There was nothing she could do about it. Hence, she could only ruffle her hair in frustration and planned to ask about the situation after two hours.
Silas put down the satellite phone and caught up to Shane, relaying the telephone conversation to him.
Shane remained silent.
In that instance, finding Natalie was of utmost importance to him.
Boom!
A rumble of thunder crackled from the sky, followed by a bolt of lightning slitting through the night, lighting up the woods for a split second.
Silas looked up. “Mr. Shane, it’s going to rain anytime now.”
Shane kept quiet and continued striding forward.
Silas grabbed him by his arm and added edgily, “Mr. Shane, we’re in the woods. If it rains, it’ll be extremely dangerous. There might be landslides or trees toppled by the thunder; we’d be prone to injuries. We can’t continue searching and must leave right away, Mr. Shane!”
“Let go!” Shane flung his arm forcefully.
Nevertheless, Silas had a firm grip, and Shane didn’t manage to shrug him off.
Silas continued, “Mr. Shane, I know you’re anxious to find madam, but we can’t continue in such a condition. Otherwise, you’d also be in trouble.”
“I told you to let go of me!” Shane’s expression turned grim, and he raised his voice.
Silas slowly loosened his grip, but in the next second, a dash of resolution crept upon his face, and he tightened his grip again. “I’ll not let go, Mr. Shane. You have to come down to the foot of the mountain with us. I can’t let anything happen to you as well.”
“Silas, you-”
Before he could finish his words, Shane felt a sudden ache in the back of his neck. He looked at the knifehand strike gesture of Silas in disbelief and then lost consciousness.
Silas held on to Shane hurriedly with a hint of repentance in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Mr. Shane. Please forgive me. I can’t just watch you take the risks and do nothing.”
With that, he signaled the search and rescue team to evacuate and helped Shane down the mountain.
They had to clear out from the mountain before the thunderstorm. Otherwise, they would lose their way and accidents could happen easily.
Very soon, they left the mountains.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain, Natalie was lying on the grass.
Her clothes were torn everywhere, and there were jarring wounds and scratches all over her arms and feet. The parts of her clothes around her wounds were all stained in red.
Plop!
A raindrop landed on her face, which woke her up, bringing her back to her senses.
She opened her eyes and immediately felt the heavy downpour from the sky, soaking her hair and clothes in the blink of an eye.
Natalie shuddered and tried to get up.
Nevertheless, just as she moved, excruciating sensations came from all over her body, and she couldn’t help but let out a shriek.
“That hurts so much…” Memories flooded her mind instantly as Natalie raised her hand and looked at the wounds and bruises on it.
She remembered that she had been kidnapped by Sean, and Shane came to her rescue.
However, toward the bitter end, Sean decided to take her down with him, as he jumped off the cliff.
So, am I at the bottom of the cliff right now?
Natalie looked up again and realized that it was nighttime and it was pouring. She couldn’t see anything, so she quickly lowered her head.
As she looked down, she saw someone lying on the ground not far away from her.
It’s Sean!
Although she couldn’t see the man’s countenance clearly, she was certain that he must be Sean.
Because there were only the two of them who fell from the cliff.
Enduring the great affliction all over her body, Natalie stood up. A simple and usual movement as such almost drained her completely.
Holding on to a tree near her, Natalie managed to support herself without falling down again.
“I can’t continue this way. I have to quickly find a shelter,” Natalie panted and said with much difficulty as she suffered the pain.
She had no time to ponder how she managed to survive without breaking any of her limbs.
Her current circumstances didn’t allow her any time to think about it. She had to take shelter, or she would surely freeze to death in such weather.
Looking around, Natalie noticed that she totally couldn’t make out her surroundings. She could only decide on a direction and tried her luck in the dark.
