Free Web NovelChapter 210: Finding Sleazy Han.
The precinct was packed full and the air was buzzing with expectation. After Weijun’s revelation, Liwu had not bothered to go to bed. She called Chief Abby, and he in turn, summoned everyone. Liwu was standing in the middle of the operations room, pacing from side to side, her sharp eyes focused on the map on the screen.
Chen Guowei’s villa loomed there, its high walls and every hidden camera on the property. Small drones from the surveillance unit had already infiltrated the property, marking every stone, tree and creature outside.
They were being careful because he doubled the strength of his security at night.
"What? Is your team chickening out? Need us to take point?" Detective Yiyi asked.
Liwu did not spared a response or glance for her professional nemesis. But that didn’t sit well with her either, so she flicked her eyes to woman and replied, "You could always walk over without a shirt on and let your waist do the work for us."
Yiyi laughed. "I think your boobs have me beat. I am not the one known for flashing criminals to make an easy arrest."
Normally, this would have got a laugh out of the detectives, but not tonight. Everyone was more focused on the plan. SWAT would breach the villa at 3:50 a.m. Liwu would lead a team to follow the virtual map into hidden rooms embedded in the walls. Their mission was to find Sleazy Han. Xuanji and Analyst Bird, were on bird duty. Linlin was leading a third team to locate and arrest Chen Guowei.
The precinct buzzed like a hive. Officers checked and double checked weapons, loaded magazines, and synchronized comms. Weijun and his team, that came to keep an eye on the operation provided fresh coffee, all the while commenting on Xuanji’s pajamas and the preparation speed of the Bureau.
"At least change out of the night time wear." Weijun told Xuanji.
Xuanji laughed. "We are raiding a fortress at night. I don’t think anyone will be concerned about my outfit. These are bullet proof pajamas. Best investment I ever made."
Liwu slapped him on the back. "You sold 3 pairs before the bureau shut you down. How is that your best investment?"
Weijun was very curious too, and he was already analyzing the financial gains or losses of bullet proof pajamas.
"As long as you are not mistaken for one of the birds and shot with a dart." Qin Yiyi commented, sliding into the conversation casually, She stretched her hand towards Weijun, smiling beautifully, flashing her white, even teeth. "Mr. Mayor, I am Detective Qin Yiyi, the ace of this precinct."
Liwu shot Weijun a look that screamed ’I dare you to shake that hand.’
Weijun was smart enough to back away and put his arm around Liwu’s shoulder. "I am sure that title belongs to my wife."
Before any personal business or pettiness could take over, Chief Abby pushed his way through their small circle. He had a tired look on his face, like that of a father who was stressed because he had to deal with disobedient kids after a long day at work. "I will smack all of you, and I mean all of you. Get your minds to focus on the right thing. Chen Guowei has weapons and his villa is a labyrinth. I would like it if all my detectives make it back in one piece. Stop this...whatever it is. Do I make myself clear?"
Liwu’s jaw tightened. "Yes Sir."
The rest mumbled the word out, before dispersing. Only fifteen minutes later, the warrant arrived, and the convoy rolled out. Black vans, armored trucks, headlights dimmed. At 3:45 a.m, the villa loomed ahead, its security lights monitoring the area, like a bright sun.
SWAT drones fanned out, armed with explosives.
"On my mark." The commander said with authority.
Chen Guowei’s drones were sent out to explore the intruders but they were taken out by SWAT officers with their weapons. The explosion that followed shattered the silence. Gates blew inward, guards scrambled, Guard dogs went crazy. SWAT vehicles surged forward, enduring gun fire from Chen Guowei’s security.
In the chaos, the teams fanned out to tackle their roles. Liwu’s team darted through trees, following the virtual map on her wrist watch.
There was an entrance near the water habitat that they used. And that was the easiest part, because the interior of the house was a maze. Corridors twisted, walls concealed doors that melted into stone. Some hallways led to dead ends, and others led right back to where they started. Without Weijun’s blueprints, they would be lost.
Liwu pressed her palm against a panel;it slid open to reveal a narrow passage.
An officer behind her muttered, "This guy must really hate visitors."
They moved deeper, the air thick with the scent of feathers and decay. In hidden rooms, they found aviaries, cages stacked high. Birds shrieked, some flapping wildly, others silent.
"Chief, I think I found some of your missing birds." She whispered.
She recognized some of them from images Analyst Bird had shared with them, especially of those birds Sleazy Han had seen in the city.
There was someone on the other end of the comms shouting out the names of the different species they passed, "An ivory bellied wood pecker. It is supposed to be extinct, why are there two? Those are Philippine eagles, that’s a Scarlet macaw!" ƒгeewebnovёl.com
She had no idea what those names were or which birds were being identified. Her goal was Sleazy Han, as he was not a bird, this was all irrelevant. So, her team pressed forward.
The map led them to a chamber hidden within the wall of a bathroom. The door creaked open, revealing darkness. The drones which accompanied them lit up, the room, cutting through the gloom.
Liwu froze.
A man lay crumpled on the floor of an empty room, stark naked. His body was battered, blood pooled around it. His wrists were raw from restraints, his face swollen. A few loose teeth and nails were scattered in the blood.
A drone scanned him, confirming his identity and relaying his state back to the team. He had a pulse, but torture had left him barely conscious.
Liwu rushed forward, kneeling beside him. "Han! Han!, its Liwu, can you hear me? We are going to get you to a hospital as quickly as possible. Come on, open your eyes."
The team had come with two medics from SWAT, who rushed to Han’s side. As they pushed Liwu out of the way, she heard him whisper, "Shelves...birds..ledgers....billions..."
Liwu screamed the order out loud, "Find every shelf in this damn place and find me some ledgers."
Han was safe enough in the company of the medics, so she rushed out, in search of Chen Guowei’s office. In the race against time, she asked herself if she should have used her bad luck to find Han sooner. Maybe he would not be in such a state if she had simply been brave enough to risk a bruise or broken bone. Why had she been hesitant?
That question was still ringing in her mind when she found Chen Guowei’s main office. The very first sight to catch her eyes were the figurines on the shelves. Birds carved from bone, feathers sewn into the bones. Dead birds that been dried like jerky, with their wings clipped. They had glassy eyes, with an eerie shimmer.
Rage surged through her veins. For a man who was supposed to a bird lover, he seemed more like a bird butcher to her. An experimentalist.
"Here." An officer shouted, holding up a ledger.
The shelves were being emptied by a team of ten, every ledger separate from normal books. Analysts were working their way through them at a fast pace.
The first ledge, thick and bound in leather was laid out on the desk. She flipped it open, her breath catching. Columns of names, species, prices. Transactions spanning three years. The total sum scrawled at the end of the ledger, eighty million.
A second ledger was flipped open, and it had the same structure of information but a different total, double the first amount. With every ledger, the amount kept doubling.
The total sum was close to18 billion!
Someone whistled. "17.99 billion in trafficking birds. This isn’t small game, this is empire-building. What did he need this money for? He was already rich as it was."
Liwu’s jaw hardened. They needed a list of Chen Guowei’s buyers too because what kind of people spent millions and hundreds of millions on birds? What kind of birds were they buying?
Her finger lingered on a single transaction of 500 million. "Does anyone know a bird in the world that costs half a billion?"
"If anyone does, they should point me in its direction." Someone replied.
"I have seen gold mines worth less." Another person commented.
Liwu’s eyes perused the room, her hands on her waist, taking on the office and scenes through the windows. She could hear boost thundering, bullets tearing through the air, through cages. Birds shrieking in fear. And then she heard her partner’s voice on comms.
"He’s gone. Chen Guowei is not here."
