When fate plays its hand

Those documents were originally meant for Miranda. However, there was no answer when Paul came back in the afternoon and knocked on her door.

Paul took off his coat and hung it on the rack. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already 10:00 pm. She should be back by now, right?

Paul took the documents, opened his door, and went to the apartment across the hall. ” Miranda, are you home? It’s me.”

There was no response.

Feeling worried, he picked up his phone to call Miranda. Unexpectedly, she called him first.

“Hello, Miranda? Are you home? I have some documents to give you, but no one answered when I knocked.”

“Dr. Jefferson, I’m not home. I’m at Yale… Joli…”

Paul’s grip tightened on the phone. He thought he heard her mention Joli’s name, so he asked again, “Where did you say you

are?”

The call was choppy and intermittent, filled with static and noise. Paul couldn’t understand what Miranda was saying.

“Something urgent… happened… Tomorrow…‘

“Hello? Are you saying you’re in Yalemont? Is the signal bad there? Hello?”

Paul looked at his phone screen and saw that the call was disconnected. A bad feeling surged in his heart, and he immediately called her back. However…

“Sorry, the number you’ve dialed is temporarily unavailable…”

He hung up and tried again, but Miranda’s phone was unreachable.

Under the covers, Miranda stared wordlessly at her phone, which had automatically ended the call. “Why is the signal here so bad?”

“My phone only has one bar of signal. I managed to record a little today, but I can’t upload it online…” Madison said, lying on her stomach. Her hands rested on the pillow with her head in the crook of her arm. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

She had tried earlier. The signal would be better if she went out to the open area in the front yard. Inside the house, it was sheer luck if a call went through.

“Miranda, do you want me to go outside with you to make a call?”

“It’s too late. We’d better not go in or out. We’ll deal with it tomorrow.”

Madison gave a lazy grunt. She felt so tired that her eyelids were already drooping. Just as she was about to close her eyes and fall asleep, she murmured softly, “Miranda, were you talking about Dr. Jefferson when you said you’d bring reinforcements…”

Miranda was taken aback at the question. After a second, a quiet yes was heard from the darkness.

Soon, Miranda also drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of the night, both of them were awakened by the cold. They ended up squeezing into one bed and piled the quilts together to make them thicker.

Before dawn, Joli knocked on the door to wake Miranda and Madison. “Let’s go, we’re heading to the village entrance…”

Miranda woke up, and they got dressed before following Joli outside.

However, all they did was step outside. Miranda stood in the open area in front of the house and took out her phone. She originally intended to make a call, but it was early morning…

After some thought, she decided to send a message instead.

On WhatsApp, she shared their current location to Paul and described what had happened at the Clifford residence.

Madison asked, “Have you sent the message, Miranda?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Should we contact anyone else? The more help, the better! I’ve already messaged my dad to see if he has any useful ideas, but he hasn’t replied yet. He’s probably still asleep…”

Miranda thought that made sense. After thinking for a moment, she sent the same message to Sam. After all, asking her cousin for help was no trouble at all. He had said so himself.

Unbeknownst to Miranda, the two men she had messaged were currently together. And they hadn’t slept all night.

At 10:00 pm last night, Paul realized something must have happened to Miranda after he failed to reach her phone. Moreover, this situation likely involved Joli.

Without considering how late it was, Paul immediately called Miranda’s counselor, Betty

Vermont.

She answered the call with a mix of surprise and delight in her tone. “Dr. Jefferson, what’s the matter? Is there something I can do for you?”

“Where’s Miranda?” he quickly asked.

Chapter 14 fo