Chapter 6: A Sinner's Good Deed (Part 1)
I never expected Detective Sullivan to show up with a full team—and clearly, they were here for me.
I'd thought I'd slipped back undetected, but the police had found me with frightening speed. It completely shattered my expectations and everything I thought I understood about how they operated.
With officers swarming toward me, I scanned the group in a split second and made my move toward the skinniest one.
I couldn't be caught now—I was this close to the truth!
Detective Sullivan saw me trying to bolt and yelled, "Officer Carter! Stop him!"
"Don't worry, Captain Sullivan..." the thin officer replied. "With me here, he's not going anywhere!"
He lunged at me with arms wide open. I put every ounce of strength into my charge and slammed right into him!
Officer Carter weighed less than me, and the impact sent him flat on his back. Sullivan cursed: "I knew you couldn't handle this! I've been saying you're not ready!"
But the gap was open, and I bolted for it—except Officer Carter refused to let go. He grabbed my leg and brought me crashing down.
Then he scrambled on top of me, trying to pin me down, buying precious time for the other officers. "Hurry! Hold him down!"
Sullivan was gleeful: "Good work, Chang! I knew you could do it! I always believed in you!"
The other officers seized the opening and piled on. I thrashed with everything I had, the drainage ditch right ahead—its water rushed fast and dangerous, but it was my only shot at escape.
I fought to break free, but they had me layered under too many bodies. There was simply no room to resist.
The apartment residents heard the commotion and came out to watch. Sullivan called out to them: "Police operation! Everyone stay back! Safety first! Keep your distance!"
His warning only drew a bigger crowd. People pushed forward, desperate for a front-row seat to the drama.
And in that crowd, I spotted a figure that made my blood run cold.
Tiger Lin.
He was staring right at me. I pointed at him frantically and screamed with everything I had: "Arrest him! He's a fugitive too!"
The officers turned to look. But instead of running, Tiger Lin charged straight toward us!
"It's Tiger Lin!"
"Grab him!"
The police clearly hadn't expected a second fugitive, and the chaos threw their plan into disarray. Tiger Lin suddenly veered into the crowd and shoved an older woman who was holding a little girl. The woman fell, and Tiger Lin snatched the child from her arms and kicked the woman in the head twice. The officers lunged for him, but he bellowed: "Nobody move!"
With the child as a hostage, the police froze. But Tiger Lin had no intention of keeping her. He sprinted to the edge of the drainage ditch and hurled the little girl into the rushing water!
Oh God!
We watched in horror as the child plunged into the fast-moving current. The crowd screamed in panic—no one had imagined Tiger Lin would do something so monstrously decisive.
The officers sprang into action. Sullivan didn't hesitate—he threw himself into the ditch, splashing into the water, clawing at the stone embankment and roaring: "Someone help! Now!"
Several cops jumped in after him. I used the chaos to shove Officer Carter off me—most of the officers were already in the water, using their bodies as human barriers against the rushing current. Sullivan stood in the front line, bellowing: "Link arms! Move! NOW!"
They locked their arms together, letting the water slam against their bodies. The child's speed in the current slowed visibly.
The current was weaker now, but the girl had already been swept some distance away. I watched her tiny head bobbing in the water, her small hands reaching above the surface. My mind went blank—instinct took over. I shoved past Officer Carter and raced after her.
When I plunged into the water, the cold hit me like a jolt of electricity. The ditch wasn't deep—the problem was the current. But with Sullivan and his team diverting the flow, I could actually move.
I lunged for the child and pulled her into my arms. She coughed violently, spitting up water, her tiny body shivering, her face deathly pale—whether from cold or terror, I couldn't tell.
I shoved her upward, and some bystanders finally reached down and pulled her to safety.
Sullivan shouted: "Nice work! Now stay there and wait for me to arrest you."
I rolled my eyes and headed for the other bank. But just as I pulled myself up, Sullivan yelled a warning. Tiger Lin had leaped across the ditch and drove his knee hard into my back!
The impact knocked me flat. Pain shot through my spine, and I couldn't breathe. Tiger Lin dragged me along the ground and snarled: "Where's the stuff!"
I gasped for breath, hating this animal with every fiber of my being.
He always resorted to the most cowardly, vicious tactics. He wasn't a real man—not even close.
I was soaked to the bone, my waterlogged clothes weighing me down and slowing every movement. Combined with the surprise attack, I had no strength to fight back. Tiger Lin hit his key fob and the SUV nearby flashed its lights—the same one I'd driven before. The officers were scrambling to pursue. Tiger Lin pulled out a knife and roared at them: "Any of you come any closer and I'll kill him!"
He pressed the blade against my throat. I felt it slice into my skin—wet, sharp, and way too close to my jugular. The officers hesitated. Meanwhile, Tiger Lin used the key fob to remote-start the engine.
He slammed me against the car door and ordered me to put my hands behind my back. The knife glinted, and I didn't dare resist.
I felt zip ties cinching around my wrists. Then he yanked open the door and shoved me inside. At every step, he kept the blade trained on me.
When he moved to the driver's seat, some of the officers finally reacted—some ran for their cars, others rushed forward, swinging batons at the windows and shouting for him to stop.
Tiger Lin didn't care. He floored the accelerator, and an officer who'd grabbed the door handle was thrown aside. I looked in the mirror, praying the man wasn't run over.
The situation was desperate, but I couldn't help thinking—how did Tiger Lin expect to escape?
The police already knew our location and had seen our vehicle. Running was impossible.
Tiger Lin drove like a maniac, hitting seventy on a narrow residential street, laying on the horn, scattering pedestrians and cars alike.
I lay in the back seat, struggling against the zip ties. But the more I fought, the tighter they bit. There was no getting free.
In desperation, I climbed over the rear seat into the trunk area—the rear window I'd kicked out earlier still hadn't been replaced. The landscape rushed past at terrifying speed.
If I jumped now... would I survive?
"Don't even think about running! Actually, go ahead and jump if you want. But don't forget—I now know what your wife and your mother look like. Try escaping and see what happens!"
Tiger Lin's shout brought me back to reality.
He was right... running was useless.
He knew where my family lived. Escaping would only bring disaster to their doorstep.
I said, "The police are already hunting you. You can't get away."
"Bullshit! I say I can get away, and I will!"
He pulled out his phone and made a call. When someone answered, he said: "I'm almost there!"
Before long, he turned down an alley and stopped abruptly. The sudden stop threw me against the back seat.
Tiger Lin jumped out, yanked open the trunk and hauled me out.