Chapter 23: New Developments

In the office area, Lacey was contacting the New York Police Department, Mona sat to the side sipping her coffee and resting, while Roan repeatedly reviewed the surveillance footage on his computer.

Ryder was still struggling in downtown Brooklyn, searching for clues.

"Have you found any leads?"

After finishing her coffee, Mona perked up and returned to her seat, scanning around before asking, "By the way, where's my laptop?"

It had just been smashed by Darren.

Raising his eyebrows and ignoring Mona's question, Roan pointed to the surveillance footage on his computer and asked, "Mona, I just noticed that in the ten minutes before and after the man in black disappeared, only three cars passed through this block. Can you find out the identities of those three car owners?"

Hearing Roan’s words, Mona’s attention shifted. She looked down at the blurry license plates on the screen, her expression troubled. "I'll give it a try."

"Thank you."

Roan quickly stood up to give Mona his seat. Lacey had just finished her call and walked over. "I've contacted the patrol officers. They'll get back to me in half an hour."

Seeing Mona’s fingers dancing over the keyboard again, Lacey asked, "Got any leads?"

"No, just a vague idea."

Roan slumped back into his chair, rubbing his temples and closing his eyes for a moment of rest. "Both sides of the street where the Sabina Apartments are located are lined with residential buildings—there are no side alleys. If the man in black wanted to leave, he couldn't have avoided passing by the bakeries on either side of the street."

"That's right," Lacey nodded, agreeing with Roan. He continued, "So either the man in black never left the street and is hiding in one of the apartments, or he somehow changed his appearance and left, using a method we haven’t uncovered yet. Driving away is, of course, a good option."

"I found it, Roan!"

The frantic clatter of keys paused as Mona’s voice, brimming with excitement, rang out. "The cameras at both bakeries are decent—just barely clear enough to make out the license plates. I’ve already pulled up the owners’ information."

"Oh?" Lacey hurried to the computer, while Roan stayed put and asked, "Are the owners male or female?"

"Two men, one woman," Lacey read from the information popping up on the screen.

"One of the men is a lawyer, living right on that street. The other is a supermarket manager. The woman is a newspaper reporter."

A lawyer, a manager, a reporter... Roan asked, "Can you tell if the drivers in the footage are the owners themselves?"

Peering at the enlarged, blurry images, Lacey grimaced, "It's impossible to see clearly. Looks like these bakery cameras are quite old—only recently connected to the network."

As Roan bowed his head in thought, Lacey considered, "Should I get in touch with NYPD again, have them send patrol officers to check on these three people—just a simple inquiry?"

"No," Roan shook his head. The NYPD wasn’t their private resource; they couldn’t expect the police to do everything. If the police were too obvious, it might tip off their target, making the situation even trickier. Who knew if the man in black might, in desperation, decide to kill Sabina outright?

"Wait a minute."

Just as Roan was weighing which of the three they should prioritize, Mona’s fearful voice called out, "Come look at this! I just checked the newspaper where the female reporter works—they published a notice last week saying she was dismissed after being missing without reason for a week!"

"Fuck!"

Lacey spun to look at the missing-person notice on the screen, shocked. "Last week’s announcement—a reporter missing for a week... This woman has been gone for three weeks? Then who was driving her car yesterday?"

Seeing the notice, Roan immediately stood up, asking, "Where does the reporter live?"

"In Queens!"

...

7 p.m., Queens, a certain apartment building.

Roan, Lacey, and a few patrol officers sent by Lacey’s contacts at the NYPD all squeezed into the elevator together.

Roan watched as Lacey and a female patrol officer quickly arranged to go shopping together after the case, his expression blank.

If Roan guessed correctly, Lacey’s so-called friends at the police department were almost certainly all women.

The world’s morals were slipping; society was degenerating!

He inwardly criticized Lacey’s flirtatious ways, but after a moment’s reflection realized he could just as easily behave the same way. He wasn’t any better than Lacey...

Ding—

The elevator doors slowly opened. Roan immediately pushed aside his scattered thoughts, drew his Glock 18, and—under the astonished gazes of Lacey and the officers—pulled out a stun grenade as well.

...

Roan shrugged, indicating his lack of security, and led the team out of the elevator.

But as soon as they stepped out, loud knocking and a man's shout echoed down the hallway. Roan and Lacey exchanged a glance and quickly slowed their steps.

"Selena? Selena, are you there?"

Outside the reporter’s rental apartment, a middle-aged white man in a brown leather jacket was pounding on the door.

"Selena, I heard you were fired..."

"Don’t move!"

Seeing that the man was knocking on their target’s door, Roan and Lacey raised their guns without hesitation, taking control.

"Hands up—no sudden moves!"

"Hey! Hey! Don’t misunderstand! I’m not a thief!"

Faced with Roan’s heavily armed team, Joseph Smith was startled, quickly raising his hands and shouting, "My name’s Joseph, I’m a reporter, my driver’s license is in the right pocket of my jacket! Please don’t shoot!"

Roan stepped forward, retrieved the license from Joseph’s pocket, gave it a quick look, and handed it to the officers behind him to verify its authenticity. While frisking Joseph, Roan asked, "Why are you looking for the reporter Selena?"

"We used to be partners."

Finding nothing dangerous on Joseph, Roan signaled for Lacey and the others to lower their weapons. Joseph relaxed and explained, "I heard a few days ago that Selena was fired, so I wanted to ask if she’d like to rejoin my team."

Roan ignored Joseph’s explanation, handed him over to the officers so he couldn’t leave, and sent Joseph’s information to Mona for a quick background check.

Then, Roan and Lacey took up positions on either side of the door, counted down, and kicked it open.

"FBI! Open up!"

The two quickly swept through each room, confirming that the apartment was empty.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

The modest apartment was deserted. Roan and Lacey exchanged a glance and lowered their guns. Lacey sighed, "Looks like we arrived a step too late."