Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 263: The Ambush

This SUV was a mobile sanctuary for the animals.

Nancy felt a wave of warmth. She buckled her seatbelt and tapped the accelerator. "Alright, team. Let's move out."

Under the cover of night, the police vehicles and Nancy’s modified SUV slipped into the shadows near the Lightville Compound. Simon moved fast, whispering orders as his officers fanned out to stake the place out.

He turned to Nancy, his gaze steady. "Nancy, you’re with me. We're going up to scout the situation."

The two of them quickly changed into janitor uniforms they had ready. They pushed a cleaning cart into the elevator of Building 2, keeping their heads down.

Randall, the arson suspect, lived in 703.

Nancy reached for the button for the seventh floor, but Simon beat her to it, hitting the 6 instead. She got it immediately. They would get off a floor early and take the stairs to avoid walking straight into a camera or a trap at the target's door.

"To be safe," Simon whispered, "we send Snowball and Chunk up first. We need to know if anyone else is on the seventh floor before we kick the door."

Nancy nodded. In her jacket pocket, Snowball the white ermine was already losing his mind with anticipation. His tiny pink paws gripped the edge of the fabric, his black eyes darting around. The elevator chimed as it hit the sixth floor.

Nancy set Snowball down in the stairwell and whispered, "Use those skills you have for raiding chicken coops. Go see what's happening up there."

Snowball’s ears twitched. He felt like she was judging his past life, but he didn't argue. He flicked his tail and vanished up the stairs like a streak of white lightning.

The stairwell went dead silent. Nancy found herself gripping the edge of Simon’s sleeve, holding her breath.

A moment later, a frantic pitter-patter echoed in the hall. Snowball came charging back down the stairs like a runaway snowball and dived into Nancy’s arms, his little body vibrating.

"Nancy! We've got a problem!" Snowball squeaked, trying to bury himself in her elbow. "The big metal box on the north side of the seventh floor... I smelled a human inside!"

Nancy’s heart skipped. The metal boxes on the north side were the electrical cabinets. They were just big enough to hide a thin adult.

"Is it a person? Are they alive?" Nancy asked, her voice tight.

Snowball nodded hard. "Very much alive. I could hear them breathing."

Simon sensed the shift. "What is it?"

"Snowball says there's a person hiding in the electrical cabinet on the seventh floor," Nancy whispered. "Maybe the suspect got tipped off and is waiting for us?"

Simon’s eyes sharpened. "Don't jump to conclusions. Let's wait for Chunk."

Right then, a familiar chirp came from the window in the hallway. Chunk was hanging upside down from the frame, breathless. "Nancy, someone's in 703! It’s the guy from the picture! He’s just sitting on his couch watching TV like he hasn't got a care in the world."

Nancy relayed the intel, but her nerves were shot. "If Randall is inside his apartment... then who the hell is in the cabinet?"

She and Simon locked eyes. A cold chill ran down her spine.

"A cleaner from the Summers family?" Simon whispered.

The thought made the hair on Nancy's neck stand up. Just as they realized the person in the cabinet was likely a hitman, Chunk let out a sharp, urgent series of clicks. "Nancy! My family is sending signals! The man in 703 is opening the door! He's coming out!"

Randall's leaving?

"Go!" Simon hissed. He lunged toward the seventh floor like a predator, with Nancy right on his heels.

As they burst onto the landing, the scene was a nightmare. A man in a black hood was pressed against the wall right next to the door of 703. He was holding a dagger, the blade glinting in the dim light, already raised to strike. He had been lying in wait for the exact moment Randall stepped out.

The door to 703 swung open, and Randall’s silhouette appeared in the gap.

The hooded man heard Simon’s footsteps and spun around, panic flashing in his eyes. Nancy realized instantly that this was the person Snowball had smelled. He wasn't there to hide from the police. He was there to silence the witness.

Simon didn't give him a chance. He moved like a blur, slamming into the man and grabbing his wrist. With a brutal, practiced twist, he disarmed the guy and sent the dagger clattering to the floor.

Nancy knew she was useless in a fistfight, so she backed away to a safe distance to stay out of the way.

Randall, seeing the chaos at his doorstep, tried to bolt back inside and lock the door, but Nancy caught his eye.