companion ghost

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Shen Lie's face was gloomy, "Tomorrow is going to be in court, and now you tell me that the only tainted witness died in a car accident?"

Although no one answered, Shen Lie already got the answer from the bad expressions of Casey and Dino.

"Excellent." Shen Lie said coldly.

Casey told Shen Lie about Vincent calling him yesterday, and Shen Lie snorted: "Please tell me you recorded it."

Casey: "..."

How should I record at that time?I haven't even pulled up my pants yet!

Shen Lie narrowed his eyes: "Without recording and evidence, I can't even sue Vincent for one count of witness tampering and one count of first-degree homicide!"

Dino said calmly, "What are you going to do now?"

"What else can I do?" Shen Lie asked back, "Go and apply for the Witness Protection Plan for Stephen [Note 1]! I didn't expect that the case would be open at that time. If there is not a single witness, I will still be in court."

After finishing speaking, he added: "Have you talked to Stephen about his parents?"

Casey said: "Before Vincent finished calling me, Gloria got the news that Linda was in a car accident, and I rushed to find you."

"It's just a while before we go to do the work, we must let him cooperate, at least we have to line up for identification [Note 2], otherwise, even if I smash the office, my boss will not approve the budget for Stephen's witness protection plan of."

After finishing speaking, Dino and Casey went out of Shen Lie's office to go to the hospital. When Shen Lie was packing up the documents, Ning Yuan suddenly asked, "Why can't Stephen participate in the witness protection plan without queuing up for identification?"

Although Shen Lie was upset, he patiently explained to him: "Before the line up to identify, he was a victim, but he was still a victim who could not identify the murderer; after line up to identify, he became a witness in the legal sense."

Ning Yuan nodded thoughtfully.

Shen Lie glanced at him: "How are you and Stephen doing now?"

Ning Yuan shook his head grimly: "I haven't reached my mental assumption yet, I can't communicate with him directly, I can only communicate with him through such a crap," he waved the tablet in his hand, "I don't even know what I expected. 50.00% of it can’t be reached.”

Shen Lie also frowned: "50.00%? What kind of concept is that? Can he go to court?"

Ning Yuan pursed his lips and squatted down again: "I have tried to let him face Vincent, face himself, and face the truth, but his attitude is still ambiguous, a little loose, but I'm not sure if this looseness is enough He cannot be compelled to testify in court."

"That's enough. Dino and Casey aren't vegetarians either. It's enough to persuade him to go to court. After all, he didn't even want to tell me his name before." Shen Lie wanted to laugh when he saw his squatting movements.

After a long time, Shen Lie probably also knew some of Ning Yuan's cute little moves.For example, when I am in a bad mood, I will squat down like a puppy.Or when you need something from him, you will squat down and look at him with bright eyes. At that time, he can't help but reach out to rub his hair and pinch his face, but unfortunately he can't touch it.

Sometimes Shen Lie would also wonder if it was because he always wanted to pinch him that he would just say a few symbolic words before agreeing when he wanted to sleep with him with a faceless face.

After all, it would be easier to wait until the identities were equal.

"How are you these two days?" Casey walked into the ward and gave Stephen a big smile.

Stephen still had that delicate, beautiful and expressionless face, looking at Casey without speaking.

Looking at his golden hair and blue eyes, which were the same as his own, Kathy felt uncomfortable, and didn't care about Stephen's indifference, and asked him with a warm smile, "Is your body still hurting these days?"

Stephen still didn’t speak, but shook his head.

Seeing his reaction, Casey was encouraged, sat down beside his bed, and said softly, "Do you remember your name?"

Stephen was silent for a moment, and replied in a hoarse voice: "Angel."

"Baby," Casey looked at him with green eyes, "Your name is not Angel, that is the name Vincent gave you, your original name was Stephen, Stephen Leiter, do you remember?"

Stephen flinched: "No, my name is Angel!"

"Believe me, your name is really Stephen, I won't lie to you," Casey said hastily, reaching out to put his hand on Stephen's shoulder hesitantly, but he knocked him off mercilessly. He didn't care, and put The police badge came out: "I'm a policeman, remember?"

Stephen looked at the police badge pinned to his waist, stopped struggling, and reached out to touch the badge.Casey quickly untied his police badge and handed it to him: "Do you like this?"

Stephen nodded, still playing with the police badge in his hand.

Dino walked up to him, looked at Stephen who was very interested in the police badge, and whispered: "You think he is 17 years old?"

"Physiologically, yes, psychologically?" Casey shook his head bitterly, "I'm not a psychiatrist, but I can tell that he's psychologically at most 13 years old."

With a 'ding' sound, Dino received a text message, he turned on his phone, and it was Jerry.Jerry sent him a URL.After Dino opened it, his expression became serious. He swiped up and down the screen a few times, and handed the phone to Casey.

After reading it, Casey sighed, and said to Stephen who was playing with the police badge: "Stephen—"

"You can't call me Stephen," maybe seeing his favorite police badge, or the identity of a police officer buried in his mind gave him some sense of security, Stephen began to talk to Casey, "Heard by the master, he will be angry."

Casey made a softer voice: "Really? What does he do when he is angry?"

"It's very, very scary." Stephen's body trembled slightly. "The master will beat me and burn me with a soldering iron and cigarette butts. He... will let me know that I am Angel and I will never forget it."

"It's okay, Stephen, you're safe now," Casey said, looking at Dino, who nodded encouragingly, and he asked again, "Stephen, do you remember your father?"

Stephen lowered his head, with a little aggrieved voice: "My father is fine, but he doesn't want me anymore."

Casey was surprised, and Dino also walked to the hospital bed, looking at Stephen tenderly: "Why do you say that? Your father loves you very much."

"No!" Stephen gripped Casey's police badge tightly, "The master said, my father threw me in the park, he didn't want me anymore, it was the master who brought me home, without him I would be living on the street, Homeless, scavenging food from garbage dumps, being raped by homeless people on the street..."

Kathy rolled a gigantic white eye.

Dino handed him the phone: "Honey, look at this."

Stephen took the phone in a daze. It was a website page. Dino flipped down the page gently: "Do you know how to read? I can read it to you."

"My kid, my baby, disappeared when he was seven and I just walked away in the park for 2 minutes to get him ice cream! He was gone! He was wearing dark blue jeans and a white top, Black sneakers! If you have any clues, please contact me! Thank you very much!"

"Son, Stephen, it's been two years. If you see it, go home. I really miss you. Since you were born, we have lived together, and you are my life."

"Stephen, three years, I've been waiting for you, I never gave up hope. The police officer in Queens told me that you were probably killed, but I didn't believe it. I always believed in me and you, me and my children There is a sense, my sense tells me that you are still alive, maybe in the United States, maybe in New York, or even in some corner of the world, but I believe you are still alive."

"It's been five years. I want you to knock on the door of my house every day. I walk on the street and I think every child I see is you. Do you know that I have never touched your room. All the decorations are the same as before you disappeared, even your favorite toys, do you remember? Your favorite teddy bear, the one I used to laugh at you as a little girl but still bought you Brown fluffy teddy bear?"

"Today is your seventh birthday since you disappeared and your 14th birthday. I bought your favorite cake and I even added your favorite double icing. I never allowed you to do this before Remember? Now you can get it whenever you come back, so come back, okay?"

The ward was empty, only Dino's gentle and magnetic deep voice echoed, which hit Stephen's heart and made Casey's eyes red.

Dino finished reading all the messages Stephen's father sent before the car accident, and turned to look at Stephen who was listening in a daze. He didn't speak, but his fair and sick face was already full of tears.

Dino clicked on a picture to show Stephen: "Remember? This is a photo of your father and you. This is the happy you ten years ago."

Stephen looked at the picture, his father, also blond, holding his hand, they were playing football in the park.At that time, he had a small body and a small grade, but he had a big smile.For the next ten years, he never had that kind of happy feeling, nor had he ever had that kind of smile.Living in Vincent's shadow and captivity every day, he even felt that he would never smile like that again.

Dino gently wrapped him in his arms, and said softly, "Are you willing to line up for identification? Are you willing to go to court?"

Stephen looked at him with wet eyes, and asked timidly, "Is this... facing yourself, facing him, and facing the truth?"

Dino smiled: "Of course."

Stephen relaxed himself again, leaned back into Dino's firm and broad arms, and murmured: "He didn't lie to me, no parent would not want their own child...I have not been abandoned..."

The author has something to say:

[Note 1] The Witness Protection Program: Also known as the "Vapor Secret Order", it is a measure and policy of the US federal government aimed at protecting witnesses from personal injury (caused by testifying) after they appear in court to testify.

[Note 2] Line up for identification: Before the interrogation, the police officers will find four volunteer citizens who look similar to the suspect and ask the victim to identify them.It is also a kind of testimony.At this time, defense lawyers and prosecutors must be present at the same time.