The Killer Queen ( Noella Briony ) novel Chapter 256

The production team was pacing nervously.

Midway through filming, the lead actors, Stirling and Yasbel, had mysteriously vanished. If word got out, it would spell disaster for everyone involved, from the investors down to the last crew member!

The person in charge of the crew sighed in relief at Noella's arrival. "We've been keeping it under wraps, too scared to even call the cops. Thank heavens you are here, or we'd have no clue how to handle this mess!"

Noella frowned, her tone stern. "How could you even think of not reporting something this serious? If anything happens to Stirling and Yasbel, who's going to take responsibility?"

She wasn't a cop or a detective. Surely, the crew couldn't expect her to find them, could they?

Seeing the faint anger on Noella's face, the crew leader wiped his sweat and hurriedly explained, "We wanted to, really, but Stirling and Yasbel's agent told us to wait for you!"

Yasbel was under contract with Polaris Star's own entertainment company, East Sea Culture Company. The agent, being an internal staff member, decided not to alert the authorities, uncertain of what had actually happened.

Noella stepped into the room. "If there's no news in two hours, call the police. You've already missed the golden hour for a search and rescue."

The production was a massive investment, and they were hoping this movie would be their ticket to major awards. If it leaked that the leads were missing, billions in investment would go down the drain!

The crew leader didn't dare hesitate and quickly agreed.

Noella's gaze then turned to the two agents waiting by the side. "Has Stirling been harassed by any fans recently?"

"Just those... Even if Stirling filed a complaint, most of them are underage, barely fourteen. It's tricky to handle."

From day one of shooting, several obsessed fans, barely twelve, had been lurking around, forcing the crew to arrange transportation to send them home. Unfortunately, this made those fans think Stirling was indulging and welcoming them!

An agent pulled out a phone. "This is Stirling's phone. I don't know the passcode, Ms. Noella. Maybe you could try."

The lock screen was a photo of Stirling and Noella together, with a few members of the Schnabel family cropped out at the edges.

Noella paused for a moment, then tried her birthday as the passcode, and it worked.

She remembered Stirling mentioning that he had set all his devices, including his bank PIN, to her birthday!

The message inbox was filled with offensive content.

"Why didn't Stirling just contact his carrier to disable messaging?"

The agent explained, "Stirling used to ignore his messages, but after you went home, sometimes you'd text, and Stirling would check in case he missed something from you."

In reality, the times Noella actually texted were few and far between, as she preferred to call if there was something important.

Stirling's fear of missing any message from Noella was evident.

Noella didn't know whether to blame herself for texting Stirling in the first place or regret that she hadn't sent him more messages!

The few messages she did send were all saved as favorites by Stirling!

Palmer, seeing Noella's guilt, whispered soothingly, "Even if he disabled messaging, those fans would just start calling, making it even more of a hassle. It's not your fault. Besides, we shouldn't have to limit ourselves to avoid these situations. The most important thing is dealing with these intrusive fans effectively."

Noella quickly composed herself. "Let's focus on finding them. Where was Yasbel's last known location?"

Nolan replied, "North, near a small creek."

Glen Village was small, surrounded by mountains, with the border only a hundred kilometers further.

Noella pocketed Stirling's phone. "Lead the way."

As they approached, the gate of a nearby house creaked open, and Maddox emerged, draped in an army coat.

"Sure thing!"

Maddox, without any hesitation, led Noella and the film crew on a grand trek towards the northern hillside.

The paths around Glen Village were treacherous, with wild grass towering over humans, and many areas were simply impassable. The film crew grumbled under their breath but dared not voice their complaints too loudly.

They had seen Noella striding ahead, leading the way without so much as a word of complaint. Not only did she not complain, but Noella also moved at a brisk pace!

She and Palmer followed Maddox, leaving the rest of the film crew far behind, clearly very concerned about Stirling!

The sibling bond between the Schnabels was admirably strong!

Palmer reached the hilltop first and turned back to extend a hand to Noella. “Come on!”

He showed no sign of complaint in such a setting.

One moment he was the CEO covered in gold, hands tied up with international contracts worth billions, and the next, he stood on the challenging slopes of a hillside village, reaching out through the thorns to Noella.

Placing her hand in Palmer's, Noella easily climbed up the hillside with his help, then turned to Maddox. "Maddox, the film crew might not make it up here. Wait for them and take them around another way."

Noella and Palmer, being top-tier assassins accustomed to operating in border areas, found scaling such slopes to be as easy as pie.

However, for the film crew attempting to climb this nearly vertical hillside, the task would prove much more challenging!

To save time, Noella and Palmer opted for a shortcut.

Maddox, unable to make the climb himself, stayed behind to wait for the crew.

"Alright! Just over this hilltop, and we'll be at the Fuller family's place!"