Chapter 115 - Biggest Bust

Liao Chun had managed to convince Senator Chang Yan to let him stay at the house and guard the fortress. He said he would manage things from there and the senator—who had been taken by the whirlwind and excitement—agreed without really hearing what Liao Chun was saying.

The senator gathered his men, made a bunch of phone calls, and in less than twenty minutes they were all out of the bas.e.m.e.nt, leaving Liao Chun alone. When he heard the gate swung shut, he took the stairs two at a time.

He knew they wouldn't let Detective An leave the property. He was too loyal to the force for his own good. It was obvious that he was going to go to the police the moment he would went out that door. That was why Liao Chun had chosen to lie.

The detective was right. The senator had gone crazy. From lack of sleep or from not eating enough, or just his determination of catching the Qings—Liao Chun could only shake his head.

He had given the senator a flawed plan—to take the wife, bring her hostage to an isolated place, and get the confession out of the Qings. Liao Chun knew it was going to fail. That was why it was important for him to find the detective immediately. They needed to get the hell out of there and report to the police and get back-up.

He had told the senator that he should not harm Mr. Qing's wife—as it would be harder to negotiate with him if he saw his wife suffering. It would only drive him away and angry, and they didn't want a whole mafia organization to come after them, did they?

Maps were laid down tables—of the malls, of the roads, and of the property that would serve as their temporary hideout. The senator had also made an escape route if things would go south. At the back of the property, a car would come and take them away to another place to try to transact another negotiation.

Liao Chun was now at the ground floor of the empty house. After spending weeks of relentless and somewhat fruitless researching, it had come to his knowledge that the senator's wife lived in a separate house. Their marriage had bared no children and the senator might've mentioned that his wife had already taken a boyfriend that would satisfy her wifely needs.

He opened doors to empty rooms and finally on the second floor, he found his superior carelessly thrown to the bed, his head lolling at the edge. At first, he thought the detective was dead but he was still breathing. He tried shaking him awake but he wouldn't come to.

Finally, he splashed a glass of water on his face and he jolted up right. "What's happening?! What's going on?!"

"Come on!" said Liao Chun. "We have to get to the police. They are going to take Mrs. Qing and make her a hostage. We have to get there before they take her."

"W-what?"

"I'll explain on the way."

**

It was on the dreary hours of the night and half of the station was gone. Some were even sleeping on their desks.

"Where's the captain?!" immediately shouted the detective when he entered the room. No one answered him. He pulled the nearest man to him by the collar. "Where is he?!"

"H-he's at the office. He's working overtime."

It was as if the detective's legs could not walk him faster enough. But he strode in, pushing the glass door open that it almost shattered when it hit the wall. "You need to give me back-up. Senator Chang Yan will attack the Qings tonight."

"What are you talking about?" asked the captain, his hand signing a stack of papers.

"They are going to take Mrs. Qing from The Kingly and they'll make her hostage in exchange for Mr. Qing's confession to the murders and what is happening in Dong Yi."

The captain shook his head and looked at his telephone. He would have received a call by now if someone wanted him to move. "There are no orders. You need to go through the steps. And how did you know Mrs. Qing is about to be abducted?"

Detective An clicked his tongue. "We have no time to chit-chat about it! Let's go! Summon the teams!"

The captain remained infuriatingly calm on his seat. "We cannot do that without knowing anymore of the scenario."

The Detective slammed his fist down and pushed past Liao Chun on the doorway. He had just about enough. He shouted at the whole of the station, "We have received a tip that Mrs. Qing—the wife of the CEO of the Kingly Empire is to be abducted tonight at the hotel. And YOUR captain is not going to lift a finger to help a member of the society he had sworn to protect!"

Everyone looked aghast and a hand clamped down on the detective's nape and he got dragged back inside the office. "You better make sure you have gotten your facts straight, An!"

The captain's hands were sweating. In the talk of the Qings, he knew it was not something he should touch not unless he would receive orders from above. But neither could he be humiliated to his officers. "What do you know?"

The detective told him everything about the plan with the help of Liao Chun. It was in their silent agreement that they were not to say anything about the research they had been doing on the Qings or how they had gotten that knowledge. They were protecting the name of the tipper, as they said.

In about an hour, a whole team had arrived to the station and the captain was leading them not to the mall but to the hideout. The captain knew that if this all failed, he could lose his job.

"This better be worth it, An."

"Trust me, it'll be the biggest bust of the decade."