Chapter 330
2-in-1-chapter
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"Joss…" River began awkwardly.
"River, you don't need to say anything. Your friend was right—it was my fault. I…"
Joss covered her face and turned her back on River.
"I'm sorry. Randy's been missing for so long. Even when he ran away before, he never stayed away this long. That's why I lost control—and took it out on you. Please forgive me."
Her apology lifted a weight from River's guilt-ridden heart.
He comforted her. "No, Joss—this isn't your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's that bastard Anthony Harris. If not for him, Randy wouldn't be missing."
Joss nodded slowly.
Leo's harsh words had jolted her awake.
Now she realized that River was the only one both willing and able to help her.
She shouldn't have treated him that way.
Randy's disappearance wasn't River's fault—and she shouldn't have blamed him.
Having cleared her head, Joss gradually calmed down.
She asked quietly, "River, tell me the truth. Is Randy already dead?"
"No." River answered immediately.
Joss shook her head. "River, please don't lie to me."
Joss might work menial jobs, but she wasn't stupid.
The perpetrator was still in a coma, so neither River nor the NCPD could have gotten any information about the other missing kids whereabouts.
And the news said the child who was found with the perpetrator had been injected with large amounts of drugs.
Could Randy have escaped a similar fate?
The worst outcome was that Randy was already dead.
Even if he was still alive—without knowing where he was—how long would it take to find him? If it took too long, he'd be dead anyway.
"Joss, I'm a detective. Don't you trust my judgment? We haven't found Randy yet—but my instincts tell me he's still alive."
Joss stared at River's determined expression—and finally nodded.
"I believe you."
River let out a long breath.
Besides Randy, what River worried about most was Joss herself.
He didn't know if Randy was alive—but he knew Joss had to hold on.
If she fell apart, her other two children would truly be lost.
"Joss, we came here because we want to check Randy's things. We might find a clue."
"Yes, of course. No problem."
"Thank you."
River offered a few more words of comfort and encouragement—then prepared to leave. There was no time to waste.
If they were lucky, they might find something in Randy's room that could lead them directly to him.
As River stepped out of the kitchen, Joss suddenly called out behind him.
"River."
He looked back, puzzled.
Joss lowered her head and whispered, "Please… apologize to Leo for me."
River nodded solemnly, reassuring her.
"I will. But don't worry too much—Leo isn't the petty type."
"Who said I'm not petty?"
Outside, in the yard, after hearing River relay Joss's apology, Leo spread his hands and replied with mock indignation.
"Huh?" River was momentarily stunned.
Leo laughed. "At the very least—after we find Randy—she'll need to cook up a huge meal to properly reward us. Then I might forgive her."
"Oh, is that all? I thought… well, that I can guarantee!" River breathed a sigh of relief. "Her cooking is excellent. We'll make sure you're invited."
............
Randy lived in a nearby trailer.
It was clear that even though Joss didn't have much time to look after Randy, her love for him was no less than for her other two children.
Joss squeezed into one trailer with two of her kids, while Randy had a trailer all to himself.
Randy had gone astray partly due to losing his father at a young age, his poor background, and the influence of adolescence—there were objective reasons behind his behavior.
Even so, Joss had done everything within her ability to give Randy all she could.
But Randy failed to appreciate his mother's good intentions, thinking only of his own feelings.
It was really immature. And expected from a teenage boy.
Leo and River stepped into Randy's trailer. River said, "This is where Randy lived."
Leo asked, puzzled, "Isn't Joss really poor? How could she afford two trailers?"
These trailers, though meant for low-income people, weren't something everyone could afford. Otherwise, even in 2023, you wouldn't have people sleeping in tents—or worse, without even tents, lying on park benches.
A new trailer generally cost tens of thousands of eurodollars; even a used one went for a few thousand. High-end models could run into six figures.
But from what Leo had seen, even coming up with a few thousand would be difficult for Joss.
So where did she get the money for another trailer?
River, hands on hips, explained, "This was their old home. I bought them a new one, and Randy moved in here."
Leo understood immediately.
So it was River who had helped them out.
No wonder.
While NCPD salaries weren't exactly high, it depended on who you compared them to. They couldn't match corpos, but they were better than most other jobs.
But River was always seen wearing the same worn leather coat, driving a cheap pickup instead of a better car, living in a police dorm without even renting a proper place.
Now Leo understood—he had spent his money supporting his sister's family.
Considering this, Joss's previous bad attitude toward River was even less justifiable.
Fortunately, Joss was a reasonable person. After Leo's persuasion, she'd come to her senses.
"You look around; I'll check the trash," River said.
They divided the work.
River went for the trash, thinking that a kid like Randy probably hadn't been careful enough to hide all traces, and there might be clues there.
Leo opened the bathroom first, but as expected, found nothing useful. He went straight for Randy's bedroom.
This trailer was even smaller than the one they'd just come from.
It only had a bedroom, a bathroom, and a living area. No more space.
River had said this used to be Joss's family home. Leo could hardly imagine how Joss, her husband, and three kids used to live in such a cramped space.
He shook his head to dismiss the thought—it was more important to focus on the task at hand.
Scanning Randy's bedroom, Leo noted how tiny it was. Besides a bed and a desk, there wasn't much else.
The bed had no blanket—just a discarded shirt thrown on it. Nothing interesting.
His gaze fell on a magazine on the nightstand. He flipped through it but found it was just an ordinary magazine.
He put it down and pulled at the nightstand itself.
This time he noticed something unusual.
The drawer was locked.
Typically, when something was locked, it meant the owner didn't want it disturbed—and it was exactly where something valuable was likely hidden.
Leo examined the nightstand carefully. It was an ordinary piece of furniture—his Tanto knife could easily cut it open.
But instead of doing that, he called River over: "The drawer's locked. Do you know where the key is?"
River came over, looking just as clueless.
"I don't know, but I think I saw a key on the shelf in the living room. I'll grab it and check."
Before he finished speaking, River was already rushing out. Less than half a minute later, he rushed back holding a heavily worn key.
Leo stepped aside and watched River insert the key into the lock.
Inside the drawer was a game cartridge, a strategy guidebook, and a game box.
Seeing the box and the guidebook's cover, Leo immediately recognized the game.
It was called Battle for Heywood—an AR game requiring an AR device to play. Very popular among kids.
The game itself wasn't worth much discussion. It was simple, with a plot that would have felt outdated even in 2023:
An evil warlord terrorizes Heywood, gathering a horde of henchmen, and the player's goal is to defeat the villain and his gang to bring peace back to Heywood.
The game supported one to four players and allowed difficulty adjustments. If four people played together, they all needed AR gear—but only one needed to own the game. Through family sharing, the others could join without buying extra copies.
As you entered the game and moved from one scene to the next, the AR equipment would scan the surroundings and adapt the game environment accordingly.
"Game?"
River took out the game chip, the strategy guide, and the game box, flipping through them one by one, but he couldn't find anything unusual.
He shook his head and pushed the drawer closed again, but then his gaze caught something: "Leo, look under this bed—there's something down there."
Reminded by River, Leo crouched and bent down to peer under the bed and spotted a laptop quietly lying underneath.
River carefully pulled the laptop out, noticing the distinct Zetatech logo on its lid.
"Randy was so broke, but he's using a Zetatech?"
In 2023, Zetatech was already synonymous with overpriced luxury—not exactly a scam, but if you weren't rich, there were countless ways to build a PC with the same specs for far less.
By 2077, Zetatech was still around, still one of the best-known computer brands.
"Where'd he get the money?" River frowned as Leo placed the laptop on the table. "That thing's expensive. No way Randy could've bought this himself—a kid like that doesn't have that kind of cash."
Fort and some NCPD higher-ups also used Zetatech machines, so River knew exactly how much they were worth.
The laptop powered on, but before it reached the desktop, it stopped at a password prompt.
River looked at Leo expectantly. "We have to check this out. But I don't know the password—can you crack it?"
Leo spread his hands. "Didn't I already tell you back at the NCPD lab entrance? I'm no netrunner."
Frustrated, River scratched his head. "Damn! Then we have to guess it. What would he use as a password?"
Then an idea struck him—he rushed back to the drawer he'd just closed, rummaging through it.
But the result was the same as before.
Refusing to give up, River pulled the entire drawer out, checking every corner for a hidden note.
Still nothing.
He had to accept the truth: teenagers have sharp minds—they don't need to jot down passwords the way thirty-something corporate drones might, afraid of forgetting while fetching delivery.
And if the password was just numbers, that might still be possible. But this was a computer password: numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, symbols—it was hopeless.
"We could search the place for clues—"
"No need," Leo interrupted. "Didn't I tell you I have a friend—she's a specialist in this sort of thing. A simple laptop password like this is nothing for her."
River's eyes lit up. "Perfect! Call her over then."
But Leo shook his head.
"We'll bring the laptop to her. Maybe she can quickly find the place where Anthony Harris hid Randy and the other kids."
River thought for a moment, then nodded. "That works too."
River grabbed the laptop, found the power cable in the room, and followed Leo out of Randy's trailer.
"Hold on, Leo," River said awkwardly. "I should say goodbye to Joss. It wouldn't feel right just disappearing like this."
Leo nodded. "I'll wait here—I need to make a call anyway."
While River went inside to talk to Joss, Leo called Lucy, explained the situation, and asked her to head to Afterlife.
Then he called Rogue to borrow Afterlife's netrunning suite temporarily.
Rogue was an old acquaintance—their relationship didn't even require explanation.
Though as a formality, she still asked why he needed the suite.
But as soon as she heard it was to help River find his missing nephew, Rogue didn't even charge Leo the usual fee—she simply agreed.
When everything was arranged, Leo saw River come back out with Joss and the two remaining kids.
Joss didn't approach; she stood at the door with the children and gave Leo a deep look.
…..............
......
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As they left the trailer park and entered Little China, the view outside the car window shifted dramatically—from desolate to bustling.
The contrast was striking, as if crossing into another world.
"Joss must have it hard raising three kids alone."
"Honestly, even when her husband was alive, it wasn't much better. When he was still around, Joss wished he'd disappear for a month—just so he wouldn't be hanging around the house."
Leo looked surprised. "How's that?"
If their problems only worsened after Joss's husband was gone, how could River say Joss had wanted him gone before?
What kind of situation was this?
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