Chapter 1566
[ 557 words ]
“I’m Stephen James.”
Claire stared at him, bewildered.
She felt like she had heard that name somewhere before.
But looking at the man, who was clearly in his early thirties, she was absolutely certain they had never met.
“What a coincidence. My last name is James, too.”
“I know. I’m aware of who you are, little cousin.”
Stephen offered a bright, disarming smile. If anyone from his precinct had seen it, they would have been floored.
Wait, wasn’t Captain James notoriously stone-faced?
“Uh… wait. Are you my elusive older cousin?”
Claire was genuinely stunned this time.
Talk about a small world.
She had only ever heard the matriarch mention this cousin exactly once.
Because her eldest uncle was a notorious free spirit, the matriarch still had no idea where he was currently wandering.
Originally, the uncle had been in charge of managing the family’s overseas assets while living the high life abroad.
But after Dewitt started running operations in Kaston, the uncle dumped a chunk of his portfolio onto Dewitt and effectively retired early.
He did have a son, though not biological; Stephen was an orphan adopted from The James Village.
Claire never would have guessed this cousin was working in law enforcement out in Montara.
And judging by his captain’s rank, he was incredibly capable!
Why did it feel like The James Family was constantly surprising her?
“Yep, I’m the elusive older cousin.” Stephen let out a breath of relief seeing she was unharmed.
If he hadn’t found her, the matriarch would have blown up his phone.
Thankfully, the kid was tough.
“Now is not the time for a family reunion. I need to get to a hospital.”
Claire pointed to the two critically injured men in the back.
Stephen nodded, instantly proving he was vastly more reliable than Dewitt.
“Got it. I’ll have a unit escort you to the ER. But first, I need to hunt down the bastards who slipped across the border.”
The hit squad that ambushed them couldn’t have just strolled into Solenia.
This border region was notorious for smugglers.
These operatives had likely crossed illegally and lain in wait.
Their orders were clearly to intercept and abduct Claire on her route to the airport.
Claire completely agreed with Stephen prioritizing the manhunt.
“Go get them, Stephen. Watch your back.”
Claire shoved a bottle of her custom coagulant powder into his hands.
“I compounded this myself. It works miracles on traumatic bleeding.”
Stephen glanced at the bottle,
suddenly remembering all the
glowing praise the music
Dewitt had heaped on this little sister.
“Thanks, kid.” Stephen pocketed the medicine and took off.
From start to finish, he hadn’t shown an ounce of curiosity about Dane.
Claire had completely forgotten to introduce him.
She shot Dane an apologetic look.
Dane didn’t mind in the slightest.
Now really wasn’t the time for pleasantries.
While Claire’s group raced to the hospital, Stephen’s tactical teams
scoured the mountains for Quinton’s
Graves, turning up absolutely
nothing.
Quinton had switched vehicles multiple times, laid down a web of false trails, and vanished like a ghost.
They did, however, dredge the rammed vehicle out of the river.
There were supposed to be four operatives inside; they recovered two bodies, but the other two were missing.
It was impossible to tell if they had washed downstream or somehow escaped.
The military pursuit teams had caught up, also hoping to intercept Quinton’s escape route.
But even after linking up with Stephen’s units, the rat was gone.
Officer Miller was absolutely livid!
“These Sundara operatives are too damn slippery!”
After a full day of fruitless
manhunts, Officer Miller and
Stepher headed to the hospithet
check on Sergeant Wu and Claire.
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