The popping sound of the helicopter propeller sounded again, and Jubal led several otaku and appeared on the lawn outside the villa with a large pile of boxes.

"You've been kicked out of the operations center again?" Jack teased, helped him take a heavy suitcase, and walked into the villa together.

"That's right, when our esteemed officer walked out of the office, she rushed me here as soon as she walked out, and she took over the command herself."

Jubal looked at him with a wry smile, and then at Hannah, who looked depressed, and couldn't figure out what was going on with the two men.

"I'm fine, I'm just by that psychopath, he obviously doesn't have a daughter uh. What's wrong? Before Hannah finished speaking, she noticed that Jubal's expression was a little embarrassed.

"The NYPD just sent out the news that three weeks ago, Mike Helton did try to report that his sixteen-year-old daughter, Stephanie, left home at 7 p.m. and never returned."

"What do you mean by trying to report a crime?" Hannah blinked blankly, indicating that she didn't understand.

"As I said before, in Mike Helton's records, he was alone, his parents were dead and he had never been married, and the officer on duty also checked what he said about Stephanie Rice's birth certificate, and he was not the girl's father.

Stephanie Rice was born in New Jersey, both parents died, she had no registered address, and she was not in school. ”

"And then?" Hannah narrowed her eyes and waited for his next step.

"At the same time as I found out Mike Helton, I informed the NYPD that two police officers were sent to his residence, and two neighbors told them that Helden had indeed been living with a girl for half a year."

The expression on Jubal's face grew bitter.

"So it's just that the system records can't prove the relationship between the two, and the police officer on duty didn't accept the case?" Hannah is very angry, she is also a grassroots police officer, and she knows very well what kind of virtue some grassroots police officers usually have, this situation is not difficult to speculate.

At this time, the technicians brought by Jubal had already started to get busy, and Jack felt that now was not the time to dwell on this issue, so he reached out and pressed it on Hannah's shoulder, and was about to divert the topic, when Jubal's cell phone suddenly rang.

"OK, I'll turn on the speakerphone, wait a minute." Jubal picked up his phone, just answered, then gestured to the two of them, and then walked out of the villa quickly.

The three of them came to the back of the villa to take care of the delicate garden, which was much quieter, and there was no need to worry that their conversation might be heard by the people in the secret room, Jubal turned on the phone hands-free and placed it in the middle of the three, and the voice of Dana Moge came from the phone.

"It doesn't matter if Stephanie Rice is Mike Helton's daughter or not, or maybe he's really a psychopath, and we have no choice but to prepare for both.

Hannah, you go to Helton's residence in Queens, use a helicopter to avoid the traffic, and we have to find Stephanie Rice, wherever she is.

Jubal, you're in charge of keeping track of the progress on the spot, we need a negotiator to try to buy as much time as possible, and Jack, as our criminal psychology consultant, to help him stabilize Helton's emotions and do everything you can to stop the other party from hurting Chloe.

In addition, the command center is trying to contact the owner of the house to ask for information about the safe house, but the other party's family is in Europe and it will take some time.

Once we've confirmed the situation at the safe house, we'll need to develop a storming plan that will be confirmed by Jack and the SWAT team, all right? ”

"Understood." The three of them spoke in unison and accepted the order.

When Jack watched the helicopter take off with Hannah again, the technicians brought by Jubal also completed their preparations, "We cracked the security procedures, and now we have the control in our hands, we can see what's going on inside the safe house and talk to each other directly." ”

An Asian man with glasses, thinning hair and a plaid shirt taps on the keyboard a few times before reorienting the laptop on the table and showing it to Jubal and Jack.

On the screen is a well-decorated rectangular basement with a refrigerator, sofa, TV, and even carpeting, and a computer desk at one end of the room, with a row of four monitors and a microphone, showing surveillance footage around the villa and in the hall.

Chloe, the kidnapped girl with her hands tied and nervously sitting on the couch near the door, and a middle-aged white man, Mike Helton, holding a pistol in his hand, like ants on a hot pot anxiously circling there.

"That's great, so, he can still see what's going on outside and hear outside through the surveillance cameras around him, but you can cut that off at any time, right?" Jubal asked.

"Yes, I can switch to manual mode at any time." The glasses male technician nodded.

"OK, cut off his eyes and ears first, and turn us into the only channel he can communicate with." Jubal commanded.

The technician nodded in understanding, turned back to the laptop and operated it, and when he turned it back again, everyone could clearly see that the surveillance screen in the safe room was already black.

"Use this microphone to talk to him, operate like a walkie-talkie, press the call, and then release." The technician handed over a portable microphone.

Soon, Helton, who was in the safe house, noticed something was wrong, walked quickly to the computer desk and looked at it, pressed the keyboard a few times and found no response, so he gave up directly, seemingly not surprised.

"You did that, right? Some kind of hacking, isn't it? And then, what are you going to do, dig a hole down and blow up the whole wall? Don't waste your efforts, as long as you dare to act rashly, you will bear all the consequences! ”

Jubal glanced at Jack, who waved his hand and signaled for him to communicate with the other party, according to Dana Moge's order, he had another task, the negotiation work was not suitable for a change in the middle of the process, and the process of communicating with the other party was also a process of building trust between the two parties.

The latter nodded slightly and pressed the call button on the microphone, "Mr. Helton, I'm FBI agent Jubal Valentine, and I'm in charge of communicating with you, and we'll do everything we can to help you find your daughter."

But Mike, trust is mutual, and as a father, I understand your behavior, you tried to get help in the NYPD and got nothing, that's true and can't deny it, but that was before, and now it's the FBI that faces you, and I hope you can understand the difference. ”

As soon as Jubal's words fell, Helton, who was still pacing back and forth in the safe house, stopped, leaned against the wall and spread his hands and said,

"Okay, different FBI, let's talk, what do you guys want to know?"

"At this point, we've sent dozens of agents to search for Stephanie, but we need your help, please give us as much information as possible, the more detailed the better."

Jack gave Jubal a thumbs up, signaling that the other party was willing to communicate was the first step in building trust, and the 2-hour time limit was too tight, and it was necessary to establish initial trust first, and then find a way to buy more time.

Sure enough, Helton, who was in the safe house, looked down and thought for a moment, and began to stammer, "As far as I know. Belch. Stephanie left home at 7 p.m. three weeks ago, saying she was going to the store and never came home.

I've been trying to find her these days because no one believes me."

Seeing that the more he talked, the more excited he became, and the hand holding the gun kept waving, Jubal hurriedly interrupted him to calm the other party's emotions, "Okay Mike, the past has passed, and now the FBI has officially taken over the case, so the situation is different."

Our philosophy is that once we start, we won't stop until the case is over, so why not leave the door open and let Chloe go? His father is as desperate as you are for his daughter to come home, and Chloe has nothing to do with you. ”

Jack opened his mouth, it was too late to stop it, empathy needs to be gradual, not the lion opening his mouth first, and opening a window if he can't open the door.

Putting forward a condition that the other party is unlikely to agree to, and then lowering the requirements and allowing the other party to give some time may work in normal times, but it is not suitable for the moment.

Sure enough, Helton's emotions became agitated again, "No, I can't, and once I do, you won't look for Stephanie again, you'll say I'm crazy, she ran away from home on her own." ”

Jubal hurriedly said, "No, no, no, I promise you, we will definitely find Stephanie, but the problem now is that your kidnapping is a drain on our FBI resources, and the agents who were originally here can devote themselves to finding her"

However, before he could say anything more, he was interrupted by a loud shout, "Shut up, you may be very eloquent, Valentine, but don't say any more, you still have 1 hour and 35 minutes to come to my daughter, and if you can't find me, I'll kill Chloe."

I don't have a choice, get it? I know very well that I am a vexatious madman in your eyes now, so put away your pretense and go find my daughter! ”

(End of chapter)