Chapter 1677:

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Jarrod looked at the boy, judging whether he was telling the truth. Feeling scared, the boy pointed to his mother’s pocket and said, “Sir, I’m not lying. The money is in my mother’s pants pocket. Check it out if you don’t believe me.”

The mother’s voice trembled. “He’s just talking nonsense. He doesn’t know what he’s saying…. Please don’t listen to him.”

Jarrod stood his ground. “You might want to explain it to the police. You still have the five grand, don’t you?”

The mother blushed. She still hadn’t spent the five thousand dollars she’d been given. She thought she could easily cash in for the day, but now she was in serious trouble, on her way to the police station. Just his luck…

Jarrod’s suspicions were compounded. Was this incident specifically aimed at Nicole’s pregnancy? He suspected there was more to it.

Unexpectedly, Nicole shouted from behind him, “Mom! Mom, where are you?”

Jarrod rushed over and asked, “What happened, where’s your mother?”

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“My mother is missing,” Nicole replied, her voice trembling with emotion.

Shortly before, in the midst of the chaos, Dora had been at Nicole’s side. Suddenly, she was gone. Given Dora’s limited cognitive abilities, similar to those of a small child, she could not have gone far on her own.

Nicole frantically set out to search, but Jarrod calmed her down by telling her, “Don’t panic. We’ll review the surveillance footage. I’ve sent the bodyguards to check it out. You can’t outrun them.”

Nicole accepted his logic and struggled to maintain her composure.

In the security office, the staff had already retrieved the images showing Dora initially behind the bodyguards, next to Nicole. In the midst of the altercation involving a man struggling with a bodyguard, the rest of the bodyguards repositioned themselves to protect Nicole and Jarrod, inadvertently leaving Dora unattended. For reasons unclear, Dora quickly moved to a nearby corner, captivated by something invisible.

The bodyguards, focused on Nicole and Jarrod, failed to notice Dora slipping away. Later footage showed Dora entering through the emergency exit stairway, which lacked surveillance, ruling out that exit as her path. The remaining exit through the subway parking garage became the primary target, but the camera was not functioning properly, complicating efforts to confirm Dora’s direction.

Realizing the urgency, due to the short time since Dora’s disappearance, Jarrod ordered all bodyguards to search the garage and all possible exits. He also had the crisis management team examine all available surveillance video from the mall, thanks to his connections with the mall owner that granted him full access.

Restless, Nicole insists on checking the garage herself. Jarrod, unable to refuse her request, agreed to accompany her. The police quickly arrived, and Ethel was among them. After being informed of the situation, Ethel comforted Nicole and assisted in the search.

The police began their investigation in the stairwell where Dora was last seen and descended to the garage. Near the entrance to the subway parking garage, Nicole spotted a pearl hair clip on the floor. She picked it up and recognized it immediately. She said, “This is the hairpin I chose for my mother, selected specifically for the roundness and luster of the pearls.”

This discovery confirmed that Dora had been in the garage, suggesting that it might have been taken from there. Ethel took it upon herself to check the surveillance cameras that monitored the garage exits. She quickly identified three suspicious black vehicles, one in particular with forged license plates, which raised immediate concern.

Ethel led a detailed follow-up on this vehicle and, with the support of Jarrod’s crisis team, they quickly traced the vehicle’s route. Jarrod coordinated the vehicles to follow the suspect, opting to keep Nicole behind for safety, concerned that the real target might be Nicole herself due to her pregnancy: a high-speed chase posed too great a risk to her.

Understanding Jarrod’s caution, Nicole agreed to stay behind, waiting anxiously while Jarrod deployed a team to pursue the vehicle. The rest of the security team stayed with Nicole at the mall to protect her, and Jarrod joined the chase.

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