Crimson Instinct

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Tian Song was standing in a corner where he quickly dialed a number. The name started from R. He said, "They are here today."

"Did they meet Fu Ting?"

"Yes."

"Did Fu Ting say anything new?"

"No. He said the same things that he told us during interrogation."

"What did they say, especially the man?"

"The man said that he would try to find Xin Nianzu, and until then, Fu Ting must not plead guilty in the court. He also knows that there isn't sufficient evidence."

There was a pause.

"...I see. As expected, he is smart. What about the forensic evidence?"

"I have it with me."

"Good. Also, you must know that a weapons consignment will be off from Tianjin Port two days later."

"Hm. I will be in my position."

Tian Song then saw the officers inside rushing towards Bai Li and Xin Lei.

"There is a commotion going on. The officers are trying to catch them. I'm sure it's because of the evidence. They are being suspected."

"This is a good chance. They will surely try to escape. Take advantage of it and bring them to me."

"Yes."

*Xin Lei*

Bai Li and I quietly followed Guard Wu. I walked closer to his side to hide my presence as much as possible. He also did the same. We reached the ground floor, and the exit door was just a few yards ahead of us.

Suddenly, I heard the urgent steps of police officers rushing towards us.

"Stop, guard Wu, and those officers!"

We halted.

Wasn't everything going fine? Why are they stopping us?

I felt a small bout of adrenaline rush inside me. It always happens when one faces a situation of fight or flight.

At my side, Bai Li was calm. I took the strength from the fact that I wasn't alone and took a deep breath.

The officers closed the exit door.

Damn! We got exposed. But how?

Some officers surrounded us. Then came running the officer who we had just met a few minutes back. I think his name was Duan Deming.

Bai Li whispered. "Hold my hand." I nodded.

Duan Deming looked at us, alert and hostile. He narrowed his eyes.

"Tell me, who exactly are you two?"

Guard Wu replied. "Sir Duan, they had already introduced themselves as the officers of Xiacheng district headquarters."

"Then how is it that Chief Meng Bao says that he didn't send any officers for transfer to Dongcheng headquarters?"

Did he verify it? But didn't he believe us at that time?

Duan Deming took a step forward. "What are your motives? Where is the evidence?"

I frowned.

What evidence?

Bai Li spoke, "Sir, we don't understand. What evidence are you talking about?"

"Don't act innocent! I'm talking about the evidence that you stole from the forensic lab and for which you came here, disguised as police officers."

What?

He continued. "The evidence was a DNA sample which we retrieved from Liao Chuntao's body."

Liao Chuntao? The woman who was found dead in LangFang? Wasn't that the case Bai Li was working on in the army?

'We are accused of stealing evidence from a case where Bai Li was previously involved, not any other case but Liao Chuntao's. Is it a coincidence?'

Bai Li didn't seem fazed by it. But, I knew he must be wondering about the same thing in his mind.

Duan Deming looked at one officer. "Check their pockets. They must be hiding the evidence with them."

We couldn't stop him. The more we resist, the more he would feel that we were thieves.

A male officer came to Bai Li, and a female officer started going through my pockets.

I was okay about it since we had nothing to hide.

The female officer checked my right pocket, and she took something out. I didn't show any shock or even twitched a muscle on my face.

But inwardly, there was a whole different battle going on.

I was pretty sure that my pockets were empty.

"Sir, Duan! I found something." The female officer took it out in full view. It was a small glass strip wrapped in a small plastic case. There was a tag hanging at the corner - LC#02.

LC... Liao Chuntao.

I knew one thing for sure at that moment.

We are screwed.

Once again, Bai Li was in full control of his emotions. He must have had excellent training in the army. But the slight narrowing of his eyes told me that he must be already trying to figure out the big question - 'how.'

Duan Deming took the sample in his hands and observed it. "This is it. Last night I had seen the sample along with Officer Song." Then he looked at us. "What do you have to say now? Still trying to act innocent?"

We said nothing.

He grabbed Guard Wu's collar. "You are with them, aren't you? They don't have any official papers from Xiachen headquarters, yet you didn't check such a basic thing and allowed them in."

'What are we going to do? We cannot afford to be caught and waste our time in their custody, answering his baseless questions about a false crime.'

I looked at the door.

'Come on! The door is not that far away.'

*Click*

Was it an answer to our prayers?

The door opened. I saw the officer coming in that we had met before Duan Deming. He was officer Tian Song.

"Officer Duan, what is going on?" He asked.

Then it all happened in a split second.

Guard Wu pushed Duan Deming away.

Bai Li pulled my hand.

"Run!"