Love After Leaving: No Regret (Agnes and Raymond) novel Chapter 127

Chapter 127 Desperate for Help

He gave Agnes a reassuring nod, then dialed a number.

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Relief flickered through her, but it vanished when she saw the cashier hit just one button on the phone.

She remembered from her research that the emergency number here was also 911. It was three digits, not just one. No one would ever save it as a contact.

But this man pressed a single button. That meant he was calling a friend. He had that number saved for a long time.

Agnes‘ face drained of color. He knew Bisky.

She spun around and bolted, but the cashier chased after her.

Agnes yanked out her pepper spray and sprayed him right in the face. He collapsed, screaming, and she sprinted away.

She tore down the street, fumbling for her phone, frantically calling the police herself. To her shock, the call went through.

She turned on her GPS and told the police her exact location, then ducked into hiding.

Agnes stared at her phone’s map and realized she was stranded in a tiny town. Bisky had been driving for hours that morning–why would they bring her somewhere so remote for rubies?

Nothing made sense. Everyone’s behavior felt wrong.

She decided she’d wait for the police to arrive, even if it was just a misunderstanding. Anything was safer than staying put.

Regret gnawed at her. She couldn’t believe how careless she’d been. Trouble always seemed to find her.

Rebecca had double–checked everything. Agnes had, too. Still, she’d ended up in this mess.

When did it all go wrong? Was everyone in on it, or were they just that convincing?

Agnes waited what felt like forever. At last, a police cruiser pulled up, its lights flashing.

She ran toward it, hope surging in her chest, but when she drew closer, she froze. Her heart plummeted.

A police officer stepped out, and she recognized him instantly.

He was the same man who had traded cigarettes with Bisky at the hotel that morning. Now he wore a uniform.

Agnes‘ mind reeled. Was the whole town part of this?

How did everyone seem to know each other?

Real panic set in. She didn’t know who to trust anymore–not even the police.

Terror gnawed at her, mind spinning. She thought of the embassy.

She ducked away again and called Rebecca, her voice shaking as she described everything that had

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Chapter 127 Desperate for Help

happened.

Rebecca put on a convincing act, voice trembling and even sobbing.

Agnes gave Rebecca her location and told her to stay calm and call the embassy right away.

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Agnes spent the night hidden in the woods, watching her phone battery trickle away. When it dropped to one percent, she thought of Raymond.

Desperate, she dialed his number. The call barely rang before her phone died. Just her luck.

Raymond was still at the hospital, watching over Sabrina when he saw a missed call from Agnes. He called back immediately, but it never went through.

He tried again and again but couldn’t get a connection.

Sabrina’s illness kept him glued to her bedside, but he was seething. Why wasn’t Agnes answering?

Raymond called his assistant Eden and ordered him to find out who Agnes had gone to Velmara with and what she was doing there.

Agnes spent the whole night curled up in the woods, too afraid to close her eyes. When dawn finally came, exhaustion won out, and she drifted off.

When she opened her eyes, her vision was foggy. A group of people loomed over her, all of them smiling, but none of their smiles looked right.

Then she spotted a woman–Pearl.

Agnes shot upright, heart racing. Bisky was there, too.

She scrambled to her feet and tried to break through the group, but Bisky grabbed her with a vise–like grip.

Pearl smirked, arms folded. “Where do you think you’re going, Ms. Sinclair? We’ve been searching everywhere for you.”

Agnes thrashed and shouted, panic and rage tangled inside her. “Let go! Let me go! What do you want from me?”

Pearl just smiled. “We’re taking you to pick up the pigeon’s blood rubies, Ms. Sinclair. Don’t run off again. If something happens, we’re not responsible for it.”

Bisky forced Agnes back into the minivan. She still couldn’t figure out how they’d tracked her down.

It was her fault for falling asleep. Where were the embassy people? Why hadn’t they come?

Inside the van, Agnes tried to buy her freedom, desperation making her voice shake.

“This isn’t about the rubies, is it? Who are you people? Is this about money? I’ll pay you. Just let me go.”

Pearl turned, her eyes gleaming. “You’re smarter than you look. You’re not getting out of this. Someone sold you to us. Be good and you might even get a little something for yourself.”

Agnes went pale. Terror and disbelief overwhelmed her

Her lips quivered. “Sold me? That’s not true! Who would do that? Pearl, weren’t you supposed to be my

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Chapter 127 Desperate for Help

guide? We had an agreement.”

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