"Hey there, pretty lady, why'd you cuff yourself? What kind of game are you playing? Or do you have some special hobby?" Campbell Watson teased Brooke maliciously, seeing her shocked expression.
He had been scared out of his wits earlier.
Although he couldn't do much to her, he could still take some verbal jabs.
"You bastard, what did you do to me? Do you believe I'll shoot you?" Brooke yanked at the handcuffs, making them clink loudly.
Her eyes were filled with murderous intent as her right hand quickly reached for the holster at her waist.
"Oh, I'm so scared, Officer. Are you threatening me?" Campbell said, feigning fear. With a flick of his wrist, a police-issued gun appeared in his hand.
The mocking look on his face grew even more pronounced.
"My gun..." Brooke's hand came up empty. She stared at the gun in Campbell's hand, her eyes wide with disbelief.
When had that bastard managed to snatch her gun without her noticing?
"Who the hell are you?" Brooke demanded loudly, her expression stern and her eyes burning with intensity as she glared at Campbell.
As a detective and a skilled martial artist, she was certain that this man was a hidden master. At the very least, he was stronger than she was.
What puzzled Brooke was why a martial arts expert would hijack a taxi. Could he be a desperate criminal on the run?
The thought made her heart race, and she became very nervous.
Would he kill her to silence her? Or worse, do something terrible before killing her? Or kill her first and then...?
If Campbell Watson knew what Brooke was thinking, he would have been speechless.
He was a law-abiding citizen, okay?
Campbell skillfully unloaded the bullets from the gun, one by one, onto the back seat of the taxi, then handed the empty gun back to Brooke.
"Relax, miss. I'm not a bad guy," Campbell said, noticing Brooke's tension. He smiled and added, "Everything I said earlier is true.
Believe it or not, I need to go save someone now. Sorry for any trouble."
Campbell gave Brooke a polite nod. After all, she was a police officer, and he had just returned to the country and didn't want to get on the wrong side of the law.
He waved and walked briskly toward the police motorcycle.
"Hey, stop right there..."
"Vroom!"
Before Brooke could finish her shout, Campbell jumped on the police motorcycle, started it, revved the engine, and sped off, leaving a cloud of dust behind.
"You jerk, don't let me catch you..."
Brooke glared in the direction Campbell had disappeared, her eyes filled with anger.
All her life, even after joining the police force, she had always been exceptional. But today, she felt utterly defeated.
Handcuffed with her own cuffs, her service pistol taken, and her police motorcycle stolen... It was a complete defeat.
For Brooke Carter, this was an utter humiliation!
After a few minutes, Brooke calmed herself down, took out the key, and unlocked the handcuffs. She hesitated for a moment but eventually called a friend in the criminal investigation unit.
Having her police motorcycle stolen by a criminal was not something she wanted her superiors to know about.
So, she had to seek help from her friend in the criminal investigation unit, using their technology to locate the motorcycle.
She swore she would catch that despicable jerk!
Meanwhile, Campbell Watson was riding the stolen police motorcycle, weaving through the dense traffic at high speed. With a few impressive drifts, his riding skills were even better than Brooke's.
His eagle-sharp eyes scanned the congested traffic for the silver-gray van.
"Disappeared?"
After chasing for about ten minutes, Campbell hadn't seen any sign of the van, causing his brows to furrow.
Given the van's speed, he should have caught up by now. Why hadn't he even seen a trace of it?
Campbell looked around. On both sides of the highway were the rolling Finian hills and endless fields, with scattered houses here and there, desolate and quiet.
To the southeast, about three or four miles away, there was a cluster of run-down villages with red brick and gray tiles.
"...Could they have gone there?"
Campbell frowned, thought for a moment, then turned the motorcycle around, riding against the traffic. He soon found a gravel road leading to the village.
After driving along the gravel road for about a mile or two, it turned into a bumpy dirt path.
Campbell Watson parked his police motorcycle by the roadside and crouched down to inspect the ground. There were two clear tire tracks.
Just as he thought!
Campbell smirked and stood up. The van he was tracking had indeed headed towards the village.
The village was only about a mile away. To avoid alerting the suspects, he pushed his police motorcycle into the bushes by the road and camouflaged it. Then, he crouched low and quickly made his way towards the village.
The village was small, with about thirty or forty households, all in low, old red-brick houses that looked like they had been there for years.
The village was quiet, with only the occasional bark of a dog, making it feel even more desolate.
Most of the young and able-bodied villagers had gone to work in the cities, leaving behind mostly the elderly. Those who did well would take their elders to enjoy a better life, so there were many such deserted villages across the Celestial Nation.
This place was sparsely populated and rarely connected with the outside world, making it an ideal hideout for criminals.
Campbell silently followed the tire tracks.
On the northern side of the village, there was a relatively grand courtyard. It used to be the village chief's house, but the chief's family had moved to the city three years ago, leaving the place vacant.
The chief would only return during the New Year or for the Qingming Festival to pay respects to his ancestors, but he would leave the same day. The large house had remained empty.
Now, it had become the kidnappers' hideout.
In the courtyard, there was a silver-gray van, the very vehicle Campbell had been tracking.
"Fifth, hide the van properly. Third and Fourth, take the woman inside and tie her up securely. Don't let her escape; she's our ticket to a fortune."
The bald man who had been sitting in the passenger seat started giving orders.
The other three immediately followed his instructions.
The fifth guy drove the car to a corner of the yard and covered it with a tarp, while the third and fourth guys dragged the woman towards the main hall.
The bald man took out his phone, made a call, said a few words, then hung up, turned off the phone, and even removed the battery.
It seemed he knew a bit about counter-surveillance.
"Fifth, you stay outside and keep watch. The employer said someone will come to inspect the goods later. Keep an eye out," the bald man shouted to the fifth guy, who had just finished parking the car, then followed the others into the main hall.
"Every time, it's me who has to keep watch while you guys have fun inside... But man, that woman is really something. I've never seen such a beautiful chick, like a goddess...
If I could have a go with her, I'd die happy..."
The fifth guy leaned against the peeling gate, lit a cigarette, and started daydreaming with a lecherous expression.
He didn't notice a swift figure moving stealthily through the overgrown weeds, getting closer and closer...
Just as he heard a noise nearby and was about to turn his head, Campbell Watson appeared like a ghost on his left side, grabbed his head, and twisted it forcefully.
Crack!
Before the fifth guy could react, his neck was twisted like a pretzel, killing him instantly.
His face was frozen in a look of shock and confusion.
Campbell carefully dragged the body behind a pile of red bricks, then picked up a few small stones and slipped through the gate.
The yard was empty and overgrown with weeds, filled with a strong musty smell.
Campbell Watson walked slowly along the small gravel path in the middle of the yard, heading towards the main house.
The door to the main house was half-open, and he could hear the crude arguments of several men and the sound of bottles smashing on the ground.
Campbell slipped through the half-open door with agile movements, making no noise at all.
The room was mostly empty, with almost everything cleared out.
About twenty feet from the door, there was a heavily chipped folding table and a few old wooden chairs that looked like they had been dragged out from some corner.
Three kidnappers were sitting around the table, playing cards.
The table was littered with various snacks, betel nuts, and cigarettes. The floor was covered with cigarette butts, betel nut husks, instant noodle cups, food containers, and beer bottles.
Promise Nelson, the kidnapped daughter of Magnus Nelson, was tied to a wooden post nearby. Her head was slightly bowed, her hair covering her face, but it couldn't hide her stunning, alluring figure, which made the three kidnappers restless and filled with lust.
"Hey, this woman is too beautiful. Should we have some fun first?" one of them suggested.
"I'm burning up just looking at her..." another one added.
"Shut the hell up! Everyone stay in line. The boss said anyone who touches this woman loses a hand," the bald man barked, his face stern. However, his greedy eyes kept wandering over Promise's body.
This woman was a rare beauty, with a perfect figure that could make any man weak.
The bald man felt his mouth go dry and his heart race with desire, but he held back, remembering the boss's strict orders.
The other two kidnappers quickly averted their lustful gazes as well. They knew better than to disobey the boss.
"What the hell, who are you? How did you get in here?"
The third guy, who had been facing the door, finally noticed Campbell Watson walking toward them step by step.
The other two thugs reacted quickly, immediately turning around and almost simultaneously pulling out their guns, pointing the dark barrels straight at Campbell.
"Where's Five? What did you do to him?"
The bald brute clicked off the safety of his gun and shouted at Campbell, his eyes blazing with a murderous glare, like a beast ready to devour its prey.