Chapter 126: Jaquel—Danger!

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New York’s crime rate was notorious. The wail of NYPD sirens was nothing more than background music to the city’s daily life, and its residents had long since grown accustomed to it.

Jaquier did not care much either. As long as they were not coming for him, the sirens could howl all they wanted; it had nothing to do with him.

But this time was different. The sirens outside showed no sign of fading into the distance. Instead, they were drawing closer, as though they were heading straight for this building.

“Could they be coming for me?”

At the thought of Mona racing down the stairs while shouting his name into her phone, Jaquier’s expression changed just as he was about to pull the trigger.

He had kidnapped Mona to use her as leverage against Javari. Ultimately, he intended to find a way to kill Javari. Until Javari was dead and his revenge complete, he absolutely could not afford to be arrested by the NYPD or the FBI.

That was also one of the reasons Jaquier had ordered Demonty to kill Evander and John King instead of doing it himself.

During the few seconds Jaquier spent hesitating, Mona, clutching her laptop, had already reached the stairwell on the first floor of the apartment building. Then her figure vanished from sight.

“Shit!”

Seeing nothing but empty space through his scope, Jaquier’s face stiffened. He cursed under his breath and slapped himself hard on the head.

He stowed the rifle and hurried back into Mona’s apartment, casting his gaze downstairs.

Several police cars were parked below. In front of them, a Chevrolet was speeding straight toward the building. Jaquier’s expression darkened further.

He recognized that Chevrolet. While investigating Mona’s relationships and daily routine, he had discovered that it belonged to one of her male colleagues.

“The FBI has found me.”

The thought flashed through his mind. Without hesitation, Jaquier put away his rifle and quickly left Mona’s apartment.

Javari Evans was not dead yet. He could not allow himself to be arrested. He had to leave immediately.

As for whether he could escape successfully, Jaquier was not worried in the slightest.

He had already scouted this building and the surrounding area. With only a moment’s thought, he had a route planned.

Before leaving, Jaquier glanced at the Chevrolet below and gave a cold snort.

“Mona’s male colleague. I’ll remember you.”

With that, Jaquier turned and left.

—

Downstairs, the Chevrolet arrived at the apartment building.

“Those patrol officers are yours, Lacey. Have them seal off the area!”

With a sharp drift, Roan quickly delivered his instructions.

Before Lacey could react, Roan unfastened his seat belt, opened the door, reached beneath the Chevrolet’s seat, and pulled out a Glock 18 and three extended magazines. Then he sprinted into the entrance of the apartment building where Mona lived.

The reason he had lured the patrol officers here was simple: the SWAT team would not be able to arrive in time, yet the area still needed to be sealed off.

And Roan had handed the task to Lacey because she knew a great many women in the NYPD.

They included not only female officers, but also the wives and daughters of senior NYPD officials.

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In that regard, Lacey was the real authority.

“Don’t move!”

“Let me see your hands!”

“Put your hands on the front of the car!”

Roan’s figure disappeared in the blink of an eye. Then came the screech of hurried brakes, followed by the shouts of the NYPD patrol officers behind her.

Lacey’s expression froze. She silently cursed every god she could think of.

The area was relatively busy, with a large number of NYPD patrol officers nearby. On top of that, Roan had been driving too fast. The two officers at the intersection could not keep up with him, so they decisively called in nearby patrol units for assistance.

The end result was that five police cars were now parked behind the Chevrolet, while eleven patrol officers stared at the scene with tense expressions.

“We’re with the FBI! We’re carrying out an operation!”

Lacey raised her hands and stepped out of the car, her face radiating displeasure.

“My badge is in my pocket. Now contact Captain Sharlize of the NYPD!”

At her words, the eleven patrol officers froze in place.

Inside the apartment building.

“Mona!”

The moment Roan rushed into the building was exactly when Mona emerged from the stairwell on the first floor.

Seeing that Mona was still clutching the laptop tightly even while running, Roan’s mouth twitched. Nevertheless, he immediately moved toward her and positioned himself protectively in front of her.

Standing at the corner, Roan raised the Glock 18 in a tactical stance and kept his eyes fixed on the stairwell.

“Are you hurt?” he asked quietly.

“No!”

Mona’s voice sounded slightly off. Roan hurriedly looked back at her and saw a bright red scratch across the left side of her face.

“The computer scratched me while I was running downstairs.”

Seeing the concern in Roan’s eyes, Mona touched the irritated spot on her face and smiled brightly.

“It’s only a minor wound. At least I wasn’t shot.”

Roan frowned. He was just about to say something when Mona suddenly threw her arms around him in a tight embrace and whispered into his ear:

“Thank you so much, Roan. If you hadn’t warned me in time, I might have…”

Thinking of John King’s mutilated body, Mona shuddered.

“You don’t have to be so formal, Mona.”

When the embrace ended, Roan instinctively rubbed his hands together like a fly, but then he suddenly remembered something. His brows rose, and he asked with a grave expression:

“When you came downstairs just now, Jaquier hadn’t left yet, had he?”

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“Yeah.”

Mona nodded, then tilted her head inquisitively.

“What are you going to do?”

“What am I going to do?”

Roan carefully inspected the Glock 18 in his hand, then touched the scratch on Mona’s face and grinned.

“Catch him, of course!”

As mentioned earlier, Roan had once stopped by Mona’s apartment for a meal. Out of professional habit, he had unconsciously worked out how he would escape quickly and without attracting attention if the building were surrounded.

There were two possible routes.

The building had no projecting balconies, and Mona’s apartment was on the fourth floor.

The first route was to climb directly out through Mona’s window, grip the ledge beneath it with both hands, move to the opposite end of the building, and finally jump onto the roof of the small second-floor apartment diagonally across the street.

The second route was to go straight up to the roof, leap from this building to the roof of another apartment building diagonally across from it, and then escape through that building.

There was also an exterior fire escape, but it was directly in front of Lacey and the others. Jaquier could not possibly be foolish enough to take that route.

Roan ruled out the first route as well. When he had arrived earlier, he had not seen anyone outside the window of Mona’s apartment.

Therefore, Jaquier had most likely chosen the second route.

With that thought, Roan stopped hesitating. Holding the Glock 18 at the ready, he raced toward the roof.

He did not dare take the elevator. If the doors opened and Jaquier happened to be standing outside, things could get very interesting.

“Where are you going, Roan?!”

Mona had no idea that Roan had analyzed all of this. When he charged upstairs without a word, her expression changed dramatically. Still, she did not hesitate and hurried after him.

After everything she had experienced over the past few days, Mona had instinctively developed the habit of working cases alongside Roan.

In Mona’s eyes, Roan’s speed never seemed to diminish as he sprinted from the first floor to the sixth. He did not slow down even once.

“Damn it! Doesn’t he get tired climbing stairs?”

Mona had just reached the third floor when she looked up and saw that Roan had already reached the sixth. Shocked, she muttered a curse beneath her breath.

“What a monster!”

Roan knew nothing of Mona’s astonishment, but he did see Jaquier’s.

Just as Roan reached the roof in a single burst, Jaquier happened to be carrying a shoulder bag. He took several running steps, then launched himself forcefully from the roof, flying toward the rooftop diagonally across from him.

Seeing Jaquier suspended in midair, Roan grinned and raised the Glock 18, taking aim.

Jaquier: “!!!”

End of Chapter.