Imogen got out of the car while Shirley went to park. Quickly, Imogen entered the premises and rummaged
through the wine cellar. Eventually, she found a laptop bag under the cellar and unzipped it. There was a laptop
inside, and she heaved a sigh of relief. She looked outside the window, noticing that Shirley was coming over. She
swiftly stepped onto the counter and hid the laptop in a hidden compartment above. When she leaped back down,
Shirley had just entered the store.
“I’ve searched everywhere, Shirley, but there’s no laptop in sight. You must’ve gotten it wrong.”
Shirley frowned. “That can’t be right. I did hear them saying they left a laptop here. We should keep looking.”
Shirley started looking around, and Imogen played along.
About fifteen minutes later, Shirley said, “Well, perhaps I’ve been mistaken.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“You bumped your head, after all. Maybe you heard it wrong,” said Imogen.
Shirley agreed, saying, “You’re right. That could be the case. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”
Imogen patted Shirley’s shoulder. “It’s fine. Let’s go back to the hotel.”
Shirley nodded and left with Imogen. Halfway on their way back, Imogen said, “Shirley, I want to get some presents
for my friends before we head back. Go on without me.”
Shirley knew what Imogen was going to do, so she said, “I’ll be on my way, then. I might even have to stop by a
police station and have my testimony taken.”
Imogen got out of the car and saw it off. Once Shirley was out of sight, she went into a gift shop and perfunctorily
picked some presents. Five minutes later, she came out of the shop and got a cab to the store earlier. As soon as
she arrived, Imogen got a chair, stood on it, and took the laptop bag down.
She left the shop, but just as she was about to get away, four cars surrounded her, and several plain-clothes
officers came out of them. They’d been staking the place out. “Freeze. Hands where I can see them.”
Shocked, Imogen said, “This is a mistake. I was just grabbing something for a friend.”
The cops had gotten their orders to capture Imogen, not allowing her to explain herself. They cuffed her and took
her into the car. Meanwhile, Shirley hadn’t gone that far. She saw Roy standing by the roadside solemnly with a few
cars around him. Shirley got into one of the cars and saw Zacharias, whom she had told not to come, reviewing the
store’s surveillance footage.
“Imogen has been captured. Your plan worked
perfectly!” Zacharias praised her. Shirley had remained calm after finding out what the situation was, and that itself
was worth praising.
“We’ll meet her at the police station next. I want to know why she did this.” Shirley still felt agonized. She couldn’t
accept this betrayal.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
“Sure. We’ll swing by the police station right now. We found another phone in Imogen’s room. She has deleted the
text messages, but we’re getting someone to recover them. We’ll retrieve her call history, too,” said Zacharias.
Now, they had enough evidence to prove that Imogen was involved in the kidnapping.
Meanwhile, Imogen was in the police car, panicking. She could only think of one person who could help her-Shirley,
the one who trusted her wholeheartedly. She knew that Shirley, being her best friend, would defend her right away
and clear her name. “You’ve got the wrong person. I’m Zoravia’s vice president’s bodyguard. I need to call my
team now,” said Imogen, panicking.
“We’ll talk when we’re back at the police station. I don’t care who you are, but we have the power to arrest anyone
suspected to be a criminal.”
“I need to make a phone call!” Imogen argued.