Chapter 33: 1.5 Hours Drive

Hearing Reesi telling him to move his legs, Luo An blinked, moved his feet, and floored the gas pedal.

As they were about to reach the crossroad, Luo An fiercely turned the steering wheel, and with a whiff of acrid black smoke rising from the ground, accompanied by Darren's screams, the dark SUV swept past the waiting cars at the intersection with a sinister arc, bursting into the middle of the crossroad and violently darting to the left.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Reesi clenched her silver teeth and managed not to scream, but was thrown by the car's drifting centrifugal force, ending up sitting on Luo An's right leg.

Then Reesi discovered in horror that Luo An had not taken his foot off the accelerator.

"Luo An, you..."

Before Reesi could finish speaking, Luo An had already found the best route, slammed her back into the passenger seat, grabbed the steering wheel with both hands, and yelled:

"Dear passengers, please note, I am going to speed up!"

"W T F?!"

"Damn! Isn't this already the fastest speed?"

Darren's throat was dry from shouting, he was having difficulty breathing, Reesi's face was pale, and Luo An glanced down at the speedometer needle; since it had not reached the end, it wasn't the fastest speed yet.

Without hesitation, Luo An shifted gears with his right hand while stepping deeper into the gas pedal, amidst the roaring noise of the engine, the SUV shot out like an arrow leaving the bow, charging towards the distant future.

Meanwhile, Agent Jock was sitting in his car, holding the steering wheel, looking at the black skid marks on the ground, then at the congested intersection ahead, his expression became blank, somewhat doubtful of life.

Suddenly, Jock's phone rang, he pressed the answer button, and an anxious female voice came from the other end:

"Agent Jock, is the car plate number of the agent you mentioned ***?"

"Yes."

Jock nodded, remembering who she was, a well-known field reporter from New York News, Linette.

Linette was one of the high-ranking reporters contacted by Matthews.

Hearing Jock's affirmative answer, Linette didn't say another word and hung up the phone. She wrote down 'FBI agent blatantly speeding, disregarding the safety of others' in her notebook, tapped on the driver who was her photographer, and pointed her right hand towards the SUV moving forward like black lightning:

"Follow that car! Tonight's bonus depends on it!"

"OK!"

Hearing the word "bonus," the photographer let out a weird scream and immediately stepped on the gas pedal to chase after the SUV.

After one traffic light, they didn't even catch a glimpse of the SUV's tail.

Linette: "..."

Photographer: "..."

Forty minutes later.

On a small path in Bear Mountain State Park north of the Hudson River, Reesi leaned on her knees and retched, while Darren had already passed out in the back seat from vomiting.

Luo An flipped his wrist, checked the time on his watch, and shook his head disdainfully:

"Augustus said it takes 1.5 hours from New York to here, who needs that long?"

"....."

Hearing Luo An's comment, Reesi, who had somewhat recovered, was full of frustration. She resisted the urge to pull out a gun and shoot him, wiped her mouth, took a deep breath, and then asked:

"I'm never riding in your car again in my life... What do we do next?"

Luo An tilted his head, glanced at a cabin not too far from here, pulled out a Glock 18, and switched off the safety, saying tersely:

"Sneak over there, see if the murderer is there."

"OK."

Reesi nodded, pulling out her pistol and following Luo An's steps. Before leaving, she didn't forget to close the SUV's door but also left a slight gap in the rear window.

She was worried that Darren might suffocate inside the car.

The woodland cabin that Darren mentioned was actually a small wooden two-story villa, looking somewhat old, but the yard was spacious, with a small swimming pool filled with water at the southwest corner.

Luo An quickly scanned the surroundings and didn't spot any cameras. He gestured to Reesi, and without making a sound, they climbed into the yard.

Upon entering the yard, a taxi commonly seen on the streets of New York was parked in the villa's garage with its door open. A red ladies' handbag lay tilted on the back seat. Seeing this, a glint flashed in Reesi's eyes, and she whispered to Luo An:

"It's Sabina's bag."

Mona had shown her the design of this bag and discussed it with her for a long time when they went through Sabina's information; Reesi had a deep impression of it.

Luo An whispered back:

"It seems we've found the right place; the criminal must be here."

Reesi felt excited as they had found the criminal so quickly. She was just about to walk into the villa through the garage when Luo An suddenly reached out and stopped her.

"?"

Confused, Reesi noticed Luo An sniffing around, then fixating on the taxi. He observed that the taxi's gas cap was missing.

Following Luo An's lead, Reesi also noticed the missing gas cap. Just as she was about to voice her queries, Luo An suddenly leaped, pinning her to the ground.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The taxi shielded Luo An and Reesi from the bullets. Before either of them could speak, several more shots rang out from the direction of the garage and villa doors. Without hesitation, Luo An pulled out a stun grenade from his waist and threw it towards the source of the gunfire.

Boom!

A blinding light and deafening noise erupted simultaneously. Ready with his protection, Luo An quickly got up the moment the noise ceased and charged towards the door connecting the garage and the villa, but found no sign of the enemy.

"FBI!"

Before Luo An could search the rooms, a man's shout and a woman's struggle suddenly came from the balcony on the second floor of the villa. Luo An and Reesi, holding their guns, cautiously approached the corner to avoid being shot by the adversary. They only heard the opponent shouting:

"Don't think about arresting me! I'll tell you! I've poured gasoline in the bedroom and balcony! If you force your way into the room, I'll send both this woman and myself to hell!"

"Wuu wuu wuu..."

Cautiously peering towards the balcony from the corner, Luo An saw a woman in a hollowed-out dress with her mouth taped and her hands tightly bound behind her back, continuously shaking her head.

A man held a gun to the woman's head with his right hand while hiding his own head tightly behind her back.

Luo An's expression turned grim; from this position, he couldn't find an angle to shoot the assailant.

Moreover, the man said there was gasoline on the balcony, so Luo An temporarily didn't dare use the stun grenade. The bright light from the stun grenade's explosion could easily ignite the gasoline in the room.

The villa was made of wood, and a fire would be a big problem.

After exchanging a look with Reesi, signaling her to quickly make a call for help, Luo An continued talking down to the criminal, shouting loudly:

"Take it easy, buddy! I promise you, I won't break into the bedroom! You can make any demands as long as you don't harm the hostage, everything is negotiable!"

Meanwhile, Reesi hurriedly ran to the side of the villa, pulled out her cellphone, and called the headquarters.

"This is Augustus."

Inside the office area of Investigation Team Five, Augustus answered the phone, glanced at his watch, and noted that it had been just over forty minutes since Luo An and his team left.

Considering the 1.5-hour drive, they should have only covered one-third of the journey.

Calling at this time... Could it possibly mean their car broke down?