The Bond

Ch 80

"Bold."/"Bold italic" : animatronic is talking/animatronic is talking in mind

"Normal."/"Normal italic." : human is talking/human is talking in mind

=o^o=

He opened the door of the house in annoyance, but all he found was emptiness—no one was in there as usual. A few days of doing this made him feel like a criminal, but what else could he be able to do? He was already curious.

If Terrance didn't return to his own home, then where on earth did he go?

There was no idea at all in Mark's brain regarding that, as if it was like old times where the eldest Afton suddenly ran away. Even so, it was impossible for him to leave so soon, his friend had not fully recovered yet.

Mark sat on the porch irritably, wondering what places Terrance might go. Many of the places they had visited in the past were just to play, he had checked most of them and still found no traces indicating that Terrance had stopped there in the past few days.

So inevitably he returned repeatedly to Terrance's house to check.

It felt like dealing with a dead end.

"Damn it," he growled in exasperation.

His black eyes glanced briefly at the watch on his wrist, time had told him he had to go to work now. Mark gritted his teeth and decided to get up, he could check later. Then he stepped out of the yard, his hand opened the gate, apparently with a gasp because he came face-to-face with a girl as soon as the fence opened—he hadn't noticed her at all, but he knew her.

"You were the girl who worked at the convenience store at the time," Mark said quietly, his forehead furrowed deeply and he tried to remember the nametag the girl had worn. "Clark?"

"You have a good memory." The girl in front of him was smiling, so he was right in guessing her name? "I'm Alice Clark, and you must be Mark Halberg, right?" The girl's smile widened, Mark's eyes widened for a moment.

"How did you know my name?"

"We've been watching you with Michael Afton before." Alice's words sounded casual, but that wasn't what surprised him.

Mark took a step forward quickly. "You know Terrance? Do you know where he is now?"

"Yes, and sadly no, but that's why I'm here." Alice put her hands on her waist and looked at him earnestly, Mark straightened his lip line and his eyebrows knit together . "We would like to work with you in finding Michael Afton."

Mark snorted briefly. "What is he? Fugitive?" He chuckled involuntarily for a moment, before his gaze serious on Alice. "Then what do I get if I work together with you? I don't have time for bullshit, I just want to meet him and that's all."

For a few moments, Alice didn't answer or make a sound, but she didn't look away from him as well. Mark waited, although slowly he felt this was a waste of time. But his patience was never great.

"I'll be going the—"

"We can give you any answer you want in return."

Hearing that, his steps stopped quickly and Mark stared at Alice in disbelief. This made him hesitate now—should he trust this girl? But Alice looked very convincing.

"Who do you work for?"

Alice's smile returned. "A scientist, Victor Morgan."