章 198: Chapter 198: Coveted Twins (Part 1)
"Although it's not the authentic way to make Italian seafood risotto, this tastes better than any rice I've had in Italy."
Rossi ate in a typical Italian manner, unhurried, occasionally sipping from a glass of wine.
Jack, of course, didn't mention that his fried rice was actually a mishmash. The technique was authentic, but instead of lard, he used the more flavorful butter.
Compared to Yangzhou fried rice, it lacked the signature ingredients of ham sausage and diced carrots. Instead, it had shrimp, ham, and some chopped clams and octopus, making it more like Italian seafood risotto.
Italian cuisine and Chinese cuisine were so similar that even Rossi didn't notice anything amiss.
While Rossi slowly savored the food, Jack took the documents JJ had been reading and sat down in front of Reid.
"Give me a brief overview."
There weren't many documents, and with Reid's reading speed, it probably wouldn't take him more than three minutes to absorb it all into his genius brain.
Sure enough, Reid, reclining comfortably in his chair with his eyes half-closed, seemingly still savoring the ice cream cake from earlier, began to speak fluently.
"Evan Davenport, administrative assistant at the Federal Prosecutor's Office, lives in the Southern District of New York, widowed. He has received multiple death threats over the past decade and has joined the Federal Witness Protection Program three times."
"Sixteen hours ago, between 11 PM last night and 12 AM today, his daughter Tracy and her boyfriend were kidnapped on their way home. Tracy's boyfriend was shot in the face and died instantly. Tracy's whereabouts are unknown."
"Why wasn't the daughter protected if her father was in the Witness Protection Program?" Jack questioned.
"Tracy refused protection when she turned 18," JJ answered from the side.
Jack curled his lips. Rebellious and reckless teenage years, a common theme among Americans.
He flipped through the documents and saw a photo. "Tracy has a sister? Cheryl? They look exactly the same."
The photo showed two nearly identical blonde girls in cheerleader uniforms, sweet-looking and brimming with youthful energy.
"Yes, they're twins."
Rossi wiped his mouth with a napkin and handed over a photo, which was actually a ransom note.
"You must follow the instructions below carefully to ensure your daughter's safety. You must answer the phone at 8 PM. You must take note of the instructions and follow them strictly."
After Jack finished reading the note aloud, Rossi checked his watch and said, "We need to get to Connecticut within nine hours, complete a psychological profile of the suspect, and help Evan Davenport prepare the ransom."
Jack showed the note to Reid and asked, "Have you analyzed it?"
Reid nodded, pointing to the strokes of the letters compared to Tracy's handwriting in the documents, and the smudges at the bottom of the letter. "The handwriting matches Tracy's. She was forced to write it. And here, these are salt marks."
"It's her tears," JJ realized.
"What's your analysis?" Rossi, reluctantly finishing the last sip of wine, turned his attention to Jack.
"The wording is interesting. It's all about what you must do, not when I will call. This indicates a strong sense of control and dissatisfaction with the recipient. Most interestingly," Jack continued, "ransom notes usually threaten against calling the police, but this one doesn't mention it. Is he expecting the police to get involved, or is it a challenge?"
Jack frowned. This kidnapper gave him a weird feeling.
"Then let's rest up and give him a surprise."
Rossi stood up, intending to clear his table, but JJ stepped forward, taking away the food containers and the empty wine glass.
"I can do it myself," Jack quickly stood up, catching up with JJ and taking the food containers from in front of Reid, following her to the front of the plane.
As they passed Rossi, Jack smiled and mouthed, "Charming girl."
——
The Gulfstream business jet, known as the fastest civilian aircraft, took just over two hours to reach the destination. However, due to a three-hour time difference between the locations, it was already dawn when the plane landed.
"Dr. Reid and I will head to Evan Davenport's home first. JJ, you take Jack to the scene and bring back Tracy's sister Cheryl. She insists on visiting the site to sense her sister's whereabouts," Rossi said before getting into a car with Reid. The local FBI agents had left them a black Suburban.
Jack drove, and the two, still confused, followed the navigation to Tracy's kidnapping location.
"What did Rossi mean by sensing? Did I mishear?" JJ asked from the passenger seat.
Jack was puzzled too. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Could it be that twin telepathy people talk about?"
Their questions were soon answered. Upon arriving, they crossed the police cordon and saw a small, sweet-looking girl lying in the middle of the dirt road, the same girl from the photos—Cheryl.
"What is she doing?" JJ curiously asked two Department of Justice agents who seemed to be acting as Cheryl's bodyguards.
"Lying on the ground?" The tall male agent, stunned by JJ's beauty, blurted out a stupid response.
The short female agent beside him rolled her eyes and kindly explained, "She's trying to sense her sister's experience."
"You've just been watching her lie there?" Jack was a bit speechless.
The tall agent seemed to snap out of his daze, shrugged self-deprecatingly, "These sisters have been trying to ditch their bodyguards since they were twelve. We're just glad she's within our sight."
Jack understood their implied meaning, thinking it might not be fair to criticize their slack behavior too harshly. He walked forward a few steps, squatting down in front of Cheryl, meeting her eyes.
A typical American sweetheart's look, even prettier than in the photos. Her black eyeliner made her eyes look even bigger, like a character out of a comic book, reminding Jack of the cute daughter from "Castle."
"No, I'm not crazy." Feeling Jack's smiley gaze, Cheryl quickly got up, patting the dust off her clothes, her slightly chubby face blushing red.
"I felt it. She was dragged out of the car and fell here."
Cheryl took a few steps forward, pointing to the ground at JJ's feet.
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