Shadow Empire

Chapter 664 A Smart Way [666+15]
Ask the kidnapper, how to prove that the person you kidnapped is the one I am looking for?
The answer is actually not that complicated.

As Arthur's screams came into the receiver from afar, Mayor Williams clenched his fists so hard that he could even hear the sound of skin rubbing against each other!
James nodded with anger on his face, and it was Arthur's voice.

Mayor Williams could also confirm this. After all, he was the child who grew up next to him. He could even recognize the sound of that idiot's fart, let alone his screams!

"Can you confirm it now?"

"Mr. Mayor?"

The frivolous and mocking tone made Mayor Williams breathe a sigh of relief, and his clenched fists relaxed.

He'd been through a lot in his life, and this wasn't the worst.

"What do you want?"

The guy on the other end of the phone laughed twice. Just from this laughter, he keenly realized that these people must be gang members.

Their laughter had the arrogance of gang members, the kind that looked down on everyone.

"I don't want anything, I just want to make friends with the mayor."

"It is... 3:15 in the afternoon. You must be here before 3:40."

Mayor Williams was still waiting for him to continue, such as...some more outrageous demands that he could not fulfill.

He knew very well that Arthur's kidnapping was definitely not caused by ordinary kidnappers who wanted to extort money from him. It must be those people in the Bay Area who were behind this. They would not let Arthur go so easily. They must have deeper purposes.

But after waiting for a while, the other party said nothing. Although he was a little confused, his tone did not change. "That's all?"

"Yes, that's all. You have twenty-four minutes."

"If you're not here by three-forty, you get a piece of Arthur!"

Then he hung up the phone with his arrogant laughter. Hearing the busy tone, Mayor Williams cancelled the call.

He quickly picked up the phone and dialed Lance's number, "I need your help. They want me to go to... this location, otherwise they might take a part from Arthur."

"I need a little help."

Lance didn't think too much about it and agreed directly.

At this stage, Mayor Williams is one of his most important partners. As long as Mayor Williams remains in office, the candidate for police chief will not be replaced.

If a new mayor were to take over and Chief Blue was replaced, even if he controlled the extra income of every police officer every month, there would still be some unexpected events and areas out of control.

Greed is always the primary driving force. What if the new mayor not only intends to send him to jail, but replaces him directly?

Find a puppet and continue to control the alcohol market in this city. The other party can also make the police force follow him wholeheartedly.

So until he fully grows up, Lance still needs to take care of them.

After hanging up the phone, Mayor Williams stood up immediately. Although he was mentally prepared to "lose" Arthur, he would not give up as long as there was a chance.

The federal people may not be able to sum up such concise and straightforward language as "youngest son, eldest grandson", but this useless youngest son definitely has an extraordinary status in his mind!
"I'll come too." James also stood up, but Mayor Williams stopped him.

"They want me to leave the city hall. Something must have happened that I might need to deal with. They can only succeed if I'm not here."

As he put on his coat, he looked at James, "When I'm not around, you will be in charge of everything for me!"

"Trust your own judgment and believe in your abilities!"

He paused, "You're the best!"

After he said that, he opened the door and left without looking back. The other party didn't make any demands, just asked him to leave the city hall. He had already guessed the reason.

This was not an age of mobile communications, and once he left City Hall, he was essentially disconnected from the "power message."

If there is any emergency during this period, and he can't answer the phone, and the people in the city hall can't find him, and it is an important decision that he must make personally, then something will definitely go wrong!

Arthur...

He pursed his lips and decided to teach this loser a lesson when he came back!
He got into the car and patted the back of the driver's seat, "Drive."

The vehicle quickly left the city hall. A guy diagonally across the street was leaning against a telephone pole. He looked like he was reading a newspaper, but he had been reading this newspaper for a long time.

In fact, he was observing the changes in City Hall, and when he saw the mayor's car coming out and Mayor Williams sitting in the back seat, he threw the newspaper into the trash can on the side of the road, then walked into the phone booth and dialed the number he had memorized.

"He just left the city hall...", and then he hung up the phone, put his hands in his trouser pockets, rolled up his collar, shrunk his neck, and walked in the opposite direction.

The sky gradually became gloomy and snowflakes began to fall. It was snowing again.

With the time almost up, the mayor breathed a sigh of relief and stood at the location they had agreed on, which was the roadside of a park. He stood there, and apart from three cars and Lance sitting in a car, he could not see anyone else.

Just as the time reached 3:40, a phone in a nearby phone booth suddenly rang. Mayor Williams turned around and looked at the phone booth. He had a hunch that it was a call for him. He glanced at Lance, who nodded slightly. He strode over and answered the phone.

"Very good, Mr. Mayor. You are a person who abides by the time and has a good sense of time."

"But I still have doubts about this. I hope you can get to this...this address before four o'clock."

Mayor Williams hung up the phone without saying anything. He came out of the phone booth, looked around, and then got into his car.

Lance's convoy also started from a little further away and followed him, but at the same time Lance also asked a few people to keep an eye on the area.

After Mayor Williams arrived, the phone started ringing. Maybe there was someone nearby who was observing closely.

He asked some people to stay behind, and if they saw someone suddenly leave in a short period of time, he would arrange for someone to follow.

As for him, he continued to follow Mayor Williams and at a traffic light, he let Mayor Williams get into his car.

"He's playing tricks on me and wasting my time. Do you have any good ideas?"

"My mind is in a mess right now!"

After all, since it concerns his most beloved youngest son, it is not easy for him to analyze things calmly.

Lance nodded, "Continue to play this game with him. We'll arrive a little later this time. Of course, I'll arrange for someone to go there first."

"The next address, whatever location he tells you is, push it off as long as possible."

"Postpone it for about ten minutes and tell them that it's almost rush hour and there's some traffic jam on the road, so you may not be able to arrive at the agreed time."

Mayor Williams nodded and looked at Lance. Instead of asking why directly, he questioned Lance with his eyes.

If he can answer, Lance will tell him, if he can't answer, Lance can choose not to see it.

Sometimes this expression is more tactful and does not create tension.

"I will catch him, don't worry."

"I have arranged for people to be scattered throughout the city, and when the appointed time comes, they will sound the sirens."

"I need you to delay the call as long as possible, like asking to speak to Arthur or something."

"But what you have to do is listen carefully to see if there is a whistle in the background and what it sounds like."

Mayor Williams' eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at Lance in disbelief. He had never thought of using such a method to solve the problem!

"You are such a genius, Lance!" It came from the bottom of my heart and was definitely not flattery!

Lance smiled, "I'm just better at noticing."

At the next traffic light, Mayor Williams returned to his car, then gradually accelerated, keeping a distance from Lance's car.

This time, he was about seven or eight minutes late than the agreed time, but again, the phone rang as soon as he arrived.

The guy on the other end of the line was a little annoyed, "You're late!"

Mayor Williams repeated Lance's arguments, and although the guy on the other end of the phone accepted his arguments, he still expressed dissatisfaction.

"I can accept your reasons, but this time, you need to accept the punishment!"

Then he heard Arthur's screams, but this time, he was not so "nervous" because he knew that he would meet these people soon.

"You need to arrive at the next address before 4:30... If you exceed the time limit, Arthur will be triggered more severely!"

"Wait a minute!" Mayor Williams told the other party what Lance said before he hung up the phone.

"It's almost the evening rush hour, and it's snowing. The roads are crowded with vehicles. I can't guarantee that I will arrive at the location at the agreed time."

The guy on the other end of the line didn't seem to be willing to compromise, "That's your business!"

Mayor Williams didn't indulge, "You can kill him."

The guy was stunned for a few seconds before he asked in an uncertain tone, "What... did you say?"

"I said, you can kill him, and I'm going back to City Hall right now. I'm not interested in playing this game with you that I can't do."

Perhaps sensing the firmness in Mayor Williams' tone, the guy on the other side compromised, "Okay, 4:40, no later."

"forty five!"

"……Can!"

(End of this chapter)