Chapter 58: Didn’t Catch the Tail

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Didn’t Catch the Tail

After cursing under his breath, the man turned to his silent assistant, who had been standing to the side. He frowned and asked, "Still no word from Ruby and her lackey, Jim Lynch?"

The assistant shook his head, indicating there was still no news.

The man kicked a chair in frustration.

’Useless bastards!’

’The boss told me to stir up some trouble here, create a diversion so Ruby and Jim Lynch could slip away in the chaos. But it’s been two days, and I haven’t heard a single thing.’

’Have they not reached a safe place yet, or...?’

As another possibility occurred to the man, his expression changed drastically.

"Go contact our guys watching the police station. Ask if any suspicious vehicles have gone in or out in the last two days..."

"Forget it. Those cops managed to go out and arrest people without our lookouts even noticing. They’re a bunch of idiots. Never mind anything else. The most important thing is to pack up our stuff here and get out, fast." The man reconsidered. ’Our hideout got busted, and the guys watching the station didn’t see a thing. Asking them now won’t get me any answers.’

’We’re better off just packing up and leaving now.’

’They arrested so many people at once. There’s no guarantee one of them doesn’t know about this place.’

The man wasn’t willing to take that gamble.

"If we leave now, what do we tell the boss when he asks?" The assistant’s expression was hesitant, but his hands didn’t stop packing.

The man stuffed everything from the safe into his briefcase. "What do we tell him? We tell him after we’re long gone! Just you wait. Once those cops have a free moment, the first thing they’ll do is comb through all of Varden. Anyone who had contact with the people they arrested will be put under heavy surveillance."

At this, the man picked up his briefcase and looked at his assistant. "If you want to stay behind, I have no objection."

He said that, but a pistol had already appeared in his hand, aimed squarely at the assistant’s head.

’If he tries any funny business, I don’t mind getting a new assistant.’

"I’m your assistant. Of course I’m going with you, sir." The assistant’s expression was unchanged, as if the gun pointed at him didn’t exist.

The man stared at his assistant for a long moment. Once he was sure he was telling the truth, he put the gun away.

"Hurry up. Just grab the most important stuff." The man picked up his things and headed for the door.

The assistant said nothing, but his packing became even faster.

As he bent down to grab something, the assistant quickly ripped a small patch from the back of a drawer and put it into the shredder along with some other documents.

Only after confirming everything was destroyed did he grab his things and follow the man.

After the two got in their car, a figure quickly slipped into the office and turned the entire room upside down, not even sparing the shredder.

After confirming there was nothing to be found, the figure sent a text message to a designated number.

"Nothing unusual."

The man glanced at the text, then gave his assistant in the passenger seat an impassive look.

’Couldn’t catch his tail. A pity.’

Meanwhile, back at the police station, Evan Keller and his team had used Zoe Sawyer’s door to bring everyone back, blindfolded.

"Get some rest. We’ve got a tough fight ahead of us," Zoe Sawyer and Heath Hale said, handing cups of milk tea to Evan Keller and the others.

Today, Barry Quinn’s side had helped round up everyone in the old industrial district.

That meant by tomorrow at the latest, they would have to help Barry Quinn’s team take down the stronghold at the border and rescue the kidnapped citizens.

"I can’t rest easy until this whole thing is settled." Evan Keller took a big gulp of milk tea, feeling the sugary warmth slide down his throat and into his stomach. He couldn’t help but sigh in comfort.

"There’s still time. Rest first. The interrogations ahead will be intense. This group looks tight-lipped, so we’ll need to wear them down first," the Chief and Elder Crowe said gently as they walked in, looking at the officers sprawled all over the office.

For the past three days, everyone had been running on fumes, only managing to steal a few moments to nap here and there.

If they didn’t get some real sleep soon, they’d probably have to haul the whole lot of them to the hospital.

Now, with milk tea in hand, several of them in the corner already had their eyes closed.

"Don’t worry, I’ve reported to the provincial bureau and asked for more personnel. We’ll handle the follow-up," Elder Crowe said in a reassuring tone.

Evan Keller and the others finally stopped trying to stay awake. They didn’t care about anything else and just lay down right where they were, filling up the entire office.

Evan Keller and the others, who had just been insisting they were fine, were dead to the world in less than a minute.

The four of them carefully closed the door.

Standing in the hallway, the Chief patted Zoe Sawyer’s shoulder and said, "You two should go get some rest as well."

After two days of high-intensity door-opening, Zoe Sawyer’s nerves were stretched as taut as a violin string.

If she didn’t relax soon, there was no telling when she might snap.

Zoe Sawyer and Heath Hale didn’t refuse. The two of them headed toward the infirmary.

’Are you kidding? The office floor is nothing compared to the beds in the infirmary!’

With a clear goal in mind, under the astonished gazes of Monkey and the others, the two pulled a couple of thin mattresses from a back cabinet, spread them on the floor, and lay down peacefully.

"Alright, now it’s our turn to work," the Chief said with a smile, glancing at Evan Keller and the others sleeping like the dead in the office before turning to Elder Crowe.

The online discourse had belittled the police’s capabilities to an extreme degree.

They had let the public opinion fester, not only because they were afraid of tipping off their targets, but also because they didn’t have the manpower to spare while making the arrests.

Now, the ones who needed to be caught were caught, and the ones who needed to be rescued were rescued.

The only thing left was to hold accountable those who ignored the warnings, willfully spread fake news, and the clickbait accounts that were just trying to stir up a panic.

"Let’s go. Time waits for no one. We need to get this done before they wake up," Elder Crowe said, walking toward their office with his hands behind his back.

Along the way, aside from the posts that had to be manned, nearly everyone else was asleep, slumped over in every direction.

Many were even snoring loudly.

It was easy to imagine how exhausted they had been these past few days.

By the time Zoe Sawyer woke up, it was already dark outside, and Heath Hale, who had been lying next to her, was gone.

As Zoe Sawyer looked around, the little girl who had been sitting next to Monkey spoke up, prompted by the encouraging looks from the others. "Ma’am, you’re awake. The man, Heath Hale, has already gone out to work."

Her voice was very quiet, but in the silent infirmary, it was perfectly clear.

Zoe Sawyer was delighted that the girl finally dared to speak to someone other than Monkey.

"Thank you, sweetie. I’m going to get back to work now, too." Zoe Sawyer patted the little girl’s head.

After they finished speaking, Monkey looked at Zoe Sawyer and spoke in a gentle tone.

"The captain came by to check on you a little while ago. He told me to tell you to go find them in the office when you woke up."