The phone continued to ring. Jack had already called Alice, asking her to trace the call immediately.
However, before Jiejie could pick up, the answering machine picked up. After a beep, a soft female voice rang out, "Jack, I know you're there. Answer the phone."
Everyone looked at someone in unison. Just as Jack wondered if it was a coincidence, the voice confidently stated his full name, "Jack Tawaller. There's no doubt it's you. Pick up the phone." "It's
the security device on the door lock. Although we notified the security company, they likely learned of the intrusion through a mobile app or computer."
Aubrey's explanation explained the perfect timing of the call, but the question lingered: how could she have called out Jack's full name so easily?
In a split second, leaving little time for reflection, Jack handed his phone to Hannah, gestured to the others to count down to 321, and pressed the speakerphone button.
"Hello, who is this?"
"I thought I could count on you, Jack." The woman spoke again, her previous hint of challenge gone, a touch of sadness in the air.
"What do you count on me for? To find you or to make this public?" Jack felt the other person's voice was familiar. Although the phone caused distortion, he had definitely heard it before.
The other person didn't directly answer Jack's question, instead continuing on her own. "Forgive me for searching your name online without your permission. To be honest, there's not much information. I'm surprised by your youth and your low profile.
I'm curious what you did to deserve the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom. I know you haven't received it yet, but your name is on the list published by the White House."
Jack's mind raced, considering all the possibilities, and he casually said modestly, "It's just doing my duty. It's an honor to have the attention of a woman like you."
"I once thought you were a hero, Jack, an upright knight," the woman continued, her voice still tinged with sadness.
"Especially this morning, when I saw you on TV at the press conference about last night's shooting, for a moment, I thought there might still be good people in this world."
Hearing the woman's voice choke on the last few words, Jack suddenly understood why, but he deliberately steered the conversation in a different direction.
"So you feel I've let you down because you've discovered that I, like the other men in your life, have been cheating on your wife, or mistreating my ex-wife and children, and therefore deserve to be punished?"
The woman on the other end of the line was silent for a moment, looking surprised but unconcerned. She chuckled, "So you're that kind of person, too?"
"Of course not. I'm not married, and I don't have children. Single life is so wonderful. There's no reason for me to give up so soon, right?"
Facing the slightly complicated looks from Hannah and Jiejie, and the others who looked on in anticipation, Jack forced a smile, suggesting that he was just trying to fool the suspect and buy time.
"So you must have had many girlfriends, right? Do you pay them for that kind of thing?" the woman continued.
This question was a bit insulting to Jack. "Do you think I'm that kind of guy? I admit I've had, uh... a few special female friends, but our relationships weren't about money."
Although he felt a little guilty in the middle of the sentence, his last sentence was quite reasonable.
"So you're not the kind of man to date me. No wonder you rejected me back then." This inexplicable feeling suddenly made Jack realize who the other person was.
Hannah's eyes widened beside him, as if she wanted to call him to task, yet she hesitated to speak for fear of alerting the suspect.
Jack gestured for silence, and nearly everyone gathered around the phone. A man's fearful grunts, as if his mouth was being gagged, were clearly heard.
Giving Aubrey a hand signal for Alice to continue urging him to speed up, Jack cautiously asked, "So, what kind of person do you think I am?"
"A bitch like me!" The other person's response was somewhat unexpected.
Jack chuckled instead, "What do you mean?"
"Some people can summon you with a single phone call and ask you to clean up their messes. You might be truly capable, but in the face of the powerful, you can only fawn and beg for mercy, hoping for even the slightest scraps of food to slip through their fingers."
The other person seemed to have misunderstood something, but before Jack could reply, Aubrey flashed his phone screen in front of him, revealing the identity of the caller.
Trent Rabb, a 48-year-old Texas rancher, made a fortune in his youth when oil was discovered beneath the ranch his parents left him.
While Jack didn't have Red's terrifying reading speed, it was still far superior. He scanned the information almost at a glance, then frowned.
The Trent Rabb profile described him as childless and deeply in love with his wife, but tragically, his wife had died of cancer a year prior, and he had been single ever since.
While the information Alice had sent was somewhat sketchy, it was clear that this Trent Rabb wasn't the type of wealthy scumbag the suspect hated.
Was their previous profile flawed, their assumptions about the motive wrong, or had the suspect changed her target?
Before Jack could even consider it, a suspicious woman's voice echoed from the other end of the line. "Jack? Are you still there?"
"Of course," Jack replied quickly. "I'm just a little shocked that I've made such a conscious decision about myself. But words are no proof, and I'm sure you don't want to hear a detailed explanation of why I came to Dallas to work on your case.
After all, I've disappointed you, haven't I?"
"Go on," the woman sighed.
"You wanted to expose the shamelessness of certain people, to expose certain things. My investigation might have played into your hands, revealing the truth.
But the media hasn't been saying anything these days, and that's got you pissed off, isn't it?"
The woman's sobs echoed again, and the FBI could more clearly hear a man's terrified gasps and grunts.
A moment later, accompanied by the click of a pistol's hammer, the woman's voice grew cold and sinister. "Did I ever tell you you were smart, Agent Tavolar? But do you have the guts to admit you're really just here to investigate?"
(End of Chapter)