“Not in her room?” Natalie narrowed her eyes as her voice volume went up a notch, “What do you mean?”
Shane, who was keeping his distance nearby, had been keeping an eye on the whole exchange. Noticing her grim expression, he pursed his lips and walked over. “What’s wrong?”
Natalie had not anticipated his approach. Shaking her head at him, she motioned to him that she would reveal the conversation to him later.
Reading the situation, Shane understood her hint and kept his silence. Yet his eyes remained fixed on her cell phone.
On the other end of the line, Mr. Malone reported abashedly, “It means that she might have left the mental hospital temporarily. I’m sorry, Ms. Smith. I’ve lost sight of my target.”
Natalie pinched her brow. She did not mean to put the blame solely on him. “It’s okay. You’re not omnipotent. I’ll let this slide. However, I’m curious. What makes you say that she left the mental hospital temporarily?”
Mr. Malone pushed his glasses up. “Because I’ve just checked her check-in information. There are no signs of checkout, nor the ward has been vacated. Her mother, Susan, was still there. That’s why I suspected that Jasmine was only temporarily away.”
“Gone out, eh…” Natalie grasped her cell phone tightly before she instructed, “Seems like she’s pretending to be deranged and stupid after all. Mr. Malone, you are to stay put and continue your snooping around. The very moment Jasmine comes back, you shall notify me immediately. Capisce?”
“Sure!” Mr. Malone nodded.
The moment Natalie ended the call, Shane raised his eyebrows and asked, “So, what happened to Jasmine?”
Looking at him intently, Natalie explained, “In order to escape serving jail term, Jasmine pretended to be mentally ill. The prison transferred her to a mental institution. To collect shreds of evidence of her act, I’ve employed a private eye to monitor her movement. However, I did not expect to receive a call from him so soon. He said that Jasmine had escaped from the mental hospital.”
“Is this for real?” Shane was not pleased.
“Yes. For the sake of escaping imprisonment, she’s willing to do anything and everything now.” Rubbing her temples, she continued, “First and foremost I want to know Jasmine’s whereabouts right now. Also, I would love to know her next move.”
“I’ll get Silas to dig around too.” Saying that, Shane took out his own cell phone and dialed for Silas.
Natalie did not stop him, for she felt like she needed all the assistance she could get. What mattered most was to locate Jasmine as quickly as possible.
After all, Jasmine was now a ticking time bomb. Who could anticipate her next move?
While she was engrossed in her thought, she suddenly heard an excited commotion coming from the front. “Mr. Dylan is here!”
Upon hearing this, Natalie’s eyes lit up somewhat as she stepped forward and craned her neck in an attempt to peer past the gathering crowd.
She could see a tall and handsome aged man surrounded by a group of people as he walked down from the second floor.
As he came down, he waved his hand, much to the crowd’s delight. Everyone was feeling enthusiastic at the encounter. He, however, seemed to be looking around, as if he was looking for someone or something.
Finally, catching the sight of Natalie, the handsome old man beamed at her. Raising his brows and with a smile, he walked over to Natalie.
She could feel her heartbeat accelerated to the point of bursting out of her chest. She could not help but swallow the lump in her throat before grabbing Shane’s arm and excitedly said, “I… I must be dreaming. Mr. Dylan seems to be looking right at us! At our direction!”
Shane looked down at her hands grasping his arm. Unable to resist, he chuckled and curled his lips, “You’re not dreaming. He is walking over right now.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the legendary Mr. Dylan stopped in front of the two of them.
He spared a couple of seconds to look at Shane before stretching out his hand and speaking in a thick accent, “Mr. Shane, it’s been a long time.”
“Yes, it has been a while,” Shane shook his outstretched hand.
After the handshake, Mr. Dylan turned his attention to the lovely Natalie standing next to Shane and enquired, “And this young lady is…”
Natalie was stunned for a moment. The excitement of being face-to-face with her idol seemed to diminish somewhat.
That’s strange. Doesn’t Mr. Dylan recognize me?
Why would he invite me to such an important exhibition tonight if he doesn’t know me?
Seeing Natalie’s pensive and somewhat downcast look, Shane could easily guess her thoughts. With a gleam in his eyes, he immediately introduced her to Mr. Dylan. “She’s Natalie Smith, a very talented upstart designer.”
“Natalie Smith…” Mr. Dylan repeated her name in a low voice. A thought suddenly jolted him as he ruffled his gray beard, “So, you’re the one Mr. Shane mentioned to me before. A young designer who is a diamond in the rough.”
