4
In the seven years I’d been here, the city had been relatively safe. Violent crimes were rare. It figured that on my very last assignment, I’d run into one.
A vicious kidnapping. The kidnapper demanded thirty million in ransom and a van for his getaway.
When I arrived on the scene, a light rain was falling. My colleague, Yara, was sitting on the stairs, her eyes
red.
“Mindy, the negotiator is already in there. The kidnapper is demanding a hostage exchange.”
“A hostage exchange?”
“Yeah… because the current hostage… is a pregnant woman.”
A heavy silence fell over the team. In a situation like this, if the kidnapper agreed to a swap, one of us had to
go in.
“So… has a choice been made?”
Yara bit her lip. “He wants a woman.”
There were only two female officers on the team: me and Yara. Her husband was a detective who had been injured recently and was still in the hospital.
I unholstered my pistol and handed it to her. “I understand. I’ll do it.”
The System shrieked in my head: [Host, this isn’t a joke! If you die by accident, you can’t go back!]
5/8
00:04
00.04
Chapter 1
But I couldn’t let Yara go. In these seven years, Yara had been with me far more than Stefan ever had. We
were the best partners.
Yara threw her arms around me, sobbing. “Mindy, I’m so sorry. I know you’re about to get married, I’m so sorry, but my husband… he’s still in the hospital…”
“I know.” I patted her shoulder, then turned and walked into the rain.
It was an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city. Through the misty rain, I saw the woman in the kidnapper’s arms. Her pale face couldn’t hide her beauty. Long, dark hair was plastered to her temples, her large eyes filled with a pitiful terror.
She clutched her stomach protectively. “Please, save me! I’m pregnant! I’m carrying the Goldberg family
heir…”
My heart skipped a beat.
System: [It’s Raina.]
Our eyes met through the curtain of rain. I couldn’t describe the feeling in my chest.
The kidnapper viciously cut her arm with a dagger, and blood began to flow. “Get over here now! Or I’ll send
her to hell!”
Raina’s eyes widened in terror as she looked at me. “Mindy, please! I can’t die! Stefan will go mad! If he finds
out you didn’t save me, he’ll hate you for the rest of his life…”
So, she knew who I was.
I glanced back at Yara. And sighed.
I turned and walked toward the kidnapper.
The moment the cold blade was pressed against my neck, Raina stumbled into the safety of the police
perimeter.
It was just me and the kidnapper,
“The van I asked for!”
Before I got in, my captain gave me a meaningful look. According to the plan, they would track the vehicle. I just needed to find an opportunity to help them take him down.
I was bound and thrown into the passenger seat.
At the last moment, I saw Stefan break through the police line and catch a fainting Raina in his arms.
