Chapter 5: Autonomy
After getting the CCTV footage, Jia and Huojin carefully studied it. Two men came out and forcibly dragged the little girl into their van. It was a typical white van and the plate number was slightly obscured, but it was still manageable to read the number.
"Run the plates against our system. They could be very well fake, but we will do a check anyway. Where did the van go next?" Jia asked.
Officer Xiyang scrolled over to the next footage and said, "Towards the Second Ring Road."
"Second Ring?" Huojin widened his eyes. "That's one of the busiest traffic hubs that encircles the city center. These kidnappers have some nerve to head there when committing a crime in broad daylight."
They kept following the road surveillance filled with rows of cars, trucks, and shops until they saw the van heading towards the parking garage of a less crowded, residential area.
Huojin grabbed his cap and said, "I will quickly head to the location with some officers."
"But we cannot be reckless," Jia uttered in a heavy voice. She looked at Mingshen and asked, "Did Bojing see anything that can be helpful?"
He lazily smiled and said, "Four people in the van. Two who grabbed the girl, one driver and another sitting on the passenger seat. The kidnapper beside the driver seemed to be feeling a little hot in the van so he had slightly pulled up his mask, revealing a trace of some tattoo. It looked like a tail of some sort."
Jia furrowed her brows, feeling odd.
Why did four men come to kidnap a little girl?
Huojin said, "Will keep a lookout for that tattoo while I am there. You coming Jia?"