Profiler (Fang Mu Eastern Crimes Series Book 1) (27 page)

Zou Tuanjie and the rest of the diehard fans had long since hurried to the stadium and saved seats, two of which belonged to Du Yu and Fang Mu. The two of them waited until nearly 7 p.m. to begin strolling over to the stadium. As they reached the stadium steps, Fang Mu saw Deng Linyue and a group of girls walk past, chatting happily. A teacher standing nearby yelled impatiently, "Let's go, let's go! What took you ladies so long? Hurry up and get changed."

"Cheerleaders," said Du Yu, staring at all the gorgeously dressed girls. He grinned. "With beauties like that cheering him on, Liu Jianjun will be showing off for sure."

After squeezing through the jam-packed crowd and stepping on more feet than they could count, Fang Mu and Du Yu finally arrived at their seats. Before they could catch their breath, the sound of whistles and excited applause filled the stadium, followed by an earth-shattering roar. Looking up, Fang Mu saw a pack of scantily-clad girls run out to center court and begin dancing, with Deng Linyue in the lead.

At once everyone's attention shifted from thoughts of the game about start to the sight of the girls' legs, particularly their thighs. Du Yu's mouth was hanging wide open and his eyes were fixed straight ahead. Fang Mu found this hilarious and he reached over and handed him a tissue.

"What's this for?" asked Du Yu.

"To wipe the saliva off your mouth."

Du Yu laughed and socked Fang Mu on the arm.

After a few minutes, the cheerleaders' dance routine ended. A very loud and clear noise sounded overhead, announcing that the game was about to start.

Suddenly, as the announcer began to speak, all the lights in the gymnasium went out, save for the spotlight, which shined brightly on the entrance to the court. The players from the provincial team appeared first. They ran out under the light, one enormous athlete after another, as their familiar names echoed throughout the gymnasium. They stood imposingly across center court. The last to emerge was Su Jun, the member of the national team, and as soon as his name was announced, the crowd erupted, screaming and whistling so loud that it seemed the roof would blow off the building.

Next came the members of the
Jiangbin
City
University
team. As they entered the arena under the glare of the spotlight, they appeared much more flustered than their professional counterparts. One point guard even slipped and fell as he was about to reach the court, causing the whole crowd to laugh good-naturedly. As team captain, Liu Jianjun was last to enter, and Fang Mu noticed that when he appeared the cheerleaders seemed to scream extraordinarily loud. Liu Jianjun made a point to grandstand as he ran out, waving at all the spectators.

The game began. Although the members of the provincial team were treating it like a practice match, the play was obviously one-sided. Compared to the professionals – whose average height was around 6'4" – the students looked tiny, clumsy, and scared. At the end of the first quarter, the provincial team was already leading 35-6.

When the second quarter started, the provincial team eased up, rarely using their physical superiority to drive to the hoop. Instead, they hung around the perimeter and launched jump shots. At the same time, the school team's offense started to pick up. Leading the attack was Liu Jianjun, playing especially ferocious. One time he even hit a turnaround jumper while being guarded by Su Jun himself. In retaliation, when it came time to block, Su Jun made no more than a symbolic effort, his tiptoes never leaving the floor. Fang Mu noticed that every time Liu Jianjun scored, he would face the screaming, dancing cheerleaders and fiercely pound the left side of his chest. Looking closer, Fang Mu saw that unlike his teammates, Liu Jianjun had drawn a big "D" onto his jersey, right over his heart, using what appeared to be felt-tip marker.

D for Deng
, thought Fang Mu, smiling to himself.
This guy
...

At halftime, the provincial team still held a significant lead. But the student spectators didn't care at all about who won or lost. For them, the most important thing was seeing their sports heroes in person. They were excited to learn a dunk performance would take place during halftime, and of course the professionals would be the stars of the show. However, what made the crowd proudest was the news that a fellow student would be joining the show. This student was none other than Liu Jianjun. Although only 6'1", he could jump astonishingly high.

Liu Jianjun made three attempts. Although he missed one, his other two dunks were brilliant. After each, he turned toward the cheerleaders, roared once, and pounded his left breast. The cheerleaders responded with high-pitched screams. Frequently they would nudge Deng Linyue, looks of envy in their eyes. For her part, Deng Linyue kept fairly cool. But although she was hardly going wild with outward excitement, her eyes never left Liu Jianjun.

The second half began. Perhaps because he had been so active during the first two quarters, Liu Jianjun seemed a little sluggish at first, so the coach subbed him out to take a breath. Rather than heading straight for the bench, however, Liu Jianjun walked over to where the cheerleaders were and said something to Deng Linyue. Her expression seemed a little surprised, but she still nodded her head, blushing slightly.

"Aw, you don't have a chance anymore," grumbled Du Yu as he watched what was happening on the sidelines. "This guy's really stolen the show tonight."

"So what?" said Fang Mu. "You're such a broken record, always going on and on about something I never even cared about to begin with!" He stood up. "Let me by."

"Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom. Why, did you think I was trying to find a place to be alone so I could cry over my broken heart?"

Moments later, Fang Mu was outside the gymnasium. Compared to the noise and excitement of the arena, the gymnasium corridor felt unusually desolate. He hurried toward the bathroom, wanting to get back as soon as possible so he could keep enjoying the game. Rounding one corner, he nearly bumped into two stern-looking policemen in SWAT gear. Seeing them, his spirits fell.

You can't relax now
, he told himself grudgingly.
The killer is still out there somewhere
.

In a flash, all that was going on in the gymnasium no longer meant a thing to him. He even forgot that he had been heading to the bathroom. Instead he just stood there, watching the two policemen walk away until they disappeared around the corner.

He looked out the window beside him. Although it was pitch-black outside, he could still make out a police car parked beside the gymnasium, its red and blue lights flashing soundlessly.

After watching it for a few moments, he turned and walked slowly and distractedly back to the arena. Once he'd returned to his seat he could no longer focus on the game. Scanning the bleachers, he spotted one plainclothes cop after another. Although they appeared to be moving carelessly through the crowd, they were still wary: nerves taut as a bowstring, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

Fang Mu glanced back. Sure enough, Tai Wei was in the bleachers behind him. Seeing Fang Mu looking at him, Tai Wei made a small wave.

Expressionlessly, Fang Mu turned forward again. He didn't know why, but his spirits had sunk within him. 

After the game ended, Liu Jianjun and Su Jun were both voted MVP. Gripping his trophy, Liu Jianjun waved at the whole crowd, his face glowing with happiness. Next it was time for both teams to take group pictures. Camera flashes lit up the stadium.

Most of the spectators had already begun to leave, with only the most diehard fans waiting behind to get Su Jun's autograph, Du Yu among them. Since Fang Mu wanted to get back early, he waved goodbye to Du Yu and left. 

It was cold outside, especially after leaving the hot, jam-packed arena, and Fang Mu couldn't help but shiver. He noticed Tai Wei standing nearby, hands clasped behind his back.

Seeing Fang Mu, Tai Wei waved him over. "Got a cigarette?" he immediately asked.

Fang Mu nodded.

"Give me two, one for me and one for him," said Tai Wei, pointing at the plainclothes cop standing beside him.

Fang Mu took out two cigarettes and handed them over. He lit one for himself.

For a while the three of them smoked in silence, each taking deep drags. At last Tai Wei said, "Damn, I was going nuts out here. We just got out of the stadium, but had no cigarettes, and there was no way I could leave and go buy a pack." He pointed at the flood of people leaving the arena.

Fang Mu thought for a second, and then passed him his half-full pack. "Take this."

Tai Wei accepted it without a word of thanks. "Where are you off to?"

"Back to the dorm."

"By yourself?"

"By myself."

Tai Wei thought for a moment and then said, "Don't go back yet; wait here with me. When all this is finished I'll take you back."

Fang Mu was about to refuse when Tai Wei waved his hand conclusively, as if to say it had already been decided.

After everyone had left, Fang Mu went with Tai Wei as he circled the campus, mostly paying attention to several women's dormitories and various areas where couples were known to meet up. Fang Mu felt extremely awkward patrolling these latter areas, like he was no different than a Peeping Tom. By the time Tai Wei yawned and said he would take Fang Mu back to his dorm, nearly an hour had passed.

As the two of them walked past the gymnasium, chatting casually, Fang Mu happened to glance in its direction. He immediately stopped walking.

"Look!"

Tai Wei looked to where he was pointing. Dim light could be seen through the gymnasium's blue glass windows. "It looks like it's coming from the basketball court," Tai Wei said, glancing at his watch. "The place should have been cleared out a long time ago. What are people still doing inside?"

They exchanged a look and then hurried toward the gymnasium doors.

While toweling off her wet hair, Deng Linyue stared absently at the "9" nailed to the door of her locker.

During the game just now, Liu Jianjun had told her to wait for him alone in the gymnasium afterwards.

What was he planning? Deng Linyue felt a little nervous.

To be honest, Deng Linyue felt all right about Liu Jianjun, but she didn't like him in
that
way. Although a lot of people mistakenly thought she was his girlfriend, he had yet to express his feelings.

Perhaps tonight
, she thought,
he will say those three words to me
.

Outside the locker room, she could hear the teacher supervisor organizing the changing room keys.

"Three, four, five...seven, eight, ten, eleven... Wait, where's nine? Who's using number nine?"

"Deng Linyue," Deng Linyue called. As soon as she spoke, someone knocked on the door to the locker room.

"Linyue, you're not ready yet?"

"I'm going to stay a little longer," she yelled toward the door. "You all go on without me."

"Such a dillydally! Tomorrow you'll have to bring the key to the student union yourself," the teacher decided.

Deng Linyue heard the teacher and all of her fellow cheerleaders walk away.

She continued on about her tasks. When she was all ready, she left the locker room and locked it behind her.

As she did, her cell phone beeped. It was a text from Liu Jianjun.

"I'm waiting for you at the basketball court, "
it read.

Taking a deep breath, Deng Linyue pulled on her backpack and left the locker room.

The basketball court was completely empty, which made the huge space feel incredibly vast.

Deng Linyue glanced at the stands all around her. There was no sign of Liu Jianjun. "Where is he?" she muttered to herself, strolling aimlessly to center court.

Peng... peng... peng!

A rhythmic, banging sound suddenly echoed within the gymnasium, startling Deng Linyue. Looking around again, she saw that a basketball had been launched from up in the stands and was now bouncing on the court. 

When the ball bounced over to her she stopped it with her foot and picked it up. It was a brand-new Spalding.
Deng Linyue + Liu Jianjun
was written in gold on each of its eight sections. It was beautiful.