Chapter 174: Encountering a Kidnapping Case

Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Encountering a Kidnapping Case

Instead of the office Zoe Sawyer had been expecting, Sean Hughes led her straight to a room she had almost never set foot in.

The police station’s records room.

Inside the records room were the Chief, Heath Hale, and Beau.

Behind them was a table, neatly stacked with numerous files.

When he saw Zoe Sawyer arrive, the Chief gave her an exceptionally friendly wave, beckoning her over.

Once she was standing in front of him, the Chief patted Zoe Sawyer on the shoulder and said, "Good work yesterday. The department has a new assignment for you."

Hearing the Chief’s words, Zoe Sawyer breathed a sigh of relief. ’Good, it’s not an emergency.’

If this were like her previous cases, they wouldn’t be meeting here. Instead, she’d be fully armed and waiting in an office for the right moment to strike.

"Go on, Chief," Zoe Sawyer said, her gaze shifting to Heath Hale, who stood beside the Chief.

Heath Hale gave her a slight nod and pointed to the table behind him.

"It’s like this. Since it’s the end of the year, the higher-ups have launched a special initiative to clear up difficult cold cases. The idea is to take advantage of recent advances in science and technology to revisit some old, unsolved cases and see if we can find a breakthrough. Our department has been assigned a portion of them," the Chief explained.

Work always piled up around the end of the year, and with high staff turnover, their workload had increased greatly.

So after receiving the order, the Chief thought it over and ultimately decided to assign this task to Zoe Sawyer.

Barry Quinn and Monkey had to go back and report on their work for a few days, so they couldn’t provide close protection. This was a perfect opportunity to have Zoe Sawyer stay put at the station.

After careful consideration, the Chief also decided to have Beau work with Zoe. He thought that if the two of them coordinated, they might achieve some unexpected results.

As for Heath Hale, he had volunteered for the assignment.

The Chief stared at Heath Hale for a good ten seconds before finally agreeing to his request.

It was better to have a professional alongside Zoe Sawyer and Beau, who were both new to this line of work.

After giving a few more instructions and making sure nothing was missed, the Chief left the records room with Sean Hughes.

What he’d said earlier was no joke; they had plenty of their own work to deal with.

"Alright, let’s get to it. This is quite a workload," Heath Hale said, rolling up his sleeves and moving a stack of case files to the side.

Zoe Sawyer came over to help. The three of them organized the files, rearranging them to a height where they could be easily reached.

Immediately after, the three of them dove into their work.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t tackled cold cases before, but they had only just solved two when other work got piled on.

Over the next week, Zoe Sawyer used her ability, and with Beau’s help, she actually managed to crack several cases, which made the Chief ecstatic.

He practically had a swagger in his step when he walked around or went to meetings.

He remained restrained, however, and didn’t specifically boast about Zoe Sawyer’s role in the success. Otherwise, other departments might start trying to "borrow" her.

If she was loaned out, there was no telling when she’d be back.

If a major case kept Zoe Sawyer tied up for months, he wouldn’t even know where to turn to complain.

Several more days passed. Zoe Sawyer set aside the case file she had just closed. Just as her hand touched the next one, a man’s voice called out from the doorway.

"You three, how about we go out for a walk and clear our heads?" Sean Hughes stood at the entrance to the records room, knocking on the door to get their attention.

For eleven or twelve days, the trio had done nothing but shuttle between the records room and the office. Their only trips outside were to the cafeteria and the dorms.

The Chief, who had been happy that the task was nearly complete, couldn’t sit still any longer. He quickly called Sean Hughes over and told him to get the trio out of the records room and take them for a walk outside.

And that’s why Sean Hughes had now come to fetch them.

"Sure, a walk sounds good," Heath Hale said, standing up.

The moment Zoe Sawyer stepped out of the main entrance, Barry Quinn and Monkey popped out of nowhere and fell in behind her.

"Are you done with your work?" Zoe Sawyer glanced at Barry Quinn and Monkey behind her, then at Sean Hughes.

Since they were going out, the group had all changed into their own clothes. They planned to wander around the mall and maybe buy some New Year’s gifts.

"All done. We just gave a brief report for the recent period. The next one isn’t for another six months," Barry Quinn said, clasping his hands behind his head. He looked relaxed, but he was ready to switch to high alert at the slightest sign of trouble.

Actually, there was another important reason for his trip back: he wanted to pay his respects to the teammate who had died in the line of duty.

’But there’s no need to tell Zoe Sawyer about that.’

Sean Hughes shrugged. "I’ve also been working around the clock for days. The Chief gave me special permission to take today off."

Of course, he had another mission: to take Zoe Sawyer and Beau out so they wouldn’t get "rusty" from being cooped up inside for so long.

Zoe Sawyer and her group were walking through the mall’s main hall, about to find a place to eat, when they brushed past a man who was looking down at his phone while talking.

"I told you, tie him up and gag him! Don’t let him escape! I’m out shopping, but I’m heading back right now. Watch him closely. Whether we can make it big and live the high life depends on this!

If he dares to resist, just beat him! Just don’t kill him, at least not until we get the money!" The man’s tone was hurried, but his voice was low, and a stream of dialect poured from his mouth.

He strode quickly toward the exit as he spoke, his expression anxious, as if he had something urgent to attend to.

Monkey, who had been walking behind Zoe Sawyer, stopped in his tracks. He turned his head, his eyes fixed on the direction the man was heading.

"I’m gonna check it out. You protect Zoe Sawyer," Monkey murmured to Barry Quinn before turning and walking briskly in the man’s direction.

Then, with a seemingly careless move, he bumped into the man’s back. A tracking device was silently planted by Monkey under the hood of the man’s jacket.

After accomplishing this, Monkey gave the man an apologetic nod, said, "Sorry," and hurried toward the exit.

At the doorway, as the crowd of pedestrians thickened, Monkey dodged out of sight, disappearing from the entrance. He then circled back from another direction and rejoined Zoe Sawyer’s group.

The entire process took less than five minutes.

The man stared at the exit. After seeing Monkey had indeed left, he averted his gaze.

’I must be overthinking things. There’s no way anyone could have noticed.’

"What’s wrong? Why did you stop talking?" A confused female voice came from the other end of the line, seemingly unable to understand why her boyfriend had suddenly gone silent.

’Don’t tell me he was discovered?!’

’Arrested?’

"You..."

"I’m fine. I haven’t been caught."