"Wolf? Wolf killed him?" Hunter could not believe his ears and questioned Naomi again for confirmation. "Naomi, is there a mistake?"
"No, Hunter. It was Wolf who accepted the contract to kill Joseph Williams." Naomi's voice turned almost inaudible at the end.
But Hunter heard her loud and clear and his mind went blank. Even Noami was baffled by the turn of events. Never had she expected that Wolf would end up accepting the contract to kill Hunter's friend's father. It was utterly a mess, and she started to doubt everything for the first time in her life.
"Hunter, are you ..." She stopped herself, unable to complete her words. How could Hunter be fine when his friend was missing and her father was murdered by a member of the association he worked for?
Hunter took a deep breath and tried to get out of his shock. "Noami, can you find out who offered the money to kill Josepth Williams?"
"Umm...I tried looking into it. But I am unable to find much. All I know is that I got orders from the higher-ups and Wolf took it up when he saw the payment. It was enormous."
Naomi explained and Hunter nodded to himself. Now, he was more than willing to believe that Ryan was involved in this matter and he narrowed his eyes in disgust.
"Was it Ryan who initiated the deal?" Hunter queried when he could not stop himself. In his mind, Ryan had already become the culprit and all he needed was confirmation.
"No, it was not Ryan." Naomi stared at her laptop, her forehead creasing into a frown. "It was Nina. She uploaded Joseph's details to the database and Wolf and I accepted it. I am sorry, Hunter. I did not know."
Naomi did not know what to feel at that moment. Although she had only done her job, she had killed Hunter's acquaintance indirectly. She was filled with regret and uneasiness.
"It's fine, Naomi. You were only doing your job. I don't blame you or Wolf." Hunter assured her even though his voice cracked, giving away his true emotions at the moment.
"I am sorry." Naomi lowered her head and let out a sigh. "I really did not know."
"It does not matter, Naomi. If Wolf and you had not accepted the contract, someone else would have. Any which way, Joseph Williams would have died." Hunter sighed in defeat and Naomi just remained silent.
Although she was filled with guilt and self-reproach, this was her job and she could do nothing much about it. However, she still felt terrible for Hunter.
"Naomi, I need some time to clear my head. I will talk to you later." Hunter ended the call without waiting for her response and looked at the ceiling. He stared blankly as he thought about Mia once again.
"This is more twisted than I thought. Should I talk to Ryan about this matter?" Hunter wondered and his fingers lingered over Ryan's number on his phone. But he decided against it when all that had happened and all he had found out flashed in his mind.
"I absolutely cannot trust Ryan. He is..." Hunter shook his head and recalled what Naomi had spoken.
Hunter felt like crap. Although he had returned to the past, he still felt like a moron when he thought about how someone out there, possibly his friend, was controlling his life and he could not do anything about it.
"How will I find out anything?" He racked his head to think of someone, something, anything that could help him and right at that moment, he remembered the system he had forgotten in his agitation.
"Huey? Are you there? Can you please help me this time?" He requested, his eyes gleaming in hope.
"Please, Huey. I need you. I just want to find my friend. Please." He begged.
At first, there was no response. Just when he was about to give up, he heard a sigh and his eyes lit up.
"What do I do about you?"
Hunter heard Huey grumble and he let out a chuckle of relief and delight. "Can you please help me? I need to know what happened to my friend."
Huey sighed again and Hunter imagined a young lady in glasses shaking her head with her hand on her hips. Unknowingly, he found her cute even though he could not put any face to the lady in his mind.
"I know what you are thinking, Mister. Stop it before I decide against helping you." Huey's voice turned stern and Hunter patted his cheeks to remove the strange thoughts and pictures from his mind.
"I'm sorry. I got carried away."
"Better." Huey huffed and went silent for a moment. "I can help you with your friend's matter." She started. "But you will have to wait for that."
"Not a problem. I will wait." Hunter almost yelled in joy. "But how long?"
"You will not get anything from me until your health points reach 100. So..." She stopped, her voice turning challenging in the end. "It all depends on you. The sooner you get well, the better and sooner you'll discover the answers you so desperately seek."
Hunter was not disappointed by her words this time. Instead, he was filled with hope and rejuvenated energy. Previously, he had no leads, and everyone he had sought had been unable to find Mia. But with Huey...
"I will wait, Huey. I will. I have waited all these months. A few days more will not be troublesome for me. Thank you."
"No issues. But let me give you a heads-up before that." Huey's tone suddenly turned mysterious, and Hunter frowned in confusion.
"Be prepared for the secrets you are going to uncover are unbelievable. I hope your heart will be able to take it."
Her words came crashing down on Hunter as though a bucket of cold water had been poured on him and he shivered in fright, not knowing what the expect.
"Before leaving, let me add something else. The first person you are to kill is someone closely associated with Mia and her disappearance."