Chapter 132: The Nature of the Situation Has Changed

Chapter 132: Chapter 132: The Nature of the Situation Has Changed

Felix Tate’s face was tense. He slammed on the brakes, pulling over and urging Zoe Sawyer and Vivian Dunn to get out.

As one of the people who had helped Alice Dawson build her enterprise from the ground up, often while on the run, Felix Tate had a keen sense of danger.

He didn’t know the status of the couriers who were transporting the goods, nor did he know how much the police had discovered.

The only thing he knew for certain was that he needed to keep his distance.

He had to avoid contact at all costs.

Felix Tate seemed to realize his tone had been too harsh, so he quickly softened his voice and explained, "Sorry about that. I just remembered I have something I need to take care of at home. I got a little anxious, that’s all..."

With that, he rummaged through a bag on the passenger seat, pulled out a tote bag, and handed it to them. "Here, put the stamp albums in this. It’ll be easier to carry."

Zoe Sawyer and Vivian Dunn had just been wondering how they were going to get away from Felix Tate and deliver the stamp albums to the police station right away.

So when Felix Tate pulled a move like this, they certainly weren’t going to object.

"It’s not far from here, anyway. A little walk won’t hurt," Zoe Sawyer said, maintaining her understanding persona. She took the tote bag, gave Felix Tate a shy little smile, and then got out of the car with Vivian Dunn.

The moment they were out, Felix Tate, with no intention of lingering, immediately made a U-turn and drove off.

His spot was immediately taken by another car.

Barry Quinn, sitting in the passenger seat, made eye contact with Zoe and Vivian. He nodded at them and made a quick gesture to indicate they were being followed and that they should talk later at home. Then he turned his head forward and said nothing more.

To any onlooker, it would have seemed as if the three of them were complete strangers.

And to the person Anne Dawson had sent to tail them from a distance, that’s exactly how it looked.

With the intelligence compromised and the couriers caught, even though she rationally knew Zoe Sawyer and Vivian Dunn weren’t suspects, the naturally suspicious Anne Dawson still had one of her confidants tail them.

Perhaps only when Zoe Sawyer and Vivian Dunn were dragged deep into the muck and became fully complicit would Anne Dawson’s paranoia finally cease.

Knowing they were being followed, Zoe Sawyer and Vivian Dunn stuck to the story they’d given Felix Tate: they went shopping first, then headed home carrying their purchases.

They spoke to no one but shopkeepers the entire time. The tail didn’t notice anything amiss and, after seeing the two of them enter their building, left to report back.

The moment Zoe Sawyer and Vivian Dunn got home, they began to inspect the stamp albums Felix Tate had given them.

They were filled with contraband. The quantity was simply staggering.

Outside of training videos, this was the first time Zoe Sawyer had ever come into contact with such things in person.

’No wonder the security checks for entering and leaving were so strict,’ she thought. ’This must be one of the reasons why.’

This was no ordinary drug trafficking ring!

Vivian Dunn’s expression was also grave. She’d thought their only job was to provide backup for an undercover colleague; she never expected to stumble upon such a major discovery.

At the same time, Vivian Dunn felt a wave of relief. If this was truly drug-related, then a different team would be taking over, and the scale of the operation would increase dramatically.

’Looks like this case will be wrapped up soon!’

Having to play nice with such a calculating person every day was making Vivian’s head spin. ’Police work is definitely more my style,’ she thought.

At this thought, Vivian Dunn relaxed a little more.

"First, let’s get these back to the office," Zoe Sawyer decided, her mind made up. "Have them run tests. If it’s confirmed, they can decide on the next course of action."

Leaving Barry Quinn and Monkey, who had just arrived, to stand guard, Zoe Sawyer and Vivian Dunn took the albums, opened a door, and returned to the police station.

"Heath, have these checked out too," Zoe Sawyer said, placing the stamp albums on Heath Hale’s desk and quickly recounting what had happened.

"Don’t worry. Evan Keller and his team made a score too. They’re on their way back now. We’ll send everything over for analysis at the same time." Heath Hale set the albums aside, and the three of them began to go over the day’s events.

Zoe Sawyer started from her encounter with Gavin Owens and recounted everything up to the moment she received the albums.

"The production lab probably isn’t over there," Heath said. "This is likely part of their existing stockpile.

But it’s also possible they have a lab hidden somewhere. We can’t wait on this. As soon as we get confirmation, we need to assemble a team and move in for the arrest." Heath Hale’s expression was grim.

Like he’d said, the nature of this case had completely changed. Its severity was now at the highest level, so they couldn’t afford to wait any longer.

"But weren’t we supposed to go after the organization behind them? Won’t moving in now tip them off?" Zoe Sawyer asked, worriedly recalling their initial plan.

Heath Hale shook his head. "We have no choice. We never expected to find *this* in the van.

The moment the bust went down, our cover was blown. Since that’s the case, we might as well move in directly and round them all up. We might even get some other leads in the process."

A surprise raid might turn up evidence they haven’t had time to move.

Zoe Sawyer nodded. She understood.

Just then, Evan Keller and Sean Hughes walked in with an unfamiliar man.

"We can pretty much confirm it. The substance on these stamps is lysergic acid diethylamide—what they call blotter acid.

I’m arranging for a team to set up surveillance on their location right now to prevent them from moving anything." Evan Keller nodded to Zoe Sawyer and Vivian Dunn, then quickly began discussing the follow-up plan with Heath Hale.

The rest of the squad was behind them, escorting the drivers and their accomplices and bringing the impounded vehicles back.

Captain Lynch’s team at the checkpoint reported nothing else unusual. To avoid causing widespread panic, they reopened the road to normal traffic after confirming no other target vehicles were coming through.

The four of them discussed the plan for a while longer and decided to send people to start surveillance as soon as the main team returned.

"Did the driver confess?" Zoe Sawyer asked, sitting down next to Evan Keller and poking his arm now that their discussion had paused.

Evan Keller chugged a large glass of water, then said emphatically, "He did. Zoe, you and Vivian have really done it this time! You get major credit for this!"

According to the driver’s confession, after this delivery, they were supposed to head back to an abandoned warehouse where Anne Dawson used to store her merchandise to pick something up.

He was scheduled to make that run several times, but he never expected to get nabbed by the cops on the very first trip.

If Gavin Owens hadn’t risked blowing his cover to overhear that piece of intel, and if Zoe Sawyer and Vivian Dunn hadn’t managed to get it out...

...that first shipment of goods would have already reached the buyer.

And in their hands, it’s horrifying to imagine how many more people would have been dragged into that abyss.

But thanks to Zoe, Vivian, and Gavin, they were able to intercept the operation in time, which was a huge and welcome surprise.

"We’re all going to be tied up with this next part, so we can’t look out for you. Get your things, grab Vivian, and get back to the station. Stay put!"