Chapter 185 - Munich

It took just over an hour to get to Lille, a town near the border of Belgium. Due to its central location between Paris, London, and Brussels, many viewed it as a 'stopover' destination. 

As Jackson and the others pulled up outside an address that Amelie had given them, Jackson glanced out the car window and saw some people sitting outside a cafe. The French enjoyed people-watching, so all the seats outside the cafe were turned to face the street. Jackson quickly pulled out his phone and made a video call to Amelie.

Even though Jackson had heard of the name Jean Louis before, he had never met the man in person. After all, Jackson's gang operated from the South of France and Jean Louis was based in the North of France. However, Jackson's boss, Jacques, did have some interaction with the man. On the odd occasion when he needed to smuggle goods across the northern borders, he would usually contact Jean Louis and Jean Louis would contact Jacques for anything related to the south. Both men were criminals, but they were both honorable in the sense that they respected each other's territory

So, even though Jackson had never seen the man, Amelie had accompanied Jacques to meet him a few times and knew how he looked.

"Is Jean Louis here?" Jackson asked as he put Amelie on video call and scanned his phone across the outside of the cafe.

Amelie looked carefully at the faces that appeared on her phone. She had only seen the man 3 times, but she was confident she would be able to recognize him. 

As Jackson pointed his phone towards a brown-haired man, Amelie suddenly screamed out, "Stop! That's him! The one with the beard! That's Jean Louis!"

Jackson peered out at the brown-haired Frenchman. He was sitting by himself but he looked comfortable and confident like he owned the place. 

"Stay here," Jackson said to Halia, Trisha, and Oliver as he stepped out of the car. "I'll be right back."

He then walked over to the man and sat down next to him.

"Hello, Mr. Louis," he said straightforwardly in French.

The man turned his head and looked in surprise at the handsome oriental man beside him. 

Firstly, he was surprised that this oriental man knew his name. Secondly, he was surprised that he spoke French. And lastly, he was surprised that he approached him so confidently.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"Jackson from Marseille. I used to work with Jacques," Jackson introduced himself. "We've spoken on the phone before, but we've never met in person."

The man nodded his head in acknowledgment, "Oh yes, what a surprise to see you here. I thought you returned to China after Jacques died. Why are you here and how did you know it was me?"

"I'll be honest with you. My sister was kidnapped and I was told that she passed through your hands, so I probed around to find you" Jackson said.

The man looked at Jackson in surprise. "Your sister?" he queried.

Jean Louis had worked with Jacques before and respected him. Even though they were criminals, there was always an unspoken rule of honor in the underworld - they could target anyone but each other. Jean Louis and Jacques were both old-school and understood that without these rules, there would be too much fighting and nothing would ever be done. Since there was plenty of money to go around, why did they have to step on each other's toes? With this understanding, he and Jacques operated harmoniously for many years; Jean Louis in the north and Jacques in the south.

However, after Jacques died, the person that took over did not respect these rules. The young man was greedy and ruthless and it caused quite a bit of tension. As a result, Jean Louis could no longer smuggle goods to Italy via the Southern borders and it caused quite a bit of frustration for him. He hated dishonorable people like that.

So, knowing that Jackson was Jacques'right-hand man and discovering that he was involved with his sister's disappearance, Jean Louis was appalled. If he had known, he would have never agreed to the deal; it was such a dishonorable thing to do.

"She arrived yesterday from the UK through the port of Calais. A woman known as Nightingale organized it. She would have been known by the name 'Sparrow'," Jackson said, hoping that the man would consider their past working relationship and help him.

Jean Louis furrowed his brows and replied, "She definitely passed through here yesterday morning, but it was a quick transfer through Lille. My men picked her up from Calais and immediately passed her through the border to Belgium. A truck came and took her; I believe they were headed for Brussels."

He then picked up his phone and made a phone call. "Where did 'Sparrow' go?" he growled. "We need to get her back. She's one of our own." 

Jackson watched as the man made one phone call after another. Finally, he stopped and said to Jackson, "You're lucky, ever since Jacques passed away, I lost my route to Italy via the South so I've had to divert all my smuggling through the North and made some new contacts along the way. I made some calls for you, your sister went to Brussels, where she was placed on another truck to Cologne and then finally transferred to Munich. Supposedly, a man named Elias Muller took her to Munich. I've never worked with him before so there's nothing I can do for you. But, you can try to find him and see what you can do. I know a man named Trojan mapped out the entire route, but I have no idea where the final destination is, if you're quick enough, you may be able to catch up. She would have arrived in Munich a few hours ago. I think your best bet is to go there and see if you can track her down. "

Jackson immediately stood up and ran back to his car. "We need to get to Munich as soon as possible," he said as he started the car.

Their fastest option was to drive to Brussels, which was roughly 1.5 hours away, and then catch a 1-hour flight to Munich. Factoring in delays, it would at least take them 3-4 hours. What would happen in these 3-4 hours? Would Jaclyn still be in Munich by the time they got there?