Chapter 256
The production team was pacing nervously
Midway through filming, the lead actors, Stirling and Yesbel, had mysteriously vanished. If word got out, it would spell disaster for
involved, from the investors down to the last crew membert
The person in charge of the crew sighed in relief at Noells’s arrival. “We’ve been keeping it under wraps, too scared to even call the cops. Thank heavens you are here, or we’d have no clue how to handle this messt
Noella frowned, her tone stem. “How could you even think of not reporting something this serious? If anything happens to Stirling and Yashet, who’s going to take responsibility?”
She wasn’t a cop or a detective. Surely, the crew couldn’t expect her to find them, could they?
Sewing the faint anger on Noella’s face, the crew leader wiped his sweat and hurriedly explained, ‘We wanted to, really, but Stirling and Wasbel’s agent told us to wait for you!”
Yasbel was under contract with Polaris Star’s own entertainment company, East Sea Culture Company. The agent, being an internal staff member, decided not to alert the authorities, uncertain of what had actually happened.
Noella stepped into the room. “If there’s no news in two hours, call the police. You’ve already missed the golden hour for a search and
rescue
The production was a massive investment, and they were hoping this movie would be their ticket to major awards. If it leaked that the leads were missing, billions in investment would go down the drain!
The crew leader didn’t dare hesitate and quickly agreed.
Noella’s gaze then turned to the two agents waiting by the side. “Has Stirling been harassed by any fans recently?”
“Just those. Even if Stirling filed a complaint, most of them are underage, barely fourteen. It’s tricky to handle.”
From day one of shooting, several obsessed fans, barely twelve, had been lurking around, forcing the crew to arrange transportation to send them home. Unfortunately, this made those fans think Stirling was indulging and welcoming them!
An agent pulled out a phone. “This is Stirling’s phone. I don’t know the passcode, Ms. Noella. Maybe you could try.”
The lock screen was a photo of Stirling and Noella together, with a few members of the Schnabel family cropped out at the edges.
Noella paused for a moment, then tried her birthday as the passcode, and it worked.
She remembered Stirling mentioning that he had set all his devices, including his bank PIN, to her birthday!
The message inbox was filled with offensive content.
“Why didn’t Surling just contact his carrier to disable messaging?”
The agent explained, “Stirling used to ignore his messages, but after you went home, sometimes you’d text, and Stirling would check in case he missed something from you.”
In reality, the times Noella actually texted were few and far between, as she preferred to call if there was something important.
Stirling’s fear of missing any message from Noella was evident.
Noella didn’t know whether to blame herself for texting Stirling in the first place or regret that she hadn’t sent him more messages!
The few messages she did send were all saved as favorites by Stirling!
Palmer, seeing Noella’s guilt, whispered soothingly, “Even if he disabled messaging, those fans would just start calling, making it even more of a hassle. It’s not your fault. Besides, we shouldn’t have to limit ourselves to avoid these situations. The most important thing is dealing with these intrusive fans effectively”
Noella quickly composed herself. “Let’s focus on finding them. Where was Yasbel’s last known location?”
Nolan replied, “North, near a small creek.”
Glen Village was small, surrounded by mountains, with the border only a hundred kilometers further.
Noella pocketed Stirling’s phone. “Lead the way”
As they approached, the gate of a nearby house creaked open, and Maddox emerged, draped in an army coat.
“Ms. Noella and Mr. Pollack, you’re back? Why didn’t you let me know!”
“Maddox, have you heard anything unusual these past few days?”
Living not far from Verdant Garden, Maddox would’ve noticed if Stirling and Yasbel had disappeared!
Everyone looked at Maddox with hopeful eyes.
Chapter 256
Maddox pondered for a moment. “Let’s see, Ellsworth Fuller came by the other night, along with the rest of the Fuller family, asking for Ms. Noella’s contact. I didn’t give it to them!”
Remembering the Fullers‘ expressions made Maddox angry. They clearly had no good intentions!
“I didn’t hear anything unusual at night. The young master mentioned their filming was a bit noisy, so I didn’t stay here at night.”
Maddox lived nearby mainly to keep an eye on Noella’s property and to guard Old Mrs. Lambert’s coffin.
When the Schnabel family came in full force to respectfully relocate Old Mrs. Lambert to the Schnabel family’s cemetery, Maddox was somewhat relieved. He worried about who would accompany Old Mrs. Lambert when he passed away!
With Stirling staying at Verdant Garden, Maddox decided to spend his nights at a distant nephew’s house, away from the film crew.
Maddox was quite pleased with the Schnabel children; they were clearly extraordinary folks. Stirling’s concern for his rest was touching!
Hearing that they were missing, Maddox grew anxious too.
Noella nodded. “I’ll check the north.”
“North? The Fuller family’s old house is up there too!”
The Fuller family’s ancestral home had been neglected for years, left to crumble and decay, yet it indeed lay to the north!
“Take me to see it!”
“Sure thing!”
Maddox, without any hesitation, led Noella and the film crew on a grand trek towards the northern hillside.
The paths around Glen Village were treacherous, with wild grass towering over humans, and many areas were simply impassable. The film crew grumbled under their breath but dared not voice their complaints too loudly.
They had seen Noella striding ahead, leading the way without so much as a word of complaint. Not only did she not complain, but Noella also moved at a brisk pace!
She and Palmer followed Maddox, leaving the rest of the film crew far behind, clearly very concerned about Stirling!
The sibling bond between the Schnabels was admirably strong!
Palmer reached the hilltop first and turned back to extend a hand to Noella. “Come on!”
He showed no sign of complaint in such a setting.
One moment he was the CEO covered in gold, hands tied up with international contracts worth billions, and the next, he stood on the challenging slopes of a hillside village, reaching out through the thorns to Noella.
Placing her hand in Palmer’s, Noella easily climbed up the hillside with his help, then turned to Maddox. “Maddox, the film crew might not make it up here. Wait for them and take them around another way.”
Noella and Palmer, being top–tier assassins accustomed to operating in border areas, found scaling such slopes to be as easy as pie.
However, for the film crew attempting to climb this nearly vertical hillside, the task would prove much more challenging!
To save time, Noella and Palmer opted for a shortcut.
Maddox, unable to make the climb himself, stayed behind to wait for the crew.
“Alright! Just over this hilltop, and we’ll be at the Fuller family’s place
