Chapter 46: Hostage Situation

That evening, as usual, Jude Lawson had instructed his driver to pull the Maybach up to the edge of the high-end commercial plaza just outside the Apex Media headquarters.

Because of a police barricade blocking the main avenue, Jude decided to step out and walk the remaining distance to the executive tower.

Every single time he appeared in public among the old-money elites, he attracted strange, fearful, and resentful looks from the rival executives and socialites.

Not many good words came out of their mouths.

"Look, isn’t that the Wall Street vulture who just dismantled Pierce Studios?"

"Apex Media may not find his hostile tactics shameful, but I certainly do!"

Jude heard these whispered remarks every single day, and after hearing them enough, he had gotten entirely used to the predictable jealousy of inferior competitors.

Jude pretended not to hear the whispers, walking with steady steps through the upscale community plaza.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in front of a modern glass building; it turned out a large group of panicked pedestrians had gathered in front of an upscale corner convenience store, and something dangerous seemed to have just happened.

"Oh my god, that person is crazy, how could he not even spare a little girl?!"

The crowd was buzzing with fearful discussion.

At the exact same time, a marked police cruiser was parked diagonally outside the shattered glass doors of the convenience store.

A few uniformed police officers lined up behind the cruiser doors, one of them holding a megaphone, shouting towards the dark inside of the store.

"Suspect inside, listen up, the police have surrounded you. We strongly hope you surrender immediately, and release the hostage. Resisting us will do you absolutely no good."

The senior officer shouted until his voice was hoarse, but there was no response from inside the store; no one spoke.

However, the frightened cries of a little girl could be heard echoing from the aisles.

It seemed someone inside had taken a little girl hostage!

An elderly auntie, likely a direct relative of the little girl, knelt on the pavement crying, her face full of heart-wrenching fear, "You heartless monster! Let go of my granddaughter, please don’t hurt her!"

At this exact moment, another armored police SUV arrived on the scene, its sirens blaring.

A female tactical officer got out of the armored car.

Jude recognized her instantly from the warehouse incident reports; it was Captain Olivia Reed!

"Captain Reed!"

Seeing Captain Reed finally arrive, the stressed officers relaxed, as if their ultimate tactical savior had finally arrived on the chaotic scene.

Captain Reed immediately unholstered her sidearm and asked, "What’s the exact situation here?"

The senior officer who had been shouting through the megaphone quickly explained, "Here’s what happened, Captain: today we received an anonymous tip-off about an illegal narcotics ring operating in this sector. Our undercover colleagues came to investigate and indeed found the prime suspect. When the suspect was discovered, he panicked and fled, and was chased into this convenience store where he took a little girl hostage."

Captain Reed frowned deeply; taking an innocent little girl hostage in a public space is an incredibly serious matter that must not go wrong.

Captain Reed asked, "Does the suspect have any firearms or weapons?"

"He has a serrated tactical knife," the officer replied grimly. "Moreover, he’s quite skilled in close-quarters combat; our pursuit team couldn’t catch him in the alley, and he managed to fight his way into the store. Now that he has taken hostages at knifepoint, we don’t dare to recklessly rush in for fear of harming them."

"Cops outside, listen up! I’ll give you exactly ten seconds! Drop your damn guns and back up three hundred meters! Follow my orders! I have two people here; killing one of them is no big deal to me!"

A frantic man’s voice echoed from the depths of the store, the suspect finally speaking up to negotiate.

Captain Reed took the megaphone from the officer and said firmly, "Suspect inside, I’m Captain Reed, the officer in charge here. I hope you don’t do anything stupid to harm the hostages!"

The man chuckled darkly, a crazed edge to his voice. "So it’s a female cop in charge! Do exactly as I say obediently!"

Captain Reed said, "No problem at all, you can come out safely now."

Captain Reed didn’t hesitate for a second. "Do exactly as he says!"

The officers reluctantly threw their guns down onto the asphalt and retreated, indeed moving back a full three hundred meters to the edge of the plaza.

Captain Reed also backed away slowly, calling out to the dark store, "Suspect inside, we’ve put down our guns and retreated fully as you demanded. You can come out now."

But there was only silence inside, with no suspect appearing in the doorway.

"Hmph!"

An angry grunt came from inside the aisles, "You actually think you can fool me, female cop?! You all are clearly up to something, don’t think you can trick me into coming out into the open!"

Captain Reed was sweating under her vest, "You’re overthinking it! We only want the hostages safe, we really have no other hidden intentions. You can come out assured."

The man shouted back, "I believe you, liar! You’re full of bad ideas, probably got sniper bullets ready for my head right now! As soon as I step out, I’ll be sniped! Don’t think I haven’t seen enough cop movies to know the drill?!"

"You really want to save the hostages, huh?! I won’t let you succeed! I’ll kill a hostage first right now to prove I’m serious, this little girl it is!"

Captain Reed was incredibly anxious; this suspect was agitated and paranoid, likely hard to control through standard negotiation.

She wanted to draw her backup weapon, rush in, and stop him before blood was shed.

But she simply couldn’t do that; the risk to the child was far too great...

Just then, suddenly, someone beside the police barricade moved swiftly, like a lethal arrow fired off a taut string, darting into the convenience store, doing exactly what Captain Reed wanted to do.

"Oh my god, he’s going to die!"

Everyone in the plaza was shocked; a civilian rushing in at this volatile time was bound to end badly for him.

In stark contrast to the terrified onlookers, Captain Reed’s face showed immense surprise and delight.

Though the rush was incredibly quick, she recognized immediately that the billionaire CEO, Jude Lawson, was the one who had darted into the store!

As Jude rushed in, an angry man’s voice came from the back of the store, "You actually dare to come in here... ah!"

He had barely begun cursing Jude when the threat suddenly turned into a horrific scream of agony.