Standing behind Savannah, Garwood stared at the composite portrait of that boy, frowning.
Savannah noticed a look of surprise on Garwood's face.
"Garwood? What's the matter?"
"The boy looks like a person..."
"Who?" Savannah wondered.
Garwood, with a look of incredulity, said, "Looks like Geoffrey, Mr. Sterling's elder brother."
Dylan's dear departed brother? Surprised, Savannah looked again at the boy's face on the screen, recalling a photograph of Geoffrey she had seen in Sterling's house.
Although she had never met Geoffrey in person, she was impressed by him in the photo.
Geoffrey looked gentler and more elegant, different from his overbearing brother.
Savannah concentrated, frowning. Yes, that boy seemed to have Geoffrey's high forehead and long nose.
Did that boy have a special relationship with the Sterling family?
She had a guess...
But if she was right, why did the boy hate Dylan so much?
Garwood's expression changed too.
A technology officer nearby noticed their expression, wondering, "What's the matter? Do you know this kid?"
Savannah winked at Garwood and replied calmly, "No."
The policeman asked no more.
Walking out of the police station, Savannah and Garwood both stopped.
"Miss Schultz, did you also suspect that the boy was related to the Sterlings?" Garwood broke the silence first.
Savannah took a deep breath and nodded.
"Although Dylan's brother died before marriage, he had a beloved girlfriend, and because their love affair was discovered and not allowed by his father, he died in a car accident after a quarrel with his father... Is it possible that the boy was Geoffrey's posthumous child?"
"Quite right, for the boy's age." Garwood's hands were sweaty at this guess.
"By the way, what happened to Geoffrey's girlfriend after he died? Where did she go?" Savannah had never heard the Sterling family speak of that woman.
Garwood didn't know much about it, but he came to the Sterling family several years earlier, and he had heard something about that woman.
"The woman was one of the people who indirectly caused the death of Geoffrey. No one in the Sterling family dared to mention her after that. The woman left LA with a broken heart and disappeared." Garwood tried to recollect.
Savannah was silent. Perhaps Geoffrey's girlfriend had been pregnant at that time. She left the city after her beloved man was dead and gave birth to his son in another place.
But why did the boy go to Italy?
Was the boy's mother still alive?
"If the boy is the son of Mr. Sterling's brother, it seems that he knows his own identity. Why did he come to seek vengeance from Mr. Sterling? He's his uncle! Besides, Mr. Sterling had a good relationship with Geoffrey and never harmed him! Mr. Sterling was so sad after his brother's death that he was even estranged from his father because of that. What on earth is the boy doing?" Garwood said in a puzzled tone.
"We know that Mr. Sterling was very close to his brother, but the boy may not be unaware of it. Maybe there was some misunderstanding that made him think that the Sterling family had killed his parents," Savannah said thoughtfully.
After a short pause, she continued, "The boy hated the Sterlings. He blamed them for his unhappy parentless childhood and all he had suffered. So he caught me and wanted Dylan to taste the pain of losing love. He was going to kill me in front of Dylan so that Dylan would suffer, and then he would kill Dylan so that Old Sterling would also suffer from the loss of his son... The boy was simply trying to get revenge on the Sterlings."
A shiver ran down Garwood's back. He didn't expect a boy of 13 or 14 could be so deeply vindictive.
"Fortunately, the boy's conscience was not entirely extinguished. I guess Dylan also guessed that he had something to do with his brother, so he deliberately called Kaiden to show the mother-son affection in front of the boy. The boy let me go, but... it's a pity he didn't let Dylan go." Savannah's voice became muffled as she clenched her hands.
Maybe the boy knew that Kaiden on the other side of the phone was his cousin, and he didn't want this cousin to be the same as himself, so he kept her alive.
The boy was not an inhuman child.
But she didn't know what he had been through for these years.
Anyway, they must find him first. Only then could they tell him the truth, clear up the misunderstanding, and let him know that no one had harmed his parents.
* * *
When they returned to the hospital, Savannah went to the ICU alone.
Dylan slept quietly with the aid of the medical devices, his long eyelids casting shadows down his closed eyes.
Savannah sat beside him, gently rubbing his hand, which was cold because of the drip.
"How are you feeling today?" she said softly as if they were chatting. "You look much better. Oh, I've successfully defended my dissertation, and I'm at the top of the final examinations. You should give me praise. If you don't believe me, get up quickly, and I'll show you my report card."
There was no reaction from the man in bed. Only the blood pressure values and regular heartbeat on the machine confirmed that he was alive.
Savannah lifted his pale hand, cautiously bringing it to her cheek.
"You see, the wound on my face healed without leaving a scar. But what about you? When will you wake up?"
He was breathing evenly.
Savannah put his hand back on the blanket and continued, "I went to the police station today..."
She paused for a moment before she said, "Did you see something in the boy who kidnapped me? Is that what I thought? He's probably the child of your elder brother and Kaiden's cousin, your nephew. Though we don't know exactly what happened to the boy, there must be some misunderstanding between you. But it doesn't matter, as soon as you get well and find the boy, we'll make everything clear. So please wake up quickly."