Since it was not Hazel that they had kidnapped, it meant that Joshua and Hazel were aware of their plan and deliberately set them up. Fred was afraid that Joshua had followed them and would hurt them.
Mandy was not stupid, but she was so angry that she could not think straight. She was thankful that Fred reminded her of the repercussions of the situation.
As they rushed to escape, Fred stopped to start a fire, hoping it would confuse everyone long enough for them to get away. Joshua was quick, though, and they did not get far before he forced them off the road.
"What should we do?" Mandy was fl.u.s.tered. Looking out the car window, she began to tremble visibly.
Fred's face was pale. He was only a businessman and was definitely not good at plotting kidnappings and murders.
Even though Joshua did not want to bring Hazel, he knew that he would only worry about Simon King trying to take advantage of the situation if he left her. They got out of the car, and Joshua yelled, "Get them out of the car." Joshua said coldly to his men.
Fred and Mandy were pulled out of the car and dragged in front of Joshua. Hazel was a bit surprised, she didn't think that Fred and Mandy were the ones behind the kidnappings.
"Hazel! You again!" Mandy was angry, "You set me up!"
"What do you mean by that? I should be cooperative and let you kidnap me?" Hazel looked at her indifferently.
"You..." Mandy was speechless, but she had really wished that Hazel would be naive when it came to her safety.
"Mandy, I have never understood why we couldn't be friends? Why do you have such hostility toward me?" Hazel said with a puzzled tone in her voice.
"The Denmark Group is mine! I am the daughter of Denmark's, and you took it all away. Of course, I hate you!" Mandy shouted madly.
Hazel frowned as she listened to what Mandy was saying. She did not think that Mandy was actually still obsessed with all of those thoughts. However, it was now obvious that Mandy still hated her.
"You do know that you are just being used by people?" Hazel asked faintly, "Mandy, you knew that you were just pretending to be Denmark's daughter. A lot of this shouldn't even be your business. However, kidnappings and killing are different, they are not actions that should be taken lightly. Why don't you see that they are just using you to take the blame? Why not tell us who is actually behind all of this?"
"I don't know what you are talking about!" Mandy shouted with anger. "You took away my things. Of course, I want revenge on you! I want you to suffer..."
Joshua's eyes deepened. He couldn't believe that Mandy was actually bold enough to insult Hazel in front of him.
He lifted his hand slightly, and the bodyguards that were holding Mandy swiftly took a step back. Joshua slapped her twice and, because her face is so distorted from all of the plastic surgery, began to swell immediately.
"Don't! Please don't hit my face!" Mandy screamed.
"Do you still want to protect your boss now?" Hazel asked.
Mandy would not say anything. She just bit her lip and glared at Hazel with hate in her eyes.
Hazel scowled as she realized it would be nearly impossible to get any information out of Mandy. She couldn't understand why she would not just give Sunny up.
"Let me deal with this," Joshua whispered.
"Okay." Hazel nodded with hesitation.
Joshua asked, "Fred, do you have anything to say?"
"I, I don't understand what you mean..." Fred managed a smile even though he was terrified. He had never seen Joshua act that way. The man he knew would alienate people, but now Joshua Denmark was acting cold and ruthless. His actions left Fred feeling like an ant that was going to be crushed at any time.
"Take him over there." Joshua told the guards, "Don't make too much noise."
Joshua didn't want to scare Hazel, but he had no choice if he was going to get the information out of Fred.
Two bodyguards dragged Fred into the backseat of the car. Fred's expression became
grim as he whispered with fear, "What are you going to do to me? If you torture me, it is against the law…."
Fred was still rambling on when the guards shut the door to the car. Hazel was trying to watch what was happening, but Joshua put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him.
She asked a little blankly, "Joshua..."
He whispered, "Hey, there is nothing interesting to watch."
Joshua raised his hands and covered her ears, and looked into her eyes. He didn't want Hazel to see or hear what was happening. He would stop at nothing to find out who was threatening Hazel's safety.
Even with her ears covered, Hazel could hear the screams filling the air. She grasped at Joshua's shirt and buried her face in his c.h.e.s.t.
"Don't be afraid," Joshua whispered softly. He may have been a cruel man to others, but he made sure he was always gentle with Hazel.
After a few minutes, Fred stopped screaming and begged for them to stop, "I will tell you everything! Absolutely everything…"
"Hazel, get back into our car," Joshua whispered.
"No, I... I am staying with you." She said after hesitating for a moment.
She knew that no matter what Joshua did, he did it for her. If she was not by his side, would he think she was afraid? She didn't want him to misunderstand.
Fred stumbled out of the car.
"Fred, this is your last chance," Joshua said coldly. "If you lie, I won't let you go!"
"Okay, okay..." Fred answered with fear.
"Who asked you to do this?" he asked quietly.
"It was Sunny." Fred clenched his teeth and mumbled quietly. He looked up, expecting to see Joshua and Hazel looking surprised, but they weren't.
"I assumed that," said Joshua. "And I also assumed that since you like her so much and would do whatever she requested that you would not give her up so easily, but I guess I was wrong about that."
"What?" Fred was surprised that Joshua actually knew everything. Did that mean he knew about his past and the time he spent chasing after Sunny?