The Heiress’ Return: Six Brothers at Her Beck and Call (Wynter Quinnell) novel Chapter 2030

The sudden voice broke the tense stillness in the room.

Wynter and Dalton didn't react much, but Hyrum's gaze grew a little restless. After all, he had not received any news from the people he had just sent out, yet Wolf had somehow come back early.

Wynter walked toward the doorway. "I'm here. Did everything go smoothly?"

Wolf neither nodded nor shook his head. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Hyrum, staring at him without saying a word.

Seeing how Wolf's eyes went straight to Hyrum the moment he stepped in, Wynter immediately understood what he must have gone through.

Hyrum tried to act calm. "Ms. Quinnell, why is he looking at me like that? Did the officers I sent bully him?"

Wolf grinned. "No—"

Before he could finish, several police officers came running back to the doorway. "Mr. Grover, we ran into armed men on the mountain road. They took all the victims away!"

Hyrum's eyes widened, fury in his voice as he lashed out with a kick. "What the hell were you doing? I told you to get the victims safely to the embassy, but you allowed them to be taken away instead! How dare you still come back in one piece?"

One of the officers lowered his head. "Sorry, Mr. Grover. We tried to save them, but they had too many people. If we had forced it, we probably wouldn't have made it back alive."

Hyrum feigned anger. "How am I supposed to keep my position as chief with work like this?"

Wynter stepped closer. "Mr. Grover, please calm down. We must anticipate that accidents will happen in any plan. Now that it's happened, we need to focus on fixing it."

Hyrum glanced at her before sighing. "I want to help you, Ms. Quinnell, but… I don't even know how those people got hold of the information on our plans. To think they had the guts to intercept midway."

He paused for a moment. "Ms. Quinnell, allow me to make some arrangements. You should stay here for now."

He then pulled the police officers aside. "What's going on? How did that kid get back earlier than you?"

"Mr. Grover, we don't know, either. We ditched the car and ran during our act, but he didn't come with us," one of them replied.

"Contact the others now. Ask what's happening at the site," Hyrum instructed.

One of the police officers nodded and pulled out his phone to make a call.

...

Not far away, Wynter led Wolf to a chair. "Did you make the call?"

Wolf hummed before turning toward Wynter slightly. "You were right—an ambush happened on the road. I am very sure that one of the men blocking us was a cop. He'd changed clothes, but I remember his face."

Wynter's gaze was calm. "That's basically confirmation. We will just have to wait for the show to begin."

Wolf lifted his gaze to her. "Oh, right, Boss. That man wanted me to bring you a message."

"What message?" Wynter asked lazily.

Wolf leaned sideways, cupping his cheeks in both hands. "That's it. He only told me to pass a message, nothing more."

Dalton's voice was low and pleasant. "A man?"

Wynter turned to look at him. "Yes, a man. Someone I once saved in passing. Other than the fact that he has some influence here, I know nothing about him. He's always wanted to repay me, but I never had time to bother with him. He happened to show up this time."

Dalton smiled faintly. "You've saved people all over the world, huh?"

Wynter replied with a casual tone, "Probably. I don't bother keeping track. I save whoever I like, and I leave them be if I don't find them agreeable."

Wolf sniffed the air. "Something's not right. Boss, is there someone else here?"

Wynter's gaze became serious. "Someone else? Where?"

Wolf pointed toward Kenith's room. "They should be there. It feels like someone's inside."

Wynter replied slowly, "I sensed someone earlier, too, but there was nothing when I opened the door... unless there's a hidden chamber."

With that in mind, she stood and strode straight into the room while Dalton and Wolf followed behind.

Meanwhile, Hyrum still couldn't reach the officer he was dialing, and he turned just in time to see Wynter enter the room.

He quickly followed before asking breathlessly, "Ms. Quinnell, did you find something? Tell me if you have any suspicions. I'll have it checked."

Wynter's gaze darkened. "Someone's here."

Before Hyrum could speak, Wynter continued, "Wolf, start searching. Find that hidden chamber."

The three spread out in the room, checking every corner and not leaving a stone unturned.

Seeing this, Hyrum had no choice but to keep his mouth shut. In this situation, he couldn't afford to panic, as any sign of urgency would give him away.

After a thorough search, they still hadn't found anything.

Wynter straightened before picking up a piece of paper nearby. "Wolf, close the door."

She then let the paper hover in the air, allowing it to drop slowly. As it neared the floor, a gust lifted it.

She quickly locked onto the source and realized it was coming from the bookshelf. However, she had just checked it earlier and found nothing. Unless...

Wynter lifted her foot and kicked the bookshelf hard, causing it to topple over, revealing a small tunnel behind it.

Seeing this, Hyrum's expression instantly shifted. He had dug that passage long ago. He wouldn't worry at all if Frankie and Kenith weren't here, but now…

Hyrum hurried forward. "Ms. Quinnell, wait. This looks dangerous. Why don't I send officers in first?"

Wynter's gaze slid toward him. "No need. I'll go myself."

She then looked at Dalton, her voice low. "Keep an eye on him. I'll check it out first."

Dalton gave a cool nod. "Alright."

Wynter crouched and inched her way through the hole. It was pitch dark initially, but the space inside was blazing with light once she got through.

She straightened up once she was inside and noticed that the interior was disturbingly luxurious. Moreover, the floor was littered with knives and weapons.

"Cheers, Kenith!"

The voice drifted out from a nearby room.

Wynter's gaze chilled. She knew it was Frankie, the one who had supposedly "escaped".

"We just need to stay here for ten days or so before the boss sends someone to get us out. The first thing I'll do when I get out is find that woman and teach her a lesson for tricking me!" Kenith said with a note of fury.

Kenith's gaze was sharp. "We refuse to answer your questions. I've underestimated you. Who knew you'd actually have some skills? But you wouldn't have been able to ambush us if we hadn't been distracted just now!"

Wynter smiled faintly. "Refuse, huh? Interesting."

She then glanced at Wolf, who strode straight toward them.

Wynter's voice was low but carried a domineering tone. "Which leg of yours do you not want? You don't have to answer if you don't want either of them."

Seeing this, Hyrum could only find reasons to stop her. "Ms. Quinnell, this isn't appropriate. They've broken the law, but you can't punish them privately."

Wynter took a step forward and placed a foot on Kenith's leg. "You're right, Mr. Grover, but what if I insist on punishing them?"

After hearing the tone in Wynter's voice, Hyrum didn't try to intervene anymore. He could only pray they would hold out, otherwise…

He had secretly arranged a sniper on the opposite slope. If anything went wrong, he would give the signal and have the two of them shot dead immediately.

Wynter leaned close to Wolf's ear. "There's someone on the slope across."

Wolf nodded slightly. "Alright, Boss. I'm going outside to play for a while."

Hyrum didn't stop Wolf. After all, his main concern at the moment was Frankie's and Kenith's safety.

Wynter pulled out the photograph. "Frankie, Kenith, who's the other man in this picture?"

Kenith's expression turned nervous. "I don't know."

Wynter kept her eyes fixed on them, but in truth, she was watching Hyrum out of the corner of her eye. She suspected that the third man in the photo was very likely Hyrum himself.

From the start, Hyrum's plan had always been to protect both of them. It was also he who had tipped them off, letting them hide here until everything was over.

To Wynter, Frankie and Kenith weren't all that important. She had only been testing how far Hyrum was willing to go to protect them.

Wynter's gaze grew deep. "You don't know? Then, there's no reason for you to exist."

Hyrum, standing to the side, hurried forward after hearing Wynter's words. "Ms. Quinnell, calm down. They're criminals that we captured. I won't say anything about you punishing them privately, but their lives can't be lost here. Otherwise, I won't be able to answer to my superiors."

Wynter chuckled softly. "Mr. Grover, I'll take responsibility for any problems that may arise. Cascadia won't hold you accountable."

Realizing that he couldn't stop her, Hyrum tried another approach. "They committed crimes in our country. They must go through interrogation first before—"

Wynter smiled as she interrupted, "Mr. Grover, you're truly thorough. I was being too emotional earlier and saw only two pieces of trash."

Just then, Wynter's phone buzzed. She moved aside and checked the message that was written in Emstian.

After that, she put away her phone, the corner of her lips curling in a faint smile. "Mr. Grover, did you ever have contact with these two when you were an undercover in Nuthiynia?"

Hyrum didn't understand why Wynter was suddenly asking him this and felt puzzled. "I never did. You have to hide your identity well when you're undercover."

Wynter didn't give him a chance to continue. "Mr. Grover, you're a smart man. It should be clear that I've already found out a few things since I've brought this up."

She paced forward toward Hyrum. "If I'm not mistaken, you are the third man in that photograph."

Hyrum's expression instantly shifted. "What are you talking about? I don't look anything like the man in that photo."

Wynter smiled faintly. "Your reaction when you got the documents was suspicious right from the start. You may not look like the man in the picture, but your DNA doesn't lie."