I Run into a Gold Digger… Again

Chapter 28 - I Run into a Gold Digger… Again

As their location was exposed, Han drove to a nearby supermarket and parked there. An hour later, Eric arrived with his pickup truck. He exited the car and walked toward Han, who passed him the tracking device for inspection.

Eric put on rubber gloves, flipped the device around, and casually peeled off the cover, revealing the component and a button battery. 

He snorted in disgust, "$5 dog tracker, made in China. Whoever put this on your son, he must have gotten it from Alib*** or a cheap-ass pet shop."

Han pursed his lips and glanced at Carn in the van. He talked in a low voice so that Carn couldn't hear it. Little did he know that Carn could still hear everything.

"How long does the battery last?"

Eric chuckled as he mocked the culprit and the manufacturer. He broke the device apart and pulled out a button battery, "Look at the battery. Look at this, a f-cking button battery! It would have been a miracle if it lasted a week. This is why we make our own gadgets!" 

"So, is it not working now?"

"Depends. If the chips are pre-programmed to be a long-term pinger, it will automatically send your location once every hour, every day, or every week. But if the guy is an idiot and sets it to real-time monitoring, the battery should already be out. Let me test."

Eric brought out a multimeter from his truck. After connecting the jacks to the device and touching the battery, the console showed a flickering number. 

The battery was still active. 

Eric glanced at Han and summarized his finding, "This cheap-ass battery ain't dead yet, so that thing ain't a real-time tracker. Since it's new, the owner must have set it to ping once or twice every day, every week, or every month. I don't think he's serious about stalking your son. He probably just wants to know your general location to keep you in check since we live in a military base."

"…I doubt it. Anyway, can you verify where the data will be sent to? I need evidence to issue a warrant."

"For what crime…Oh, stalking a minor. Right. Good luck with that. So…" Eric reassembled the device and put it back in place, including the battery. He put it in a small plastic zipper, storing the evidence. "What's next?"

"My son said something about missing person cases. I don't think it's related, but it won't hurt looking into it. Can you help me collect the data?"

"I'm a biomechanical technician, not a f-cking investigator. Get your ass back to the office and work on that yourself, boss."

"Wasn't your mother a Christian? Hasn't she gone missing, too? How long has it been, three years?"

Eric paused and glared at Han. He pulled his friend's collar and snarled at him, "Don't bring her up, or I'll f-cking kill you."

Han narrowed his eyes, ignoring his comrade's transgression. He leaned over and whispered what he had discovered at the church. 

"I asked around when I visited the local church with my son. You know what I found? Some housewives were wearing mourning dresses. Not just one or two, but seven from different families. They said their daughters either ran away from home or went missing."

Eric frowned, "Rifts broke out everywhere. Missing people are common."

"Missing persons in a military housing area? The restricted zone that no rift exists anywhere within 100 miles?"

"…"

Eric gave Han a meaningful look and released him. He spoke in a low tone, "Who is the suspect?"

"A priest by the name Barney. I don't know the surname, but it shouldn't be hard to verify."

"…Got it. I'll look it up." Eric tossed the tracker device back to Han and returned to his truck. He drove off without looking back. 

Han put the tracker in his pocket and returned to his van. Getting in, he looked at his son's face. 

Carn had heard everything, but he feigned ignorance. He looked back at his father and asked, "So, is it done?"

"We'll look into it," Han replied, "Eric's mother also went missing three years ago within the military housing zone. He's dying to find her or whatever remains of her."

Carn didn't want to get involved in this sensitive matter. He changed the subject, "Can you arrest that priest or send a team of police to feel him out?"

"This tracker alone is enough to put him behind bars for a decade if he gets the maximum sentences. You don't have to worry about it."

"Oh, okay."

Carn was satisfied. With the police involved, there would be more openings and opportunities for him to take action and claim the precious Aether. He leaned back, relaxed, and enjoyed the chaos he had set in motion.

…

Monday, December 16th, 2019

As Han was busy today, Wong drove Carn to school. She dropped him off and made her way to work. 

Carn sighed deeply as he gazed at the new school. He still brooded about the lost gold mark, and he hadn't gotten any chance to get it back yet. 

While heading toward the school entrance, Carn looked around, searching for the teacher's office where he needed to report to the special class's homeroom teacher. 

The building looked more like an apartment complex than a typical school, with seven floors and about ten classrooms on each, which was an unusually large number for a high school. Carn wondered what all the rooms were used for.

He soon located a room with a glass counter that appeared to be an information center. He approached the counter and opened a sliding window to talk with the worker behind the counter. 

But as soon as Carn saw the person, he flinched. She was the same girl who was with her mother, the single woman who had flirted with his father the previous day.

The girl looked up and noticed Carn. She smirked, "Small world, huh? Fancy seeing you here, Mr. I-have-a-girlfriend."

Carn rolled his eyes and changed the subject, trying to avoid the previous day's awkward encounter, "I'm here to make a transfer report for the 10th-grade special class. Where can I find the homeroom teacher?"

"Oho? Special class? Not only are you a rich boy, but an explorer candidate too, huh? You know, you kinda offended me yesterday, but I'll forgive you and tell you if you give me your phone number."

The woman winked coyly and brushed her long hair aside, showing her neckline and cleavage. Carn accidentally looked down and noticed that she wasn't even wearing a bra.

Seeing his gaze, she grinned. "Or, instead of finding the office on your own, maybe you'd like a private tour? I can show you my secret spot… where we can have some fun… alone."

"I'll go find the office myself."

With a flat expression, Carn closed the counter window and turned away, walking off without looking back. All of Carn's hair straightened, having goosebumps.