Chapter 3

Once the SWAT team sealed off the intersection, the entire street went quiet.

The crowd was evacuated, and the stores quickly pulled down their metal shutters.

The SWAT commander walked to the front of the truck and motioned for me to report.

I held down the radio. "No one inside the armored vehicle is injured. The deadbolts are fully locked. There are eight people outside. Five of them were holding what appeared to be firearms, but we have confirmed they are plastic water guns. There is also a tall man acting suspiciously. He keeps moving toward the rear of the truck, and he appears to have something hidden near his right waist and abdomen."

The commander nodded. "Can we rule out a prank?"

"No. Until we've searched everyone and checked their belongings, we have to treat this as a high-risk situation."

As soon as Frida heard that, she rushed to the edge of the police line. "Officer, this is really just a joke between a couple! That man is my daughter's fiancé, and the people inside the truck are bank employees. None of them are dangerous!"

The commander said coldly, "Please step back behind the police line."

"They're getting married soon!"

"Being engaged doesn't change the need for a security check."

She had no answer to that, so she turned to me. "Callum, explain this to them. They'll listen to you."

I looked at her through the bulletproof glass. "Let's talk after the security check is finished."

The SWAT team began taking control of the people in the front.

When the first person's mask was removed, he dropped a blue plastic water gun onto the ground.

When the second man was taken down, he kept shouting. "We were only hired to act in a prank! We didn't know he'd treat us like criminals! Even a kid would know this is just a water gun!"

A few people in the crowd laughed quietly.

Yvonne was no longer scared.

She shouted at me through the window. "Callum, look carefully! They're all water guns! Are you seriously this paranoid?"

Tony also took the chance to mock me. "How could you get scared by a few toy guns? Aren't you always the one who follows every rule? How come you don't even recognize your own girlfriend today?"

I ignored him.

The safer things looked up front, the more careful I needed to be about what was happening behind them.

The comments were still flashing at the edge of my vision.

[Don't let your guard down.]

[They deliberately gave the people in front water guns.]

[The real danger is with the man in black.]

I stared at the tall man standing at the edge of the crowd.

Even with both hands raised, he kept looking toward the back of the truck.

As the commander and two SWAT officers moved toward him, Yvonne suddenly stepped in front of them. "He's an actor my best friend hired! You can search everyone else!"

"Step aside."

"He hasn't attacked anyone!"

I picked up the radio and ordered, "Control the man in black first. Check his right waist and abdomen."

The commander immediately signaled the officers to surround him.

The man in black looked nervous.

Then he suddenly clutched his stomach and bent over. "Officer, my stomach really hurts. Can I go to the hospital first?"

"You can be checked right here."

"I really can't hold it!"

As he spoke, he slowly moved to the side.

A SWAT officer stepped in front of him with his shield and blocked his path.

The man in black stopped. Cold sweat finally appeared on his forehead.

Tony quickly cut in. "He's just an ordinary worker. Howard's company sent him here. Don't scare him!"

Yvonne quickly turned around. "Shut up!"

But it was already too late.

The commander looked at Tony. "Who is Howard?"

Tony froze. "Howard? I don't know anyone named Howard."

I pressed the loudspeaker and looked at him through the window. "You just said he was sent here by Howard's company."

"Did I say that?"

"You said it yourself."

Tony's face turned pale. He didn't know how to answer.

Yvonne stared at him too. "What kind of people did you actually hire?"