"Running away once again, are we?" Jared sauntered inside the room as though he owned it, his guards making way for him, after greeting Kane with a punch. Jared ran his eyes around the dirty room, and he frowned when the putrid smell hit him hard. "Tch, tch, tch. What have you landed yourself into? How did you end up in this state, Kane?" Jared's eyes finally stilled on the man who was still on the ground, eyes filled with terror.
"I love the look on your face," Jared inched closer to him and towered over him. Although there was a chair for him to sit on, he deemed it too dirty to even touch. He squatted down, meeting his prey in the eye. "This is the first time I am seeing such an expression on you, and I can't deny that I am loving it. Did you never fear me before?" Jared averted his gaze away from Kane, thinking about it before he focused on him again.
"Jared," Kane breathed, not daring to speak louder. He had no idea how Jared had found him. But he was certain of one thing, he was doomed.
"Ah, so you remember me. I am touched." Jared touched his heart as though he was genuinely happy. "I thought you would have forgotten me after not seeing me for long. Did you miss me?" Jared smiled at him. Although to the others it seemed to be filled with happiness and excitement, Kane knew it was not so. Jared was smiling at his state, at his vulnerability. Jared relished in the fear he bestowed upon his prey. It gave him an evil satisfaction to see them dreading him. It made him proud to see the power he had over them, greatly pleasing his ego.
"Tell me, Kane. Did you miss me?" Jared's eyes glinted in evilness and Kane trembled on seeing him. "I missed you a lot. There has never been a day I did not think about you. I could not help but worry for you and your well-being. Why did you put me through such misery, Kane?" Jared admonished him like he was a small boy and shook his head in annoyance.
"Look at you. Why are you in such a cheap and dirty hotel? I thought you would be living a lavish life, enjoying all the money you had made from your work as well as from the money I had given you. Who knew..." Jared sighed lightly, nodded his head in sympathy.
"Jared, I..I.." Kane tried to speak but his mind and tongue refused to cooperate with him. His brain had shut itself down and his tongue had frozen the moment he had seen Jared.
"Not to worry, Kane. Not to worry." Jared patted his head as though he was a dog. Kane was extremely humiliated by Jared's behavior towards him. Although Kane was older than Jared by almost a decade, he could not help but fear him. He could only allow Jared to treat him as he wished as his life was in the man's hands. His one ignorant action could lead him to more trouble and push him closer to death. So, he stayed mum, not retaliating even though he was vexed.
"I will take care of you. Come with me." Jared stood up suddenly and took a step back. He glanced one last time at the man who was still staring at him in terror before he turned away. Kane did not have to guess what Jared was talking about, and what he meant when he promised to take care of him.
"Jared, no. Jared, please let me." He scrambled towards Jared and held his feet, not allowing him to move any further. "Please, Jared. Spare me this once. I promise I will not trouble you anymore. I will find the man who is responsible for this situation, and I'll bring him to you. Give me one last chance." He begged and Jared looked down at the man who was clinging to his feet like a sloth.
"Kane, Kane, what do I with you?" He blinked at him innocently. "What's done is done. We cannot go back and change it, nor can we nullify the troubles and problems that rose after your scandal broke out. We can only try to lessen the effect and rectify the cause of this issue."
"What do you mean?" Kane queried but Jared was in no mood to answer him. He snapped his fingers at his men, and they pulled Kane away from him. "Jared, you cannot do this to me. Jared," Kane trashed and tried to wriggle out of the Guard's arms. However, the men too strong for him to break free from their grasp. He could only shout after the man who had already left the room.
The two guards hurled him with them as though he was rag. "Where are you taking me? Let me go. Leave me. I am going to kill you bastards. Let me go." He yelled, and his loud voice attracted the other people in the hotel. "Someone save. These bastards are kidnapping me. Someone, please help." He yelled at the top of the voice. But none of the onlookers came to his aid. They just stared at the commotion without taking the trouble to step up for his help.
The guards watched the man shout profanities at them when nobody came to help him. Right at this moment, Jared turned back and glowered at them, scaring the shit out of them. One of them immediately pulled out a syringe, and before Kane could comprehend what had happened, he had pushed the needle, injecting the liquid into his bloodstream. All he felt was a sting before his eyes turned heavy, and in no second, his head lolled to the side.
"We apologize for the commotion the man here has caused. He is a mental patient and a criminal, and he had escaped from our institution. He is a highly dangerous man. It is good that we found him before he committed another crime." The guard spoke, trying to explain the situation to the onlookers, and undoubtedly, everyone bought his story.
While the guards were dressed decently in top-notch clothes, the man they were taking with them was dressed shabbily. Also, the man had threatened to kill the guards a few moments ago. So, nobody doubted the guard's words, and they got back to their business, ignoring them completely.
They pushed the unconscious man in the car with a guard on either side of him before they started following Jared's car. Nobody pitied his state, for it was he who had brought his doom himself. He had been careless and irresponsible in his work, due to which someone could find out his bad deeds. However, his scandal had not only affected him, it had even pulled down Jared with him. Nevertheless, Jared was furious and vexed.
Meanwhile, Jared did not have to turn back to know if his men were following him or not. He knew they would do their job. He had finally found Kane, and it was all thanks to Maggie's ability. Since the time Kane had gone into hiding, Maggie had been on the lookout for him. She had activated face recognition software on her system. Whenever any camera or a device captured him, she would be notified at once.
The man had remained hidden for a long time, and finally, he had come out of his hiding. But who knew that he would be caught the moment he took a step outside? Who knew that a small, careless, and greedy action of his would lead him to Jared directly?
'Kane caught. Job well done.' Jared did not forget to inform Maggie about it. It was all thanks to her that he had caught her. Although catching Kane was not a big issue for him, he had to do so for the man knew a lot of his secrets. Kane knew a lot about him and his Godfather, and his staying alive was a threat to them. So, they had to take care of him before things went out of hand.
"Godfather will be very happy to know about it. I should inform him too. He wanted to deal with Kane personally." Not wasting another minute, he dialed the number that was etched in his memory. "Godfather, I have news for you. We have caught Kane. I am bringing him to my turf right now."
Jared listened to what the other man replied, nodding his head at every word of his, even though he knew that his Godfather could not see him. "I understand Godfather. I will keep him alive but I cannot promise to keep him unscathed."
The call ended and Jared took a deep breath. Even speaking or conveying a piece of good news to his Godfather took a lot of his courage. He shook his head and returned to his usual self. "It's finally time for some action." He smiled, his evilness making its presence known. The driver did not miss his sinister look, and he shivered in his seat. He was only happy that he was not the one to be on the receiving end of his wrath.
Meanwhile, Maggie read Jared's message, and she rolled her eyes at his appraisal. "Things are getting interesting now. Jared, you will meet your end soon, and whoever this Godfather is, I will meet you soon. Aria and Ivy will be happy to know about the progress. They must have been waiting for this day."
Maggie smiled remembering her two friends' faces while she continued to clear her tracks. She had sensed another device trying to track Kane's whereabouts, and she knew who it was. She did not want to get caught by the man who was an expert when it came to hacking and tracking. Getting caught by Joshua was the last thing she had in mind. Him knowing about her right now would only mess up her plans.
"I am sorry, Joshua. If everything turns out well, I will meet you someday."