"Air support, we've lost him, do you have a visual, over." Chief Richard immediately yelled into the radio.
"TGH+2, reporting! He's headed toward downtown! This alley leads right out to Crossridge Avenue!" shouted Mary, the reporter, her voice rising with excitement.
The taxi burst from the alley mouth, smoke and steam trailing behind as it swung onto Crossridge in a wide, drifting arc that nearly flipped a nearby hot dog stand.
"Fuck..." The vendor dodged, screaming curses in three languages.
"Units, block 8th and Linvale, he's headed toward the freeway ramp!" came Richard's voice again, and in the next moment, he yelled into the microphone, "Stop now or we will use force."
Although he heard the words, Mr. Valen didn't care—his breath steady, almost calm now. It was just him and the road, and with a burst of speed, he hit the on-ramp to the Lexington Expressway.
Cars screeched aside as the battered yellow taxi merged into highway traffic, weaving between vehicles like a phantom.
Behind him, half the police convoy moved in, the others looped around, trying to intercept Mr. Valen up ahead.
"Chief, he's accelerating toward Mallpoint Plaza, I think he plans to lose us in the crowds," Harper warned, her eyes narrowing.
"I can see that," Chief Richard responded grimly.
The highway exit sign blinked past overhead, it read: Mallpoint Plaza – 600m.
Mr. Valen floored it.
"Vroom!"
And the engine cried.
"He's heading for Mallpoint Plaza, get intercept units in the parking lot! Now!" Richard barked into the comms.
But it was too late as they could only watch the taxi skid off the exit, fly past toll cameras, and arrive at the expansive parking lot of Mallpoint Plaza—an urban sprawl of concrete, crowds, and business.
"Screech!"
The shrill noise of screeching tires could be heard as Mr. Valen drifted through the lot's entrance, narrowly missing an oncoming sedan.
Then, with a hard right, he mounted the sidewalk and blasted straight toward the wide glass doors of the mall entrance.
"STOP THE CAR!" a nearby officer screamed, gun drawn—but it was too late.
"Crash!"
Glass exploded in every direction as the taxi barreled into the atrium, skidding across the tile floor and plowing into a clothing display.
People screamed, and Alarms rang, while Chief Richard and Detective Harper, armed with pistols, sprinted into the mall.
Simultaneously, the TGH+2 news chopper lost visual of Mr. Valen, swinging around wildly. "We've lost him, repeat, visual is gone! Suspect just drove into the damn mall!"
Ten seconds later, a flood of armed officers poured in after Richard and Harper, weapons raised and ready.
Soon, they met Chief Richard and Detective Harper, who were already close to the unmoving vehicle, their steps deliberate and firm.
They approached the wreckage slowly, never rushing, guns trained on the motionless taxi, and just when they got close enough, Harper reached out and yanked the door open.
"Freeze-"
She yelled and stopped herself, her eyes widening as she discovered something unprecedented.
The driver's seat was empty.
The entire car… was empty.
There was no sign of blood, no broken window, no trail, it was just an empty cab, with the engine still ticking.
Such should have been impossible as both Officers had their eyes on the vehicle the entire time.
But it was the reality before their eyes.
Upon seeing this, Chief Richard's eyes narrowed, his voice grave. "Where the hell did he go?"
"This kid is next level," Detective Harper exhaled, but unlike her, Chief Richard refused to let the matter rest, his voice booming through the comms.
"The kid has escaped, I want everyone looking for him. Assume he's armed and dangerous. Cover all exits. Sweep every floor!"
-------------
An hour passed and after an extensive search, it was clear as day that Mr. Valen had escaped from the mall, or at least found a great hiding spot.
In the meantime, Chief Richard had resolved to check the security cameras in this mall when he found out that their security cameras were under maintenance.
With that revelation, Police Chief Richard decided to drive towards the GPV to provide further assistance, maybe then he'd get some insight into Mr. Valen's whereabouts.
"Are we leaving?" Detective Harper intoned as she watched Chief Richard walk towards the exit of the mall, she seemed unwilling.
Noticing her expression, Chief Richard responded, "I'm a man of my gut, Detective Harper, and I know for a fact that Valen is not here."
"We're talking about just a kid, sure, he may have impressive driving skills, but come on, Chief," Detective Harper protested before adding. "We had men on every exit and there was a chopper in the sky the whole time-"
"I'm starting to doubt your competence, Detective Harper," Chief Richard suddenly cut her short before walking away partly feels bad for lashing out.
'Harper is indeed right,' Chief Richard thought grimly but shook his head. 'I have to follow my gut.'
Like Detective Harper said, they had people at every exit and a pair of eyes in the sky, additionally, they had their eyes on him the whole time, it did not make any sense.
"It's almost like he disappeared, but that should be impossible, from the Intel I have on him, he shouldn't possess the skills necessary to escape from professionals like us, not in such a tight situation," Chief Richard muttered to himself.
But then again if he referred to that same so-called Intel he had, Mr. Valen should not have the driving skills to pull off such a movie-like getaway drive.
Just then, as Chief Richard was about to get into his vehicle, two luxury cars arrived at the scene, prompting him to narrow his eyes.
They where two men.
As they stepped out of the car these two men bore about them a pompous air that left no room for disrespect.
If one were paying attention, they would notice these two men were also the same red-eyed Wizards who had visited both the Magnetas and the Cathedral, where a certain faction of the brotherhood mingled.
They were Sir Walter, the slender one with black hair, and Sir Smith, the robust one who had the makings of a bodybuilder.
Quickly, they moved towards Chief Richard, and as they stopped before him, they had a certain pressure about them that was not quite present in other Wizards; certainly, they were elites.
"We are here to see Chief Richard. Can you point us in his direction?" Sir Smith asked, a small smile on his face.
Raising a brow, Chief Richard responded, with a chuckle, "Have you gotten dumber since you left the police force, Smith, or should I call you former Detective?"
"You're making me blush." Sir Smith chuckled.
"Have you forgotten about me?" Sir Walter suddenly cut in, his words inciting a nod of regard from Chief Richard.
"It's been a while Walter and I could say the same to you Smith, now that greetings are out of the way, cut the bullshit, you know I hate that," Chief Richard suddenly spoke.
"Ohh," Sir Smith hummed in realization before saying, "that saves us the trouble, we came to take the kid off your hands, Vlad—"
"We don't have him," Chief Richard suddenly spoke, interrupting the two Wizards without fear, his brows furrowed.
Sir Walter, who had hardly spoken since, raised a brow at Chief Richard's defiance, his tone heavy, "Things have changed, Richard. Smith and I took the plunge and succeeded. You have no idea what we have gone through, so do not disrespect us. Do you take us for fools? It's all over the news, you have him cornered."
"And yet they've been unable to find him," Sir Smith interjected a small smirk in his tone that suggested that he was not perturbed by Chief Richard's misplaced animosity.
Nodding his head, Chief Richard began, ignoring Sir Walter, "It does not make sense, we even have our K9 units chasing his scent, but we still can't find him."
"So what would you suggest, Chief Richard?" Sir Smith asked inquisitively, a certain interest in his tone that seemed almost boyish.
Chief Richard remained quiet at that question, pondering to himself 'it is as clear as day that Vlad sent two of my old subordinates to mess with me, if I include them in my investigation there is a chance that I'll find out the truth about this kid, then again, the moment I find the kid, they'll take him from me, I can't let that happen.'
"I'm going back to the GPV. The men inside have taken the staff as hostages. You can come with me if you want. Honestly, if you guys handle it, subduing these men will be much easier," Chief Richard suggested.
"So you intend to question them?" Sir Smith asked.
"Yes I do," Chief Richard nodded his head resolutely.
Pondering for a moment, Sir Smith thought heavily, "I don't like roundabout movements like these but judging by the way Sir Vald described this kid, I would not put it past him to have the means to escape, but how?"
"I don't think going back to the GPV will be of any help in finding him," Sir Walter suddenly spoke, his sudden input surprising both Smith and Richard.
"You know something?" Both men asked, their gazes locked on him.
Taking a breath Sir Walter began while dismissing the look of annoyance Sir Smith shot at him, he described the details of his meeting with the Magentas.
A few minutes passed before he was done, and both Sir Smith and Chief Richard stared at Sir Walter as though he were a fool.
"What?" Sir Walter asked shortly upon receiving those looks.
Taking a breath to calm himself, Sir Smith interjected, "It's all beginning to make a bit of sense now."
"Yes, if it is as you said, then this kid is something else," Chief Richard began before saying. " He was able to use the tension between these two gangs to his advantage convincing the weaker link of the Brotherhood to steal something from the GPV before leaving them out to dry."
"Going by the nature of the materials, he's seeking to perform some kind of medical procedure, so he'll need space," Sir Smith theorised.
"Then if at all, he should be in the same building where the materials were delivered to," Chief Richard muttered before speaking into his comms.
"HQ, this is Chief Richard speaking. I need shadow units at the abandoned sock factory on the east side. Proceed with extreme caution."
"Chief Richard this is HQ speaking, copy that!"