Chapter 67: Meeting Officer Forrest Again

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Meeting Officer Forrest Again

Rian Sinclair played one round and then stepped down, finding it rather boring.

Ulysses Shepherd glanced around and noticed Rian looking bored, sipping a drink off to the side. He quietly scooted over. "Rian, how about I take you home?"

Rian looked at Ulysses. He really resembled Bandage, an enthusiastic golden retriever.

She dangled her car keys. "I drove."

"But you’ve been drinking. I haven’t."

Hearing this, Rian raised her eyes to look at the young man in front of her. Her lips curled into a silent smile. Ulysses flushed under her gaze and turned his head away, letting out a light cough. "I don’t mean anything else. I just think it’s unsafe for a girl to go home alone."

He let out an awkward laugh. Rian looked at his red ears. "I know you don’t mean anything else."

The redness crept up Ulysses’s cheeks. He waved his hands frantically, stumbling over his words. "Ri... Rian... I..."

Rian stood up and leaned in close to Ulysses. "Then thank you for taking me home."

Ulysses watched her smile, though there was no trace of amusement in her eyes. He turned his head away, his voice muffled. "It’s no trouble."

Rian noticed his little reactions but said nothing. She could more or less guess what he was thinking. He really was just like Bandage.

Everyone else was having a great time, so Rian left the private room without making a fuss. Ulysses followed closely behind her.

"Ria, can I call you that?"

Rian’s lips curved upward as she looked at Ulysses. "Kid, shouldn’t a younger guy like you show a little more respect?"

Ulysses nervously turned his head away, pressing his thin lips together. "If I used a formal title, I feel like it would make you sound old."

Rian retracted her gaze and looked out the window. "Whatever you want."

Ulysses was initially thrilled by her agreement, but her tone had been entirely indifferent. He kept his eyes on the road, and a heavy silence settled inside the car.

Feeling drowsy, Rian leaned against the window and closed her eyes to rest. Ulysses was just about to ask for her address when he noticed she had fallen asleep. He pulled out his phone and messaged Jason Rivers.

[Ulysses Shepherd: Send me Rian’s address.]

[Jason Rivers: Wtf! You just ran off with Rian? You sly dog, are you trying to leech off her wealth?]

[Ulysses Shepherd: Address.]

[Jason Rivers: Beg me, your daddy!]

[Ulysses Shepherd: ...]

[Ulysses Shepherd: Beg my ass. I’ll smack the sh*t out of you.]

[Jason Rivers: Damn. Villa One, Red Maple Lake.]

A short while later.

Since the estate guards recognized Rian, they allowed Ulysses to drive straight in and pull up to the front door.

Rian hadn’t actually been asleep the whole time. Once they arrived, she opened the car door and stepped out. "Thanks."

Back at the villa.

Ethan Sinclair took the items from Miss Sinclair’s hands. Rian glanced around. "Where is Ash Sinclair?"

"He’s upstairs studying. Would you like to go up and check on him?"

Rian shook her head. "I’m going on a business trip with Fiona the day after tomorrow. Have Auntie Alden pack my things."

"Yes, Miss Sinclair."

Rian hadn’t been back at the villa for long before a phone call summoned her away.

At the Argent Police Department.

Rian sat across from Officer Forrest.

"Miss Sinclair, our team has been monitoring the stream of that host who traveled to North Boro. We managed to glean a piece of intel from him: a human trafficking operation is scheduled to take place within Argent’s borders tonight."

Rian frowned. "Intel from the streamer?"

Officer Forrest nodded and handed Rian a video to watch. She watched the entire clip in silence before looking back up at him. "Is this information reliable? What if it’s just a smokescreen the perpetrators are using to distract the police lurking in the stream?"

"We can’t afford to miss a single lead. What if it’s real?"

Rian said nothing.

He was right. What if it was real?

If they didn’t go, people could end up being trafficked while the police were still busy debating the intel’s authenticity. Going and finding nothing would be perfectly fine. But if it was real and they did nothing, another family would be torn apart while they stood by helplessly.

"What do you need me to do?" Rian asked. Since she had been called here, they obviously needed her help.

"Miss Sinclair, your previous donations saved Cody and guaranteed his safety, which also allowed us to confirm that he’s a trafficking victim himself. The massive tips drew a lot of viewers to the stream, and the police have communicated with those watching.

"However, many people are still being deceived and are planning to go to the location mentioned by the perpetrators," Officer Forrest explained after a brief pause.

"Did Cody participate in the scams?" Rian knew Cody was a good kid, but if he was involved, he would still face punishment once he returned to Veridia.

Officer Forrest noticed her concern. "Cody can’t speak. He always uses that piece of paper to communicate. As for whether he’ll face criminal charges upon his return, it will depend on the crimes he committed and their severity.

"According to current criminal law, if the maximum penalty for the committed crime is under three years in prison, he might be exempt from prosecution.

"But that’s only a possibility, not a guaranteed outcome. If his actions caused severe consequences, we can’t rule out criminal liability. Whether someone who committed fraud in North Boro gets arrested upon returning depends on the extent of their involvement there."

Rian nodded. She wasn’t a saint, but seeing such a young boy trafficked to North Boro still tugged at her heartstrings. She could only help him as long as it didn’t put her own safety at risk.

However, if Officer Forrest had called her here, it likely meant that if this trafficking operation succeeded, Cody wouldn’t be able to escape prison time even if he made it back to the country.

"What’s the situation with the viewers in the stream?" Rian’s tone was steady. She had logged off immediately after making her donations, knowing the police were lurking in the chat.

"The perpetrators offered to let them meet Cody in Argent, and many well-meaning people agreed. They specifically suggested Argent because of you, Miss Sinclair."

Rian pointed at herself in confusion.

Officer Forrest nodded. "After seeing your donations over the past few days, they know you’re very wealthy. On the surface, they’re framing it as a meet-up, but there’s a high probability they plan to kidnap the wealthy attendees and demand ransom from their families.

"Furthermore, we’ve confirmed that the people planning to attend all come from reasonably well-off families. While they might not be obscenely rich, they have enough money to be targets."

Rian looked astonished. "How are they so sure I’ll go? Do I look stupid?"

Officer Forrest said nothing, but his eyes silently gave her a resounding yes.

Rian’s lips twitched, but then she thought about it.

She did look stupid. After all, throwing money around every day made her the perfect picture of someone with more money than sense in their eyes.

Seeing her look of utter defeat, Officer Forrest coughed lightly. "Miss Sinclair, you aren’t actually stupid."

Rian didn’t feel like replying. Then, a thought occurred to her. "Are you saying you want me to go as well?"

She frowned. They wanted her to act as bait?

Noticing Rian’s expression darkening, Officer Forrest quickly clarified. "That’s not it at all. We called you here to borrow your Sharkstream account. Our officers will pose as you and go in your place."

Rian nodded in understanding. If they had summoned her here to act as bait, she genuinely would have told them thanks but no thanks, before offering her warmest regards to whoever came up with such an idiotic idea.

In her eyes, a competent leader would never send a defenseless civilian in as bait.

"Based on what you’re saying, have the other people who wanted to go been replaced as well?" Since the police were already aware of the plot, she genuinely would have worried for the country if they still allowed civilians to walk into a trap.

"Everyone else has been replaced. We will never let ordinary citizens face danger. This is our duty."