CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Ava sat down, wondering if she had done the right thing. She felt bad for putting a recorder in Ethan's bag, but there was nothing she could do now. The coincidence was just too much. Then, her phone rang.

She picked it up, not recognizing the number. "Hello?" she said.

An elderly voice, an elderly woman's voice, came on the line. Ava instantly recognized the voice. It was her mother's voice.

"Oh, Mom," Ava greeted.

Then the voice came up and said, "Ava, so you were planning to ignore me all this while, right?"

Ava mother 's voice came up again"Mm... I'm coming over to your place today." Ava replied, "Mm... mom, no, no, no, no, no... I... I'm traveling, I mean, I'm traveling somewhere else for work, so I won't be around."

Ava's mother said, "Okay, fine. You don't want me to come, right? Okay, no. Tell me, I hope there's good news."

Ava's mother said, "What good news? I don't understand what you're talking about."

Ava's mother said, "How old are you? Don't you have a boyfriend yet? Don't you want to get married?"

Ava had avoided talking to her mother because she was tired of hearing about marriage.

Ava's mother continued " do you want to grow old without getting married or having kids?"

Ava said, "Mom, mom, the truth is that I am dating someone already."

There was silence in the background, and then Ava's mother let out a soft laugh.

Ava's mother said, "Really? Oh my gosh, is he handsome?"

Ava said, "Trust your daughter, she goes for handsome guys."

Ava's mother said, "Now you're talking! Now you're talking. Mm, you can send a picture of him to me. I need to see. Who my daughter is dating. If you think you can't send a picture, I'll just come over."

Ava said, "Okay, don't worry, mom. I'll send it. Okay, I'll send it. But I'm not going to send it now because I'm at work."

Ava's mother said, "Why are you not going to send it now? Don't you have his picture on your phone? You can just sit down in the comfort zone of your office and send it to me."

Ava said, "Mom, I'm really busy. I don't even have time to carry my phone. I thought this was related to work. I didn't know it was you."

Ava's mother said, "Oh, if you knew it was me, you wouldn't have picked up?"

Ava said, "No, mom, it's not like that."

Ava said, "Okay, so how is everyone? How is everyone doing?"

Ava's mother said, "They're doing fine. They're doing fine."

Ava said, "Oh, mom, I need to go now. I'm busy with work."

Ava's mother said, "Okay, fine. Don't forget to send the picture."

Ava let out a sigh of relief as she ended the call. She couldn't believe she had just lied to her mother about dating someone. She hadn't meant to, but her mother's constant questions about marriage and relationships had gotten under her skin.

She shook her head, chuckling wryly to herself. Now she had to come up with a fake boyfriend and send her mother a picture.

Ethan and Ryan were already back at the station. The station was buzzing with criminals being dragged here and there, as usual. After all that, Ava looked at her watch and noticed it was almost evening. She knew the time was already far spent and she needed to head home.

She took her bag, preparing to go home, and Ethan offered to drop her off. "Oh, don't worry, don't just worry," she said.

She left.

She was outside, looking for a way to get a taxi. That's when she noticed someone following her. At first, she got scared, but she had to relax a little bit since it wasn't dark yet and people were around. She could easily scream if needed.

She was certain the person was following her. Every corner she took, the person took. Everywhere she entered, the person entered.

She carefully observed her surroundings, taking note of the nearby shops and alleyways. Ava thought about ducking into a nearby store or asking someone for help, but she didn't want to draw attention to herself.

Just as she was thinking of her next move A taxi driver puller over,winding down the glass, the taxi driver asked her where she was headed. Ava hesitated.

"Where are you headed, miss?" the driver asked again, looking at her.

Ava took a deep breath and made a split-second decision.

She breathed out in relief as she got into the taxi. "Ah, at last," she thought. She rested her head

But then she discovered that the driver was taking an unfamiliar route. "This is not the route to the address I gave you" she said.

The driver ignored her. She almost shouted. She took out her phone, wanting to call for help, but the driver quickly turned and used a poison handkerchief on her.

She felt a sudden dizziness and her vision began to blur. Ava tried to struggle, but her body felt heavy and unresponsive. The driver's face was the last thing she saw before everything went black.

When Ava woke,she was disoriented and groggy. She was lying in a dark, unfamiliar room. Her head was pounding, and her mouth felt dry. She tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea washed over her, forcing her back onto the floor.

As she struggled to regain her bearings, Ava realized that she was in grave danger. She had to find a way out of there, and fast. But as she looked around the room, she saw no signs of a door or a window. She was trapped...

Ava wondered to herself "Who would want to kidnap her?She didn't offend anybody."

Then her mind suddenly flashed, "Oh, the Shadow Killer!" Could it be that the Shadow Killer had kidnapped her?

She looked around the room, which was kind of dark. Suddenly, she heard loud footsteps approaching. She quickly lay back down, pretending to be unconscious, just like she was before.

As Ava lay there, she heard a voice. The room door opened, and the footsteps became clearer. She heard the sound of a switch, and the light came on, but it was dim.

Ava lay there, pretending to still be unconscious. Then she heard voices, talking. One voice asked, "Are you sure nobody followed you here?"

The other voice replied, "Yes, nobody followed me."

The first voice said, "Okay, good job. You did a good job. I will settle you, go."

The voice came up again, giving instructions to another person "wake her up."

Ava's eyes widened as cold water hit her face. She sat up abruptly, trying to shake off the shock. She looked around, attempting to see the face of her kidnapper, but the dim light in the room made it impossible.

The voice, unfamiliar and menacing, spoke again, "So, you're the one working on the Shadow Killer case, right?"

Ava's mind racing, she tried to process what was happening. The Shadow Killer case again...

The voice spoke again, "Well, since you're the lead detective, I feel I should just have a little fun with you. Maybe the others will learn and they'll drop the Shadow Killer case. Although I may not be the Shadow Killer, I have him doing some dirty things for me. I wouldn't want him to get exposed until he's done with all the dirty things I have for him to do. Then, I will personally get rid of him."

Ava's heart began to beat loudly as she listened to the voice. She tried to remain calm, but her mind was racing with fear and adrenaline. Who was this person? What did they want from her?