"Another restroom? This isn't a coincidence, is it?" I muttered. The technical team had been investigating the phone and searching surveillance footage, hoping to locate Gao Mingqiang's mother and sister, as well as cameras near his home.
We had seen footage from yesterday, around 4 AM, of a suspicious man arriving downstairs at his home and then leaving with a suitcase. At the time, I was already afraid that Gao Mingqiang's mother had been murdered.
He looked at the shocking images, tears welling up in his eyes.
Just as we were staring at the computer screen, the old Nokia phone rang again. It was playing a recording. "Officer Gao, it's me, ha ha ha! The one who kidnapped your family. Now I'll tell you how to find them. Come to Guangming City's Laser Amusement Park immediately. Didn't you love bringing your family here to play? Come on! If you come, you can find them, ha ha ha!! I'm giving you 10 hours. If you can find them, I won't release the poison gas!"
"You sick pervert!"
Gao Mingqiang lunged forward to grab the phone and smash it. I immediately pulled him back from behind, saying, "Calm down. If you smash the phone, they might be in danger!"
"Team Leader He, will they be alright?" Gao Mingqiang cried, covering his face. "It's all my fault for treating them like that before. I was too selfish. If it weren't for me, they wouldn't be in danger!"
"You can't blame yourself for these things, Mingqiang. Listen to me, we'll be with you. We'll go to the Laser Amusement Park together!"
Soon, we arrived at the designated location. We had no idea until we got there that the amusement park was packed with people. I checked the time; it was 5 PM. Unexpectedly, we had been busy all day, and according to the kidnapper's timeline, we had less than 8 hours left.
Gao Mingqiang and the others followed us as we searched. For everyone's safety, Gao Mingqiang and I found the person in charge, Mr. Yu.
"You say there's a criminal in the amusement park?"
"Yes, Mr. Yu. Please make an announcement asking everyone to leave immediately. Otherwise, everyone will be in danger!"
"But today is a very special day. It's our amusement park's 20th anniversary!"
"Mr. Yu, listen to this recording!"
I played the Nokia's voice. Mr. Yu, however, was dismissive. "How can you be sure that guy is telling the truth..." At this moment, Gao Mingqiang, like an out-of-control demon, rushed in front of Mr. Yu. "Yu, I order you to evacuate these people immediately, or I won't let you off! Hurry!"
"Officer, what are you doing? Are you going to hit me?"
"So what if I hit you? Notify them immediately! My family is here, and they are in danger at any moment. Do you want other innocent people to suffer the same fate as them?"
This was the first time I had ever seen Gao Mingqiang so enraged. His eyes were red, veins bulged on his forehead, and his muscles twitched uncontrollably. Even though Mr. Yu was unwilling, he was completely intimidated by Gao Mingqiang's demeanor. He quickly agreed and, with a terrified look, picked up a walkie-talkie and spoke a few words into it. Soon, an emergency alarm sounded throughout the amusement park.
"Dear esteemed visitors, please note that due to the recent discovery of a criminal's infiltration, we request that you temporarily leave the premises to avoid disturbing police work. Thank you for your cooperation!"
At this moment, Gao Mingqiang suddenly said, "What if the criminal is among the tourists?"
"Don't worry. I have quite a few people deployed outside. Everyone will be searched before they leave. If he dares to hide among the tourists, it'll be like walking into a trap!"
"Thank you, Team Leader He. We'll go look for them now!"
Leaving Mr. Yu's office, we came outside to find large crowds of tourists forming a long line and heading towards the exit. It seemed they were being searched by the police.
I led a group of people to search everywhere, investigating the haunted house, Ferris wheel, carousel, and drop tower. But as we approached the roller coaster, we found another letter.
It was addressed to Officer Gao. Gao Mingqiang immediately took it and opened it. It read: "Officer Gao, apologies. To make this game more exciting, I've installed several bombs on the roller coaster's front car. If the bombs explode, the nearby tracks will immediately crack, and the roller coaster will fall from a great height. Everyone in the car will be crushed to pieces, ha ha ha! Isn't that exciting? By the way, you have 2 hours left. Figure it out yourself!"
Gao Mingqiang crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it on the ground. He looked up at the roller coaster speeding by and suddenly said with emotion, "I finally understand why the criminal is doing this. I remember the first time I came here, I played this roller coaster. My family was very poor back then, and we could only afford one ride at the amusement park! I liked high places, so I chose this one!"
"So, this group of criminals knows us very well?" I asked in surprise.
"Yes, He Sheng, don't worry about me. I'm going up now!"
Gao Mingqiang ignored me and pushed aside a guardrail, heading towards the roller coaster tracks. But the roller coaster was moving at an astonishing speed. I didn't know what he intended to do. As the roller coaster approached him, he didn't flinch at all and directly leaped onto the fifth seat. This was where his mother was sitting, and the front of the car was his sister.
I witnessed firsthand several TNT bombs strapped to his mother and sister's bodies!
There were two screens above, flashing strange images. Then, something like a pointer appeared overhead. I assumed it was a remote detonator.
"Mom, Sis!" Gao Mingqiang shouted frantically, but without panic. This was the first time I had seen him so brave, his eyes especially determined, and his expression extremely solemn. I went to the roller coaster's control room. However, when I tried to have the staff stop it, I found that they were all gone. Zhang Keying and others went to inquire about the situation, and a security guard came over. "They've disappeared. They were here just now!"
"You didn't see anything?"
"I was patrolling here. Didn't you say there was trouble just now? The boss told us to increase security."
I went into the control room and found a mobile phone. It was playing an online game. But the owner of the phone was nowhere to be found. Looking at the game, I suddenly recalled that the main city being built in it took 20 minutes to complete. The main city had just finished construction, meaning they had left at least 20 minutes ago.