The Bond Between Us ( Anastasia and Herman) novel Chapter 785

Jason had finally pieced together the situation and passed the information along to his colleagues at the precinct. Using the department's network, they managed to identify the man Daniel and Audrey had described.

The man was named David Gold, working for a debt collection agency.

Armed with this new information, Jason returned to the precinct, only to find that his colleagues had already brought David Gold in for questioning.

"Jason, do you want to take the lead on the interrogation, or should I?" asked Hank, one of his colleagues.

"I'll watch. You go ahead," Jason replied, opting to step back from the direct confrontation.

"You're really serious about quitting, huh?" Hank remarked, referring to the buzz around the precinct about Jason's impending resignation. No one could quite understand why he'd want to leave such a promising career.

"Let's not get into that right now," Jason said. "Let's concentrate on the interrogation. Isla's been missing for over eleven hours."

"Got it."

Inside the interrogation room, Hank began questioning David, while Jason listened from behind the one-way mirror.

David quickly admitted his connection to Alisa. He was simply a debt collector, hired by a loan company to recover $50,000 that Alisa owed. And that was just one of the loans—there were others she hadn't paid back either.

Hearing this, Jason was taken aback. He hadn't realized Alisa was in so deep. Audrey's earlier comments suddenly made sense.

"I'm just doing my job, collecting debts legally," David explained. "I have nothing to do with any kidnapping. I have no idea what other collectors might be doing, though. She’s been completely uncooperative—won’t pay a dime or even answer calls, so we had no choice but to try and find her at home..."

After the interrogation, Hank walked out of the room and asked Jason, "Looks like he's not involved in anything illegal. Should we let him go?"

The sight of his badge took some of the wind out of the collectors' sails. The leader spoke up, "Officer, we're just trying to earn a living. Debts need to be settled. We haven’t harmed anyone. We’re just trying to peacefully encourage them to pay. We're from Sunshine Group, and Alisa owes us $20,000. She’s been dodging us, and it’s tough on us too."

First, it was $50,000, now another $20,000. Jason couldn't fathom how deep Alisa's financial troubles ran.

Just as he was about to ask about Isla, her voice came from the doorway. "Grandpa, Grandma, Papa Jason, what happened to the house?"

There was Isla, standing timidly at the door with her backpack.

Seeing her safe, Daniel and Malia were overwhelmed with relief. "Isla, where have you been? We were worried sick..."

Alisa, who had been listening intently from behind the door, hesitated to come out, her hand frozen on the doorknob, wary of the collectors outside.