The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 1133 His Exact Whereabouts

It was the peak hour at the mall, and replaceing the suspect was like searching for a needle in the haystack. Two policemen entered combing the entire place with tactful vigilance while following the instructions through their headsets. One of them said, "Warren, you go there. I will cover this area." "Okay," replied the cop named Warren.

They made eye contact and nodded their heads in agreement with each other before dispersing to the two different areas. They took nimble steps as they made their way through the crowd trying to make sure that they didn't make their suspect alert about their presence.

"Where did you put the money? I can't replace it," Vivi demanded over the phone in a hushed yet agitated voice. She took short and brisk steps, looking here and there as she spoke to Duncan over the phone, oblivious to the impending danger that was approaching her fast with every passing moment.

"It's just kept at the basement. Please search for it carefully," replied Duncan. He had no clue that Vivi had already been watched and followed.

"Okay," Vivi answered briefly before she hung up.

"Warren, it must be this woman. As soon as she lays her hands to that luggage case, you just move fast and subdue her. Do you understand?" The instruction came through the headset. "Yes, sir," Warren briefly replied.

Vivi took short and brisk steps towards the basement, her eyes roving around to spot the clue that would take her to the money. She felt light-hearted as she started assessing her situation in her mind. Even though Duncan showed that he had forgiven her, she was still in touch with her rich boyfriend. Hence, even if one of them broke up with her, she still had the other one to fall back upon. Whatever happened, she had nothing to lose.

'Duncan, you bastard. There isn't any black luggage case. You must be kidding me, ' Vivi cursed inwardly. She checked each and every object that came in her way to spot the fifty million that she was looking for.

She literally combed the entire basement minutely, but the luggage case was just nowhere to be found.

She was growing increasingly impatient. Just then, as she turned her head, her eyes fell on a set of black luggage cases on the display booth of a luggage shop. Her eyes widened as she had a strong intuition that the luggage case she was looking for must be one of these cases.

She stood there pondering over the situation for a while. 'All I have to do is to identify the right luggage case,' she thought to herself. She touched and felt each and every luggage case on the display until she laid her hand on the right one. She tried to move it and felt it was a little heavy compared to the other cases. She tapped on it twice and tried to lift it up. However, she found it too heavy to be lifted.

Then she applied a little force and used her muscle strength to lift it up, but failed in her attempt. She tried again and again and yet again till she managed to muster all her strength to lift the luggage case up. She rolled up her eyes and cursed Duncan as drops of sweat appeared on her forehead. She struggled to get her breathing pattern to normal and then started dragging the luggage case once again. 'Even if Duncan wanted to surprise me, he need not take this convoluted path, ' she thought to herself as she gasped for breath.

As bulky as the luggage case was, it was also equally heavy to move. 'What did he put inside it? Could fifty million weigh that much?' she thought as she pulled the luggage case. And just then, a voice came from behind that made her freeze at the spot.

"Don't move!" a stern yell came from behind her back. At the same time, the two policemen ran quickly toward Vivi and took her on the gunpoint.

"Don't move! Put your hands up!" As she released the handle of the luggage case and put her hands up, one of the cops just came from behind, clasped both her hands and tucked them at her back. "Ouch! That hurts. Who are you?" Vivi began to moan as she struggled to set herself free. She was completely flabbergasted to be encountered by two strangers in this manner.

"Who are we? We are police!" Warren replied in a stern voice. He then took the handcuff out from his pocket and clipped it smoothly around her wrist. "You have to go to the police station with us now," he added.

"Police?" Vivi was taken aback. Her jaw dropped and her eyes popped out. "Sir, I haven't done anything to break the law. How can you harass an innocent person like me in this way?" Vivi tried to defend herself.

"An innocent person? If you are an innocent person, why are you here? Don't you know what it is in the luggage case?" Warren interrogated in a severe voice.

"There is cash in the luggage case. It is a gift that my boyfriend sends to me. Sir, I really appreciate the selfless dedication that you put into your job despite the low wages. I think there must have been some misunderstanding between us. If you don't mind, I can spare some money for you." Vivi began to bribe the policemen not to arrest her.

"Stop flapping your gums! Move!" Warren snapped at her. Then he turned his face placing his finger on the Bluetooth device and reported to the leader.

"Sir, we have completed the mission. The suspect is under our grip at the moment."

"Great job. Now take her out. You go to help them there now."

"Yes, sir."

As they were hard pressed for time, they decided to interrogate Vivi in the police car instead of taking her to the police station.

"Speak it out. Where is Duncan now?" The policeman came straight to the point without beating about the bush.

"Sir, I have no clue about what you are asking me. Why are you treating me like a criminal? I have not been involved in any law-breaking activity. If Duncan has done something, why don't you just take him in the custody? It has nothing to do with me at all," Vivi managed to explain to the cops. She really didn't have any clue about what was going on. As it was, she had to toil hard to identify the money. And as soon as she found the money, she got caught by the cops.

"If you really don't know what Duncan has done, where did the money come from?"

"I have told you this money is sent by Duncan to me as a gift. He told me these was the compensation that his company gave him..."

"You mean to say, he convinced you that this money was his compensation? Do you believe in what he said? I will tell you the truth. This is the ransom money that Duncan got from blackmailing an innocent person. If you don't want yourself to be put behind the bars for being involved with him, you'd better cooperate with us and let us know all you know!"

"What? Blackmail?" Vivi couldn't believe what she had heard. Her eyes widened up and all the blood seemed to be draining out of her face. She shuddered at every word uttered by the cops. What she knew was absolutely different from what the cops told her.

Vivi had made great efforts to win over Duncan. How could such a rich man be a kidnapper? The image she had in her mind for Duncan came shattering.

Looking at Vivi's face as it became as pale as a sheet of paper, the cops were convinced that she wasn't lying and told her about the whole matter in vivid detail. Then the policeman continued to instruct her, "You call Duncan right now and tell him that you have got the money. And it is the exact fifty million as per his words. Then you ask him where he is right now and how you can reach him."

"Okay, okay. I will call him up now. Sir, trust me, I had no clue about all these. I'm innocent. He cheated me. He asked me to pick the money for him. Furthermore, he bluffed that the money was a gift for me, so I..." Vivi tried to explain again.

She looked completely petrified and shuddered at the thought of being punished along with Duncan. Hence, she thought that it was important to make everything clear to the cops.

And true it was! Vivi was completely in dark about Duncan's misdoings. It would be completely unfair to get her involved in this.

"Stop talking nonsense," the cop blurted as he raised his eyebrows. "What's wrong with you? We are hard pressed for time. If you still waste our time and don't call him up now, we can convict you of covering up a criminal!"

Vivi shook her head vehemently and pleaded, "Please don't do that, sir. I will call him up right now." As the cops released her hands, Vivi immediately took her phone out and dialed Duncan's number. "Vivi, how is going? Have you got the money?" Duncan hastily asked over the line. He got excited when he saw Vivi's name flashing over his mobile screen.

He narrowed his eyes and let out a crooked smile. He felt happy as he could see everything coming back within his control. After getting the money, Vivi would undoubtedly come back to him.

Then all the things would be settled as per his plans and he could regain his dignity. At that time he could even break up with Vivi after he got his job back.

Duncan had finally been able to turn the table around for himself. Now, it was his turn to discard that woman. Moreover, he could even order Vivi to return all that he had sent to her.

He wanted to leave her absolutely empty-handed.

He wanted to see her broke and tattered in every way.

That was exactly what Vivi deserved.

"Yes, I have got the money. It is truly fifty million bucks in there. Duncan, you are so kind to me. You are so generous that you sent me so much money. I want to see you now." Vivi kept her voice normal and spoke in an indulging manner to make sure that Duncan could not make out the real purpose behind the call.

Even Duncan could not smell anything fishy. After all, she had the money in her hand.

"Okay. But I'm not at home at the moment. You can reach my house now and I'll be back soon," replied Duncan.

"You are not at home? So where are you now?" Vivi asked typically like a possessive and speculative girlfriend who always demanded to have information about each and every move her boyfriend made. Even this question sounded very normal to Duncan.

"I will tell where I am once I come back. I can't make it clear to you over the phone." Duncan wanted to get back home and check his money.

"Duncan, be honest with me, is there some other woman with you? You are not the type of man who would not give me a clear answer." Vivi pretended to be jealous and very craftily tried to fish for Duncan's whereabouts.

"How could there be some woman beside me? I'm in the mountains right now!" Duncan got irritated and blurted out in an instant. Vivi always seemed to be so madly and deeply in love with him. How could she doubt his loyalty to their love?

"What are you doing in the mountain?" Vivi brushed aside his irritation and probed deeper. With every reply that she received from Duncan, she became confident that her pretension worked.

"I have some work here. Otherwise, why should I come here?"

"I don't believe your words. You must be lying to me. Unless you tell me at which spot you are at the moment, I will take your fifty million and go away. And I promise that you will never be able to replace me." Vivi started baiting him with the money as she knew the money was important to him now.

"You...how could you be such jealous? Okay, I will tell you. I'm at the Beauty Mountain Villa on the Green Mountain North Street. The Beauty Mountain Villa is that deserted one." Duncan's voice echoed into her ears as he hastily blurted out about his whereabouts to Vivi out of fear of losing the money. Vivi heaved a sigh as she looked at the cops gesturing them that she had been able to extract the information from Duncan. The cops softened their eyes on her and let out a sigh of relief as well.