The Marvelous Elijah’s Return

Chapter 35

There’s a serious problem

A gentle knock on the door made Mr. Bamford look up from the case file on his desk and stared ahead, calling out, “Come in.”

When the door opened, luis secretary Lucy entered his office with a soft smile, saying, “Sir, there‘s a visitor for you.”

“‘Who?” Mr. Bamford replied without looking up from the case file, still reading through the information about the crime he was currently investigating.

“Madam Jewel Haye,” “Hmm,”

The pen in his hand dropped on the sheet as he lifted his head slightly to glance at his secretary with an eyebrow raised.

Then he rested back in his seat and sighed softly, “Send her in,”

“Yes, sir,” Lucy said with a nod.

Silently, Mr. Bamford watched her walk out of his office and waited until she closed his door before turning his attention back to the papers on his desk.

A couple of minutes went by, then the door opened again, this time to reveal Mrs. Haye. She had her hands tucked into the front pockets of her black fluffy coat as she stepped inside before closing the door behind her.

“Mrs. Hayes, ” Bamford greeted her politely as he placed a bookmark between the pages of his work folder before closing it. “Chief, good afternoon.” Madam Jewel smiled widely and stepped further into his

office.

Gracefully, she took a seat across from him in one of the plush leather chairs in front of his desk and crossed her leg over the other.

“Frederick would be just fine, Mrs. Hayes.” Mr. Bamford said calmly, sitting up straight as he rested his elbows on the table, clutching his fingers together.

“Well, Frederick, I am not someone that likes to beat around the bush or make idle

chit chat, so I am going to go straight to the point.” Madam Jewel spoke slowly as she looked directly into Bamford‘s eyes, her dark brown orbs locked onto his. “Who made you interfere with the reporters at Paz motel?”

The office fell silent for several long moments, neither of them breaking eye contact.

Eventually, Mr. Bamford chuckled and shook his head as he leaned against his chair and said,” Now, why would Mrs. Hayes trouble herself with such trivial matters?”

“It‘s personal,” Madam Jewel insisted, her voice taking on a tone of warning, which Mr. Bamford found amusing.

“And if I may ask,” Mr. Bamford continued with a smirk, “What makes you think I have anything to do with these… ‘personal‘ matters?” “We both know that what you did, was cross the line with us, Hayes, and also meddled in

something that was none of your business.”

Her cold stare never wavered as she niet Bamford‘s unblinking brown eyes, not even flickering once.

Bamford simply let out another quiet laugh before raising an eyebrow at the woman seated opposite of him as he said, “I assure you, Ms. Hayes, you‘re wrong… Also, isn‘t Peach your granddaughter? How

come helping her is defined as me crossing the line?” That question left Madam Jewel speechless for several seconds, staring daggers at the man before her. When she finally collected enough composure to speak, her voice had taken on an icy undertone, “Don‘t escape from the matter at hand.”

“I am not, Mrs. Hayes. It just amazed me that helping the granddaughter of late Mr. Hayes would earn me a visit from his wife and put me on the spot with the family.” Mr. Bamford replied coolly while leaning back in his chair as if there was nothing particularly important that needed to be discussed.

Of course, Mr. Bamford knew the situation between Peach and the rest of the Hayes family, but playing dumb was the only way he knew how not to offend someone like Bryan Checks, and also, not have the Hayes up his ass.

Not wanting to waste any more time arguing with this man, Madam Hayes quickly changed tactics and asked the next question on her mind, “So who made you help my

granddaughter, Peach?”

For the first time, Bamford broke his poker face, letting out a small chuckle, and said, “Madam Jewel, I was simply doing my job. That‘s all that was.” “You could have just sent your men. But you were at the motel, doing fieldwork yourself.” Madam Jewel narrowed her eyes, daring Bamford to disagree. “Well, as a ‘Hayes,‘ you should know how important you guys‘ names are. So when I got the

report that Grace and Peach Hayes were getting bullied by a bunch of reporters, I decided to step in and make sure they weren‘t harmed.”

“Is that so?”

“Hmm umm.”

The office remained silent for a few minutes, and Mr. Bamford refused to break the

tense silence that now hung in the air.

Knowing that she wasn‘t going to get much more out of the chief, Madam Hayes stood up from her seat and said, “Well, I should not take up most of your time then, Frederick.” When Mr. Bamford nodded, she woke from her seat and walked towards the door, turning to face him once more before exiting the room.

A sense of rage ate at Madam Jewel as she marched down the hallway, and as she was about to walk past Lucy‘s desk, she hastened to her feet and said, “It‘s a pleasure seeing you, Madam Jewel!!”

Immediately, Mrs. Hayes stopped and turned toward Lucy, glaring at her with a slight hint of irritation. Then she suddenly lost the frown and replaced it with a faint smile as she asked, “What‘s your name, young lady?”

A sense of happiness flooded Lucy‘s body as she smiled wide and exclaimed, “It‘s

Lucy

“Well, Lucy, can this old woman ask you something important?” Madam Jewel asked politely Lucy hesitated for a moment, wondering what was so urgent that Madam

Jewel was asking for help from her, and she mumbled, “Uh, yeah! Of course, you can ask me anything.”

Once again, a warm smile spread across Madam Jewel‘s face as she asked, “Who asked your boss to clear up the reporters from Paz motel?”

A nervous look swept across Lucy‘s face as she stammered, “Mmm… Well…”

“Well?” Madam Jewel pressed, clearly not impressed with her hesitance,

Suddenly, Lucy realized just how serious the situation was, and quickly blurted out two words, “Bryan Checks.” “Bryan Checks?!” Madam Jewel asked and her expression immediately darkened, causing her

eyebrows to furrow. “Yes. I heard my boss speaking with him over the phone about it.”

“Are you sure?!”

“Positive.”

A sense of great worry began to fill Madam Jewel‘s heart, and she nervously darted her eyes about before walking oil hurriedly, leaving Lucy staring after her in confusion When Madam Jewel stepped outside of the police station and got to her limousine, Oliver, her driver quickly helped her get inside and shut the door The look of stress he sawon her face made himconcerned because she looked pale and very shaken up.

After he got behind the steering wheel, he took a look at her dim eyes in the rearview mirror before glancing at the road and starting the car engine, driving away from the station With a shaking hand, Madam Jewel opened her purse and reached into it for her phone, pulling it out.

Then quickly scrolled through her contacts, stopping at her first son‘s number and dialing it.

It took a few rings before his voice sounded over the receiver, “Mom, what‘s up?” “Dean, son…“Madam Jewel said, her voice laced with concern, “I want you to listen carefully okay, Dean.” A couple of seconds when by with his deep sigh before he said, “Mom, I am in a meeting with

“Listen, Dean!!” Madam Jewel snapped harshly, cutting him off, “There‘s a problem… a serious problem… And I need you to alert the entire family that we are having a meeting at the mansion tonight over a family dinner, got it?!”

“What.”

“Got it, Dean?!”

Another deep sigh came from the other end before her son said, “… Yeah, mom”

“Good.” With that, Madam Jewel ended her call and placed her phone in her lap as she stared blankly ahead of her.

Resting his phone on the table, Dean‘s eyes darted to Tommy and then towards his three other brothers and two sisters.

“Was that mother?” Cora asked, looking up at her brother. It took a moment for Dean to get over his surprise with what Madam Jewel had told him and nodded silently, mumbling, “It was her, and she sounded so frantic that it made me worried.” “Mother sounded troubled…?” The youngest brother, Eli said, scratching his chin. “What could make her stressed like that?” “I am not sure. All she said was that the whole family has gotten called in for some sort of meeting over dinner tonight because there is a serious problem… which she didn‘t tell me what it

was.”

“That‘s weird,” Elmer said, frowning slightly. The board room fell silent as everyone nervously looked at each other, hoping that one of their siblings knew what was going on and could fill them in.

Finally, Dean cleared his throat and said, “Well, you all should contact your children. Mother made it clear that she wanted everyone present at dinner.”