was the fact that the janitor was wearing a pair of limited-edition leather shoes from a luxury brand.
If she recalled correctly, those shoes cost at least five figures. Even Jamie wouldn’t be willing to drop that much cash on a pair of shoes.
What kind of janitor is this? He spends even more lavishly than the son of the Kellers.
Elise knew that this was no ordinary janitor at all. She kept her guard up and secretly tracked the person’s movements.
True enough, as soon as the elevator doors closed, the janitor made his move. First, he knocked Rylantha out with his elbow.
Elise had only just retrieved her silver needles when she realized that it was Owen. She quickly put her needles away and gasped in surprise, “Owen? What are you doing here—”
Before she could finish her question, Owen used the same attack on her.
In reality, Owen used too little force to knock out someone with Elise’s level of strength, but to figure out what he was trying to do, she had to go along with it and pretend to faint.
When the elevator doors opened once again, the only person that came out was a janitor pushing a janitor cart.
At the resort entrance.
The Griffiths’ cars were lined up by the side of the road as Danny and the others waited for everyone to gather. Soon after Irvin and Alexia joined them, Alexander showed up.
The moment he got down from the car, Alexia rushed over to him. “Daddy!”
Alexander looked exhausted. He stumbled a little when Alexia bumped into him, but once he regained his balance, he picked her up and asked, “Where’s Mommy?”
“She’s upstairs talking to god grandpa’s youngest daughter,” Alexia informed cheerfully.
“Aren’t you being a bit too clingy, Alexander? It has only been a day since you last saw her and you’re already running all the way over here,” Jamie teased when he noticed how fatigued Alexander looked. “You look like you had a rough time. Was it because you missed Boss so much that you couldn’t fall asleep?”
“Ahem.” Alexander cleared his throat and side-eyed Jamie.
“That’s strange. Why is Elise taking so long to come out?” Danny was beginning to get rather impatient.
“Have Mommy and Miss Abbott been talking for a long time?” Alexander asked Alexia.
“It’s been quite some time.” Alexia nodded.
“Come. Let’s go and find her.” Alexander set Alexia down and took her hand before walking up the steps with her.
Owen wheeled Elise and Rylantha through the main lobby as he headed toward the exit, but along the way, he spotted Alexander coming in with Alexia.
He quickly pulled his cap down and pushed his janitor’s cart to the side to keep a distance from them.
Just when he was about to reach the entrance, there was a loud crash in the lobby. An attendant had accidentally dropped a teapot, and the manager immediately stopped Owen. “Hey, you. Yes, you, the janitor. Come and clean this up now.”
Most of the people in the lobby turned to look at the janitor. Even Alexander turned as well.
Owen clenched his jaw and took a broom off the cart before turning around to clear the mess.
It was rare to see a janitor passing through the main lobby of a luxurious resort. Alexander kept eyeing the janitor and only stopped when Alexia let go of his hand to press the button for the elevator. “Slow down, Lexi.”
The elevator was stopped on the top floor and it took two minutes for it to come down. It took three minutes for them to get to Room 204.
Alexia keyed in the password and opened the door. The two of them walked into the room but they didn’t see any sign of Elise.
“Mommy, Daddy’s here to pick us up.”
Alexia thought that Elise was playing hide and seek with her, so she scampered off into the bedroom to look for Elise.
Alexander searched the other two rooms as well.
They checked the entire suite and failed to find anyone in the place.
Alexia walked out of the bedroom scratching her head. “Did Mommy go down using the other elevator?”
Alexander took his phone out and called Danny. “Has Elise gone down?”
Danny looked around. “Nope.”
As soon as he responded. Alexander hung up.
All at once, he recalled the size of the trash can on that janitor’s cart earlier. It was big enough to hold an adult.
The moment this thought flashed across Alexander’s mind, he immediately scooped up Alexia and dashed out. The elevator was taking too long, so he went down the stairs instead.
However, by the time they reached the lobby, the janitor was long gone.
“What’s going on?” Danny sensed that something was amiss, and as soon as he walked into the lobby, he saw Alexander and Alexia running out.
“Mommy’s missing.” Alexia’s face was scrunched up worriedly.
Danny took his hands out of his pockets and turned to Alexander.
Alexander nodded to confirm what Alexia said.
“I’ll get people to start looking for her now.” Danny grabbed his phone to make the calls.
Alexander had the hotel manager take them to the security room to view the security footage. They saw that the janitor had disappeared behind one of the resort’s gardens in the back.
“How many ways down the mountain are there?” Alexander asked the manager.
“There’s only one for cars.” The manager gave it some more thought before saying, “There is another road that was used for outdoor racing in the past, but it hasn’t been maintained in years and it’d be hard to drive on that road. I don’t think anyone would use it.”
“Where does that road exit to?” Alexander’s eyes darkened, and when the manager didn’t answer right away, his tone grew harsher. “Speak!”
“The back of the mountain next to this one.” The manager was so intimidated by Alexander’s dominance that he gulped.
Alexander immediately called Raymond. “Elise was kidnapped. Split into two teams. One will follow the road down the mountain to look for clues and the other will head over to the back of the mountain next to this one to cut them off.”
“Keep an eye on Alexia.”
After handing Alexia over to Danny, Alexander left the security room alone and dashed out to the gardens.
It was a narrow road and the kidnapper could have only taken one person with him. It could’ve been Rylantha. Alexander didn’t want to let go of even the barest glimmer of hope.
True enough, when Alexander got to the garden, he saw that one of the trash cans on the janitor’s cart had been tipped over while the other was still standing. He checked the one that had fallen and it was empty.
Then, he hurried over to the cart and opened the other one, only to find Rylantha appearing before his eyes.
The veins along Alexander’s arm began popping as he gripped the side of the trash can with great force. His gaze turned ice cold.