*Xin Lei*
Bai Li and I closely ran together behind the alley, hand in hand. Cocoa was at his side, guiding him. I tugged him and we took a right turn, which opened into a road, having a series of small local shops.
I was starting to feel a little breathless. We stopped, and I typed. "Can we stop for some water?"
"Okay. But be quick," Bai Li said.
We went into a general store, and I asked for a bottle of water. I fed some of it to Cocoa first.
Bai Li shook his head when I offered him.
Then as I turned to give the money, the shopkeeper suddenly screamed. "Ah! You two! You two are the ones who escaped from the cops, right?"
I froze.
"The cops have circulated your sketches!"
His loud voice alerted the whole nearby area. They started peeking at us from outside.
"Yes, they both are the same people!"
"Hey, I heard police sirens from nearby."
Damn! Can we not take a minute of rest?
Bai Li calmly said, "No, there is a grave misunderstanding. We are not criminals."
"Every criminal says that!"
"No, we are being trapped. Just look at my wife and me. We are in the prime of our youth and our married life with our dog. Why would we waste our time for the cops instead of getting busy with our honeymoon?"
I coughed hard. I couldn't believe he just said that!
Honeymoon
My mind was wandering off to a lot of not-so-pure scenes between us... mostly in bed. But somehow, I didn't feel particularly uncomfortable.
The shopkeeper frowned. "There are many couples who are partners in crimes."
"We are not one of them."
"You are lying!"
Bai Li glanced at my direction. "I tried, but we got to run."
I rolled my eyes.
Bai Li roughly pointed his gun at the crowd.
"Ah! Run! He will shoot."
I also raised my gun as Bai Li did.
The crowd took several steps back.
"We really don't want to do this, but we cannot waste any more time in making you understand. So, goodbye. Your water is on us. We will pay you soon."
"Arf!" Cocoa was barking and growling.
The people didn't retaliate or oppose. They feared the gun and Cocoa too.
"Police!" One of the men screamed.
We ran as fast as we could. As we went on, people automatically gave us the way.
"Hey, stop!" A cop shouted from the very back.
As we were thinking of our next step, a car stopped in front of us.
"Hop in!"
It was Uncle Rong!
Bai Li asked, "Rong Zhengsheng?"
"Yes."
"Great timing!"
We rushed inside the car and took our seat. Uncle Rong quickly zoomed away the car out of sight.
I saw the cop chasing behind us, but we were already very far away.
*Duan Deming*
"Sir, Duan Deming!"
I turned to see an officer coming towards me. "Sir, the accused were found running in the next alley where one shopkeeper recognized them from the sketches. But they ran away."
"Damn!" I cursed.
So close.
"One car suddenly came in front of them, and they hopped in it."
Tian song asked, "Did you see the driver? The plate number?"
He shook his head.
I said, "We will check the footage to find the car."
Song and I were inside the hardware shop where I could only see dead bodies everywhere.
Eleven dead bodies. 10 males, 1 female. The whole gang was annihilated. All had bullets through their foreheads.
I got a tip that a man had seen the accused entering this 8th alley, so we quickly rushed here.
Song and I went on the second floor and found the computer was switched on. Song asked, "Why do you think they killed Gen Gen's gang? What beef do they got with them?"
I shook my head. I looked through the files and found the printer was still warm. I frowned.
I said, "Not that Gen Gen was any cleaner. But now they are murderers on the loose. We have to tighten our search."
Song looked through the folders in the computer and printer pages and said, "I will look into Gen Gen's illegal business dealings."
I sighed. "I will look into it. Your hands are already full with Fu Ting and Liao Chuntao's case."
He was silent. It looked like he wanted to protest, but he kept quiet.
I thought he would be happy. Didn't I lessen his job?
I said, "I will check with the cybersecurity expert what we can find here."
*Xin Lei*,---
In the car, I asked Uncle Rong, "How did you find us?"
He shrugged. "Well, I knew you were going to be here, plus your sketches are already spread everywhere."
"And now we are doubly wanted because we have killed an entire gang." Bai Li dryly said.
"You got that right. So I thought this old man could be of some help. But wait, why is Nianzu not with you?"
"He escaped."
With all the confusion, I forgot about Dad.
I typed. "How will we find him now? Or how will he find us? He doesn't even know which number I use now."
Uncle Rong said, "Don't worry, Lei Lei. I will also look for him with my method. He will definitely try to contact us."
"Where are we going?" Bai Li asked.
"A tea house."
"Where the barmaid works."
"Oh, you know about her!"
"Apparently, someone else knows her too."
He shrugged. "Well, she has many contacts."
We arrived at the tea shop and found the barmaid standing at the same place.
Bai Li felt the counter with his hands and put the guns on it. "Worked like a charm. Do you have coffee?"
"This is a tea house."
"Is there a rule that there cannot be coffee?"
Alright alright! I pushed Bai Li to walk in the front.
This coffee maniac will not let it go.
Uncle Rong said, "I found something from Fu Jun, Fu Meili's sister."
I typed. "What?"
We settled on a table.
Bai Li said, "I knew he was hiding something."
"He said that they had wandered off to a place. He didn't know where but what he and Fu Meili saw was truly horrific."