When Sharon and her children arrived at the scene, Gareth and his mean were still searching. Sharon wailed and cursed at Gareth, but the man seemed deaf to the insults. His aim was in finding any remains of Jeremy's body, and his determination was so much that he was not going to allow anything to hinder that.
It was already dark, and the men were more than worn out. Their muscles ached, and their every limb felt heavy for them. But still they searched. The Rains left the scene, going back to their home. The case was reported to the police, and they showed them the note that Jeremy had written to Kiara. Officers were dispatched to go and search, and thus the search continued. Even after the officers were on it; Gareth's men still did not leave the scene.
It was around 11PM when Gareth gave up. The police were also searching, even using their German shepherds to try and track the man, yet yielding nothing. Gareth, feeling defeated, walked over to the cars and made calls, informing all his men to get ready to leave.
As soon as he got home, he immediately updated lady Pinkerton.
"What does that mean, then?" the woman asked with a frown.
"It can mean one of two things. Either the crocodiles ate him up, or the water has washed away all of his remains," Gareth explained resignedly.
The lady thought about it for a while, before asking whether or not Vine had been updated. Gareth responded in the negative, and the lady said Vine had to be updated without any further delay.
"Ok. Let me do so first thing in the morning," Gareth tried to indirectly negotiate for time to sleep, for he was thoroughly worn out.
"No!" the lady would not hear of it. "Update him now! He needs to know that Jeremy is dead."
Unable to refuse in any way, Gareth got in the car and headed for the hospital. Vine was spending almost his entire time at the hospital, coming back home only for a very short time, to see his son. Vincent Lisandro had already been introduced to formula milk and other light foods; for he had no access to breast milk any longer. He was taking it well, but everyone felt sorry for him. It was a tough time for the whole family. Rosaline, whose "mistake" the Pinkertons had forgiven and chosen to forget, instantly got a salary rise and she was the sole maid who was responsible to taking care of Vincent Lisandro.
Vine had finally given in to accepting a bed in the VIP ward in which Kiara was admitted; not that he spent much time in the bed anyway. Most of his time was spent sitting right next to Kiara; holding her hand and reassuring her. And the poor girl remained unconscious, her head swollen. She had taken a really bad fall, hitting her head on the wall. She also went through a lot of convulsions and seizures; yet it seemed like none of those managed to wake her from her unconscious state. Vine was seriously worried.
As such, Vine was already asleep, his head on the corner of Kiara's pillow, when Gareth came in. He shook his young master and asked if they could talk outside.
"What?" Vine sounded impatient.
"We did not manage to find any of his remains," Gareth explained.
"What did you find then?" the young master really wanted the matter done and dusted.
"Only his pair of trousers, which the brother took with him. And the note which I told you about earlier on."
"Let me see the note," Vine stretched out his hand and took it. It was a copy which Gareth printed from his phone; for the police had taken the original copy with them. He scanned through it, not really reading it, for he had already read the note about fifteen times over, because Gareth had sent a picture of it while he was still at Jacob and Nesisa's home.
"So?" Vine raised his brows.
"So…sorry, I don't get it. What do you mean by 'so', my young master?" Gareth asked for clarification.
"What do we have, for us to conclude that the man is dead? We have his pair of trousers and a shoe, in addition to a suicide note? And you think that I, Vine Lucas Pinkerton, will accept that? Listen Gareth, of late you have been slacking at work, and if you don't show your commitment to me; using this case, I will personally send a bullet through your brains."
"Ah, my young master. Have we already come to that? I'm doing my best…"
"Your best isn't good enough, Gareth! Go out there and bring me Jeremy's body. I won't believe that a man is dead just because of a note, a jean and a cheap old shoe! Bring me something; I want a part of him! I want to see his flesh, I want to look at his remains and only then will I believe that he is dead! Bring me his body!"
"Yes, my young master." Gareth was beginning to get scared, seeing how vicious Vine was becoming.
"Is there any of my men who is not part of the search? Because I want everyone to be involved!" Vine's cold tone came out as a whisper.
"We are all on it, sir, except for the six who are searching for guard 745 and Tessa." Gareth said.
"Well, it's time to forget about that lousy bodyguard and Tessa. For now, I want Jeremy. Go now and call back everyone who might be on leave or has taken some days off. Each and every one of my men shall be in the field, until you bring me his body."
"Yes, young master." Gareth nodded his head.
"Get on with it, then." Vine immediately turned and walked back into Kiara's ward; leaving Gareth standing with his mouth wide open.
Gareth left the hospital and immediately went home. All the men were already asleep, their muscles convulsing, feeling severely abused; for they felt that the search had been overdone. Arriving at the mansion, Gareth pressed the alarm; the one which told all the men that it was time to act. He instructed one of the senior bodyguards to instantly call all the others who were off duty and tell them to report for work as soon as could be.
Besides the men who were manning the mansion, everyone else was on the way to the river. Gareth placed the men strategically, making sure that they covered as much of the river as they possibly could. But all the same, there was no telling what might have happened. What if his body had already been washed off? What if crocodiles had eaten him whole? What if right at that moment a crocodile was swallowing the last part of his body?
The search continued until around 5AM. Gareth and his men left the scene, just at the time when police was also coming to continue with the search. Gareth was so tired that he could have just collapsed and died from exhaustion only.
He dragged his feet and entered the elevator at the mansion, and he went towards lady Pinkerton's wing. When entering the wing, one entered the office first before getting to the bedroom. Most of the issues between Gareth and the lady were discussed in the office, for the master Pinkerton himself was hardly ever a part of all the scheming. With his terrible hearing, he barely got to know what went on around him, and he had learnt, over the years, not to ask anything. His wife never gave him a straight answer, and sometimes she shouted at him for being nosy. Vine, on the other hand, sometimes acted like his grandfather did not even exist. The old man had just had enough of it.
Thus on that morning, Gareth was pulling his feet, and when he got to the door; he was just in time to hear Vine talking from inside the office,
"If he does not bring me Jeremy's body, I will make sure he dies."
The lady cleared her throat and said, "you mean it; don't you? At first I assumed you were just fooling around."
"I mean it, grandma. Gareth has made too many mistakes. He is not useful to me anymore."
"You think so?" lady Pinkerton asked.
"He was unable to find Jeremy, and even before that, who knows how many times Kiara managed to sneak from the mansion; yet Gareth did not find out about it?"
"Umm, you may be right." Lady Pinkerton said.
"And then now he comes to me, telling me that I must believe that Jeremy is dead just because of a damn trousers; a note and a shoe? Gareth is now useless, grandma. We need to let him go. We must find fresh blood."
"I thought you two had an attachment." Lady Pinkerton tried to reason with Vine.
"We might have, but I mean business. He is now too old for this, and he knows too much. I can't possibly fire him, he just knows too much about us. Not that I fear him, but no man who knows what Gareth knows should be left to walk free."
"You're becoming more ruthless than your father was," lady Pinkerton sounded as if she was smiling.
"I will give him one last chance. If he fails to bring me Jeremy's body, then he dies."
"Is this only about Jeremy's body? Do you really want Jeremy dead that much?" the lady chuckled.
"It is also a test for Gareth." Vine snapped.
"And if he fails it?"
"Well, like I have said before, grandma; if he fails it, he dies. I will use Jeremy as the test. If Gareth managed to bring me the body; good for him. But if he fails, grandma, what's the point of keeping an old horse if it can no longer run as perfectly as it used to?"
"So, if it wasn't for the so-called test, were you going to let Jeremy live?" the lady sounded amused.
"I don't know; I might have. It's just irritating that he has the guts to enter into my territory and touch what is mine."
"Worse than your father, I tell you. You have just become worse than my son."
To that, Vine did not respond. There was silence, then Vine spoke again,
"Within a few days, I would have made a decision about the old horse Gareth. I want new blood. I need the viciousness of a lion; the speed of a cheetah, the power of a horse. A wild one, grandma."
The lady laughed heartily. "And Gareth? Doesn't he have any of those?" she asked.
"He used to; but not anymore. The old horse must go, grandma." His voice was icy cold, stating every word in detailed depth; just the way he spoke when he truly meant it.
"Sure. Let the horse die," the lady said.
And then Gareth heard the clicking of glasses, showing that the two were toasting; toasting to his death. He sweated.