Chapter 37 — Who Kills Whom?

...

"All you can do is curse at women — is that supposed to pass for ability?" Wei Zhao curled his lip and looked at the bald man. "Listen, baldy, robbing a bank isn't really your aim, is it? The bank job is just a cover. Your real target — you're after Gu Mengyao, aren't you?"

"Hmph, so what if you figured it out? You're still my prisoner, aren't you?" By now the bald man saw no need to deny anything. To his mind, Wei Zhao, this posturing fool, was nothing but meat on his chopping block — to be handled however he pleased. He had no fear of the man learning his purpose; what did it matter if he told him outright?

"You won't get far. The police will follow you, and then they'll wipe you out," Wei Zhao said, regarding the bald man with something close to pity.

"Impossible. I mapped out my escape long ago," the bald man said smugly. "Right now the cops should be running in circles after what I did. Heh heh — there's more than one van like that one, you know."

"Is that so?" Wei Zhao felt a flicker of admiration for the bald man; the fellow did have some brains, wasn't a total fool. But it was all for nothing. His worst move had been letting Wei Zhao get into the van, and that alone doomed this operation to failure.

Meanwhile, Qiu Lingshan clutched the walkie-talkie tensely, keeping in constant contact with every squad.

"Captain Song, this is Liu Wangli of the First Squadron. We've spotted the Hyundai van, plate Song A74110. Awaiting orders." Liu Wangli's voice came over the radio.

"Follow them. Be careful and stay cautious — don't let them notice you," Qiu Lingshan ordered.

"Yes, sir." With that, Liu Wangli ordered the driver to start the car.

Qiu Lingshan let out a breath of relief. Hmph. Think you're clever, but you never counted on me posting trackers at every intersection, did you? Let's see where you run now. She was gloating when another report crackled over the radio.

"Captain Song, this is Zhang Xiaohang, commander of the Second Squadron. We've spotted the Hyundai van, plate Song A74110. Awaiting orders." This time it was Zhang Xiaohang.

"What?" Qiu Lingshan froze, then said, "Where did you see it?"

"On Zhonghuan Road. Awaiting orders," Zhang Xiaohang said.

"Zhonghuan Road? That can't be right. Liu Wangli of the First Squadron spotted it on Weimin Road just before." Qiu Lingshan was baffled. How was the kidnapper driving? Had he looped around and come back? Still, she gave the order: "Follow them. Whatever you do, don't let them spot you."

"Yes, sir." Zhang Xiaohang carried out Qiu Lingshan's order.

"Captain Song? This is Sun Jiaxia of the Third Squadron. We've spotted the Hyundai van, plate Song A74110. Please advise." Sun Jiaxia's voice came over the radio.

"You've seen it too?" Qiu Lingshan's head began to throb. In that instant she sharply realized she had been fooled — the other side must have sent out more than one vehicle bearing the plate 74110. They had played right into their hands. Qiu Lingshan was ready to die of rage.

To be strung along by a pack of kidnappers like this — Qiu Lingshan seethed. If only Captain Yang were here; he would have seen through their scheme at a glance. And she, she had actually fallen for it. How humiliating.

The voice of the Fourth Squadron's commander came over the radio again, and before he could finish, Qiu Lingshan asked, "Did you spot the Hyundai van, plate Song A74110?"

"Yes, Captain Song. You're incredible — we've got eyes on the Hyundai van, plate Song A74110. What do we do now?" asked the Fourth Squadron commander.

"Follow it." Qiu Lingshan felt on the verge of collapse. She could now be fairly certain that the kidnappers had slipped away along those two roads right after her people had taken up the tail on the first and second 74110s. By now they must be long gone...

...

"Why kidnap her?" Wei Zhao narrowed his eyes, eager to know what the man wanted with Gu Mengyao. If money was all he was after, then this bank job had already netted him no less than a million — did they mean to extort Gu Pengzhan on top of that? That was a dangerous game; more likely than not, the extortion would fail and the police would catch them instead.

"Why? Good question." The bald man curled his lip, pointed at the bundles of cash on the floor, and said, "Simple. I did it for money."

"For money?" Wei Zhao frowned. "A kidnapping? You mean to use her to pressure Gu Mengyao's father, then make him pay a ransom?"

"That's none of your business." The bald man, irritated that Wei Zhao was asking far too many questions, spoke with open displeasure.

"No harm in telling me. At the very least, a man ought to die with his eyes open, don't you think?" Wei Zhao now wore an expression of pure curiosity, so innocently earnest that it was hard to refuse him.

The bald man looked him over and thought, what's the harm in telling the boy? He's going to be killed sooner or later anyway. So he said, "Someone paid us to snatch this girl."

"And after you snatch her?" Wei Zhao asked.

"They haven't said yet. We're waiting for a call," the bald man said.

"Then who hired you to do it?" Wei Zhao pressed on.

"Don't know. Brother Cihua introduced us," the bald man said.

"Who is Brother Cihua?" Wei Zhao asked again.

"**Why the hell does a brat like you have so many questions? Motherfucker, ask one more and I'll kill you**" The bald man, worn past endurance by Wei Zhao's questioning, erupted in a stream of curses.

"Oh, all right then. Nobody move, or I'll kill you." A gun had suddenly appeared in Wei Zhao's hand, and in an instant it was pressed against the bald man's temple.

"You... you..." The bald man's eyes went wide. Would someone please tell him what on earth was going on? Weren't the kid's hands tied? How did he still have a gun?

Inside the van, the other kidnappers were frozen in shock, unable to make sense of it — Wei Zhao had a gun pressed to their leader's head.

"You... you... how did you get your ropes off?" The bald man could not work it out. And truly, he could not: weren't both of Wei Zhao's hands bound together?

"Oh, I was a clumsy kid. Whenever I played cat's cradle, I'd always end up tying my own hands together in a dead knot. After enough practice, I learned to undo them myself," Wei Zhao said.

"Unbelievable." The bald man's jaw dropped. That actually worked? Cat's cradle could make a man that capable? Still, he remained astonished. "Then where did you get the gun?"

"Lifted it off that Ma Liu over there." Wei Zhao jerked his chin toward the man nearest him.

Ma Liu instinctively patted his trouser pocket and gave a start — his gun was indeed gone. It seemed it really had ended up in Wei Zhao's hands.

This time the bald man was utterly speechless. He was beaten, and he knew it. What kind of game was this? The kid was far too formidable. Inwardly, though, he cursed Ma Liu's ancestors through eighteen generations.

"All right, nobody move. Your leader's head may look nice and smooth and shiny, but one bullet and it'll basically explode." Wei Zhao spoke lightly, yet the bald man could not help but shiver.