She nodded her head desperately. Luo Jiahai took his other hand from behind her back, and Fang Mu saw that it was gripped tightly around a bloody knife. Luo Jiahai used the hand that held the knife to pull the pillow case out of her mouth, and his other hand, the one around her neck, relaxed a little.
Before this, the girl had actually needed to lean against Luo Jiahai in order to stand. This loosening and her sudden ability to breathe unhindered caused her body to go completely limp. Luo Jiahai hastily grabbed her arms to keep her from sliding to the floor, and at that moment the knife that had been pointed at the girl's back the whole time moved.
Through his earpiece Fang Mu suddenly heard Constable Duan shouting in a clear voice. "Make your move, man!"
The abrupt order caused a split second of chaos to tumble through Fang Mu's brain. Charge over and grab the knife? Or just shoot him with the gun? During his moment of hesitation, Luo Jiahai regained his hold on the girl, and repositioned the knife at her neck.
"Dammit!" Constable Duan's annoyed voice cursed into Fang Mu’s ear.
But Fang Mu felt no regret; rather, he felt glad that he had not acted rashly just then. If Luo Jiahai was willing to listen to a suggestion of his, then there was still a possibility that he could be talked into surrendering.
The thought made him relax a bit. He smiled at Luo Jiahai. "Thank you. Okay, let's talk. What are your demands?"
"Demands?" The question seemed to have caught Luo Jiahai off-guard. He stared blankly for a moment, and then shook his head. "I don't have any demands."
Fang Mu was equally dumbfounded at his answer. Negotiations between the two of them had already stalled due to a lack of bargaining chips. He considered the issue for a moment and then decided to take a risk.
"Well, how 'bout you come outside with me then?" He worked up the most casual face he could muster.
Luo Jiahai's eye remained fixed on Fang Mu for several seconds, but his focus gradually blurred. "Outside?" He lowered his head slightly and swept the room with a dazed look. "And it's over, just like that?"
Fang Mu decided to take another chance. "Sure. We'll put an end to all this trouble. Wouldn't that be good?"
All of a sudden Luo Jiahai laughed. "An end? How would it end?" He paused. "With my death, right?"
Fang Mu's gut clenched. He knew the worst thing to do in a negotiation was to allow the kidnapper to feel such despair; it was very possible that such an emotion could cause him to throw it all in, killing himself and the hostage along with him. "Not necessarily. You're over-thinking things."
Luo Jiahai shook his head and gave a scornful laugh. "I've studied a bit of law. What's your name?"
Fang Mu was again caught off-guard. "What?"
"You're probably the last person I'll talk to, so I might as well know how I should address you."
"Oh. My name is Fang." He remained outwardly composed, but his palms were beginning to sweat a little. Luo Jiahai's words had revealed even more of just how determined he was to die. He had to think of a way to get him to calm down and feel that there was still room for maneuvering.
"Officer Fang, you might be unarmed, but I know that there's sure to be a sniper somewhere nearby with a bead on my skull," Luo Jiahai said. "My brains could spill out at any moment. But I want you to know, I am not a bad person. It's true; I killed that woman. Because she
had
to die. But I haven't harmed this girl; she wouldn't have that sort of smell. I hope this proves that I am not a bad person."
Smell. It was the second time he had mentioned smell.
He looked Luo Jiahai in the eyes. "What smell? What do you mean?"
Luo Jiahai shook his head. "Forget it. You don't need to know, and I don't have time to tell stories. I've killed someone and I don't plan on leaving this place alive. Aw, don't get all nervous," he said with a chuckle, seeing Fang Mu's cheeks blanch. "I won't hurt this girl. But with her in my hands, you people won't open fire just yet; am I right?"
Before Fan Mu could answer, Luo Jiahai continued.
He frowned and his tone became serious. "Please, let me have a last moment to be with my thoughts; I have a right to that before I'm killed."
With this, his attention drifted from Fang Mu to a vague point in front of him, and again the corners of his eyes went lax as his gaze lost its focus.
Fang Mu’s eyes narrowed as he suddenly asked, "What does a girl wearing red smell like?"
Luo Jiahai lifted his head abruptly. The expression on his face was one of panic and horror.
Fang Mu knew he had guessed correctly. He raised his voice. "Who was she?"
Luo Jiahai's knife was suddenly pointing at Fang Mu again. "You know me? Who
are
you?"
Fang Mu was about to answer when he was cut off by Constable Duan's voice whispering in his ear. "Okay, buddy, get him to take about two steps forward."
Fang Mu felt cold inside. He knew there was a type-85 Dragunov sniper rifle aiming straight into the room from the building across the street. He subtly lifted his right hand, its palm facing the window, giving the discreet tactical sign language for the sniper to hold off.
Constable Duan's voice was quite stern. "No! The hostage looks in bad shape. We can't wait any longer. We have our orders to take the perp out immediately!"
Luo Jiahai was completely oblivious to Fang Mu's hand signal. He stared expressionless into Fang Mu's eyes. "How did you know?"
Fang Mu raised a hand and gestured for him to calm down. "Now's not the time to discuss that. All you need to know is this: I believe you when you say you are not a bad person. Everything you have done is pardonable. If you're willing, I'd be very interested to know the sequence of events that led to this."
Luo Jiahai's eyes filled with tears and the knife in his hand began to tremble. "They destroyed her life; she was only twenty-two years old…"
"Fang Mu! You've been given an order!" Bian Ping's voice screeched into his ear.
Fang Mu was flustered. If they killed Luo Jiahai now, then the secret having to do with the girl and the smell he'd mentioned would be locked away forever, and it could involve someone else – perhaps even that girl's safety.
Tears were running down Luo Jiahai's face. This bloodstained murderer was now crying like a child who had been wronged. "Why destroy us… We didn't want too much… All we wanted was to enjoy a quiet life…"
He was now weeping so hard that his entire body seemed to have gone limp. Fang Mu was aware of the briefest of movements in his peripheral vision as the sniper outside in the next building bided his time. Fang Mu knew the marksman could see the veins in Luo Jiahai's neck through his sights; for a split-second he wondered if a shot would be attempted, but then the sniper disappeared again back behind the wall.
"Just get him to take one more step forward." Constable Duan's words were measured, and Fang Mu realized suddenly that the constable was one of the ones aiming through a sniper scope.
He could understand how Luo Jiahai's current state might make the people on the roof of the other building think he had lost complete control over his emotions, but he was still unwilling to arouse Luo Jiahai's suspicions. Fang Mu craned his neck around and waved his hand frantically at the window.
Luo Jiahai had come to a decision. "Officer Fang, I surrender. All I ask is for you to give me a chance to tell the truth about what happened. Shen Xiang and I didn't want to leave this world with the weight of such a crime on our backs..." He'd finally stopped sobbing. He put down the knife. "Here, the kid is yours. I'll go with you."
He placed one hand at the small of the girl's back and helped her walk over to Fang Mu.
Fang Mu instinctively reached a hand out to her when the thought flashed through his brain like a lightning bolt.
Luo Jiahai had entered the sniper's line of sight!
No!
There was no time for Fang Mu to make any more hand signals at the sniper. Bracing himself, he took a sudden lunge forward and placed himself right in front of the window.
"Damn!" The voice in his ear was furious.
Fang Mu closed his eyes. For a split second, he thought he heard a 7.62 caliber bullet whistle through the air, crack the glass, and pierce his flesh with a thud. He could even feel his body burning with the heat of the bullet as it penetrated....
Five seconds went by, and nothing happened. Fang Mu opened his eyes. His forehead was covered in cold sweat.
He forced a smile at Luo Jiahai. "Come on; let's get out of here."
No sooner had they walked out the door than the hidden SWAT agents rushed over to receive Luo Jiahai. He was trundled swiftly down the stairs and shoved into a police car. Fang Mu only had time to get the words, "Don't hit him" out of his mouth. The little girl was hurried over to the local hospital, and immediately afterward a sea of investigators flooded the scene of the crime to conduct their business.
Fang Mu's body felt sore and flaccid. He had to lean on the handrail in the stairwell to make his way slowly downward. Frenzied policemen jumbled past him, and now and then one of them would clap him on the back and say, "Good job!"
The sudden release of tension left Fang Mu exhausted. He shuffled through the front door of the building one slow step at a time. Outside, a somber Bian Ping and Constable Duan were waiting for him.
Bian Ping neither praised him nor criticized him. He just said flatly, "A hard job done. Why don't you go sit in the car and rest a while?"
Fang Mu didn't dare say anything more. He leaned over to remove his gun and holster and handed them to Constable Duan.
As Duan received them, he fixed his eyes on Fang Mu for a few seconds, and then he held his thumb and forefinger up and closed them together until the gap between them was only about a quarter-inch wide.
"Zero-point-two seconds." He paused. "Zero-point-two seconds. If I had reacted just zero-point-two seconds too slow, I would have shot you dead."
Fang Mu smiled weakly and murmured, "Thank you."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lei Mi, formerly known as Liu Peng, a teacher of criminal psychology at
China
Criminal
Police
University
, is well versed in both criminal psychology and forensic science. His career has given him insight into all sorts of crime, perhaps more so than most people learn in a lifetime. Having become known across the internet for psychological thrillers such as his Criminal Minds series, he has attracted countless fans. His major works include The Seven Readers (published as a serial novel from July to September 2006 in Legends from Today and Ancient Times: End of the Month Stories, and won their prize for best suspense story of 2006), Profiler, Skinner's Box, Blade of Silence, and City Lights. Lei Mi currently teaches in
Shenyang
.