Chapter 497 - 497: The Much-Awaited Phone Call

Elle was still in the middle of reminiscing her past when the door of her room swung open. Two Dark Knight's men entered and approached her.

"Come with us. Don't try to escape or else, we will shoot you," One man threatened and warned Elle.

Elle just silently bobbed her head as a response. The two men grabbed her in both arms, guiding her out of her room. 

'It seems that negotiation is about to start. Will they bring me to the Dark Lord? I must take this chance to discover the Dark Lord's real identity,' Elle thought to herself.

She knew the risk of doing that but she wanted to gamble on this. Once she learned the dark Lord's identity, the Dark Knight would not allow Elle to leave this place alive. One way or another, she would be killed by them.

After ten minutes of walking, Elle and the two Dark Knight's men reached their destination. The place was spacious as if she was inside a banquet hall. There were guards scattered in every corner, especially in the main entrance.

When Elle entered the hall, she saw Alfonso together with the other higher-ups of the dark Knight Organization. 

She was familiar with those faces because the Skull Gang and her team already did a background check for every branch leader of the Dark Knight Organization.

She was sure that none of them was the Dark Lord. Elle peered her eyes around her surroundings. Her eyes caught a person leisurely sitting just a few meters away from Alfonso. He was wearing a three-piece black suit.

He was the only one sitting on the executive chair. In front of him was a small rectangular table. There was a thin curtain in front of him that was separating him from other people. 

Elle could only see his shadow in that thin curtain. She could see him move from time to time, drinking his coffee.

'Is he the Dark Lord?' Elle thought to herself.

Alfonso and the other higher-ups who were just standing nearby averted their gaze to Elle.

"Our Lord, our hostage is here. Shall we begin the negotiation now? I will call the detective, now." Alfonso said to the man behind the curtain.

Dark Lord just raised his finger, giving Alfonso a go signal.

A light flashed through Elle's eyes. Alfonso had just confirmed her suspicion. The Dark Lord was the person sitting behind the curtain.

'I just need to come near that area and see the person hiding in the curtain.' 

Elle started to walk over, inching closer to the Dark Lord's table but she was stopped by the Dark Knight's men who brought her to the venue. She had no choice but to restrain herself from taking another step.

*****

Meanwhile, in the meeting room of the Skull Gang, Erick and others were still waiting for the call coming from the culprit who kidnapped Elle. Mr. Carter, Brother Lu, and Charles also joined them.

After a while, the much-awaited call happened. Erick's phone rang and he answered it right away. Everyone was looking in his direction so he decided to put the phone on loudspeaker.

Erick tried his best to keep calm while answering the phone.

Erick: "Hello?"

Alfonso: "Chief Detective Lee?"

Erick: "Yes, speaking."

Alfonso: "Oh, it's nice to finally speak with you, Chief Lee. I heard a lot about you. Anyway, I will not go around the bush. I will tell you now what I need. If you didn't hear the news yet then I am here to inform you that we got your woman. If you still want to see her alive then bring Mateo Hiroshito-Aganaki Carter to us."

Erick: "What did you do to my wi- ...Aliyah? Where is she? I swear… I will hunt you down if something happens to my her!"

Erick almost had a slip of the tongue. He was about to say the word wife, fortunately, he stopped midway, or else they would suspect Elle's identity if they heard him calling her his wife.

Then they heard Alfonso's laughter reverberated from the other line.

Alfonso: "Just cooperate with us. Give us Mateo Carter and we will not harm your woman. Where did you hide that genius scientist? You were the one who helped him escape."

As expected, the Dark Knight was the one who captured Elle. They wanted Mateo Hiroshito-Aganaki Carter, the genius scientist. The spy had already talked the Dark Knight that Erick was the one who helped Mr Carter.

Everyone averted their gaze to Mr. Carter. The heavy tension inside the meeting room was growing by seconds. Mr. Carter glanced meaningfully at Erick. Erick didn't agree yet. He wanted to make sure that Elle was just fine.

Erick: "Where's Aliyah? I want to know if she is just fine!"

Alfonso chuckled once again.

Alfonso: "I know you will ask me that. Don't worry she's here right beside me, behaving so well. Do you want to hear her voice?"

Everyone who was closed to Elle clenched their fists. They wanted to skin Alfonso alive. Black Shadow and Charles were restraining themselves from cursing Alfonso right now. They had to keep quiet. The Dark Knight should not know that Erick and the Skull Gang were working together.

After a few seconds, Elle's voice was heard from the other line.

Elle: "Erick…"

Her voice was enough to trigger everyone to feel different emotions- worry, anger, and relief. Erick closed his eyes, a drop of tears fell from the corner of his eyes upon hearing Elle's voice.

Erick: "Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Don't worry. I will save you… no matter what. Please wait for me."

Elle: "Don't worry. I'm fine. They didn't harm me. Please be strong. I will be waiting for you. I believe in you, Mr. Detective."

After Elle said those words, Alfonso took the phone from her.

Alfonso: "See. She is safe for now. So… in exchange for your beloved woman… bring Mateo Carter to us. We will give you 24 hours to decide. Choose between them."

Erick: "I can't do that within 24 hours… he is under our protection program. I can't just bring him out of the safe house without approval from the higher-ups. He is a very important person. Please give me 48 hours. I will get him out of that safe house without the knowledge of the security team assigned to watch over him."

Erick needed more time to plan this out. They had to strategize what to do to rescue Elle and at the same time, to keep Mr.Carter safe.

Alfonso: "36 hours. That's the final. I will call you again and give you further instructions on where we will do the exchange of hostages. Let me remind you, Detective Lee. We are aware that you already know about the existence of a bio-weapons facility so if this information leak out to the government officials, especially the president… we will make sure that you will never see again your beloved woman. The same fate will happen to her."

Erick gritted his teeth upon hearing that. "I understand."

"Good," Alfonso mumbled before ending the call.

The room was engulfed by deafening silence after Alfonso hung up.

"It's okay, Erick. No need to hesitate. I am willing to surrender to the Dark Knight. At least we know that they won't kill me because they need me. I also want to save Elle. I am the reason why her family died 18 years ago. Now, it's my turn to save her," Mr. Carter volunteered himself.

Everyone appreciated Mr. Carter's good intention of sacrificing himself just to save Elle.

"Thank you, Mr. Carter. But… I have a bad feeling about this. I am not sure if they will be true to their words even if we cooperate with them. We need to plan out everything. We have 36 hours to prepare."

Erick stood up. "Father, can I leave the rescue plan with you and James? I have to know who is the spy on my team first. I will come back as soon as possible. I already have the clue."

Phantom and James nodded at Erick.

"Don't worry, son. I won't let anything bad happen to my daughter and grandchild. We will save them," Phantom reassured Erick.

"I will mobilize the entire Skull Gang for this rescue mission," James said to them.

"Count me in! I will save my Kitten!" Black Shadow also blurted out.

Spike hit Black Shadow's head and said, "You are not fit to join a rescue mission now."