Chapter 419: Zoe Sawyer! What Happened?

Chapter 419: Chapter 419: Zoe Sawyer! What Happened?

Zoe Sawyer followed the sound and saw something that made her blood pressure skyrocket.

A man stood in the middle of the room, holding a whip. Several children, both boys and girls judging by their clothes, cowered in a corner.

There were whip marks on the children’s arms and legs, clearly inflicted by the object in the man’s hand.

Their hands and feet were bound by heavy iron chains. The end of each chain was attached to a nail driven into the wall, completely eliminating any possibility of escape.

When she got a clear look at the man’s face, a flash of delight crossed Zoe Sawyer’s. ’Isn’t that Mr. Gary!’

Mr. Gary stood with one hand on his hip, looking at the cowering children before him. He clicked his tongue impatiently. "This is so boring. They don’t understand a word I’m saying. No response no matter what."

As soon as he finished speaking, a soft female voice came from the doorway. "It can’t be helped. The parents around here are watching their kids too closely lately, making it hard to make a move. Plus, there are too many surveillance cameras. One wrong step and the police will find us, and all our work will be for nothing.

"And while these ones don’t understand us, there’s an upside: we don’t have to worry about anyone coming to look for them. We can do whatever we want."

With that, a woman walked in from outside the door.

She took the whip from Mr. Gary’s hand with practiced ease, flicked it a few times to test the feel, and nodded in satisfaction.

Then, with practiced and precise aim, she lashed out at one of the girls.

The girl flinched, her back to Mr. Gary and the woman. Her body twitched intermittently from the pain.

After a few more lashes, the woman seemed satisfied and tossed the whip into Mr. Gary’s arms.

Mr. Gary casually tossed the whip by the door. With a pained expression, he took the woman’s hand, brought it to his lips, and blew on it. "Does it hurt? Maybe we should put on some ointment, just in case."

The woman slapped him across the face without a second thought. The sound was loud, and the force was considerable.

"It was just a few lashes, not a big deal. I’m not going to die from it." The woman flicked her hand, her tone nonchalant.

Mr. Gary seemed not to feel any pain. Hearing her reply, he jumped up, his tone turning serious. "You can’t joke about things like that!"

"If you got hurt, Dad, our daughter, and I would all worry ourselves to death!"

"Alright, alright, I won’t say it again, okay? Let’s go. It’s time to video call the kids." The woman’s expression and tone softened considerably as she pulled Mr. Gary’s arm and led him out.

The two of them walked out, chatting and acting all lovey-dovey, completely ignoring the children curled up in pain because of them.

Zoe Sawyer stared at the woman’s face the entire time. ’If I remember correctly, that’s Mr. Gary’s legal wife.’

’But who are the kids they mentioned? When Officer Lee investigated, the couple had no children registered under their names.’

’Adopted? Or ones they had secretly on the side?’

Before Zoe could figure it out, the scene inside the door began to blur as Mr. Gary left. Just a second before it closed, Zoe yelled anxiously, "Zoom out! Let me see the exact location of this room!"

"Otherwise, I can’t pinpoint their location, and we won’t be able to rescue them!"

The moment she spoke, the blurry image in the door froze. It then began to zoom out, from the room to the hallway, then the floor, then the entire house, and finally, the area surrounding the house.

Once it was sure Zoe had seen the address clearly, it shut in an instant.

"What’s wrong? You just shouted so loudly. Did something happen?"

The moment the door shut, Heath Hale rushed over, his voice edged with urgency.

Zoe Sawyer shook her head. "It’s nothing. We’ll talk later."

She then turned to Officer Lee and said, "Liam, can you please pull up the surroundings of Mr. Gary’s house for me?"

She needed to confirm the exact location and then check if the children were still being held in that room.

’Once I’m sure, I have to get Sean Hughes and his team to move in and arrest them before they get away!’

Heath Hale could see that the situation was urgent, so he stayed silent and stepped aside.

After receiving the order, Officer Lee quickly pulled up a map of the area around Mr. Gary’s house.

After getting a clear look, Zoe Sawyer pumped her fist in excitement a few times. "Excellent! Now we’ve confirmed the location!"

Then, she rushed back to the door, grabbed the doorknob, and recalled the location she had just memorized.

The door had intentionally slowed down while zooming out, so Zoe had been able to memorize the layout outside the room.

The door instantly focused on the hallway. Zoe then manipulated the door, slowly shifting its position to get the camera’s view inside the room.

She finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the children were still inside.

’Thank goodness, the children are still here.’

Just as Zoe Sawyer was about to close the door and notify Sean Hughes to move in for the arrest, the door to that room was suddenly kicked open.

The woman from before walked in, her face grim. A young man followed behind her. Seeing the children cowering in the corner, her tone had lost all of its earlier gentleness. "Still no contact with Gary Dawson?"

"No, Ms. Yorke. We can’t delay any longer. We need to hurry up and prepare," the young man replied respectfully, his head bowed. "Any later, and we’ll miss the car the old master arranged for you."

"Let’s wait a little longer. He’s my husband, after all, and the man our child sees as a father." The woman, addressed as Ms. Yorke, rubbed her temples in frustration, completely unable to understand why he had suddenly become unreachable.

’He hasn’t been in touch with the casino people recently, and the deposits into his account are all normal.’

’Our movements as a couple have been normal, too. What on earth went wrong?’

"Ms. Yorke, he’s just a man. With your status, you can have anyone you want with just a crook of your finger." Hearing this, the young man anxiously took a step forward, reached out, and gently hooked his finger around Ms. Yorke’s.

’Others might not know, but he knew all too well.’

’Ever since the young miss was born, Ms. Yorke and Gary Dawson had been sleeping in separate rooms. They both did their own thing.’

’And he was honored to be one of them.’

’Now that Gary Dawson was finally out of contact, it was the perfect opportunity to kick him to the curb and take his place. He absolutely would not allow Ms. Yorke to risk getting caught by staying behind for a man like that!’

"If we don’t leave now and the police catch us, the routes the old master worked so hard to establish will be exposed! It’ll have a huge impact on our future business!" the young man’s voice was laced with anxiety.

Ms. Yorke seemed persuaded by his words. She hesitated for a few seconds before making a decision.

"Hurry up and pack the important things. Then find someone to take care of these little brats in here. We can’t leave any loose ends!"