The Children's Welfare Institute is located in a two-story building on the east side of the church. When Leo and Li Biqing walked into the corridor on the first floor, they saw the plump figure of a nun in a black dress, gently coming out of one of the bedrooms.
At the moment when she looked up and saw them, a look of shock and panic flashed across her round face, and she said calmly: "Gentlemen, how did you get in? The church is not open to the public at this time. Please leave immediately. , Otherwise I will call the police!"
"Sister Emma?" Leo asked with a serious face.
"Yes..." the nun replied unconsciously.
Leo took out his ID and flashed it in front of her, "FBI. There is a serial murder case. We need your cooperation in the investigation. Regarding the children in this orphanage—"
He didn't finish his words, Emma sprang up like a beast stabbed by the spikes of a trap, hurriedly opened the door behind him and flashed in, and quickly closed and locked the door.
There was the sound of broken glass and falling hard objects in the room.
Leo immediately slammed the door twice, but didn't open it. Then he used Glock with a silencer to shoot twice at the edge of the door lock.
The door was kicked open, and there was no one in the room. A glass window and wooden slats were smashed to pieces. It seemed that this strong nun had just broken the window and escaped.
Li Biqing reached out and touched the sheet on the children's bed by the window, and said anxiously: "There is still some remaining temperature, she took this child away!"
"Hurry up!" The federal agent jumped out of the window.
They chased the blurry shadows not far away and ran across the back garden. The nun gradually widened the distance between the chasing and fleeing parties by virtue of her great familiarity with the environment. With the sudden sound of a car engine, a gray Camry ran over the atrium square, rushed through the closed iron gate, and drove out of the church with a roar.
Leo and Li Biqing rushed out of the gate and immediately launched Chevrolet, which was parked outside the wall, to chase them against the clock.
Obviously, the kinetic energy of this government-equipped SUV far exceeds that of an old-fashioned car that has been used for seven or eight years and is about to retire. They caught up with it in less than ten minutes and saw it fleeing towards the small road outside the town in a panic. -This path passes through the edge of the forest and leads to the neighboring counties.
Leo drove while calling the state police Eden and asked him to notify the county police to organize a round-up. When he hung up the call, the gray Camry was within range of the pistol.
"Help me hold the steering wheel!" He said to Li Biqing in the passenger seat, and then extended his head and arms out of the car window, and raised his gun to the rear tire of the car in front.
He fired three shots, two of which hit the target. The deflated tires made the car dying for tens of meters, then rushed out of the roadbed and stopped crookedly among the sparse trees.
The federal agent pushed the car door and jumped down, holding a gun and shouting: "Get off! Open the door slowly and get off alone!"
After a moment of silence, Emma opened the driver's door and got out of the car, but not alone. Her sturdy left arm passed through a child's armpit, pinning her to her chest, holding a paper knife in her right hand, and the sharp blade against the little hostage's neck. It was a five or six-year-old girl, wearing a white cotton nightdress, and her long light blonde curly hair messed up like a large clump of seaweed, struggling and crying in panic and fear under the sudden restraint.
—Debi!
Leo's arm holding a gun froze in the night wind.
The scene in front of me... Is it going back in time five years ago, or is the hateful grievance finally reappearing in the world? His eyes widened in disbelief, and the muscles on his face were stiff like a botched sculpture. In order to control the trembling corners of the lips of the Lord of Unfreedom, he clenched his teeth, his straight jaw line was as cold as metal.
"Put down the gun! Or I will kill her!" Emma stared at him nervously, her dark green eyes bursting with terror and violence, "Don't think it's just a threat, you know I can do it! Throw the gun, back, back!"
Leo knew that, as usual, he had to show some softening gestures to temporarily alleviate the murderer’s out-of-control emotions and avoid stimulating the desperate underground killer, but he couldn’t move—he couldn’t even move a finger or say a word. out!
His thoughts were spinning in his head, but his body was as rigid as a stone, as if a gate completely cut off the nerve connection between them!
He thought that after confessing all the gloom of the past, he could finally get out of the maze-like nightmare and breathe fresh air again—but no! He was still in a nightmare, and the relief before was just a ridiculous fool. He heard Tudor’s ridicule, and echoed frantically and triumphantly: “Shoot! Let’s play this game again, just like before~before~ the countless times before, shoot through her neck and let the blood column It comes out beautifully... Hurry up and shoot, I can't wait!"
-Do not! wake up! Leo, wake up quickly! His soul was crying in the imprisoned body, but no one could hear it except himself...
Facing the uncompromising muzzle of the federal agents, the panic in Emma's eyes seemed to have passed that limit point, and began to be replaced by fierce and frenzied force. She pressed the blade down, a wisp of blood appeared on the girl's thin white neck, and the newly hatched young snake snaked like a snake.
"Sister, relax. Actually you don't want to do this, do you." As if the breeze came, a voice said softly, "Look at Little Debi, how cute she is, I bet she is the most sensible in the orphanage. Child, she will eat and dress by herself, obediently not cause trouble, and kiss your cheek before going to bed, saying'good night' in a sweet voice, do you remember?"
As if the Chinese boy’s words evoked her imagination, Sister Emma’s eyes eased unknowingly, and the blade on the girl’s neck was slightly loosened, “I don’t want to kill her, don’t force me... put down the gun, put down the gun!”
Li Biqing hugged Leo’s waist with one hand, and held his wrist with the other, and slowly and gently pressed it down so that the muzzle fell to the ground, "Leo, listen to me, let go of your finger and hand the gun to I... Leo, trust me."
Federal agents did not make any resistance. His mental gate has been closed, but it has not been completely sealed. This boy is the only vent.
Li Biqing got the gun, bent over and placed it on the mud. "Okay, look, we sincerely want to talk to you, let go of that poor child first?"
"No!" The nun stubbornly refused, "I won't let her go unless you give me the car and leave my sight completely."
"There is no need for such a violent reaction, Sister, we are just investigating the case and asking a witness..."
"Don't lie to me—" Emma interrupted him sharply, "You already know it! I see your eyes, and you know you already know everything! I won't catch it with my hands, I know it will be What kind of end!"
"Then why do you do that? You are a respected priest. I believe that when you swear before God, you must be filled with light and fraternity, just like Father Baisi, don't you?" Li Biqing looked at her with a sad and sympathetic expression.
His eyes hurt her. And the name he said, as if a soldering iron had been burned in her heart, and her whole body trembled with pain. "God! Almighty and benevolent God! Yes, I vowed in my heart that I would serve the Lord piously throughout my life and dedicate my whole body and soul to the Lord, when I was a twelve-year-old girl. And I did so too. A few years!" As if Omo was rolling across her chest, Emma's low voice was with unbearable dull pain, "I am twenty-nine, and I am still a virgin! You have all tasted the love of men and women. It feels like, but I must remain chaste for the rest of my life.'You are married to God', someone said to me, but I don't understand, if God is really my husband, why has he never fucked me?"
Li Biqing looked at this nun who was struggling with desire and faith, and a trace of real pity flashed in his eyes.
Once the nature and instinct of a creature is constrained, like grass under a slate, it wants to find a gap and squeeze it out. If even the gap is blocked, one day it will explode with a powerful and deformed force. Hard to crack-this is the power of desire.
"You can choose to take off the nun's clothes, Emma, and go back to a life that really suits you. God doesn't think that he is wearing a green hat just because you are married and have children."
"It's too late!" The nun looked desperate, "If someone could tell me this earlier... Before I killed someone... Before I fell in love with Father Bai Yisi..."
This possibility was expected by Li Biqing, "Father, does he know?" he asked.
"No, I have been hiding because I don't want to be disgusted and alienated by him." She sneered sadly, "Even if he knows what, his body and mind are all dedicated to God, and there is no trace of debris to share with others."
"So you can only love him in another way. The priest believes in the'revelation' and puts his beliefs into action. You should know everything about the basement, right?"
"Yes, I knew it many years ago. I laid hands for him and helped him clean up the traces left behind," Emma murmured dreamily. "Only at this time can I feel that, except for God, I The person closest to him..."
"It's like a secret that belongs only to you, right? You enjoy this feeling." Li Biqing calmly analyzed: "It may be that one or two children at the beginning did die of disease or accident, but then, it is very For a long period of time, it’s calm. You start to feel empty, anxious, and dissatisfied. I pray that God will reclaim a servant sooner, but this expectation has not been realized. Finally one day, you can no longer suppress the drive of desire, in order to continue you The unique relationship with the priest began to artificially create another death... Have you ever felt guilty, even if only once?"
"Maybe, but I don't regret it at all." The nun confessed very simply, perhaps seeking the approval of others. "When you are determined to do anything for a person, even killing is not that difficult. Sometimes On the contrary, it is a kind of pleasure-I don't know which is stronger than the pleasure of making love. I can't compare it. Can you tell me?"
Obviously, this is no longer love in the normal sense. A certain power dominated Emma, and after numerous twists and growths under the stone slab, she finally found a breakthrough-killing. The desire to kill made her escape completely.
Li Biqing shook his head and said, "No, I can't compare... Another thing I can't understand, why did you just sink Renee to the bottom of the lake?"
"Because her existence will only tarnish the priest's faith. Fighting, stealing, lying, she is a bad habit, not like other children at all," Emma replied coldly, "She is not worthy to be the priest's angel." She looked down. Seeing the little girl who kept crying and kicking on her chest, she frowned irritably, "And you, will you become like your sister when you grow up, Debi?"
"—She won't, she's a good boy." As if waking up from a deep nightmare, the black-haired agent finally found his voice, although it seemed a little hoarse and difficult, "Let her go, Emma, As long as you let her go, I will never shoot and leave the car to you, how about it?"
The nun chuckled indifferently under the black headscarf, "No. Now I don’t want to run, even if I escape your level, do you think I’ll naively think that I can escape from being chased by a group of police cars and helicopters? ?"
"At least you can save a life. You have never done this before, right? Give it a try, I swear it will make you feel better than destroying a life." Leo cautiously induced her.
"My feelings are not important, happy or bad, I don't care anymore." Emma's face showed an abnormal, lazy calm, as if people in the ice and snow suddenly felt hot and could not cool down even if they took off their clothes. That is a sign of freezing to death. "I will stay in jail for the rest of my life. Even if visits are allowed, the priest after knowing the truth will not want to see me again-what meaning does this ending mean to me?"
"In that case, why don't I give the priest a final gift?" She bowed her head and kissed the vortex on the top of her kiss Debi's hair, and whispered, "Tell him my feelings, little angel." Then she raised her head. Raise your wrist and stab at the little girl's swan-like white neck—
——————Splitability of entering the text——————
Federal agents keenly caught the abnormal and unnecessary color on the nun's face, and the sense of crisis tempered by his profession sounded the alarm in his mind. He reflexively stretched his hand to his back and held the handle of the spare pistol. When Emma lowered his head to kiss Debi’s blonde hair, he drew his gun and aimed at the opponent.
The blade reflected the light in the car lights. He knew that he had to act decisively, but the hostage’s crying face strongly impacted his nerves and prevented his limbs from receiving sensible instructions. At that moment, the picture before him overlapped with the bloody memory, nervous, anxious and anxious. Fear was surging. Just like a patient with myasthenia gravis, he couldn't even feel the presence of his fingers, let alone drive it to pull the trigger... He was dead for a second!
When the blade was about to fall, Emma let out a scream.
No one expected that the little girl in her arms became anxious because she realized that crying was ineffective, and she took out her usual tricks against her mother and sister—she lowered her head and bit the holder's arm, and her small sharp deciduous teeth were deeply embedded in the flesh and blood. , Do not spit out like a wolf preying on young wolves.
Suddenly whipped by the sudden pain, Emma immediately pulled the little assailant hard, instinctively trying to get her arm back.
Li Biqing let go of his finger and let the gun fall—no one found out when he picked up the pistol lying on the ground—this small accident dispelled his idea of shooting, and he made another decision in a flash.
He flashed to the side of the federal agent, his right hand firmly supported the opponent's trembling elbow, and his left hand grasped the stiff shoulder muscles. Like a shooting instructor who patiently instructs beginners, his chest is warm and strong against the opponent's back, and whispered in his ears: "Shoot, Leo!"
The confused and confused pupils of the black-haired agent shrank sharply, and the sound in his dream exploded in his head—
Shoot, Leo.
shot. You will not miss this time, because I am behind you.
The serial killer said, with my power, Leo, let us work together to end this damn cycle.
This sound, like a huge torrent, instantly broke the spiritual gate, and an irresistible force pushed his fingers—
A cloud of blood sprung up on the nun's right arm. She screamed and covered her wound, and was pushed back to the ground by the impact. The radius and ulna were shattered by bullets, causing her arms to show a twisted and weird curve, and the pain filled the nerves. She curled her body tightly into a ball and moaned loudly, as if this would relieve the physical pain.
Leo stared at the weapon in his hand, the smell of burning gunpowder still lingering at the end of his nose. Even if the fire was spitting out and the gunshots rang out, he still couldn't believe that he had fired this shot so easily!
Those mental nightmares and insurmountable psychological barriers that have plagued him for a long time, wrapped and teared his emotional vortex, as if being shattered by this bullet at the same time!
He thought it would be an extremely long and painful process to get rid of those things—in fact, he was almost desperate about it, so he swallowed more and more pills with a self-deprecating attitude, and forced himself to run out of time with busy and high-intensity work. To think.
Until this moment, this bullet has reversed a full five years of time, and finally successfully pulled back the trajectory that had deviated!
This time, he didn't miss it—after that, he would never miss it again.
Debi fell to the ground in a daze. She looked at the blood-stained nun and ran away in horror, but the thick darkness around her blocked her footsteps. The woods in the middle of the night were dark, and only a small area of light was illuminated by the car lights. She looked at the tall figure of the black-haired man in the backlight, and suddenly remembered: He is a policeman.
Trust the police, adults always say that. She stretched out her small arms, desperately wanting to get a warm and safe shelter, and stumbled towards him.
Leo dropped the gun, knelt on his knees on the muddy ground covered with dead leaves, hugged the little girl who was leaping over him tightly, and buried his face in the long, tousled light blonde curly hair of the other person.
No one knew he had burst into tears.
"... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." the black-haired agent said repeatedly in a choked voice, as if to pour out the guilt, self-blame, and apology accumulated for five years, "Debi, I'm sorry..."
The little girl couldn't understand the deep meaning of his words, but she clung to his neck obediently and replied in the etiquette language she learned: "That's all right."
"She has forgiven you." Li Biqing whispered beside him, "Leo, do you believe in reincarnation?"
"... Reincarnation?"
"Yes. Five years ago, one life died and another was born. Now, she is back in front of you with the same face and the same situation, and you gave her a brand new ending-she wanted to use this Tell you in this way that you have won her forgiveness with your own efforts."
Leo looked up in amazement, looked at the little girl's face, and asked suspiciously and implicitly, "Is that right, Debi?"
The little girl looked at him unclearly. She remembered that the teacher had taught her that she should thank others for help, so she said quietly, "Thank you."
The federal agent hugged her again and said with tears: "No, Debi, I should thank you..."
The howling sirens came from far and near, and a large number of state and county police arrived and took over the scene. Control the suspects, calm the hostages, take photos and collect evidence... All the aftermath work was carried out in an orderly manner.
Leo left the crowd and walked to a dark corner slightly further away. He needs some time to calm down and sort out his thoughts.
Everything that happened before scrolled through his mind like a movie film, and soon, he found something strange—
"You can use a gun?" he asked the boy next to him.
The Chinese boy smiled, "How come, our country does not allow private guns. However, I have participated in field shooting clubs."
"You just held my arm in a professional posture." The agent stared at him inquiringly with dark blue eyes.
"That's because your arm is shaking like a person who has never held a gun. In comparison, I am more experienced." Li Biqing vomited calmly.
Leo smiled awkwardly. He thought of the dream that was surprisingly consistent with reality, but he didn't know how to mention it to the other party. How does he express? Ask him "How are your words and actions so similar to the murder suspect in my dream"? No, this is simply inexplicable. He hasn't been so crazy yet, using a ridiculous dream to doubt the other person.
Although he vaguely feels that something is not right... But it is just some gossamer-like flashes, and even he himself can't tell why he feels like this-as if there is a mold hiding behind this gentle and clean boy. The fuzzy, untouchable shadow...
Damn it! How could he have this idea! He loves this boy deeply-he is very sure about that, and these unfounded doubts are like blasphemy of love.
When he decided to put those messy doubts behind, the phone ringing in his pocket suddenly rang.
After Leo got connected, he hung up without saying a few words, and regretfully said to Li Biqing, "Sorry, my vacation will be ruined again."
"how?"
"The headquarters urgently notified me to return to Washington DC immediately."
Li Biqing asked worriedly: "In the middle of the night, so anxious? Has something happened?"
"I didn't elaborate on the phone, just told me and Rob to go home first." Leo looked at the other person uneasy. New York, I'll give you the keys to the apartment... What are you going to do?"
"... It's too sudden, I haven't figured it out yet." The boy answered honestly.
"Well, let's go back to the hotel first, and leave the finishing work to these state and county police officers."
Li Biqing followed him for a few steps, and then asked, "Sister Emma's murder has not gone away. What about Father Bai Si? Will he be sentenced?"
"It's hard to say that when it comes to religious affairs, it will be a little troublesome to deal with, and there are old ways to follow his behavior-a hundred years ago, many believers were proud of their mummy being placed in the catacombs of the church." Tan The member shrugged, "If the church intervenes in this case, the priest may be exonerated—it's just possible. But he definitely can't stay in this place. Maybe he will be relieved of his position and thrown to a church cemetery to guard the tomb. "
"That's fine, I think the priest will like this new job." Li Biqing said.
The black-haired agent hesitated for a while, and finally said, "I am more concerned about another thing than this... That guy didn't intervene this time! It's a bit strange, we must know the serial murders we have hunted over the past year. It’s guilty, eight out of ten were taken first by him, and it made us doubt whether we had his inside line. Unexpectedly, there was no movement this time. I have to say that Sister Emma is very lucky. Go to court alive."
"—You mean, finish?"
"It's the arrogant guy. It's been a month since he's been making trouble. I'm really not used to it without the news of him making troubles."
"Maybe he is also on vacation," Li Biqing chuckled, taunting slightly, "with his girlfriend. He has to enjoy the life of a normal person."
"—Perhaps it was with a boyfriend." The black-haired detective added awkwardly.
"What? You mean he..." the other person was surprised.
"No no," the agent changed his words immediately, "I was just kidding."
Li Biqing glanced at him, and a complex and inexplicable expression flashed by.
After returning to the hotel in Shuixia Town, the sky was already bright. Neither of them had much sleep, so they ate some bread and coffee for breakfast.
Just after breakfast, the cell phone in Li Biqing's pocket also rang. He took out a look at the ID, and smiled embarrassedly at Leo, "I'll go out to answer the phone."
"Molly's call? Oh, you don't have to pick it up behind your back every time," his girlfriend's brother tried hard to cheer up, jokingly, "I won't overhear your private conversations and phone sex."
When the boy quickly escaped, Leo saw his face flushed sharply.
He smiled and sipped the bitter coffee that had been cold at the bottom of the toast.
The other party came back soon, with an expression of eager excitement on his face, and looked quite happy: "You know Leo, Jasmine is coming back, just next month!"
"Next month?" Leo was a little stunned.
"The work is going better than expected. She is going to give herself a vacation and come back for half a month."
"Oh, great," Leo said, half happy and half regretful, feeling as complicated as a cocktail with seventeen or eighteen flavors. It's messy and I don't know what it tastes like. "You can get together."
"She said she planned to discuss with me about the engagement." Li Biqing paid attention to him calmly, as if analyzing the true emotions in the heart of the other party through the subtle expressions on his face, "Get engaged! In our country, that means It’s not far from the day of marriage—is this the same on your side?"
"... Oh, it should be." Leo Soul replied nonchalantly.
Li Biqing laughed and asked with a hint of unkind pleasure: "So, do you need a best man for engagement here? I hope you are not too busy at work next month."
Leo let out a painful groan from the bottom of his heart, and tried his best to put on an expression of "pleasantly", "It depends on the situation, if I have time at that time."
He got up and went back to the room, packed his simple luggage, and said hello to Li Biqing: "I just booked a ticket and I'm going to catch a plane. Can you go back to New York by yourself?"
"No problem, don't worry." The Chinese boy waved to him happily, "Good luck — oh no, you are flying against the wind!"
The federal agent hurried away without looking back.
Li Biqing was left alone, looking at his distant back from the window sill. "Next month..." he muttered to himself, "that's really a hurry."
(Angel’s room? End)
Volume 5 Luna Island