Chapter 278: Let's Talk This Through
The three men scrambled to figure out how to get back into the city, while Isabella endured the dull pain in her hand, working desperately to escape.
After Richard and William left the abandoned steel mill, they immediately called the police.
Having finally managed to locate where Isabella was being held through their own efforts, they now waited for law enforcement to arrive. This was a kidnapping case with solid evidence, and the police immediately coordinated a rescue operation. All three parties arrived at the steel mill nearly simultaneously.
"What's the situation inside?"
William was already sick to begin with, and after half a day of searching and rescue efforts, he'd reached the edge of complete exhaustion.
Still, he forced himself to stay upright, working alongside Richard to brief the police on conditions inside the steel mill.
"Three kidnappers total. They're driving a white van, which from what we can tell should be hidden somewhere in the back courtyard," Richard reported.
"Where's the hostage?"
"In the office building," William said weakly. "When we went in earlier, they were in the central main building, but we haven't pinpointed the exact floor yet. They have very strong situational awareness."
Richard nodded in confirmation of William's account. "When we entered earlier, we heard sounds of intense struggle coming from upstairs. It seemed like a conflict broke out between them, though we can't confirm whether the hostage was attempting self-rescue."
The steel mill was surrounded by mountains on three sides—a perfect defensive position that made any assault difficult. Even deploying snipers would only be possible from the mountain behind the facility.
All of this would require considerable time to set up, but no one could guarantee that the suspects would simply stay put inside the steel mill without harming the hostage.
"You three head up the mountain and deploy. Find suitable sniper positions as quickly as possible," the lead officer ordered his team.
"Squad Two and Squad Three will enter with me. We'll form a perimeter. If necessary, consider eliminating the suspects to ensure the hostage's safety."
Fire and medical teams would accompany them to provide essential rescue support.
The officers grabbed their equipment and prepared to move toward the steel mill.
William suddenly stepped forward, his voice resolute. "I'm going in with you."
The captain's brow furrowed.
They had encountered many impulsive family members in similar situations. Untrained civilians going in were nothing more than human targets standing around. What if those three kidnappers had guns, or something even more dangerous?
"Sir, please wait patiently in our mobile command vehicle."
"The person being held in there is my wife. I need to be there immediately to ensure her safety. Otherwise I won't have peace of mind." Seeing his previous approach wouldn't work, William switched to playing the sympathy card.
But no matter what he said, the captain refused to budge, insisting that Richard and William stay on the perimeter.
"Objectively speaking, you two going in would only slow us down. No one can predict what might happen in there. If you... become new hostages, then who should we prioritize?"
The captain gave Richard a meaningful look, as if hoping this reasonable person would talk some sense into William.
"We'll do everything possible to keep ourselves safe and won't cause you trouble, but you have to let us both go in."
To the captain's shock, Richard's response made him wonder Extracting Isabella safely in a single operation.
"You two..."
He had no other means handle them. Without saying another word, he simply led his officers toward the steel mill to form the perimeter.
Richard and William followed behind with extreme caution.
Having already explored once before, they knew exactly which routes to take to avoid detection from anyone upstairs.
Following the path Richard and William provided, they quickly reached the vicinity of the main building.
This was also the most dangerous area.
No one could confirm the hostage's current condition—whether she was injured, whether her life was threatened.
If they accidentally provoked the kidnappers and the suspects suddenly decided to eliminate her... Before launching the final capture operation, the captain once again very carefully instructed each unit to stick to their assigned roles.
They only had one shot at this.
Extracting Isabella safely in a single operation—that was their sole objective.
"When we reached the third floor, because of how empty it was, we could already hear sounds from that level... but at the time we were worried about alerting them, so we withdrew first."
Richard kept his voice low as he reported what they'd witnessed.
"The suspects are probably on the eighth floor," the captain concluded after analyzing Richard's account.
This was part of criminal psychology.
Generally speaking, criminals tended to bury themselves as deep as possible.
So either in the basement or on the top floor. Combined with the intelligence Richard and William had gathered, it was sufficient evidence that those men had taken Isabella to the top floor.
What were they doing on the top floor?
Everyone's mood grew suddenly heavier as they moved swiftly into position.
Richard and William weren't allowed into any areas that could potentially become battlegrounds.
The reason: too dangerous.
The captain led his team at the front, clearing the way. Unlike the inexperienced Richard and William, his men automatically split up upon entering, conducting a trained search of the eighth floor.
They quickly ruled out seven target areas, leaving them with a manageable remaining task.
Suddenly, the captain's sharp ears picked up a faint snapping sound.
As if something had been stepped on and broken.
It was like a chain reaction—the sound of things collapsing grew louder and louder, until the captain finally realized they'd walked into a trap the suspects had laid.
The kidnappers they'd underestimated had actually set up an early warning system.
But they had no time to think it through, because noisy footsteps were already coming from the other end of the corridor, mixed with several men's angry cursing.
They moved extremely fast toward the top floor. One man already had his hand clamped around the back of Isabella's neck.
"Stay calm!"
Then came a furious shout.
Richard and William had made it upstairs.