Realization finally dawned on the balloon seller. "What? That fast?"


    Anya, not wanting to waste time exining things, rushed into the cave to bring Joey out of the cage. After all, Corinne and Jeremy were not like the others. They were capable of tracking her down swiftly. She needed to find another hiding ce promptly.


    The pitiful Joey was still crying and shivering in the dog cage. s, the heartless Anya roughly pulled Joey out, tied him up with a piece of hemp rope, and called the balloon seller from outside toe in and carry the kid. She did not even care about the boy''s well-being.


    The balloon seller was visibly reluctant, but since he had not received the promised 14000 dors, he begrudgingly went along. With Joey on his back, they left the cave.


    Anya even tossed the balloon seller''s phone into the cave, promising to buy him a better one.


    The deste mountains were quite far from the city center. It took Jeremy and Corinne two hours to reach there, and by then, it was dawn. The mountains were truly barren, covered in dense and tangled weeds with no roads for cars to drive on.


    Driven by anxiety, Corinne got out of the car and was ready to hike up the mountain in search of Joey, but Jeremy held her back.


    "Stay calm! How could we find Joey on such a big mountain?"


    How could Corinne stay calm? She could not sit still and do nothing at the thought of Anya taking her anger out of poor, little Joey. "But Joey is..."


    Jeremy embraced Corinne and patted her back gently tofort her. "I know. I''m really worried about him too, but just give it a little more time. Our team and the police should be here soon." Corinne looked up at him, a mix of surprise and curiosity in her eyes. "When did you call the police? I was afraid their arrival might tip off Anya..."


    Jeremy narrowed his eyes. "If I guessed correctly, the call from the store owner''s wife may have alerted Anya already. Our next move is to surround this mountain as fast as possible and let the police dogs search. Our cars can''t climb up, and neither can theirs. I don''t think they''ve made it down the mountain so quickly since that call. Stay close to me, or we may have to look for you, too."


    Corinne found Jeremy''s spection reasonable. She tightly gripped Jeremy''s hand to steady herself.


    "Jeremy''s right, Corinne. You shouldn''t act rashly," added Lucas.


    Corinne reluctantly agreed with them.


    A dozen minutester, a convoy of ck cars stopped behind theirs. Among the upants were Jeremy''s men while the rest were made up of police officers. Before they came, the police officers were told not to re their sirens to avoid unnecessary attention.


    Everyone got out of their cars. Some of them were apanied by well-trained police dogs. With a single nod from Jeremy, they silently began to search the mountain as if they had received an unspoken cue Only after that, Jeremy guided Corinne to follow a police dog up the mountain, with Lucas and Sunny behind them. The path ahead was challenging, especially in the deep night with dim lighting. One could easily get scratched by brambles.


    However, Corinne did not care that much as those were just minor obstacles for her. All she wanted was to find Joey as quickly as possible.


    Fueled by the desperate need to find Joey, they discovered a cave a little over an hourter.Property of N?)(velDr(a)ma.Org.


    The police dog barked fiercely at the entrance which drew everyone''s attention.


    Corinne sprung on her heels and headed straight for the cave. However, Jeremy quickly pulled her behind him, and Lucas also stepped forward to protect her.