Chapter 1098: Chapter 1069: Second Assassination Attempt
Click! Clack!
In the darkness, a tiny flame flared, then went out after a deep drag on a cigarette.
Harsh sucking sounds rose and fell in the dark, as if they were gulping fresh air; with every exhale, smoke slowly fed the darkness a hazy gray mist.
Inside the sealed-off high-rise, in this cramped room, one or more people were huddled together. They were extremely on edge, almost itching to move in a way they couldn’t quite name. The flicker of smoke changed the air in the room, and maybe it was exactly that stench that made staying here unbearable, so someone decided to take it a step further—he wanted out, badly!
"What are you doing?" Just as the man was about to push open the door, someone grabbed his arm. From deeper inside came a voice that wasn’t exactly low, but carried a warning.
"Going out. This place is suffocating!" The answer came as if it were only natural.
"No."
As soon as the word fell, something was knocked over, then the darkness returned to silence. The smoke kept building, and from outside the door, footsteps started coming one after another, like people running.
The door was cracked open a sliver, then shut again. "Cops!"
Click! A lighter sparked in the dark, the flame licking up. Two minutes to ten o’clock. "Shit, why the hell are the cops here?"
Somebody started cursing; none of them had seen this coming. "Shouldn’t they be on Third Street right now?" another voice asked. Clearly he was thinking the same thing as the first.
"Move!"
One word cut off the grumbling, and four or five people filed out of the room.
"Ah!" The scream made Mr. Su’s freshly risen pride wilt instantly. Just as he was about to blow up, a few men burst in through the door.
The woman’s scream came the instant the room went dark. Mr. Su sensed danger on pure instinct and sucked in a breath, so when the intruders rushed in he was already rolling off the bed onto the floor. As bullets chewed into the mattress, blood spurted from the woman’s body. She was pitiful, like a hornets’ nest ripped open, no power to fight back.
The gun smoke carried the reek of cordite, making Mr. Su, curled under the bed, shiver uncontrollably. He clamped a hand over his mouth, with a hundred regrets and protests churning inside, and one more question—where the hell were his bodyguards?
The shooting stopped, then someone started talking. Mr. Su, who didn’t really understand Italian, guessed they were saying the target was gone. He edged a little deeper under the bed, peering out through the gap. A pair of feet walked over and stopped right beside him. More footsteps and rummaging sounded in the room. His heart was pounding in his throat when, suddenly, he heard a dull thud. Someone dropped right in front of him. From his vantage point under the bed, the man’s head slumped sideways into view, and blood foam bubbled out of his mouth.
The entire building plunged into darkness. Outside, Lao Jiu flicked away his cigarette, and Xiao Lin’s voice came through the tiny earpiece on his ear.
Lao Jiu listened in silence as he started toward the room from before. "Got it." When he reached the door, he loosened up his limbs, then slipped inside, unhurried and smooth.
After the woman’s scream came the wild crack of gunfire. Lao Jiu ghosted up to the bedroom door. The stink of cordite was thick, but as the powder smell began to dissipate, a lingering hint of sex rushed back in, and beneath it all was blood. Poor woman. Lao Jiu didn’t rush to strike; he just stood behind the intruders, a silent shadow.
Clearly, these guys weren’t assassins—at best they were desperate punks. They never noticed the man behind them, still riding the high of their own excitement.
"Fuck! Just the woman!" a heavy nasal voice cursed as he lifted the sheet with the tip of his gun.
"Find him!"
Lao Jiu drew two fifteen-centimeter blades from his back. Pushing off with the tip of his foot, he angled into the room, a blur, and drove one knife into the neck of the man closest to the door. Before the guy could react, the razor edge had already slashed across his throat.
The sudden turn sent the room back into chaos, gunfire erupting again. A dark shape wove through the muzzle flashes; blades rose and fell, and jets of blood sprayed across the expensive carpet.
"Power comes back in thirty seconds." Xiao Lin’s voice sounded in Lao Jiu’s ear. Watching the scattered flashes in the room through binoculars, the man posted on another high-rise lowered his sniper rifle, yanked off his earpiece, threw it to the ground and crushed it under his boot.
"Didn’t think that bastard was actually pretty good," muttered Shou behind the scope, his voice grudging. Xiao Lin chuckled.
The thirty seconds weren’t a second more or less. From the ninth floor up, lights came on in the building, then the tenth, then floor after floor. Hallways, corridors, access routes—all were suddenly bright as day.
The phone in his pocket buzzed. Xiao Lin, wearing gloves, glanced at the number on the screen and slid it back into his pocket. "We’re out. Nothing more for us here."
The brand-new sniper rifle they’d just gotten, still unblooded, had contributed nothing tonight except letting Yelü Shou watch, through that big scope, how the old man rode the woman and played at pervert. The thought alone left Shou seriously pissed.
The call kept ringing out to no answer. Meisai strode down the corridor with his team. Gunfire was coming from the tenth floor; the elevators still weren’t functioning properly, so he headed into the stairwell. Slightly out of breath, he stepped onto the tenth floor. This was the hour when nightlife was just getting started—why was that guy in bed so early? Thinking that, he dialed Xiao Lin again. Still no answer. Meisai gave up.
"Chief!" Rochester hurried up from the rear entrance, catching up with Meisai. "We found a body in a storage room on the seventh floor!"
"What?" Still on the move, Meisai widened his eyes at Rochester in disbelief.
"Single fatal stab."
Meisai hesitated, then stepped out of the tenth-floor stairwell and came face-to-face with Casab, just out of the elevator. "Chief, you got here fast," Casab drawled.
Meisai heard the mockery in Casab’s tone. He just smiled, then led his men straight into the crime scene. A young officer stepped in front of Casab, blocking the doorway.
"What’s the meaning of this?"
"Casab, this is an active crime scene. No unauthorized personnel inside." Meisai signaled the young officer to get back to his work, then gave the about-to-blow Casab a cold look. "I hope you’ll cooperate with our investigation."
"Jessica is still in there!" Casab reminded him.
"Oh? Then I hope she makes it through this in one piece." (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
