The Cop and the Princess - Chapter eight:- chasing trails

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Chapter Eight – chasing trails

Morning sunlight slowly spread across the farmhouse.

Hope adjusted the bandage beneath her sleeve before slipping into her black leather jacket.

She picked up the convoy case file from the table upstairs and walked toward the staircase.

Downstairs...

Rose was standing near the dining table, arranging freshly washed vegetables into a basket after returning from the backyard garden.

She looked up as Hope came down.

"So..."

"Already leaving?"

Hope nodded while picking up the car keys.

"I got a call from the station."

"The gang we arrested last night is finally willing to talk."

Rose stopped arranging the vegetables.

"Oh?"

Hope nodded.

"If we're lucky..."

"They'll finally give us something useful."

Before Rose could answer...

Sara quietly appeared from the living room.

She had clearly overheard everything.

"So..."

"You're going?"

Hope smiled.

"Looks like it."

Sara walked closer.

"Please..."

"Be careful this time."

Hope looked at her for a moment.

Then smiled warmly.

"Princess..."

"This time it's only an interrogation."

"I'm not planning to fight anyone before breakfast."

Sara folded her arms.

"You also didn't plan it last time."

Hope laughed.

"...Fair enough."

She gently nudged Sara's shoulder.

"I'll be back as soon as the interrogation is over."

Sara nodded slowly.

"...Okay."

Hope smiled once more before walking toward the door.

"See you later."

The front door quietly closed behind her.

Rose watched Sara continue staring at the closed door for several seconds.

A tiny smile appeared on Rose's face...

But she wisely decided not to tease her this time.

Elsewhere...

Far away from the peaceful farmhouse...

A steel door slowly opened.

A man stepped inside.

The room remained almost completely dark.

Only a single lamp illuminated a chessboard resting on the table.

Several black pieces had already surrounded a lonely white king.

Another man sat in the shadows.

His face remained invisible.

The messenger lowered his head.

"Boss."

"Our suppliers have been arrested."

Silence.

"They're interrogating them now."

The man slowly reached toward the table.

Instead of touching the chessboard...

He picked up Hope Parker's photograph.

A faint smile appeared across his face.

"So..."

"Hope Parker."

"I've waited a long time..."

"...for someone capable of playing alongside me."

The messenger hesitated.

"Boss..."

"What if they tell her everything?"

The man quietly laughed.

Not loudly.

Not nervously.

Almost...

Amused.

"They won't."

"And even if they do..."

"The game only becomes more interesting."

He picked up a red marker.

Slowly...

He drew a neat red X across Hope's photograph.

Then placed it back on the table.

He leaned back in his chair.

A calm smile never leaving his face.

"For too long..."

"I've been moving pieces from the shadows."

He looked toward the chessboard.

"...Now..."

"It's time to play..."

"...face to face."

The messenger looked confused.

"But boss..."

"Wouldn't that expose you?"

The man smiled even wider.

"No."

"It will make the game worth playing."

He gently moved one black chess piece forward.

One square.

"Let's see..."

"...whether Detective Hope Parker realizes..."

"...that I'm no longer hiding."

The room fell silent once again.

Outside...

The morning carried on peacefully.

Inside...

The first move had already been made.

Scene – Police Headquarters

Hope parked her car outside the police headquarters and stepped out, the convoy case file tucked beneath her arm.

The station was already alive.

Phones rang across the offices.

Officers hurried through the corridors carrying reports while detectives discussed overnight cases.

As Hope entered the building, a young constable standing near the reception desk smiled.

“Morning, Detective.”

Hope returned a small nod.

“Morning.”

Another officer walked past carrying a stack of files.

“Morning, Hope.”

She smiled politely.

“Morning.”

Those greetings had become part of her everyday routine.

She barely noticed them anymore.

One of her fellow officers approached.

“They’re ready.”

Hope adjusted the case file beneath her arm.

“They finally decided to talk?”

The officer nodded.

“Looks like spending the night in a cell changed their minds.”

A faint smile crossed Hope’s face.

“…Good.”

The officer pushed open the heavy steel interrogation room door.

Hope stepped inside.

Three men sat opposite the steel table.

Fresh bruises from last night’s fight still covered their faces.

Hope calmly placed the convoy case file on the table.

Without saying a word, she spread several photographs across the metal surface.

The destroyed convoy.

The abandoned getaway vehicles.

The recovered number plates.

Finally…

She placed the imported bullet beside them.

The metallic sound echoed through the silent room.

Hope looked directly at the gang leader.

“Recognize these?”

Silence.

She expected that.

Hope opened the convoy report.

“The men who attacked Princess Sara’s convoy…”

She slowly raised her eyes.

“…those were your men, weren’t they?”

The gang leader remained silent.

He simply stared back at her.

Hope slowly nodded.

“…I thought so.”

She calmly wrote another note inside her notebook.

Then looked back at him.

“Silence is still an answer.”

The room fell silent once again.

Hope picked up the imported bullet between her fingers.

She held it up for everyone to see.

“These bullets…”

“…are imported military-grade ammunition.”

She gently placed it back on the table.

Her eyes slowly moved across the three criminals.

“You can’t afford weapons like these.”

She paused.

“…And neither of you seems smart enough to plan a convoy attack on your own.”

She leaned forward slightly.

“So talk.”

“Who funded the weapons…”

“…and who planned the attack?”

The gang leader let out a dry laugh.

“You think we paid for all that?”

Hope answered immediately.

“No.”

“I know you didn’t.”

The laughter slowly disappeared.

After several seconds…

The gangster sighed.

“There was somebody behind us.”

“He paid for everything.”

“The rifles.”

“The ammunition.”

“The vehicles.”

Hope quietly wrote every word.

Then looked back up.

“Who paid you?”

“The boss.”

“How did he pay you?”

“He brought cash.”

Hope looked up.

“Cash?”

The gangster nodded.

“Money bundles.”

“Fresh ones.”

“They looked like they had just come out of a bank.”

Hope continued writing.

“What about the man?”

“The one who paid you.”

“What did he look like?”

The gangster frowned, trying to remember.

“Expensive suit.”

“Black leather gloves.”

“He barely spoke.”

“But…”

“He checked every rifle himself.”

“Every magazine.”

“Every bullet.”

Hope stopped writing.

“He inspected the shipment himself?”

The gangster nodded.

“Usually someone else came.”

“But the last shipment…”

“…he came personally.”

Hope wrote another line.

“When?”

“Three days before the convoy attack.”

Hope quietly closed her notebook.

She looked at the convoy photographs again.

“One last thing.”

She spread them back across the table.

“You knew everything.”

“The convoy route.”

“The departure time.”

“The number of security officers.”

She tapped the photograph showing Sara’s SUV.

“You even knew which vehicle Princess Sara was sitting in.”

Her eyes locked onto the gang leader.

“Who gave you that information?”

The gangster remained silent for a few moments.

Then he sighed.

“We were told.”

Hope didn’t move.

“How?”

The gangster answered,

“Phone calls.”

Hope frowned slightly.

“Phone calls?”

He nodded.

“They called us.”

“They told us the route.”

“The departure time.”

“The number of guards.”

“Which vehicle carried the princess.”

“Everything.”

Hope asked calmly,

“The same phone every time?”

The gangster shook his head.

“No.”

“A different phone.”

“Every single time.”

Hope nodded slightly.

“Burner phones.”

The gangster nodded once.

“They called.”

“We listened.”

“Then the phone disappeared.”

Hope quietly closed the convoy file.

Without another word…

She stood up and walked out of the interrogation room.

The heavy steel door closed behind her with a dull metallic thud.

Outside the interrogation room…

Several officers immediately looked toward Hope.

The sergeant walked over.

“Anything useful, Detective?”

Hope glanced once through the small glass window before answering.

“They’re not the planners.”

“They’re hired hands.”

The sergeant frowned.

“So we’re still chasing ghosts?”

Hope slowly shook her head.

“No.”

“We finally have something.”

She opened her notebook and handed it to him.

“The last weapon shipment happened three days before the convoy attack.”

“The payment was made in freshly withdrawn cash.”

“I want Financial Crimes to pull every unusually large cash withdrawal made within two or three days before the attack.”

The sergeant nodded while writing it down.

“I’ll get someone on it.”

Hope stopped him.

“And one more thing.”

The sergeant looked up.

“I want a complete list of every single person who had access to Princess Sara’s convoy security system and convoy schedule.”

He looked surprised.

“You think there was a leak?”

Hope folded her arms.

“They knew the route.”

“They knew the departure time.”

“They knew the security detail.”

“They even knew which SUV carried the princess.”

She looked back toward the interrogation room.

“Information like that doesn’t leak by accident.”

“Someone handed it to them.”

The sergeant nodded seriously.

“I’ll contact Royal Security immediately.”

Hope continued,

“And notify Cyber Crime.”

“They were communicating through burner phones.”

“I want every burner phone activated around the convoy route during the week before the attack checked.”

The sergeant nodded again.

“I’ll coordinate with them.”

“Good.”

The sergeant walked away, already issuing orders to the other officers.

Hope remained standing alone in the corridor.

The station around her was as busy as ever.

Phones kept ringing.

Officers rushed past.

But for a brief moment…

Everything around Hope felt strangely quiet.

She looked down at the convoy photographs inside the file.

Broken glass.

Blood across the road.

The destroyed SUV.

Sara’s frightened face flashed through her mind.

Hope slowly closed the file.

A faint smirk appeared.

“So…”

“You finally left me a trail.”

She tucked the file beneath her arm.

Quietly…

Almost to herself…

“I’m going to find every person responsible for that convoy attack.”

A brief pause.

“And when I do…”

Her smirk widened just a little.

“…they’re going to regret what they did.”

Without another word…

Hope turned and walked down the corridor.

For the first time since the convoy attack…

She wasn’t chasing shadows anymore.

She was following them.

To be continue.....

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