Special Forces Medic

Chapter 1068 1039: Unknown Text Message

In less than three days, Palermo Police Station had changed chiefs twice. The newly appointed Chief Edmund was now sitting in his former chief's office, being questioned by two investigators from the CIA, while the current Chief Meisai was leisurely sitting off to the side, listening in.

This was another major incident of police officers being attacked by terrorists following the bombing that killed Director Mo Luo. As their counterparts in a cross-border investigation, the CIA suspected these two cases were closely tied to the case they were working on, so they requested the fullest support and assistance from Palermo Police Station. Of course, this request had already come down as a direct order from the city government and had been sitting in Meisai's hands for quite some time; it was only that the foolish Edmund had no idea.

"Chief Meisai, would you allow us to speak with Mr. Edmund alone?"

"Oh, sure! Feel free to use this place however you want. I'll go see if the new office is finished; looks like this one is beyond saving." As Meisai spoke, he didn't forget to give the surroundings another once-over before walking out. On his way out, he patted Edmund on the shoulder, as a show of sympathy.

"Mr. Edmund, please tell us what you were doing on the day of the bombing," Kate walked over to the blasted-open window, looked up at the rooftop of the building opposite, roughly gauging the angle and distance, while his partner Cross was taking notes.

"I…"

"Mr. Edmund, please just tell the truth!" Kate abruptly cut off Edmund just as he was about to speak, which made this already timid-looking man even more flustered and nervous. Maybe he himself hadn't expected something like this to happen; he'd only just become chief. A man who wanted the spotlight had now become not just a joke, but a pathetic, walking punchline.

"Y-yes, yes… I'll tell you everything I know. At the time I was interrogating a suspect in a homicide case."

"From what we know, Edmund, although you favor using violence in your interrogations, someone blew up your former office this time. Should we take that to mean someone was deliberately taking revenge on you?"

"Oh, no, absolutely not! You can't look at it that way." Edmund shook his head repeatedly, refusing to admit to such a conclusion. Cross glanced back at Kate. "Please walk us through the sequence of events at the time."

"We were on the fourth floor interrogating the suspect. I had two assistants with me. The suspect was extremely dangerous, so we had him in shackles. During the interrogation, Meisai came by, and then there was a struggle, and I was knocked out by the explosion. When I woke up I was already in the hospital. The suspect who'd been there at the time also escaped."

"The suspect escaped? And what was his name?"

"Hua Qingyi, a Chinese national, the murderer in the killing of two businessmen from 'Bessade.'"

"Do you have substantial evidence to incriminate him?"

"Yes. Director Mo Luo personally brought him in. Afterwards, his home was blown up, and this time it was the station. I think these two incidents must have something to do with this Hua Qingyi. According to my investigation, this man, Hua Qingyi, also has an accomplice named Xiao Lin, but…"

"Edmund, please limit your answers to what's relevant to our questions."

"Y-yes." At Kate's roar, Edmund immediately wilted.

"Before the incident, did Director Mo Luo have any disputes with anyone?"

"That I'm not sure about. I'd been on vacation the whole time. But I seem to recall hearing that he'd taken action against people from Sin City earlier."

"Sin City?"

"Yes! But Sin City has now been taken over by that man called Xiao Lin. Director Mo Luo had been pursuing him all along, suspecting him of being the mastermind behind several recent vicious crimes."

Cross tapped the tabletop with his finger and glared at Edmund. "Right, have you ever heard the name Wang Zhantian?"

"Who? Wang Zhantian? Who is he?" Edmund's mouth fell open in surprise, and he shook his head blankly.

"All right, Mr. Edmund, thank you for your cooperation. If necessary, we'll ask you to assist in the investigation again." Cross closed his notebook and stood up.

"That's it? That's all?" Edmund still hadn't quite figured out what was going on.

"Yes. But if you get any information about this Wang Zhantian, please contact us at once." Kate gave Edmund a meaningful look. "Here's how you can reach us."

"Can I ask one more question—what exactly did this person do?"

"He's an extremely dangerous individual who attempted to assassinate a Chinese leader. Right now we've already joined forces with the local criminal police to hunt this major felon down."

"Oh, oh, I see. If I get any leads I'll definitely cooperate with you. Has he already entered the country?"

"Yes. Our informants have confirmed he's currently in Palermo. You need to keep an eye out."

"All right, I'm willing to help with this. I've got plenty of eyes and ears in Palermo—if we want to find him, it shouldn't be hard." Edmund suddenly became fawning, his curved eyes shining with a puzzling, joyful gleam.

Meisai stood at the windowsill, watching the two people walking out of the station. A small figure quietly edged up beside him. "Tang, did someone come looking for you yesterday?"

"Yah!" Tang, who'd been hoping to give him a surprise, once again ended up sprawled in failure across the window. "Yeah, a weird guy named Xiao Lin."

"Mm. He'll probably come to you again."

"Meisai, what did those people come here for? Why did Edmund look so depressed?" As if deliberately dodging Meisai's words, Tang jumped down from the window. "There was just a bombing yesterday!"

Meisai watched the two of them duck into the car. The person in the driver's seat turned his head at the same time, looking in their direction. He instinctively drew his body back from the glass, then, feeling that move was a bit ridiculous, Meisai let out a quiet laugh, earning a suspicious look from Tang. "Tang, you can't call me by my name outright anymore. You have to call me Director, and only in private can you use my name, got it?"

"Even if I said I don't get it, you'd still make me do it anyway." Tang curled his lips. Adult dignity was something he just didn't understand—but at least it was better than that weirdo of a master he had.

In the middle of the night, a torrential rain started—something rare in Sicily. Wild raindrops, swept by strong winds, hurled themselves against the glass, crashing into a sheet of clear water and streaming down unchecked. Heavy thunder rumbled one after another. By dawn, the dense curtain of rain gradually thinned into scattered drops that fell into the foul puddles gathered on the road, sending up tiny rings of ripples.

By the time Xiao Lin drove to FORGET IT COFFEE, the rain had almost stopped. The café had just officially opened for business, but the staff were still clustered around a handsome young man, talking animatedly about something. At another table sat a slender figure, a slice of cake and an untouched cup of coffee on the table before her. Hearing the bell above the door chime, one of the girls called out a "Welcome" to Xiao Lin and then ran toward the counter. The other two boys clearly felt this customer had shown up at the wrong time—or rather, they'd simply never had to welcome a customer this early in the morning.

"Mocha. No cream, no sugar." Xiao Lin's tastes were strange—if he was going to drink it like that, he might as well have just ordered an Americano. But mocha was the one thing he was fixated on.

"All right, sir." The girl gave a shy smile, sneaking a few extra glances at the handsome guy before handing Xiao Lin his change.

The sound of the rain in the night had woken him while everyone else was asleep. An excess of peace always gave him a strange sense of foreboding—and his instincts were usually right. The indicator light on his phone kept flashing; a message from an unknown source had popped into his view.

Just as he got up, Crow had quietly come to his side, letting out a low whimper. "Tomorrow morning, eight o'clock, FORGET IT COFFEE." It was that headless, tailless text that had drawn him to this café.

"May I sit?" It was eight-oh-five; he was early, and yet this person had come even earlier. His instincts told Xiao Lin that the woman sitting with her back to him was the one who'd summoned him here. His heart gave a jolt. Even though they hadn't seen each other for a very, very long time, even though her image had gone a little blurry in his mind, the moment his gaze froze on the familiar lines of her shoulders, he still recognized her quickly. From shock to doubt, his mood shifted fast and violently, and in the end, he forced it all down under a calm surface.

Xia Xue was still beautiful and pure, only now compared to before she carried an extra steadiness and polish. People in the jianghu have no control over their own fate—this line suddenly came to Xiao Lin as he looked at her. In those shrewd eyes, only a moment ago had there been that fleeting trace of innocence.

"I'm sorry for dragging you out this early. I have to catch an afternoon flight back to Yanjing." The formulaic opening immediately put Xiao Lin on edge. "These are all the documents and contracts related to Sin City. The transfer deed will probably have to wait three more months before it can be signed, but…"

"You came just for this?" The moment the words left his mouth, Xiao Lin instantly felt like a kid throwing a tantrum; even to his own ears, he sounded extremely strange.

"I…" Xia Xue had just opened her mouth to say something when Xiao Lin yanked her by the wrist and dragged her out of the café. The coffee he'd ordered hadn't even made it to the table before being abandoned by its owner. The person shoved into the car neither fought nor screamed, almost meekly obeying, yet with a trace of unwillingness.

"If you dare get out, I'll make sure you understand the consequences." Xiao Lin said viciously, though the threat didn't carry much weight—it was pure intimidation.

The car sped down the street straight toward Sin City, stopping at a distance from the gap at the yin-yang line. The police had laid eyes and ears there. Xiao Lin pulled Xia Xue to the wall on the other side, braced a hand under her waist, drew in a breath, and leapt upward, taking her with him as he landed lightly on top of the wall.

"I'm the legal owner of this place. Why do I have to climb over the wall with you?" Standing on the wall, Xia Xue called down to the man who had already jumped to the other side.

"Because I currently count as a suspect. If the police see me, it'll be trouble." Xiao Lin opened his arms. "Jump!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you're welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)