Chapter 161

Simon and a group of people, flashlights in hand, arrived at the spot. The marks on the ground were clear, like someone had been dragged there.

"We're almost certain Kathy was tied up here," I said, scanning the area.

There were only a few shops nearby, so we went door to door, checking their surveillance footage under different pretenses, making sure not to raise any suspicions.

Finally, we caught sight of a suspicious vehicle on one of the cameras.

It was a van with its windows completely covered, except for the driver's side where a person was visible. A curtain behind the driver blocked the view of the back, and the driver was heavily covered, only their eyes showing.

"This van was in the area for about half an hour," Simon noted.

"Half an hour is more than enough time to abduct Kathy," I replied. "This van is definitely suspicious. Let's track it through the city's surveillance system and check with the DMV to find out who owns it."

As expected, the van had fake plates. The real owner was on vacation abroad and hadn't returned.

"So, we have to rely on surveillance to track the van," Simon said, frustration evident in his voice.

The system showed that after abducting Kathy, the van left the city and got on the highway, heading to a remote suburban area. It then disappeared from the cameras.

We quickly headed to the last known location of the van. The area was desolate, with a few houses in the distance.

We checked each house but found nothing unusual. Kathy had disappeared here, but where could they have taken her?

"There are no tire tracks nearby," Simon muttered, "It's like the van vanished without a trace."

The search for Kathy was at a standstill. Simon's face was unusually grim as he stared at the spot.

I scanned the area and suddenly noticed a lake in the distance.

"Do you think they might have switched vehicles?" I asked.

Simon nodded. "I thought of that too, but there are no signs of the van nearby. Where could they have switched?"

I pointed to the lake. "Could it be in there?"

Simon and the other officers exchanged glances and quickly threw a rock into the lake. Sure enough, one of the rocks hit something metallic with a clang.

We exchanged looks, and Simon immediately called for specialized equipment to drain the water and retrieve whatever was in the lake.

As the water level dropped, the roof of the van emerged. It seemed they had switched vehicles and dumped the van here.

We pulled the van out, but it was completely clean. These people were well-trained and had strong counter-surveillance skills. Any evidence on the van had been washed away, leaving us with nothing to go on except the van's origin.

"However," Simon said, "there are thousands of similar vans in Skyview City."

Just as we hit a dead end, Paula sent me a message with a location.

She didn't say anything, just sent the location, but it immediately made me think of Kathy.

After hearing my information, Simon's expression relaxed a bit. "It's possible. Let's go to this address. We don't have any other leads right now."

Simon left a team to continue investigating the van, while the rest of us headed to the location Paula had sent.

Savannah and I went along. I couldn't bear the thought of Kathy being there alone, so we had to get there as soon as possible.

The location Paula sent was in an old industrial area.

The area was filled with abandoned factories and old residential buildings.

Only a few elderly people lived there now, making it a good place to hide someone. That was my first thought upon arriving.

It was already dark.

The old machinery left behind in the area looked like steel monsters in the darkness, making me increasingly uneasy, as if these steel monsters had swallowed Kathy.

I felt lost, not knowing where to start.

What if Paula's location was a trick? What if she wanted to mislead us and sent us in the wrong direction?

These thoughts swirled in my mind, making me more anxious.

The most crucial question was, how did Paula know Kathy's location? Was she still in contact with Renee and Brandon?

But no matter what I thought, this was our last lead, our only hope.

So, I had to trust Paula.

Simon looked around, his face grim.

Roy said to him, "This place is too big. Even if we search every building, we won't finish by morning. What do we do?"

Simon turned to me. "Caroline, can you call Paula? If she answers, our tech team can trace the call and maybe find Kathy's exact location."

I nodded quickly, but when I called, Paula answered for just a second before hanging up. After that, her phone was off.

I looked at the tech team next to Simon. They shook their heads. "The call was too short. We need a few seconds to trace it, but now that her phone is off, we can't locate her."

I looked at the shadowy buildings, feeling a sense of despair.

I sent Paula several messages: "How do you know about this? Where exactly is Kathy? We can't find her! If you know where she is, please reply."

Simon, his face dark, said, "Let's wait until morning. If we don't have any clear leads by then, we'll call in the police to surround the area. In daylight, we'll see anyone trying to escape."

We nodded. It seemed like our only option. If soft tactics didn't work, we'd have to use force.

My only worry was whether Paula's information was accurate. If we surrounded the area at dawn and Kathy wasn't there, she'd be in real danger.

It would mean we wasted a night chasing a false lead.