Husband With Benefits
Chapter 640: An Officer

Chapter 640: An Officer

"How is he doing? Is he seriously injured. How did the accident happen? Have the found anything?" Autumn’s voice trembled with urgency as Ian walked through the door, his expression grim. She had already heard about Gabe’s accident. Her heart was filled with a mix of guilt and anxiety. She felt a pang of self-reproach for assuming Gabe had abandoned her for that woman when, in reality, he might be in danger.

Ian shook his head, as he looked at her with sympathy. "No, Autumn, not yet. The police are investigating. They think someone tampered with his car."

Her legs felt weak even as she tried to stand straight," Then, what about his injuries? Is he doing alright? Can we go see him?"

Ian shook his head and gently nudged Autumn towards the chair as the girls all looked at him with worry. With a sigh, he broke the news," Gabe is missing."

The room fell into a stunned silence, the gravity of Ian’s words sinking in before everyone erupted askign simultaneously how he’d gone missing and what was going on.

"Missing? How... how is that possible?" Autumn asked, feeling as if her brain was lagging now.

Ian ran a hand through his hair, looking troubled. "The police found his car wrecked on the side of the road. The brakes had been deliberately tampered with. There was no sign of Gabe at the scene."

His words shook as he tried to speak more. Ian knew now was not the time to break down but this was not something easy to do. He needed to reassure Autumn and the others that they’d find Gabe but he needed to believe that first. And as the blood splattered seat and air bag, flashed in front of his eyes repeatedly, he was losing confidence. Gabe was too injured to have gone somewhere and what the police officer had told him...did not reassure him.

He felt Isabella’s hand slip into his and gripped it tightly. As he turned his head to look at her, the calmness in her eyes gave him strength. He couln’t afford to break down now. Not when his priority should have been to look for that person...

Ian ran his other hand through his hair, even as his hand holding Isabella’s tightened in a crushing hold," All we know was that Gabe was injured and had possibly lost consciousness. He should not have been able to walk out of that car wreck without help. Lucy and the police are already scouring the local hospitals, clinics and shelters, in case any good samaritan had been able to help him out."

Autumn nodded and quickly started to move around, "Alright. I’ll go and join Lucy in looking for Gabe."

Ian quickly moved to stop her," You can’t do that."

Autumn clenched her fists, fighting back tears. "I need to help. I can’t just sit here. I’ve been sitting here since last evening and I cannot do that anymore! I’ll go and look for him as well."

"Not right now, Autumn! I’ll take you to the police station soon. They will be the firs tto receive the news. But you need to..." Ian took a deep breath and spoke," Autumn, just freshen up and I’ll take you there. When we find Gabe and he looks at you disheveled like that, he will fret."

Autumn shook her head," But, I don’t want to..."

Ian cast a pleading glance at Nora who had been quiet until now but then moved at his signal." It will take a few minutes. Just rush there and come back, Autumn."

Finally, Autumn nodded and returned to the room. As soon as she was out of ear shot, Nora turned to Ian," What are you not saying?"

Ian closed his eyes and took out the picture on his phone, showing it to Isabella and Nora.

"The police thinks that Gabe has been kidnapped."

"What?"

It wasn’t Isabella or Nora who asked the question but Autumn, who was now standing near her door.

The three people exchanged horrified looks before Nora asked," You didn’t go to get fresh?"

Autumn shook her head, her eyes fixed on the phone in Ian’s hand as she said," I knew Ian was hiding something."

With a sigh, Ian explained," The thing is, we couldn’t understand any reason for Gabe to ditch security. But then..." Ian inhaled sharply and continued," We believe there was someone who was trailing him and the security. That was the person Gabe was trying to get rid of. ANd that person probably followed Gabe and tampered with the car. He could also be the one who took Gabe away after the accident."

Autumn frowned and walked towards them," So the police don’t even know if he is hospitalized or kidnapped? If he is okay or if he is..."

Her voice trailed off as she took the phone from Ian’s hand and her eyes widened in shock as she recognized the person in the photo. "This person was following Gabe?"

Ian’s eyes sharpened as he recognized the tone," You know this person?"

Autumn nodded her head, rubbing her arms to ward off the sudden chill she was feeling, "That’s the junior police officer who warned Gabe about Gregory Savoy being alive... and about Bianca’s death. He was the one who said that thesenior officers wanted to close the case because they were being blackmailed and did not want to blow up another shi* storm."

Ian’s eyes narrowed. "Are you sure?"

Autumn nodded vigorously. "Yes, I’m sure. He came to the house twice. And both times, he spoke to Gabe alone. In fact, Gabe had even wondered why this man was going over and above, endangering his own job, by warning us repeatedly."

Ian nodded and quiclky spoke up,"Autumn, if what you’re saying is true, then we have a lead. We need to tell the police.Lets go there and talk directly..."

Even as they raced out, Autumn couldn’t help but worry. What if they were too late?

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