1RomanceEB Chapter 498: In plain sight
Chapter 498: In plain sight
Nobody paid much attention to Jia as she was already back in her civilian clothes. The bus moved and everything seemed the usual. At surface-level, the air didn’t feel any different. But she had an opposite take on it.Something is bugging me. I feel like I saw something strange for a moment but what was it...?
She walked to the far back and took her seat in the last row where she could get maximum visibility. The passenger demographics weren’t anything unusual. Some high school students returning from their classes, two college couples giggling and laughing, a couple of parents with their children picking them from daycare, a few salarymen for whom their workday was finally over and an elderly couple probably making their way home after a bank visit.
Nothing was out of the ordinary.
Yet, something nagged at Jia. A sinking feeling that something bad was about to happen. And she knew it better to never ignore her gut feeling honed from years of her hard experience.
The bus came to its first stop since Jia had boarded it and saw one of the college couples and an office employee step out while new passengers poured in. The gnawing feeling didn’t go anywhere. Whatever it was, was still on the bus. But this process of elimination was too time-consuming and too dangerous, and Jia was well aware of that.
I need to figure out what’s wrong here before anything untoward happens.
She looked at the time. It was six-twenty. The party was supposed to start at seven-thirty. Still more than enough time to get this sorted and also get ready for the party. Her hawk-like eyes stared at everyone one by one.
Well, I hope my intuition turns out to be a false alarm.
But only she knew it deep within her heart.
Her intuition turning out to be right always had a hundred percent pass rate.
—
"Yang Mingshen!!"
Yang Bingqing stormed into his room, hands on her waist and a deadly glare in her eyes.
"I knew it. You have not even begun to get ready!"
Mingshen yawned. "What? I already came from my lab early. What more do you want?"
"The celebration will start in an hour and you haven’t even taken out your suit!" She stomped her way towards his wardrobe and rummaged through his pricey collection.
"A little careful, Mom. They are expensive."
"Hmm, which one should I pick?" She ignored him completely and muttered to herself.
"By the way, is Spicy ready?"
"Jia? She isn’t back yet," she said, taking out a maroon shirt. "Ooo, this one looks handsome."
"Whatever you pick, pick something that goes with the red tie."
She shot him a stare and a meaningful smile. "Hooo~ Jia’s present, huh? Look, who has become a lover boy now~"
"Wait, she isn’t back?" He frowned.
A look at the time told him it was six fifty-two. It wasn’t that late but not that on time either.
"Aish, don’t worry. She will be back soon. Probably she is already on her way back."
—
Jia’s way back had already passed ages ago. Her bus stop had arrived twenty-five minutes ago. The doors had opened, but she stayed where she was. The bus kept moving. By this time, more than half of the office employees and the elderly couple were out. Yet the nagging feeling hadn’t gone anywhere.
What is it..What had I seen that felt unsettling to me?
She unlocked her phone and typed a message.
’Xiyang. Is everything alright over there? Any distress calls?’
The reply was almost immediate. ’No, Inspector Song. We haven’t received any distress or emergency calls. Is something the matter?’
She sighed.
’No, it’s nothing. Let me know if any such call comes up.’
’Sure, Inspector! But don’t you have to attend Dr. Yang’s birthday celebration?’
Jia looked at the time. Five minutes past seven. The time to get decently ready was getting narrower and narrower.
’Of course, I will be there. I won’t miss it for anything.’
She pressed onto her bag’s handle that held her present in it.
Yes, I won’t miss it for anything.
Suddenly, a strange movement caught the corner of her eye, and she jerked her up. But the thing that had caught her attention had already disappeared.
What was it? What was it? I saw something just now. Just like when I boarded the bus...Someone had moved. Someone did something.
Damn it! Chatting with Xiyang diverted my attention.
Her gaze stayed undeterred and focused for the next several seconds. By seven-fifteen, the bus route was coming to an end with only a couple of stops remaining on its route and by then, Jia had locked onto two targets for now.
One was an office worker, seemingly nervous and fidgety. He looked outside, then back at his phone and this cycle continued for a long time. Now he could be stressed for all sorts of reasons, but Jia didn’t have the luxury to give him the benefit of the doubt.
The second target was a father with his daughter, who looked to be seven to eight years old. The child looked unusually stiff and quiet. Jia had seen how children that age usually struggled to stay calm. At one point, her father had even thrown her a narrowed stare that clearly disturbed her further.
Xiyang would have called me immediately had there been a child abduction. But I won’t rule it out just yet.
"Aahhh, the earrings look so pretty on me! Pictures! Pictures!"
One college couple were chatting and squealing, hearts surrounding them like a blooming garden. As thrilled as the girlfriend was, the boyfriend didn’t quite match her energy was what Jia thought.
They have been taking nothing but pictures. But I guess the spark of love is dying for him?
Her attention remained focused on her two targets - especially the father-daughter pair.
But then it happened again. For the third time.
Something that had caught Jia’s attention twice, but she missed to see it clearly.
But this time she did. Not from the fidgety office employee. Not from the father-daughter pair either.
It was from the college couple sitting in front of her by a gap of two rows.
It was from the boyfriend posing for pictures.
First, he posed with a peace sign. Then there it was, his second pose - palm out, fingers wide open. Thumb tucked in. Then the four fingers close around the thumb, forming a fist.
A one-handed gesture that was a universal sign for only one sentiment.
Help.
Jia was trying to make sense of it when came Xiyang’s urgent message.
’Inspector Song! We received a distress call just now. A child has been reported missing!’