"Sarls' email?"

In the team leader's office, as Luo An was packing up, he paused and turned to ask Mona,

"What exactly does it say?"

Mona showed the laptop screen to Luo An, stating seriously:

"Sarls says she's aware of the situation with the black couple, claiming it's a misunderstanding.

She never intended to go after you, Luo An. You're with the FBI, and it was your duty to arrest her father, Hale Rick. She understands that.

As for the black couple, they were acting on their own accord. Sarls sincerly apologizes in this email and leaves it to us at the FBI to deal with the two."

After reading the email, Luo An raised his eyebrows and chuckled:

"Who would've thought Sarls actually has a sense of humor.

Acting on their own accord—heh, what a creative excuse."

"And to say we can deal with it as we please."

Mona closes the laptop and, with a mocking smile, says:

"The pair have already been captured. It's naturally up to us to decide what to do with them."

After a bit of mutual ridicule, Mona asked with some confusion:

"What's the purpose of Sarls sending this email?"

"I haven't figured it out yet."

Luo An shook his head. From the looks of it, this was just an ordinary apology letter—almost submissive, giving the impression that Sarls was afraid of Luo An retaliating for the arrest of her father.

But would a woman who rose to power so quickly in the underground arms market be afraid of him?

Luo An propped his chin, seriously pondering; he didn't think his reputation was that formidable yet. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ ɴoᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt

Mona tilted her head and thought for a moment before asking:

"So, do we reply to her?"

"No need, no point..."

Luo An shook his head, and Mona turned to leave. But the next second, Luo An's eyes shifted, and he reached out to grab Mona's arm, saying:

"No, better send her a reply after all."

Mona paused but nodded her head, then opened the laptop and asked:

"What should the reply say?"

Luo An thought for a moment before saying:

"Copy the content exactly as it is, without changing a single punctuation mark.

But when sending the email, use your computer skills to leave a message in the email link saying, 'This message contains illegal content and could not be received by the recipient,' or something along those lines."

"..."

Mona's mouth twitched, then she gave Luo An a disdainful look and said without a word:

"You're terrible."

Luo An laughed and retorted:

"Do you like it?"

"Not at all."

After a playful slap on Luo An's arm, Mona smiled and walked out of the team leader's office to start preparing the email.

Luo An continued packing up, and soon it was time to clock out. Without any fuss or overtime, members of Unit 13 immediately left the headquarters building and went their separate ways home.

Driving back to the villa, Luo An and Mona teased each other and made some dinner. After eating, they started resting on the couch watching TV.

In the middle of the couch, Mona held a cushion in her arms, her left hand with snacks and her right with the remote, in charge of controlling the TV.

Luo An sat next to her, silently popping snacks from another bag into his mouth, looking at his laptop with a slightly unfocused gaze.

Suddenly, Luo An reached out and tapped Mona's arm, saying:

"Give me your phone for a sec."

"Oh."

Mona pulled out her cellphone and handed it to Luo An, casually asking:

"What do you need it for?"

"Making a call."

Rising up to give a peck on Mona's forehead, Luo An took her phone to the kitchen not far away, found a number, and dialed.

The call was quickly answered, and a somewhat cheerful elderly male voice rang out:

"Good evening! Mona, why are you calling me today?"

"It's not Mona, it's me, Luo An."

Luo An casually inquired; the man on the other end of the line was Mona's father, Javari Evans.

"…"

Hearing Luo An's voice, the enthusiasm in the voice on the phone suddenly halted, and then half of the warmth in his tone dissipated as he asked:

"What's wrong? Why are you using Mona's phone to call me?"

Accustomed to the shift in Javari's tone, Luo An chose to ignore it and went straight to the point, saying:

"I need your help."

Javari: "…"

Not long after, Luo An left the kitchen, returned to the sofa, and handed the phone back to Mona. Mona curiously asked:

"I thought I heard you call my father. What do you need him for?"

Luo An smiled, snatched the snacks from Mona's hand, and replied:

"Just a little something, asked him to check into something for me."

"Is it related to Sarls?"

"More or less."

Mona nodded and didn't ask further. After watching television, they both brushed their teeth and rested, with no further conversation for the night.

The next day, at nine in the morning, inside the office area of Investigation Team 13, Luo An and Michele were handling the follow-up paperwork for the case when Reesi and Chenier walked in, loudly announcing:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we've collected information on Adam Avalos!"

Everyone lifted their heads, Winslow asked:

"Where is he?"

"He's at the Hudson River, north of the suburbs of New York."

Chenier handed a file to Luo An, spreading her hands in exasperation:

"After giving Elaine the last payment for making bombs, the African-American Joan killed him.

Joan stuffed Adam's body into a trash bin, put some large rocks inside, tied the bin securely, and then pushed both the bin and the body into the Hudson River."

"Alright."

The agents' faces looked rather grim, and Luo An closed his eyes, rubbing his temples.

The Hudson River flows southward through the eastern part of New York State, with cities along its banks including Saratoga, Troy, Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, and New York City, constituting the economic lifeline of New York State.

Since the city of New York came into existence, internal human conflicts have never ceased—feuds, crimes of passion, politics, gang activities, and more. No one knows just how many bodies lie at the bottom of the Hudson River.

"Contact the search and rescue salvage department."

After a few seconds of contemplation, Luo An opened his eyes, reached out to pat Michele's shoulder, and said:

"Have them try to find Adam Avalos's body to complete this case's evidence chain."

"OK."

Michele nodded, picked up the desk phone, and began to contact the relevant departments.

At that moment, Luo An's cellphone suddenly started ringing. After pressing the answer button, Vireness's voice emerged:

"Luo An, come to Mr. Clement's office with me."

"Understood, Chief."

After the call, Luo An quickly arranged his work and headed to Mr. Clement's office.

At the office door, the secretary saw Luo An, immediately stood up with a smile, and without asking anything, opened the door of the office for him.

"Thank you."

Luo An thanked the secretary with a smile, walked into the office, and found that in addition to the familiar Vireness and Mr. Clement, there was also a white man in his thirties, with a crew-cut and a muscular build, who looked very capable.

Luo An glanced briefly and noticed a conspicuous scar at the edge of the man's neck, and the experienced Luo An recognized it at first glance as a through-and-through wound.

Meaning that a bullet had once penetrated the edge of the white man's neck, but he was lucky enough to survive.

Numerous thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but his expression remained unchanged. As usual, Luo An smiled at his superiors and said:

"Good morning, Chiefs."

Mr. Clement nodded his head and introduced:

"Meet Roland, from the CIA."