Chapter 58 Chapter fifty-seven

His head seemed to have been split in half with a machete.I wanted to touch it, to push the pain back, but I couldn't move my hands.The shoulder hurts and can feel a wet tingling on the inside of the arm.what happened? Someone is talking and wants me to hear. "Olivia, come on! Olivia, wake up!" A gentle hand was touching my face, but not the speaker's hand.It was a man's voice, and the hand was soft.I heard a woman's voice: "I think she's waking up, Tom." I heard a grunt. "That's her speakerphone," another gruff voice said from behind, scrambling and staccato instructions.I heard "ambulance" "more bodies" "kids" and suddenly I woke up.What was he referring to, more corpses?Where are my children?

I want to sit up, a strong hand on my shoulder. "Olivia, can you talk?" I tried to nod, but got a terrible headache.In an instant, everything rushed towards me with such a force that it almost knocked me down. "Robert took my children," I murmured, almost audibly to myself, trying to remember if it was real or just my imagination.But I knew it was real, and the voice slowly gained strength. "He took them, he took my children." I sobbed the last word. "We know we'll find them." "Someone said 'more corpses,' what did that mean?" I heard a gasp of shock and focused my gaze on a beautiful young woman with dark hair and tired eyes.

"No, no, we didn't find any more bodies. I think the officer wanted to call in some reinforcements and tell them to go out and find your boys." Thank God.But how long have I been in a coma? As if reading my mind, the other man—the one with the strong arms—began to speak. "Do you know what time it was when Robert got here? We need to know how far he might have traveled so we can plan our search reasonably." I have no idea.I can't think, but I know I have to. "Looking at my phone. As soon as Sophie called me, I brought the kids up from the beach. Then I saw him here. It all happened so fast - fifteen minutes, at most Not more than twenty minutes."

The young woman has figured it out. "Damn it. We're only three minutes late, Tom, or eight minutes at worst." I recognized the policeman in uniform.He's the patrol officer on this island, but I don't know who the other two are, only that they're here to help me, but don't have time for an introduction. "I know where he might have taken them." My voice was hoarse with excitement, but I steadied myself. "He'll take them to a cliff, high above the sea." The officer listened, waiting for instructions. "Why, Olivia? Why did he take them up the cliff?" asked the man named Tom.

I could barely speak as the images flashed by, my eyes filled with horror.But I remember that day at South Stack Lighthouse, and his last words to the kids, "Say goodbye to Mama." "He's going to jump, he's going to take my kids with him." "Becky, you stay here with Olivia. Olivia, Becky is an inspector. If your husband comes back, she will take care of you, okay?" No, of course not. "I'm going with you guys," I said, and I could tell the man was going to argue.I have vague memories of him, but I can't remember them. "I don't know who you are, but that's my child. I'm going with you."

I struggled to get up, the pain in my head was so excruciating that I almost passed out, the skull seemed to need to be held together or it would break into pieces, but I couldn't let them see. "You're going to delay us, Olivia. Stay here." "No. If Robert sees you and he's near a cliff, he'll jump off. I'm your best hope of dissuading him from doing that." I'm sure I heard him mutter a few curse words, but I don't care.What are we still delaying? Tom looked at the island constable. "What's our plan, Ray?" he asked. "The good news is that there are no steep cliffs nearby, and his speed will be hindered by the three children. I have notified the local fire brigade, and they will pretend to be there in case he gets scared and escapes. The lifeboat is already on the way out to sea. , they will patrol along the island, and if they find him, they will call us. Does the ambulance still need to stay here?"

I want to shake my head, but that's not a good idea. "No," I said, "I'm not going in the ambulance. I'm going with you." The two officers looked at each other, and the island patrolman shrugged. "No time to argue. It seems to me that if Brooks had left by the back door, he would have turned right on the path. A left would have led to the beach, where there were no cliffs for miles. My The police officer just told me that he has walked about 250 meters along the cliff path and has not found any trace of Brooks." Ray walked slowly towards the door, "I'm going to chase him now to make sure he doesn't hide Somewhere in the middle. I have your number." And he ran out.

"Then what are we waiting for!" I yelled, annoyed at their apparent procrastination. The young woman hugged me. "We needed to keep a car nearby so that when they found the kids we could get there as quickly as possible. Ray left us the police car, which was a 4WD and we could drive it up those rough terrain. Xiaolu." She took my hand and led me to sit on a chair. "Let me see your head," she said gently.But the strange thing is that I don't care about the pain, it just reminds me what to do. After sitting for about 30 seconds, I suddenly stood up from my seat, followed by a sharp pain in my head, which reminded me to keep steady, otherwise I might faint again. "Can we just go in the right direction and stop him? Please, I can't just sit here and do nothing."

I caught a look between the two officers and sensed that they were equally frustrated. Tom nodded slightly. "He's been walking for about fifteen to twenty minutes. The average walking speed is about five kilometers an hour, but with the kids?" I knew Robert would hold Freddie and Jasmin would keep up with him.Only Billy would slow him down, but not for the first kilometer at least.I told them this and Tom seemed to agree with what I said. "Becky, you drive and I'll show you the way," he said.Becky gave him a surprised look, and I couldn't understand why. "Where is your map?"

"In the car." She picked up her bag, "Do you want to talk to Ray?" Tom had put the phone to his ear and was heading for the front door. "Ray, we're leaving for a spot on the Cliff Path about one and a half miles from this house. Yes, we've got a map and we'll catch you up there."