Profiler (Fang Mu Eastern Crimes Series Book 1) (28 page)

Deng Linyue smiled to herself. This boy really was quite thoughtful.

Just then, Chyi Chin's
The Moon Represents My Heart
began to play over the loudspeakers.
(Translators
’
note: Chyi Chin, a famous Chinese pop music star.)

In the enormous arena, the sound of his magnetic voice filled the air:

"You ask how deep my love's for you... How much do I love you? ...My feelings are true, my love is deep, the moon represents my heart..."

Deng Linyue looked up at the broadcast booth above the stands. A light was on inside, and she could see someone standing there and waving at her.

It was Liu Jianjun.

Before long the song ended and after a few seconds of silence, she heard Liu Jianjun's voice reverberating throughout the arena.

"Linyue, today has been a very special day for me," he said. "Not just because I got to compete with my idol on the same court, but more importantly, because today I will tell the girl I love how I feel about her..." His sweet-sounding voice was amplified by the loudspeakers, giving it an unexpectedly soul-stirring charm.

Looking up at the vague figure in the broadcast booth, Deng Linyue felt as if her whole body was filling with happiness.

Love. This was love.

What girl wasn't a little vain? It nearly made her blush. What girl wouldn't want her boyfriend to be tall and handsome? What girl could resist a romantic offensive like this?

"Linyue, I –"

A sudden, sharp
bang
split the air.

Suddenly all the lights in the arena went out and Liu Jianjun's heartfelt words abruptly stopped.

Plunged at once into darkness, Deng Linyue was momentarily stunned. At a loss, she waited for several seconds and then shakily called out, "Liu Jianjun...?"

The broadcast booth was pitch black as well. There was no response.

She cried out several times. In the vast, open gymnasium, her voice echoed back and forth, the sound frighteningly clear.

"Don't scare me!" she yelled, on the verge of tears. "I don't like it!"

Suddenly a spotlight switched on. The pale beam shined all the way from the top of the stands to the court, enveloping Deng Linyue.

Blinded by the light, she cupped a hand over her eyes and looked to where it was coming from.

Uncertain, she thought she saw someone walking down the stands.

Then the sound of steady footsteps reached her ears and she knew she hadn't been wrong.

"Liu Jianjun, is that you?"

The figure didn't respond, just kept walking towards her, neither fast nor slow. With the spotlight beam shining behind him, Deng Linyue couldn't make out his face, but she could tell it was a man.

As he drew closer, Deng Linyue was finally able to determine that it wasn't Liu Jianjun; this man was nearly half a head shorter than him.

"Who...who are you?" she wanted to run, but her legs felt too weak to move.

When at last the man stepped onto the basketball court, she could now see that he was wearing a black windbreaker and was carrying something in one hand. 

Twenty feet, fifteen feet, ten feet...

As the man drew closer and closer, Deng Linyue's whole body began to shake. At last she saw his face.

The black hood of the windbreaker covered the upper half of his face, while his nose and mouth were tightly hidden behind a surgical mask.

She saw his mouth move behind the mask, but he wasn't speaking – it looked like he was
smiling.

At last Deng Linyue reacted. With a cry of alarm, she threw the basketball at the man, and then turned and ran.

But the man was too fast. He leaped forward and grabbed hold of her hair. He raised his other hand and savagely brought it down to strike her.

But Deng Linyue's hair was still damp from her shower and it slipped out of his hand. The hammer that was supposed to come crashing down on her head instead smashed into her shoulder.

She gasped in pain. Her legs went limp and she collapsed to the floor.

Laughing darkly, as if amused, the man slowly stepped to her.

She tried to scramble away in terror, her arms and legs flailing protectively. "I'm begging you, don't..."

The man was completely unmoved. He stepped to her and put one foot on her leg and raised the hammer again.

"Stop!"

Like a thunderclap, a voice roared from the arena entrance, followed by a bang. A bullet shot through the air, nearly hitting the man.

The surprised man's attention went to the entrance.

Two figures there sprinted towards him. With no left time to think, he turned and fled.

When the two figures reached the terrified and cowering Deng Linyue, one of them yelled, "You wait here!" Then pistol in hand, he took off after the man.

Shaking, Deng Linyue felt someone help her up into a sitting position. Her whole body was in pain. Lacking even an ounce of strength, she could do nothing but lean softly against the person behind her. Struggling to look back, she saw it was Fang Mu, his face filled with worry.

"It's
you
?" His voice was surprised. "Are you okay?"

She feebly shook her head.

"Where are you hurt?"

"My...my shoulder…"

He sighed with relief. With some effort he knelt down and helped her to lean against his chest. He grabbed his dagger and dragged the sheath off the blade with his teeth.

Deng Linyue closed her eyes halfway, content with her rescuer. Her body suddenly drained of energy, she lay limply against his chest.

But Fang Mu hadn't relaxed in the least. Gripping the dagger handle tightly, he felt his palm fill with sweat. Before long it seemed like the thing would slip out of his hand.

Another gunshot ripped through the gymnasium. Fang Mu and Deng Linyue both jumped in surprise, but then silence followed.

Neither was sure what it meant. A lone gunshot?

Had the killer been hit?

Fang Mu looked around nervously. Besides the nearby spotlight beam, everything else was obscured. On the dark bleachers, it seemed as if a million hidden creatures were leaping and dancing. He did his utmost to pick up any suspicious sounds from his surroundings, but besides his and Deng Linyue's breathing, the gymnasium was silent.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, he saw that a basketball was sitting in front of him.

"It was just you in here?" asked Fang Mu, lightly shaking Deng Linyue.

She weakly opened her eyes. "No. Liu Jianjun is here, too."

"Where is he?" he asked quickly.

She feebly waved a hand toward the top of the stands. "In the broadcast booth."

He had to go check it out. He tried to gently but hastily place Deng Linyue back the floor.

With newfound strength, she grabbed tightly onto his shirt. "Don't go, don't go. Don't leave me here, I'm begging you!"

He struggled for a moment, but was unable to free himself. He was about to get angry when someone's urgent footsteps sounded behind him. Gripping the knife, he quickly spun around. Several flashlights shined in his eyes.

"Whoever's there, drop it!" someone called.

Fang Mu heard the sound of guns being cocked. He quickly put his hands up. "It's me, Fang Mu."

Several people ran forward. Fang Mu saw that the man in the lead was the plainclothes cop who had argued with the student on the ladder the day before.

He shined his flashlight at Fang Mu and Deng Linyue. "It's you? What's going on? Where's Tai Wei?"

Fang Mu didn't have time to answer him. Pointing up at the broadcast booth, he said, "Quick, someone's still up there."

The plainclothes cop signaled to the officer beside him. "You, follow me!"

Then the two of them sprinted up the bleachers, guns in hand.

Watching them duck inside the broadcast booth, Fang Mu silently prayed:
Don't let him be dead. Please don't let him be dead.

Their flashlight beams swayed inside the booth.

When everything was silent for a while, Fang Mu could wait no longer.

He yelled up to the booth. "How is he?"

The plainclothes cop stuck his head out of the booth. "He's fine. Still alive."

Fang Mu sighed with relief, and then turned to the two cops beside him. "Tai Wei ran that way after the killer. You guys need to go help him!"

"No need."

One hand over his face, Tai Wei emerged from the darkness. He was holding something in his other hand. He looked up to the officers in the booth. "Turn on the lights!"

A few seconds later there was a rumble and the arena was suddenly bright as day.

For the first time Fang Mu got a clear look at Tai Wei. His face was bleeding and in his hand he held something long and slender wrapped in tissue.

Did he get him?
Fang Mu wondered.
What happened to his face? What's he holding?

With so many questions flooding his mind, he found himself momentarily unable to say anything.

Tai Wei also didn't look like was in the mood to immediately explain anything. Frowning, he watched his two fellow officers struggle to carry Liu Jianjun down to the court.

"How is he?"

"He's fine; just out cold."

Tai Wei looked over the half-comatose Deng Linyue. The worry in his expression eased when he saw her.

He told the four policemen to get the two injured students to the hospital as fast as possible, and then turned and showed Fang Mu what was in his hand.

It was a screwdriver.

They looked at one another in silence.

It was the Yorkshire Ripper, just as they had expected.

"Shit, that guy ran fast as hell and he definitely knew his way around the gymnasium," Tai Wei said. "I was chasing him toward an intersection when I saw him turn and hurl something at me. I ducked my head but still didn't dodge it." He pointed at his gashed face. The wound had opened across his cheekbone and was still oozing blood. "I fired at him in surprise, but I think I missed. Anyway, slowing down those few steps was all it took. In a second he had rounded the corner and was gone." He shook his head, clearly annoyed.

He nodded to the screwdriver. "Afterward, I turned around and picked this thing up."

Fang Mu looked at the tool, seemingly deep in thought. Suddenly he pointed at something next to Tai Wei's feet. "What's that?"

Tai Wei bent over and picked the object up. It was a key fastened to a small iron fob by a rubber band. The word
Women
was written on the fob. Tai Wei turned the key over.

"Six?" said Tai Wei.

"Nine?" said Fang Mu, standing beside him.

They looked at one another. Was it 6 or was it 9?

"This thing…" Fang Mu looked again at the key. "It seems to be a key for the women's locker room."

"The women's locker room?" said Tai Wei at once. "Then it must be nine, because the number six changing room is definitely locked."

Fang Mu thought for a moment, and then took the key and walked off.

Tai Wei followed Fang Mu into the women's locker room. After looking high and low, Fang Mu found locker six. He tried the key in it, but it didn't open.

"Hey, over here there's another number six," said Tai Wei with surprise. He pointed at one of the lockers.

Fang Mu walked over. Nailed to the outside of the metal locker was the number six. He slipped his key inside, and it opened with only the slightest bit of effort.