"Ring... ring..."
Bruce Redman's phone rang. He glanced down; it was the kidnapper's number. He pressed the answer button, "Hello, this is Bruce Redman.
I've driven to the overpass on Kerman Street.
Where's my daughter? Did you bring her?"
"No, if nothing goes wrong, you should never see her again."
Bruce Redman worriedly asked, "What do you mean by that?
I brought the gold, it's in the car trunk, a full five thousand ounces, not an ounce less."
"What I mean is, your daughter is about to die."
"Why are you doing this? I followed your instructions completely."
"No, you didn't, you called the police.
I know there are cops ambushed around the overpass; as soon as I show up, they'll arrest me.
I said no police, you're the one who killed your daughter.
Say goodbye."
"No no no, please don't do this, don't harm my daughter." Bruce Redman broke out in a cold sweat, feeling somewhat at a loss.
At that moment, Luke also heard their conversation through the listening device and quickly reminded him through the earpiece, "Mr. Redman, the police haven't been exposed, he's bluffing you."
Luke's voice was steady, his tone certain, "Listen, you have to hold your ground now, insist you didn't call the police.
Tell him the gold is on the overpass, have him bring your daughter to exchange for the gold."
Bruce Redman took a deep breath, and following Luke's instructions, he said word by word, "I didn't call the police.
And I prepared the five thousand ounces of gold as you instructed, I followed the agreement, and I hope you will also release my daughter as agreed."
After a while, the kidnapper spoke again, "Do you really want to save your daughter?"
"Yes, otherwise, I wouldn't have come personally."
"OK, then don't call the police, do as I say, and you'll be able to save your daughter."
"I won't call the police, I've already brought the gold to the overpass on Kerman Street."
"It's not safe there, the drop-off location has changed."
"Where?"
"Drive forward, I'll tell you the new deal location soon."
"I want to hear my daughter's voice to ensure her safety."
"I can let you communicate with your daughter, but not now.
Remember, you don't have the right to negotiate." The kidnapper hung up directly.
"Fuck!"
Bruce Redman was both angry and annoyed, holding his forehead with his right hand, slumping in the car seat, feeling exhausted.
Luke's voice came through his earpiece, "Mr. Redman, stay calm.
The more it is like this, the more you have to keep your cool."
"Captain Li, what should I do now?"
"Follow his instructions, I'll have someone ensure your safety. Drive the car slower, this will give the police more reaction time."
"Got it." Bruce Redman took a deep breath and slowly started the car.
Inside a minivan.
Luke and the deputy sat in front of the monitor.
The deputy took off his headphones and cursed, "These cunning bastards, our setup is all for nothing."
At this time, Xiao Hei, standing to the side, felt a bit conflicted, it was indeed unfortunate not to catch the kidnappers.
But thinking of what the deputy said to fool him earlier, he also felt a bit relieved.
The deputy had asked him to pretend to be a homeless man for the capture operation, claiming it was his chance to shine, but Xiao Hei thought it over and declined. He had done this kind of work many times when he was still an ordinary detective.
He had long had enough.
In retrospect, this was a very wise decision.
Luke contacted Mary again, the tech team still couldn't pinpoint the kidnapper's exact location, but the cell tower from which the phone signal was being emitted had changed, indicating the suspect was also on the move.
Moreover, the cell tower was quite far from the overpass on Kerman Street.
This indicated two possibilities: one, the kidnapper who made the ransom call and the one collecting the ransom were not the same person.
The second possibility was that the kidnapper never intended to make the transaction on the overpass.
And base station location is just a regional range, it's easy to probe in sparsely populated areas, but in places with many people, the difficulty is significantly higher, and Los Angeles residents may not cooperate.
At three in the morning, the kidnapper called again, informing Bruce Redman of a new drop-off location, Kyle Square.
Bruce Redman immediately drove to the square, again slowing his speed as per Luke's suggestion.
But he wasn't far from Kyle Square, it was only about a ten-minute drive, leaving not much time for the police to set up a perimeter.
Fortunately, the police were already near Bruce Redman's car, and were also not far from Kyle Square, Luke quickly led his team over.
Kyle Square was quite open, the police dared not get too close, still using drones for reconnaissance and homeless people for surveillance, while other officers stayed further away on stakeout.
Ten minutes later, Bruce Redman drove to Kyle Square.
He sat in the car for a while, the phone didn't ring, and there was no activity outside, so he got out to observe. It was deserted, and there was no sign of anyone.
Another twenty minutes passed; the kidnapper called again, changing the drop-off location once more.
Watching Bruce Redman drive away from Kyle Square, Jackson was a bit worried, "Captain, could it be that the kidnappers really found us, so they're frequently changing the drop-off points?"