Chapter 4: Investigation

Kai softly closed the door behind him, chuckling softly a dangerous grin grew on his face. "This makes things so much easier." He said to himself cocking his head to the side thoughtfully while he walked, "Well at least I know no one should be looking for her, for now."

When he walked into his office he saw a figure sitting in the chair behind his desk. Recognizing who it was he sighed already feeling a headache brewing. "Cyrus, what are you doing here? And get the hell out of my chair."

A bright grin grew on the face of the other young man in the room. He jumped out of the chair, blue eyes glittering mischievously. He wrapped an arm around Kai's shoulders. "Come on, baby cousin. Don't be like that."

Standing side by side the two young men could be mistaken as brothers, but while Kai had his black hair down, cut short to his neck, Cyrus had his hair pulled into a messy bun.

Kai looked at the arm around him in disgust. "If you don't remove your arm, I will remove it for you…" He gave a nasty grin, "permanently."

Laughing at the threat, he released his, ruffling his hair as he did so.

Kai moved to sit in his chair and stared at his unwelcome visitor. He couldn't resist pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He sighed, "Is there a reason for you being here?"

Cyrus sprawled on the couch; he tossed a piece of candy from his pocket into his mouth. "Yep." He said purposely popping the last letter. He straightened his posture losing his playful attitude. "Uncle told me about you adopting the kid you found. He had me search for any information on her using the description you gave him, just in case we had to prepare for someone looking for her."

Kai was not surprised his father had Cyrus investigate her. After all, even though he annoyed the hell out of him, Cyrus was one of the best information brokers there was.

He leaned on his desk, "And what did you find?"

Cyrus threw another piece of candy in his mouth. "Nothing." He frowned. "I wasn't able to find any information about her. Not even any missing persons matching her description."

 "Meaning?"

He relaxed more on the couch and waved a hand around. "Meaning, either they don't know she's missing, she has no one to notice her disappearance, or-"

"She was never meant to be found." He finished moving to stand by the window overlooking a small stream in the yard.

"Was you able to get any information from her?"

Kai shook his head. "No. When she woke up, she told me that she can't remember anything. Nothing but a vague memory of someone purposely putting her there."

"Hm." Cyrus leaned his chin on his arm. "Did she have any injuries?"

"Nothing major. Only come cuts and bruises"

"Do you think whoever put her there planned on coming back for her?"

Kai turned to face him, leaning against the window and crossing his arms. "If that's true, then there's a chance someone will come looking for her once they notice she's no longer there."

Cyrus frowned. "That would be troublesome."

"Cyrus, I want you to search the woods near where I found her and see if you can find the place she was left at. Look for any signs of someone else being there."

He jumped up and gave a mock salute. "Sure thing. I'll let you know what I find."

He nodded. "Good. Now get the hell out of my office."

Before leaving the room, Cyrus turned back to Kai, "So, when will I be introduced to my niece?" He had a cocky grin on his face.

Kai snorted. "We'll see."

He laughed. "Don't forget to call Uncle."

"Whatever. Now leave."

Once alone, Kai was broken from his thoughts by his phone ringing. "Hello."

"Boss. There is someone here with some packages they say are for you. Should we let them in?"

"Yes. Have them place the packages in the empty room next to mine."

"Will do, sir."

"Also have someone from the kitchen bring up two light lunches to the infirmary." He ordered.

"Yes sir."

*****

"Where is she!" A man dressed in a business suit yelled at the guard in front of him.

The guard cowed at the man's anger. "I-I'm sorry sir. We can't find her."

Fury showed in his brown eyes and gestured angrily. "How the hell can you not find a sixteen-year-old girl!"

"Apologies Mr. Nie. No one has seen the young miss in days."

Jason Nie clenched his fist tightly. "Dammit!" He yelled. "I finally got control of this family and the company, I ruined everyone who treated me like garbage, and the one person in this messed-up family that cared about me, treated me like a human being, is missing!" He turned back to the guard in front of him. "Find her," He hissed, "by any means possible."

The guard saluted. "Yes sir!"

Once alone, Jason let the sadness and guilt show in his eyes. "I'm sorry," He whispered to himself, "I'm sorry I didn't protect you. I promise I will bring you back home." He swore to himself determination shining in his eyes.

*****

Cyrus walked through the woods, accompanied by some of his subordinates, searching for the area Liao Liling came from.

"Sir. I think I found it." One of them called.

He was led to a clearing that showed evidence of signs of someone being there recently. In the middle of the clearing was a faint indentation in the grass of a person and next to the indentation were two pieces of broken rope. "Hmm." He frowned while picking up the rope, he noticed that the ends were old and frayed as if they had only torn because of the bad condition of the rope.

One of his subordinates came over to him. "Sir. I found some footsteps that look like they belong to someone else."

He went over to the footprints. "Looks like they came from either a man or heavy-footed women." Glancing around he found a pill bottle. He frowned heavier when he read the label on the bottle, "Shit! This- this is not good." He turned around quickly while pulling out his phone. "Keep looking around for some more evidence. I've got to check something out and immediately report this back." He ordered.

"Yes, boss!"