“It’s been a long time, Commissioner.”
The man on the other end of the call let out a warm laugh, his familiar voice carrying a hint of amusement. “It really has.”
The person Stan had called was the police commissioner who had personally overseen the investigation surrounding Amelia’s kidnapping.
Their relationship had begun under circumstances neither of them would have expected. At the time, Stan had been directly involved in helping Amelia escape from the Red Serpents, an organization whose activities had made them a significant target for law enforcement. After rescuing Amelia, Stan had also provided the police with crucial information about the organization, giving them details that would have otherwise taken months of investigation to uncover.
The information had eventually contributed to a much larger operation. The police had followed the leads Stan provided, gathered additional evidence, tracked down several members of the organization, and ultimately captured many of the Red Serpents’ major figures. The commissioner had never forgotten Stan’s contribution.
“I’ve actually been meaning to properly thank you,” the commissioner said after a moment. “We finally managed to close out a lot of the Red Serpent investigation not too long ago. If you hadn’t given us those details, we probably wouldn’t have been able to bring the entire organization down.”
Stan shook his head lightly, even though the commissioner couldn’t see him. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s true.”
“You gave us information that saved us months of work.”
“I only gave you what I knew.” Stan smiled faintly as he leaned back against the sofa. “I got those details because they were following me when Amelia was kidnapped. I managed to save her and learned some things in the process. The actual investigation, evidence gathering, arrests, and everything else were done by your people. I didn’t do the difficult part.”
The commissioner chuckled. “You’re still as modest as ever.”
“Not really.”
Stan’s gaze drifted toward the chessboard in front of him. The pieces remained scattered across the board exactly as they had been before the call. Across from him, Camilla was quietly observing the conversation, though she made no attempt to interrupt.
The commissioner was silent for a moment before his tone changed slightly. “Speaking of Amelia…”
Stan’s expression softened almost imperceptibly…
“How is she? I got news after she was treated in the hospital that she was searching for you…”
“She’s doing well.”
“That’s good.”
There was a brief pause between them before the commissioner continued, his voice becoming more thoughtful. “I actually wanted to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“Before Amelia was kidnapped, the guards protecting her reported something rather strange. They said she seemed to have developed a strong hatred toward men. Not just toward particular individuals, but toward men in general.”
Stan listened without interrupting.
“After everything she went through, we assumed it was probably connected to her past experiences,” the commissioner continued. “Since you were the one who eventually saved her, did she ever get over that?”
Stan thought about the question for a few seconds before answering. “High chance she has.”
“You aren’t sure?”
“I haven’t exactly interviewed her about it.”
The commissioner laughed. “Fair enough.”
Stan smiled. “But from what I’ve seen, she seems to have changed.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Though I can’t say for certain what she feels internally.”
“Understandable.”
The subject gradually shifted away from Amelia after that. Their conversation moved naturally toward the Red Serpent investigation, with the commissioner mentioning some of the difficulties the department had faced while tracking down the organization’s remaining members. Although the major investigation had largely been brought to a close, there had still been loose ends to deal with, and locating every individual connected to the organization had taken considerable time and manpower.
Stan listened as the commissioner briefly described how things had been progressing within the department. At one point, the commissioner jokingly complained about the endless paperwork, political pressure, and seemingly never-ending stream of problems that appeared whenever the department managed to resolve one of them.
Stan laughed. “You sound exhausted.”
“Police work.”
“Fair enough.”
The conversation then turned toward Stan. “And you?”
Stan raised an eyebrow despite himself. “What about me?”
“What have you been doing all this time?”
Stan paused briefly before giving the simplest answer he could. “Nothing particularly interesting.”
Across the table, Camilla immediately glanced at him.
Her expression made it obvious that she did not believe him for even a second.
Stan deliberately ignored her.
The commissioner laughed on the other end of the call. “With you, I doubt that’s true.”
“Maybe.”
Their conversation continued for several more minutes, touching on various subjects before Stan finally remembered the real reason he had made the call in the first place. He shifted slightly in his seat and became more serious.
“There was actually something I wanted to ask you about, it’s why I called you in the first place…”
“Go ahead.”
“Blackridge Correctional Facility.”
The moment Stan mentioned the name, the commissioner went silent.
Stan noticed the sudden change in his tone and continued. “Can you check whether a prisoner named Damien Bale was among those recaptured?”
For several seconds, there was no response.
Then the commissioner finally spoke.
“Wait.”
His tone had changed completely.
“Blackridge?”
“Yes.”
“You know about it?”
“I just saw the news.”
“The news?”
Stan frowned. “You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“A prison break happened a few hours ago.”
Another pause followed. This time, the commissioner sounded genuinely surprised.
“I’ve been extremely busy today. I haven’t even had time to look at the news.”
Stan stared at his phone for a moment, wondering if the commissioner was joking.
“Seriously?”
“I wish I were joking.”
The commissioner exhaled heavily before asking, “What exactly happened?”
Stan gave him the basic details he had seen in the report. A large-scale breach had occurred at Blackridge Correctional Facility several hours earlier, allowing multiple prisoners to escape. Some had already been recaptured, while others remained at large, and authorities were still working to determine the full extent of the incident.