Hearing the female guest's words, Broson's brows tightly furrowed and Matthews's face turned pale. The two of them hastily apologized a few times and squeezed into the center of the crowd.
In the center of the crowd, they were surrounding a television that had originally been showing Virene's previous press conference, but now it had switched to a breaking news live broadcast by New York News.
On the television, Linette with her burgundy hair was holding a microphone and introducing the case, as well as the current scene at the cabin in the woods with a serious expression.
Seeing Luo An in the camera's view, negotiating with the gunman at the corner of the villa, Broson's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, and he turned to Matthews, asking in a low voice:
"Weren't you supposed to have someone following Luo An? How did he find the criminal so quickly? And what's the deal with this reporter?"
At this moment, Matthews's eyelids twitched, his throat dry and tongue parched. He didn't know how to respond to Broson's questioning, and after a long pause, he finally replied in a low voice:
"I'll make a call right now!"
"Hmph, hurry up!"
Seeing the complex gazes of the people around him, Broson kept a straight face and couldn't say much, gesturing with his hand for Matthews to leave quickly.
Matthews, breaking out in cold sweat, squeezed out of the crowd and immediately went to a corner of the room to call his subordinate Jock to ask what exactly was going on, only to find out Jock had not yet arrived at the villa and it would take at least another ten minutes.
And faced with Matthews's questioning, Jock, who was driving, was completely baffled, "Boss, wasn't it you who told me to notify the reporter?"
Matthews: "...FU-K!"
---
At the villa's entrance, Darren looked at the female reporter speaking confidently in front of the camera, his face ashen, urgently contacting people on his phone, hoping someone in his network knew the higher-ups of New York News so they could immediately notify the female reporter to stop broadcasting live.
He didn't want the incident of his wife being kidnapped to create an uproar; who knows how people would talk about the things that happened when Sabina was kidnapped.
At the same time, Reesi also made a call to Augustus.
"What did you say?"
Upon hearing that there was a reporter live broadcasting at the crime scene, Augustus's brows shot up in surprise, and Vireness, hearing the news alongside him, immediately picked up the remote control to switch the conference room's overhead TV to the New York News channel.
On TV, Luo An's handsome profile was extremely clear.
"Damn it!"
Thinking that the criminal might be provoked by the reporter and might kill the hostage, Augustus's lips trembled with urgency, immediately ordering Reesi to interrupt the TV station's live broadcast, but Vireness stopped him with a raised hand.
"?"
Turning his head towards Vireness, Augustus looked puzzled.
"Interrupting the reporter's live broadcast at this moment would have a very negative impact on our FBI's image."
Augustus's eyes widened in shock; if Luo An failed this mission and did not save the hostage, Luo An's career would be over!
Moreover, it would take SWAT more than thirty minutes to reach the cabin in the woods, and no one knew if Luo An could hold off the criminal for thirty minutes.
Sitting nearby, Mona also realized this point and quickly stood up to speak.
"Trust your subordinate, Augustus."
Watching Luo An on the TV, holding a Glock 18 and decked out in standard FBI equipment, exuding a high-fashion model vibe, Vireness felt her heartbeat skip. After catching her breath, her expression returned to normal as she said in a deep voice:
"Pay attention, does Luo An seem tense right now?"
Augustus and Mona shifted their gaze to the television, only to find that Luo An in the camera's view was not only relaxed but had even started chatting and laughing with the criminal.
But the distance was too far to hear what they were talking about.
Augustus: "..."
Mona: "..."
"Believe in Luo An Greenwood"
Vireness shifted her legs to a different position and watched Luo An on the television intently, saying deeply:
"He must have a way to handle the criminal and rescue the hostage."
Augustus took a deep breath, signaling Reesi to keep an eye on Darren without any further movement, then hung up the phone and sat down in the chair, staring intently at the TV.
Recalling Luo An's actions during the last arrest of the assassin, Mona hesitated for a moment, biting her teeth tightly before sitting back down in the chair, like everyone else glued to the TV watching Luo An, choosing to trust him.
But thinking of the consequences if this mission were to fail... Mona pondered for a long time, finally pulling out her phone and dialing a number that filled her face with disgust.
---
Outside the wooden villa, at the corner of the first floor wall.
Luo An holding a Glock 18, was chatting with the assassin Frederick on the second-floor bedroom.
He had already found out the name of the assassin.
Additionally, it isn't that Luo An didn't want to take a different route to go upstairs and try to arrest Frederick.
Rather, Frederick, hiding in the second-floor bedroom, indicated that if he heard any movement from Luo An's voice, he would immediately ignite the gasoline, and they would all go to hell together.
"Alright, Frederick, I won't be moving from my spot."
While observing his surroundings for a suitable entry point to the second floor from outside the villa, Luo An kept the conversation with Frederick going:
"But could you let me hear Sabina's voice? I need to confirm she's safe!"
In his past life, the old assassin had taught Luo An how to negotiate when trapped and the mission had failed.
Although now Luo An's identity was a little different than in his previous life, switched from being trapped to trapping others, the general process of negotiation was much the same.
It's all about negotiating little by little, talking bit by bit, and then, when the other party is least expecting it, finding an opportunity to act and kill them.
"Sabina is safe right now!"
Frederick's voice, no longer as agitated, began to settle down a bit. After hearing Luo An's words, he yelled out from the bedroom:
"As long as you meet my demands, I definitely won't hurt her!"
"Frederick, I can't just take your word for Sabina's safety."
Luo An shook his head, showing disbelief:
"My only request is for you to remove the tape over Sabina's mouth and let her say she is safe. Can you do that?"
After a few seconds pause, Luo An added,
"Frederick, believe me, Sabina's safety is a basic prerequisite for our continued discussion! You wouldn't want us to just barge into the bedroom without even talking, right?"
Hearing Luo An's words, the second-floor bedroom of the villa fell silent for a few seconds, after which Frederick finally agreed:
"OK! I accept your point, but I will only allow Sabina to talk, not to leave my side, get it?"
"No problem! As long as I can hear Sabina's voice, that will suffice!"
These were minor issues, and Luo An agreed to Frederick's terms.
Hiss—
The sound of tape being peeled away was heard, and a few seconds later, a somewhat trembling female voice came from the second-floor bedroom:
"Agent sir, I am Sabina, I'm still very safe now."
"OK, Sabina."
Upon hearing Sabina's voice, Luo An licked his lips and called out loudly:
"Please take a deep breath now, try to calm down your emotions! I'm having a good conversation with Mr. Frederick right now, we've reached a consensus, which is that we both don't want you to get hurt, alright?"
"No problem, agent sir."
Hearing Luo An's words, Sabina's voice sounded much calmer during her second reply.
"Good."
With the confirmation that the hostage was still safe for the moment, Luo An breathed a sigh of relief. But turning around to see that there was nowhere around him that would allow him to leap up to the second floor, his brow furrowed tightly.