The Last Killer

The children's welfare home is located in a two-story building on the east side of the church.When Leo and Li Biqing walked into the corridor on the first floor, they saw the plump figure of a nun in a black dress, coming out of one of the bedrooms lightly.

The moment she looked up and found them, a look of shock and panic flashed across her round face, and she said calmly, "Gentlemen, how did you get in? The church is closed to the public during this period, please leave immediately." Otherwise, I will call the police!"

"Sister Emma?" Leo asked seriously.

"Yes..." the nun answered unconsciously.

Leo took out his ID and waved it in front of her, "FBI. There is a serial murder case, we need your cooperation in the investigation, about the children in this orphanage—"

Before he finished speaking, Emma sprang up like a beast caught by a sharp thorn in a trap, flung open the door behind her in a panic, and quickly closed and locked it.

There was the sound of glass shattering and hard objects falling in the room.

Leo immediately slammed the door twice, but failed to open it, and then used a Glock with a silencer on, and fired two shots at the edge of the door lock.

The door was kicked open, and there was no one in the room. A glass window and the wooden window edge were smashed to pieces. It seemed that this strong nun just broke through the window and escaped.

Li Biqing reached out to touch the sheet on the child's bed by the window, and said anxiously: "There is still Yu Wen, she took this child away!"

"Hurry up!" The federal agent jumped out of the window.

They chased the blurry shadow not far away and ran across the entire back garden. The nun gradually widened the distance between the chasing and fleeing parties by virtue of her extreme familiarity with the environment.With the sudden sound of a car engine, a gray Camry rolled over the atrium square, rushed through the closed iron gate, and roared to the outside of the church.

Leo and Li Biqing rushed out of the gate, immediately launched the Chevrolet parked outside the wall, and chased after it against the clock.

Apparently, the kinetic energy of this government-provided SUV far exceeds that of an old-fashioned car that has been used for seven or eight years and is about to be retired. They caught up with it in less than 10 minutes and saw it fleeing towards the small road outside the town in a panic. —The trail runs from the edge of the forest to the neighboring county.

While driving, Leo called Eden, the state policeman, and asked the other party to notify the county police to organize a roundup.When he hung up, the gray Camry was within range of the pistol.

"Help me steer the steering wheel!" He said to Li Biqing in the passenger seat, then put his head and arms out of the car window, and aimed his gun at the rear tire of the car in front.

He fired three shots, and two of them hit the target. The flat tire caused the car to struggle for tens of meters, then rushed out of the roadbed and stopped crookedly among the sparse trees.

The federal agent opened the car door and jumped out, holding a gun and shouting: "Get out of the car! Slowly open the car door and get out alone!"

After a moment of silence, Emma opened the driver's door and got out of the car, but she was not alone.Her strong left arm passed through a child's armpit, strangling her to her chest, and her right hand held a paper knife, the sharp blade of which pressed against the little hostage's neck.It was a five or six-year-old girl, wearing a white cotton nightgown, with light blonde long curly hair disheveled like a clump of seaweed, struggling and crying in panic under the sudden restraint.

— Debbie!

Leo's arm holding the gun froze in the night wind.

The scene in front of me... Is it time to go back to five years ago, or is the hateful ghost finally reappearing in the world?His eyes widened in disbelief, the muscles on his face were as stiff as a poor sculpture, in order to control the corners of his lips that trembled uncontrollably, he clenched his teeth tightly, his straight jaw line was as cold and hard as metal.

"Put down the gun! Or I'll kill her!" Emma stared at him nervously, her dark green eyes burst out with horror and violence, "Don't think this is just a threat, you know I will do what I say! Drop the gun, back off, back off!"

Leo knew that as a rule, he had to show some softening gestures to temporarily ease the murderer's out-of-control emotions and avoid provoking the other party's reckless assassination, but he couldn't move—he couldn't even move a finger, and he couldn't say a word. not out!

His thoughts are spinning in his head, but his body is as stiff as a stone, as if a gate has completely cut off the nerve connection between them!

He thought that after confessing all the darkness of the past, he could finally walk out of that labyrinthine nightmare and breathe fresh air again—but no!He was still in a nightmare, and the previous relief was just a ridiculous prank.He heard Taduo's jeer, and it echoed frantically and triumphantly: "Shoot! Let's play this game again, just like before~before~ countless times before, shoot through her neck, let the blood column Beautiful squirt... hurry up and shoot, I can't wait!"

--No!wake up!Leo, wake up!His soul screamed in the imprisoned body, but no one could hear it except himself...

Facing the uncompromising muzzle of the federal agents, the panic in Emma's eyes seemed to have passed that limit, and began to be replaced by fierceness and fury.She pressed the blade down, and a stream of blood appeared on the girl's slender neck, swimming like a newly hatched baby snake.

"Sister, relax, you don't really want to do this, do you?" As if a breeze was coming, a voice said softly, "Look at little Debi, she's so cute, I bet she's the most sensible girl in the orphanage Child, she eats and dresses herself, stays out of trouble, and kisses you on the cheek before going to bed, and says 'good night' in a sweet voice, do you remember?"

As if aroused by the Chinese boy's words, Sister Emma's eyes softened unknowingly, and the blade on the girl's neck loosened slightly, "I don't want to kill her, don't force me... put down the gun, put down the gun! "

Li Biqing hugged Leo's waist with one hand, held his wrist with the other, and pressed down slowly and gently, letting the muzzle of the gun hang to the ground, "Leo, listen to me, let go of your fingers, and hand the gun to I... Leo, trust me."

Federal agents offered no resistance.His mental floodgates were closed, but not completely sealed, and the boy was the only vent.

Li Biqing got the gun, bent down and put it on the mud. "Okay, look, we sincerely want to talk to you, let go of that poor child first, shall we?"

"No!" The nun firmly refused, "I won't let her go unless you give me the car and completely leave my sight."

"There is no need for such a violent reaction, Sister, we just investigate the case and ask a witness..."

"Don't lie to me—" interrupted Emma sharply, "you already know! I can see your eyes and I know you already know everything! What kind of fate!"

"Then why did you do that? You are a respected priest. I believe that when you swear an oath before God, your heart must be filled with light and fraternity, just like Father Bai Yisi, isn't it?" Li Biqing looked at her with a sad and sympathetic expression.

His eyes stung her.And the name he said felt like a branding iron had scalded her heart, and she trembled in pain. "God! Almighty and loving God! Yes, I once swore from the bottom of my heart to serve the Lord devoutly and dedicate my whole life to the Lord, when I was a little girl of 12 years old. And I have done so for more than ten years. Years!" As if the wood was rolling over her chest, Emma's deep voice was full of unbearable dull pain, "I am 29 years old, and I am still a virgin! You have all tasted the love between a man and a woman, I But you have to be chaste for life. 'You married God', someone said to me, but I don't understand, if God is really my husband, how come he never fucked me?"

Li Biqing looked at this nun who was struggling with desire and belief, and a trace of real pity flashed in his eyes.

Once the nature and instinct of a creature are restrained, it is like the grass under the stone slab, trying to find a crack to squeeze out. If even the gap is blocked, one day it will burst out with a powerful and deformed force, and the stone slab will be crushed. Cracking hard—this is the power of desire.

"You can choose to take off your nun clothes, Emma, ​​and go back to the life that's right for you. God doesn't think you're wearing a cuckold just because you're married and have kids."

"It's too late!" The nun's face was full of despair, "If someone could tell me that earlier...before I killed someone...before I fell in love with Father Bai Yisi..."

This possibility was expected by Li Biqing, "Father, does he know?" he asked.

"No, I have been hiding it because I don't want to be loathed and alienated by him." She sneered sadly, "Even if I know, so what, his body and mind are all dedicated to God, and there is no crumb to share with others."

"So you can only love him in another way. The priest believed in that 'revelation' and put his belief into action. You should know everything about the basement, right?"

"Yes, I knew it many years ago. I helped him clean up the traces left by him," Emma murmured dreamily, "Only at this time can I feel that apart from God, I the closest person to him..."

"It's like a secret that only belongs to you, right? You enjoy this feeling." Li Biqing calmly analyzed: "Maybe one or two children did die of illness or accident at the beginning, but then, soon For a long period of time, the situation was calm, and you began to feel empty, restless, and dissatisfied. You prayed to God to take back a servant as soon as possible, but this expectation has not been realized. Finally one day, you can no longer restrain the drive of desire, in order to continue your life A unique relationship with the priest, starting to artificially create one death after another... Do you ever feel guilty, even just once?"

"Maybe, but I don't regret it at all." The nun confessed bluntly, perhaps seeking approval from others, "When you are determined to do anything for a person, even killing is not so difficult, sometimes Instead, it's a kind of pleasure - I don't know which one is stronger than the pleasure of making love, I can't compare, can you tell me?"

Obviously, this is not love in the normal sense.A certain force dominated Emma, ​​causing her to twist and grow countless times under the stone slab, and finally found a breakthrough—killing.The desire to kill made her escape completely.

Li Biqing shook his head and said: "No, I can't compare... There is another point I can't understand. Why did you just sink Renee to the bottom of the lake?"

"Because her existence will only tarnish the priest's faith. Fighting, stealing, lying, and vices, she is not like other children at all," Emma replied coldly, "she is not worthy to be the priest's angel." She looked down Looking at the little girl who kept crying and kicking on her chest, she frowned impatiently, "And you, if you grow up a bit, will you become like your sister, Debi?"

"—she won't, she's a good boy." As if struggling to wake up from a deep nightmare, the black-haired detective finally found his voice, although it seemed hoarse and difficult, "Let her go, Emma , as long as you let her go, I will never shoot, and the car will be left to you, how about it?"

The nun smiled indifferently under the black turban, "No. I don't want to run now, even if I escaped you, do you think I would naively think that I can escape from being chased by a group of police cars and helicopters? ?”

"At least you can save a life, you've never done that, have you? Try it, I swear it will make you feel better than destroying a life." Leo coaxed her carefully.

"It doesn't matter how I feel, whether it's pleasant or bad, I don't care anymore." Emma's face showed an abnormal and lazy calmness, as if people in the world of ice and snow suddenly felt hot and dry, even if they took off their clothes, they couldn't cool down. That was a sign of impending freezing to death. "I will spend my whole life in prison. Even if I am allowed to visit the prison, the priest who knows the truth will not be willing to see me again. What is the meaning of such an ending to me?"

"In that case, why don't I give the priest a last gift?" She lowered her head and kissed the swirls on the top of Debi's hair, and whispered, "Tell him my feelings, little angel." Then she lifted her Raising his wrist, he stabbed hard at the little girl's swan-like white neck——

—————————————Enter the division of the text———————————

The federal agents keenly caught the abnormal sense of insignificance on the nun's face, and the sense of crisis tempered by his profession sounded the alarm in his mind.Reflexively, he stretched his hand to the back of his waist and grasped the butt of the spare pistol.As Emma bowed her head to kiss Debbie's blond hair, he drew his gun and aimed it at her.

The blade reflected light in the headlights, and he knew he had to make a quick decision, but the crying face of the hostage strongly impacted his nerves, preventing his limbs from receiving rational instructions. At that moment, the picture in front of him overlapped with the bloody memory, nervousness, anxiety and Fear surged.Like a myasthenia gravis patient, he couldn't even feel the existence of his finger, let alone drive it to pull the trigger... He was stuck for a deadly second!

Just as the blade was about to fall, Emma suddenly let out a scream.

No one expected that the little girl in her arms became annoyed because she realized that crying was futile, so she took out the trick she usually used to deal with her mother and sister-she lowered her head and bit the captor's arm, and inserted her small and sharp deciduous teeth hard Flesh and flesh, like wolf cubs, refusing to let go.

Whiplashed by the sudden pain, Emma immediately tugged on the little assailant, instinctively wanting to snatch her arm back.

Li Biqing let go of his fingers and let the gun fall to the ground—no one noticed when he picked up the pistol on the ground—this small accident dispelled his idea of ​​shooting, and he made another decision in a flash .

He dodged to the side and rear of the federal agent, his right hand firmly supported the other's quivering elbow, and his left hand held the stiff shoulder muscles.Like a shooting instructor patiently instructing beginners, his chest warmly and firmly pressed against the opponent's back, and he whispered an order in his ear: "Shoot, Leo!"

The dark-haired detective's confused pupils shrank suddenly, and the voice from the dream exploded in his head——

Shoot, Leo.

shot.You won't miss this time because I'm behind you.

The serial killer said, use my power, Leo, let's end this damn cycle together.

The sound was like a huge torrent, instantly breaking through the spiritual gate, and an irresistible force pushed his fingers——

The nun's right arm was splashed with blood. She screamed and covered the wound, and was pushed back to the ground by the impact.The radius and ulna were shattered by the bullet, causing the arm to present a twisted and strange curvature, and the pain filled the nerves. She curled her body tightly into a ball and moaned loudly, as if this could relieve the physical pain.

Leo stared blankly at the weapon in his hand, the burning smell of gunpowder still lingered in his nostrils.Even though the flames spewed out and the gunfire sounded, he still couldn't believe that he fired the shot so easily!

Those spiritual nightmares that have plagued him for a long time, the insurmountable psychological barriers, and the emotional vortex that engulfed and tore him, seemed to be shattered by this bullet at the same time!

He once thought it would be an extremely long and painful process to get rid of those things—in fact, he was almost desperate about it, so he swallowed more and more pills with a self-defeating attitude, and forced himself to lose weight with busy and high-intensity work. time to think.

Until this moment, this bullet reversed the time for five years, and finally successfully pulled back the once deviated trajectory!

This time, he didn't miss—afterwards, he will never miss again.

Debi, who fell on the ground, was a little dazed.She looked at the blood-stained nun and ran away in terror, but the darkness around her stopped her.In the middle of the night, the forest was pitch black, only the headlights illuminated a small area of ​​light. She looked at the tall black-haired man in the backlight, and suddenly remembered: He is a policeman.

Trust the police, grown-ups always say that.She stretched out her young arms, eager to get a warm and safe shelter, and ran towards him in a stumbling manner.

Leo dropped the gun, knelt down on the muddy ground covered with dead leaves, hugged the little girl who rushed over tightly, and buried his face in the other's unkempt light blonde long curly hair.

No one knew he had burst into tears.

"...I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." The black-haired detective repeated in a choked voice, as if he was about to pour out the guilt, self-blame and apology accumulated for five years, "Debi, I'm sorry... "

The little girl couldn't understand the meaning of his words, but put her arms around his neck obediently, and replied with the etiquette she had learned: "That's all right."

"She has forgiven you." Li Biqing said softly beside him, "Leo, do you believe in reincarnation?"

"...Reincarnation?"

"Yes. Five years ago, one life died and another was born. Now, she came back to you with the same appearance and the same situation, and you gave her a brand new ending—she wanted to use It's a way of telling you that you've earned her forgiveness through your own efforts."

Leo raised his head in amazement, looked at the little girl's face, and asked suspiciously and expectantly: "Is that so, Debbie?"

The little girl looked at him inexplicably.She remembered that the teacher had taught her to thank others for their help, so she said softly, "Thank you."

The federal agent hugged her again and said tearfully, "No, Debbie, I should thank you..."

The whistle of sirens came from far and near, and a large number of state police and county police arrived and took over the scene.Controlling suspects, pacifying hostages, taking pictures and collecting evidence...all the aftermath work was carried out in an orderly manner.

Leo left the crowd and walked to a dark corner a little further away.He needs some time to calm down and sort out his thoughts.

Everything that happened before was reeled in his mind like a movie film, and soon, he discovered something strange——

"You know how to use a gun?" he asked the boy next to him.

The Chinese boy smiled, "How come, our country does not allow private guns. However, I have participated in field shooting clubs."

"The way you held my arm just now was very professional." The detective stared at him with dark blue eyes inquiringly.

"That's because your arm is shaking like a person who has never held a gun. In comparison, I am more experienced." Li Biqing complained calmly.

Leo smiled awkwardly.He thought of the dream that was surprisingly consistent with reality, but he didn't know how to mention it to the other party.How would he express it?Ask him "Why are your words and actions so similar to the murder suspect in my dream"?No, this is simply too inexplicable, he is not crazy enough to suspect the other party with an absurd dream.

Although he had a vague feeling that something was wrong... But it was just some gossamer-like flashes, and even he himself couldn't explain why he had this feeling-as if behind this gentle and clean boy, there was something hidden. A vague, untouchable black shadow...

hell!How could he have such an idea!He was deeply in love with the boy—he was quite sure of that, and these unsubstantiated suspicions seemed like blasphemy against love.

When he decided to put those messy doubts behind him, the phone in his pocket rang suddenly.

After Leo connected, he hung up without saying a few words, and said regretfully to Li Biqing: "Sorry, my vacation is going to be wasted again."

"how?"

"The headquarters urgently notified me and told me to return to Washington DC immediately."

Li Biqing asked worriedly: "In the middle of the night, so urgent? Did something happen?"

"I didn't go into details on the phone, but I just told Rob and I to go back first." Leo looked at the other person uncomfortably, "It may not be convenient for me to take you this trip, you can continue your vacation in another place, or go back to the New York, I'll give you the keys to the apartment...what are you going to do?"

"...It was so sudden, I haven't figured it out yet." The boy answered honestly.

"Okay, let's go back to the hotel first, and the finishing work will be handed over to these state police and county police."

Li Biqing followed him a few steps, and asked again: "Sister Emma's murder is not gone, where is Father Bai Yisi? Will he be sentenced?"

"It's hard to say, when it comes to religious affairs, it will be a bit troublesome to deal with, and his behavior has old rules to follow - a hundred years ago, there were many believers who were proud of their mummies being placed in the catacombs of the church." The detective shrugged, "If the church intervenes in this case, the priest might be exonerated—it's just possible. But he definitely can't stay in this place anymore, maybe he will be dismissed from his position and thrown into a church cemetery to guard it." tomb."

"That's fine, I think the priest will like this new job." Li Biqing said.

The black-haired detective hesitated for a while, and finally said: "Compared with this, I am more concerned about another matter... That guy didn't intervene this time! It's a bit strange, you know, the serial killers we hunted this year Murderers, eight out of ten were all caught by him first, and the higher-ups wondered if we had his insiders. Unexpectedly, there was no movement at all this time. I have to say that Sister Emma is very lucky. Live to go to court."

"——You mean, kill green?"

"It's the guy who acted recklessly. It's been a whole month without news of him making troubles. I'm really not used to it."

"Maybe he's on vacation too," Li Biqing sneered, with a slight mockery, "with his girlfriend. He has to enjoy a normal life."

"—Maybe it's with her boyfriend." The black-haired detective added in a strange way.

"What? You mean he..." Another person was surprised.

"No no," the detective changed his words immediately, "I was just joking."

Li Biqing glanced at him, flashing a complex and incomprehensible look.

After returning to the hotel in Shuixia Town, the sky was already slightly bright.Neither of them felt sleepy, so they ate some bread and coffee for breakfast.

Just after breakfast, Li Biqing's cell phone rang in his pocket.He took it out to look at the caller ID, and smiled at Leo with some embarrassment, "I'm going out to answer a call."

"Jasmine's phone call? Oh, you don't have to answer behind my back every time," his girlfriend's younger brother tried to pull himself together and joked, "I won't eavesdrop on your private conversations and phone sex."

Leo saw sharply that the boy blushed as he fled quickly.

He smiled and drank the bitter coffee that was cold at the bottom of the cup.

The other party came back soon, with eager and excited expressions on his face, and he seemed quite happy: "You know, Leo, Jasmine is coming back, next month!"

"Next month?" Leo was a little stunned, "Didn't you say you'll be back at the end of the year?"

"The work is going better than expected. She is going to take a vacation for herself and come back for half a month."

"Oh, very good," Leo said half happily and half regretfully, his mood was as complicated as a cocktail mixed with [-] or [-] kinds of condiments, and he didn't know what it was like. "You guys can have a good time together."

"She said she was planning to discuss engagement with me." Li Biqing paid attention to him calmly, as if analyzing the other party's true emotions through the subtle expressions on his face, "Engagement! In our country, that means It seems that the wedding day is not far away—is it the same on your side?"

"...Oh, it should be." Leo replied absent-mindedly.

Li Biqing laughed, and asked with a hint of malicious pleasure: "So, do you need a best man for the engagement here? I hope you will not be too busy with work next month."

Leo let out a painful groan from the bottom of his heart, and tried his best to put on a "happy" expression, "It depends on the situation, if I'm free at that time."

He got up and went back to the room, packed his simple luggage, and said hello to Li Biqing: "I booked a plane ticket just now, and I have to catch a plane. Can you go back to New York by yourself?"

"No problem, go at ease." The Chinese boy waved happily at him, "Bon voyage——oh no, you're flying, voyage against the wind!"

The federal agents hurried away without looking back.

Li Biqing was left alone, watching his distant back from the window sill. "Next month..." he muttered to himself, "Then we must hurry up."

(angel's room? end)

Volume [-] Luna Island