bChapter /bb215 /b

    Maxine took a deep breath. “Were you sent by Hamlin Jenson?”

    The person on the other end chuckled darkly. “None of that matters. What matters is you know what we want. Get the stuff ready and bring it over. We know you’ve got the police there. If I find out you’re ying tricks, I might just get carried away and put a few cuts on your son’s pretty faceb” /b

    With that, the line went dead.

    The officer removed his surveince earpiece. “Ms. Hudson, do you know what they were referring to?”

    Maxine nodded. “I have a pretty good idea.”

    She exined about the Jenson family. There was only one Jenson family in the entire capital. Everyone exchanged uneasy nces. After a long pause, a police officer cleared his throat and said, “This is a serious matter. Even if we want to go after Hamlin, we’ll need solid evidence.i” /i

    The worst part was, they hadn’t even seen the kidnappers‘ faces yet, much less figured out who was really pulling the strings behind the scenes.

    Maxine stood up abruptly from her seat. “I’ll go.”

    Before the police officer could even speak, Sebastian instantly cut in, “Absolutely not. You’re their primary target, going there would be walking straight into the lion’s den.”

    The police shared the same concern. The female officer beside her reassured, “Ms. Hudson, please stay calm. We’re tracing the phone’s signal right now. With any luck, we’ll locate them soon.”

    Maxine shook her head. “Since they already know we’ve involved the police, they’re definitely not going to stay put. bIf /bthey’ve taken precautionsb, /bbit’ll /bbbe /bnearly impossible for us to track them down.”

    Maxine thought to herself, ‘Although most of the cases I handled were civil matters, I have worked on simr cases with my mentor before.”

    Sure enough, the tech officer shook his head at them.

    For a moment, the spirits in the room sank.

    Maxine faced two stark options. She either had to wait for the kidnappers‘ next call or personally deliver what they demanded.

    Maxine thought, ‘All they want are thewsuit documents and the confidential witness contacts. But if I hand them bover/b, those vulnerable people who’ve finally found the courage to seek justice will be exposed to retaliation.

    ‘‘There has to be another way. I can’t hand over the witnesses‘ list, no matter what. If I do, I’ll be putting all those innocent people in danger.”

    Seeing her anxiety, Sebastian got up and told the officersb, /b“She’s worn out. I’m taking her back to get some rest. Should the kidnappers reach out again,

    J’ll have someone notify you right away.”

    The police didn’t want the victim’s family to have an emotional breakdown, as that would only make rescuing the hostage harder, One of the officers nodded and said, “You should head back for now. If anythinges up, keep bus /binformed right away, and please, don’t do anything rash.”

    Sebastian helped Maxine up from the chair, and the two of them walked out of the room.

    Exhausted, Maxine followed him out and got into the car. Sebastian closed the door for her. As he was about to get into the passenger seat, a police officer rushed out behind themb, /bcalling, “Mr. Mason! Hold up a second!”

    Sebastian halted and turned to face him.

    The police officer whispered quietly in his ear, “I know this might be connected to some past dealings of yours, but I still hope you’ll cooperate bwith /bbus/b. Even if you have to take certain necessary/measures, bat /bleast give bus /ba heads–up.”

    b097224 /bThu b? /bl?ng

    bChapter /bb215 /b

    6

    bAfter /b

    ball/b,

    bwhat /b

    bthe /b

    kidnappers

    did bthis /bbtime /b

    was truly

    outrageous.

    If words

    out, got people

    bwould /b

    say the

    police were useless

    bHe /b

    was only

    yable to

    out

    after them because the

    given

    had higher–ups I quietly their approval.

    After .special I circumstances bcalled /bfor speciat

    all,

    measuresb. /b

    Sebastian

    gave a polite but

    perfunctory:

    smile. “Rest

    assured,

    ????.

    I have

    someone give

    you a

    heads–up

    beforehand.”