Bruce's heart was beating fast, and he strode back and forth, trying to calm himself down. The old man was still leaning on Bruce's hood.
"Well, we can't talk in the street," Bruce said at last.
The old man stood up. He was sweating profusely and his body was still shaking. He grabbed his left arm with his right arm.
"Let me drive the car out of the street first. Then we will talk."
The man nodded and shuffled to the side of the road. Bruce parked the car on the side of the road. He parked in front of a new, dusty green pickup truck. He thought it was the old man's truck.
Before getting out of the car again, Bruce put the envelope with the Mars scanner in the glove box and locked it.
"Okay," he said, striding over to the old man leaning on the tailgate of the truck. "What is so important? You are going to run to the front of my car and kill both of us?"
Now that he got Bruce Denman's full attention, the old man began to wonder if he was doing the right thing. Bruce crossed his arms to face him. wait.
"Yeah," said the old man, still sweating and having difficulty breathing. He leaned more heavily on the tailgate. He was shaken. This is a bad idea, and he feels uncomfortable. He couldn't breathe.
"Now your chance is here, old man. Say whatever you want."
The old man closed his eyes tightly. It takes a lot of courage to get to this point and drive across the country to find Bruce Deman and stand in front of him and say what he wants to say. He plucked up one last bit of courage.
"I don't want to go to hell," he said. Tears filled his eyes. "I'm here to ask you to forgive me."
Bruce squinted his eyes. "Excuse you for what?"
The old man's heart was twitching, and he grabbed his chest.
"My name is Terrence Brown. I am the one who drove a truck and killed your parents."
He took a deep breath, then opened his eyes. Bruce was expressionless.
"They said it was an accident?" Bruce said. ""Should I forgive your accident? They said you fell asleep while driving. Too much time was spent on the road. "
"That's the problem, it's not an accident," Terrence Brown said. "Just before the accident, I was at a truck rest stop and this man came to me. He said that if I could do something for him, he would pay me a lot of money. Once I passed the mile Sign, all I have to do is take my hands off the steering wheel and close my eyes. We were in debt at the time. Gambling. Drinking. I was in a bad situation. The worst part. My wife was leaving me. Me. The situation is very bad. The man said that I can only do this. Close my eyes, hold the steering wheel, and leave the rest to fate. He said I will not die. I am embarrassed to admit that I asked him if he wanted to, but He said I didn't want to." The old man gasped hard, clutching his heart tightly. He closed his eyes tightly. "I think I have a heart attack," he said.
Terrence Brown opened his eyes again.
Bruce was still standing, motionless, expressionless. He looked at the old man calmly.
Terrence Brown continued, "I think you should know that the man at the truck stop is your partner, Lucius Toro. He paid me."
Bruce said nothing.
The old man groaned, fell on the tailgate, and fell heavily to the ground.
"I have a heart attack," he said frankly, "I don't want to die. I don't want to go to hell."
"Too bad," Bruce said. "This is the result of your deal with the devil."
"No," the old man whispered. "No. I'm a fool. It's wrong. I was a kid then. I was just a kid. A silly kid." He clumsily took a cell phone out of the front shirt pocket with his right hand. He took it close to his face, trying to figure out its meaning, but it was difficult for him to figure out anything.
"Can you call an ambulance for me?" he said. He tried his best to speak out. "Sorry. I'm sorry for what I did to you."
Bruce reached for Terrence Brown's cell phone. Terence handed it to him.
Bruce took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the phone slowly and carefully.
Terence looked at him. He licked his lips. "You don't know how to call? It's okay," he said. "I understand. You don't need to call. I understand."
Bruce said nothing. He put the phone in the corner with a handkerchief.
"Please forgive me. That's all I need. Forgive me. You don't need to call."
"I don't want to hit you, but my forgiveness will not keep you from hell."
"I have straightened out my life. I will have a good time for the rest of my life. I am a good husband and a good father. I have tried my best."
Terence fell sideways from where he was sitting. He lay sideways on the ground. Bruce watched him struggling to breathe. He watched his face turn pale. He waited until Terrence Brown stopped breathing completely, then he put the phone back in Terrence's outstretched hand and drove away.
Bruce turned around and walked in the direction of Dan Mannos. His blood boiled and consumed his anger like fire. He and Lucius Toro are about to quarrel. Or worse.
His poor mother.
His poor father.
His parents are both hard-working middle-class people. They are ordinary, whether lucky enough or unfortunate enough, their union gave birth to an unusual son, it depends on your point of view.
They love their son. Everything they did was for him. His father only wanted Bruce to have a normal childhood. He thinks that education can come in its own time, but t-balls and playing with friends and girls who are obsessed with these things cannot. These are all part of being a child, and Bruce should be a child like other children.
Bruce's parents often quarreled about his education. When it came time to consider sending Bruce to college at such a young age, Bruce's father firmly opposed.
Bruce has time. He would say to Bruce's mother: He has time to do these things. Let him be a child.
The normal childhood is triumphing.
Then they died.
Lost a normal childhood.
Bruce never thought that Toro was related to the death of his parents. Not once. For God's sake, he was only twelve years old.
Bruce's thinking began to turn.
What else is Toro involved in
Bruce's eyes opened in a whole new way.
Torod had to explain.
Bruce screamed and broke into the underground parking lot of the building. Car tires made a harsh sound on the polished concrete floor. He hurriedly parked the car in the parking space and didn't bother to back up and adjust the angle.
He ran to the elevator. He pressed the up key. It lights up the orange. To be on the safe side, he pressed it ten more times.
The elevator arrived and the door opened quickly. A soft electronic female voice said: "Go up."
Bruce punched the number two player with his fist. When the elevator reached the second floor, his body moved from one foot to the other. Except for the lobby, the second floor is almost identical to the first floor. The balcony on the second floor overlooks the glass hall on the second floor.
The elevator door opened and Bruce came out. He knocked down Fred in the accounting department and almost knocked him down.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Denman," Fred said, although he has not done anything to initiate this contact.
"It's all my fault, Reggie," Bruce said back, before starting a lifeless sprint. He ran down the long corridor. Toro's office is upstairs from Bruce.
The glass floor is polished and is not suitable for running in dress shoes. Bruce slipped and slowed down to stabilize himself. When he stood firm, he looked down for a while, and when he raised his head, he found Toro's office door open.
He could hear voices from inside, Toro's voice, and other people's voices. The other voice is male xìng, which sounds familiar. Bruce felt a sting at the back of his neck, and he immediately felt that this was a conversation he didn't want to hear.
He slowed down, stopped completely, and leaned his back against the wall outside Toro's office. He approached slowly until he could hear what was being said.
"It's over," the voice sounded familiar, but Bruce didn't know what to say.
"Are you sure?" Toro said.
"I let my best person do it."
"Your best man? I let my best person do it. That person is you. When I ask you to do something, I want you to do it yourself. Have you forgotten what's going on?"
"No, sir, I apologize." Another said. "This kind of thing will never happen again."
"Be careful not to do this," Toro said. "One more thing, you shouldn't be here."
Paul said that Deman was not there that day. He is having dinner with his girlfriend and does not want to be disturbed. "
"Anyway," Toro said. "I prefer to keep things simple."
"Does this work for you?"
""Don't be rude. This cannot be tolerated. "
"Yes, sir."
Pause.
"Anything else?" Toro asked.
The man hesitated, and finally said, "No, sir."
"If you can provide proof of completion of the work, I will pay you. This time I have to follow the rules. The head should be enough."
"You have never asked for evidence before."
"Today, I did it. You annoyed me. Just take it as a corrective measure, a reminder, keep silent, remember who you are dealing with."
"Yes, sir," the man said. "can I go now?"
""you can. Close the door. "
Bruce has nowhere to hide, so running down the corridor is no good. He sticks to the wall outside Toro's office like an ordinary sneaky, and that doesn't work either. He walked into the middle of the hallway, as if this place was his, he did the same, and then waited for the person familiar with the voice to walk out of Toro's office. He put a hand in his pocket and put on a look of indifference.
It was Adam Beaumont who didn't pay attention. He closed Toro's door casually and walked straight into Bruce.
Although the voice sounds familiar, Bruce never imagined that he would see Adam Beaumont walk out of Toro's office in a million years. (To be continued) (End of this chapter)