Chapter 178 - The Meeting (1/2)

Oliver immediately drove the trio to the location that Halia described. She remembered it clearly, she was on the east side of the River Thames looking up at the iconic London Eye from a cafe with an outdoor setting. The iconic Ferris wheel was on the same side of the river and was really close by.

When she gave Oliver this description, he immediately knew where it was.

It was a famous cafe where the locals often hung out. Unfortunately, as it was almost 1am, the place was already closed.

But...it didn't mean Halia couldn't meet Nightingale outside.

Halia stepped out of the car on her own and walked towards the location that Oliver pointed out for her, while Oliver, Jackson, and Trisha walked towards the London Eye, pretending to be tourists.

At this time of night, there weren't many people around, especially since it was a weekday, but there was still the odd tourist, wandering around, trying to get some night time photos. After all, the river was beautiful with the London Eye, the Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, and the Palace of Westminster, all lit up along it.

Halia stood outside the cafe calmly as she waited for Nightingale to arrive. She gave the woman one hour and it had only been 20 minutes since her phone call, so there were still 40 minutes of uncertainty. Would the woman arrive?

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait too long. 15 minutes later, a tall brown-haired woman hurried to her side and looked around awkwardly. Halia glanced at the woman. She was dressed in a black coat, her face was covered by a surgical mask and underneath her coat, Halia could see she was wearing a vest and a black and white cravat. It was an odd choice in clothing, but she was obviously Florence Brown, the woman that the underworld knew as Nightingale.

”Why did you call me so urgently?” the woman asked in English with a beautiful British accent.

Halia glanced at the woman in surprise.

Her voice was a lot more high-pitched and chirpy than she remembered.

”Where is the Sparrow now?” Halia asked straightforwardly.

”The Sparrow is being migrated as planned. Where's my money?” the woman asked.

Halia held back a smile. Jaclyn was still alive.

”Your money is on its way, but the client wants to cancel the plan. Can you bring the Sparrow back?” Halia asked.

”Cancel?” the woman questioned with confusion. ”Did the client change her mind? She already paid. Why would she cancel?”

”I don't know the details, but Trojan agreed to cancel. You will still be paid the same amount. Don't worry,” Halia replied.

The woman looked at Halia with frustration and picked up her phone with a sigh, ”The contractors won't be happy. It was hard enough to smuggle her out, it's going to be harder to get her back...”

Halia watched as Nightingale furrowed her brows and searched through her phone for a number. Judging by their conversation so far, it seemed like Jackson's guess was right about human traffickers being involved. But, at least, from the sounds of it, Jaclyn was still alive and hadn't been sold off yet.

Halia took a deep breath as she maintained her composure. As long as Nightingale believed she was working for Trojan, Jaclyn could be safe in their arms again, very soon.

But, just as things seemed to be going smoothly, the phone in Nightingale's hand suddenly beeped.

She received a message.

The woman looked at her phone and her eyes opened wide in surprise.

Halia noticed the woman's expression and sensed that something wasn't right. Especially when she began to put her phone away.